Well, that might be an overstatement, but the newspaper published an article about the fact that "Miss Bar Harbor" Rani Williamson, who won the Miss Maine USA Pageant last weekend, isn't really from Bar Harbor at all (Williamson is on the right in the photo above).
After the BDN ran a story about the pageant (which focused mostly on pageant co-hosts Ashley Hebert and Ashley Underwood, two Maine natives who have starred on national reality television programs), word of the pageant winner apparently got around Bar Harbor. Many longtime local residents were confused, the Islander reported, because they had never heard of Williamson. Turns out, she is from Cumberland Center (near Portland) and graduated from Greely High School - not from MDI. She chose "Miss Bar Harbor" simply because it is her favorite place in Maine, a pageant official told the paper.
In his BDN-hosted blog, reporter Seth Koenig explains the contestant-naming process. Pageant contestants can choose any name they want, he said, provided it hasn't already been chosen by a competitor in the same pageant. It can be a place name or the name of a sponsor, such as "Body By John" or "Regency Spa."
That's why the pageant had a Miss Bar Harbor who really has no specific connection to Bar Harbor, other than having enjoyed her visits to the town. It may be misleading to many casual observers, but those familiar with the pageant likely knew her stage name did not necessarily reflect her hometown. It could be argued that, for anyone searching for absolutely honesty and raw unfiltered accurate representations of reality, beauty pageants are probably not the best place to go looking for it.
On the other hand, Williamson's choice of a stage name can be interpreted as a high-profile compliment to the town, which otherwise would not have had any connection to the contest. The fact that Williams won the pageant can only help publicize Bar Harbor, which seeks to lure millions of tourists every summer.
For those comfortable with the imprecise linkage between contestants and their stage names, not having Williamson keep her "Miss Bar Harbor" appellation while she competes in the Miss USA Pageant on NBC next June might be seen as a missed opportunity.
No comments:
Post a Comment