Mike SciaccaThe journey from Surf City to...

Mike Sciacca

The journey from Surf City to Atlantic City is a long one, but for 12

ambitious and hopeful young women that first step toward a possible

trip to the Eastern seaboard will begin on Saturday night.

That’s when they will present themselves center stage before a

panel of judges, each contestant seeking scholarship money and the

title of Miss Huntington Beach.

The winner of Saturday’s Miss Huntington Beach Scholarship

Pageant, a franchise of the Miss California/Miss America Organization

and sponsored by the Women of Action committee of the Huntington

Beach Chamber of Commerce, will go on to represent Surf City in June

at the Miss California America Pageant in Fresno.

The lucky young woman who wins that pageant will represent the

Golden State at the Miss America Pageant, an event traditionally held

each September.

Two years ago, Katie Plummer represented Huntington Beach at the

state pageant and won the Miss Congeniality award.

On Saturday, the 12 young women -- each eligible because she

either lives, works or attends school in Huntington Beach -- will go

before a panel of five judges who will score each contestant in five

areas of competition.

The breakdown of a girls’ overall score will include 40% for

interview, 30% for talent and 10% for formal wear, swimsuit and

overall appearance.

While Miss America has long been associated with the talent

portion of its competition, a major component to a contestant’s

presentation is her platform.

“It’s a very integral part of the competition and what a young

lady may talk about in her platform is something she strongly

believes in, or something that hits close to home,” said June

Dougmore, the executive director for the Miss Huntington Beach

Scholarship Pageant. “These girls really do a wonderful job in

presenting these platforms and it’s wonderful when you can raise

awareness to a cause through a pageant setting.”

One of platforms in this year’s pageant is, “raising the awareness

of the deaf community,” where, Dougmore says for the first time in

the pageant’s history, a sign language interpreter will be used on

stage.

Some of the other platforms include, “physical education and

fitness awareness in youth,” “cure autism now,” and, “substance abuse

among adolescents.”

Last year’s pageant winner, Randi Galbraith, who Dougmore said

“was an outstanding Miss Huntington Beach,” will be on hand to crown

her successor .

Among the 12 young women vying for the crown, each of whom is

sponsored by a local business, are two returners from last year:

Bridget Dixon and Lynette Hibben.

Dixon was the second runner-up to Galbraith and Hibben was first

runner-up.

Dixon’s platform last year was, “education through fine arts.”

This year, she will talk about “preventing and detecting skin

cancer.”

This year’s pageant is the second attempt at the title for the

20-year-old, a mass communications/public relations major at Orange

Coast College.

“My first time out, I learned a lot, mostly about pageant

etiquette,” Dixon said. “I was able to meet a lot of people in the

community through this pageant, people whom I normally would not have

had the chance to meet. It was a very good opportunity. I feel more

prepared this time out.”

Dixon said the pageant experience also afforded her the

opportunity to sharpen her communication skills; more importantly,

she said, one main reason she entered the pageant is that it gave her

the opportunity to further her education.

“I entered Miss Huntington Beach last year because of the

scholarship opportunities,” she said. “That, in itself, is a

wonderful opportunity for any young woman.

“I entered this year not only for the scholarship money [but]

because the pageant affords young women the opportunity to make

connections in the community. It’s a constantly learning and growing,

experience. I feel blessed to be able to do something like this.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at [email protected].