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Local girl to compete in pageant |
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Friday, 19 June 2009 |
By ANGELA WEAVER
Staff Writer
NEW BREMEN — An area resident will be competing for a state title on Sunday as she heads to Columbus to face off in the National American Miss pageant.
Cidnie Shaffer, 12, will complete in her first pageant at the Hyatt Regency Hotel against girls ages 10 to 12.
"I decided to participate because it's something I always wanted to do when I was little," Cidnie said on Thursday.
Her parents Robyn and Perry Shaffer, as well as her younger brother Ishaq, 10, and her grandmother, accompanied Shaffer to Columbus when they left Friday. They will return to New Bremen on Sunday.
"I'm feeling a little bit of excitement and a little bit of nerves," Cidnie said. Cidnie said the pageant consists of four parts — 30 percent beauty, 30 percent public speaking, 30 percent interview skills and 10 percent community involvement.
"I can bring in a book or some teddy bears for a donation to kids who don't have that kind of stuff," Cidnie said of the community involvement section. She said she hasn't had to do any research for the pageant except for reading information the National American Miss organization sent her in the mail.
"They sent books in the mail about the pageant that I had to read over," she said. "They were basically an instruction packet, stating like age-appropriate clothing."
Cidnie will be a seventh-grade student at New Bremen and she spends her time cheerleading, playing basketball, participating in girl scouts and playing her flute in band.
"I've gone to cheer camps at New Bremen High School since kindergarten," she said. "I just started cheering for school." Cidnie said she has played basketball since fourth grade.
"I play a lot of different positions," she said, noting guard and post as the most common. "I've been in Girl Scouts since I was in kindergarten."
In her free time, Cidnie said she likes scrapbooking, shopping, hanging out with her friends and spending time with her family. Cidnie's pageant sponsors include Emmy's Bridal, Topsy Turvy Toys, Jenni's Hallmark, Remax, The Shoe Dept., Precision STrip, Dr. VanTreese DDS in Sidney, Sunset Cleaners of Piqua, Hack Shack of Sidney, PSG of Sidney and Dr. Heinrichs MD.
"I want to give everybody a big thanks for helping out," Cidnie said, adding that she started looking for sponsors after she received her qualification letter in the end of May. "I had from then until now to find sponsors."
To qualify for Sunday's pageant, Cidnie had to travel for an interview process.
"I had to go to Dublin to do an interview," she said. "They were looking for personality and eye contact." Cidnie said she was chosen as a one of the finalists out of six different cities in Ohio — Toledo, Dublin, Akron, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.
"The national pageant is in November around Thanksgiving," Cidnie said. "I'll get to go if I win state finalist. That's my goal." |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 15 July 2009 )
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