UND Senior crowned Miss Eastern Dakota 2012

Jaye Millspaugh
11.07.11

Eleven local young women gathered in the Empire Theater in downtown Grand Forks on Saturday night for the chance to become Miss Grand Forks 2012, Miss Empire 2012 or Miss Eastern Dakota 2012.

Three winners were crowned for 2012. The winner of Miss Eastern N.D is Laura Harmon, who is a senior at UND and who is originally from Grand Forks.

"It's amazing and I'm so excited," said Wilson who was wearing a sparkly red evening gown, "I'm going to expand my platform, practice my talent and prepare for state."

The second runner up for Miss Eastern Dakota was Abby McCauley, and the first runner-up was Megan Yahna.

Miss Empire is Stephanie Erickson from Fargo, N.D. and Miss Grand Forks is Kate Wilson, who is a UND student originally from Rochester, MN.

This pageant was part of the first preliminary round and the three winners will be advancing on to the Miss North Dakota pageant, which will be held in early June 2012 in Williston, ND. The Miss Grand Forks Scholarship Organization is a division of the Miss North Dakota and the Miss America Scholarship Organizations.

The event provided the participants with a chance to continue where Miss North Dakota 2011, Ariana Walker, will leave off.

"Pageants have really helped me with confidence and also helped me a lot with public speaking. That's mostly what I do as Miss North Dakota is public speaking," said Walker.

Walker will be competing in the 91st annual Miss America pageant in Las Vegas, NV on January 14 2012. Tickets are currently on sale and the event will be aired live on ABC.

The Miss Grand Forks pageant is open to any women between the ages of 17-24 who is a high school senior or full-time college student within the state of North Dakota. Out-of-state residents attending a North Dakota college are welcome to participate too.

There is no entry fee but all contestants must raise at least $100 for the Children's Miracle Network. A crystal "Miracle Maker" award was given to contestant Kayla Weise for raising the most money.

The contestants this year were Gretchen Henningsen, Kate Wilson, Abby McCauley, Carlie Meehan, Allison Gunderson, Christina King, Laura Harmon, Kylie Vatthauer, Kayla Weise, Stephanie Erickson, and Megan Yahna.

The girls were judged in four areas: lifestyle and fitness, talent, evening gown, and one on-stage interview question.

The lifestyle and fitness portion featured the girls modeling swimsuits. The talent portion showcased the girls' various talents, which included singing, playing musical instruments like the piano and the flute, and cupcake decorating.

The evening gown portion featured the girls modeling formal dresses, which they remained in during their on-stage questions about their platforms. The platforms included preventing childhood obesity, raising awareness about the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) disease, and mentoring youth.

The judges were Kathy Shellum, David Adams, Beth Carlson, Zac Daniels who is a disc jockey on Grand Forks' Z94.7 top forty radio station, and Michelyn Butler who was Miss Wisconsin-USA 2008 and now lives in Fargo, N.D.

"Working with the girls, encouraging them and watching them grow is what I enjoy the most," said Judy Register, who was a local pageant director and judge for 25 years.

The event also featured various other performances. Studio X from Minot N.D. performed two group dance routines and there were also solo dance routines from the Junior Teen Miss North Dakota, Miss North Dakota 2011, and Miss ND's Outstanding Teen 2011. Miss Grand Forks 2011, Emily Burkland performed a classical piano solo.