By Gary Lloyd
It will look almost like a local pageant.
When 51 girls convene June 5-8 at the Leslie Stephen Wright Fine Arts Center on Samford University’s campus in Birmingham, five of the girls competing for the Miss Alabama crown will be Hewitt-Trussville High School graduates.
Want to know a pretty cool fact about the handful of Trussville natives competing this year? They graduated in a consecutive five-year span.
Miss Center Point Jordan Dailey graduated in 2007, Miss Trussville Meschelle Stringer in 2008, Miss Birmingham Elisabeth Chramer in 2009, Miss North Jefferson Area Katie Malone in 2010 and Miss Auburn University Holland Brown in 2011.
“I find it so interesting to have five Hewitt-Trussville graduates competing in Miss Alabama, but not at all surprising,” said Brown, competing in her first Miss Alabama Pageant with a platform of juvenile diabetes. “Trussville is an incredible and supportive community that has produced many girls worthy of competing in Miss Alabama. We are all very excited to compete, and proud to represent Trussville.”
Dailey is competing in her third Miss Alabama competition.
“We all get so close during the week of Miss Alabama, and everyone generally remains very supportive,” said Dailey, whose platform is women’s education. “Of course, it would be exciting for a Hewitt alum to win, but we’re all very much in each other’s courts, regardless of where we went to high school or college.”
Stringer will compete for Miss Alabama for the fifth time this year, and each time she’s competed, there have been at least two Hewitt-Trussville graduates in the competition.
“This is an incredible representation of the Trussville area,” said Stringer, whose platform this year is called “Meschelle’s Mission: Stopping Domestic Violence.”
Chramer is in her fourth Miss Alabama competition, with a platform of “Passion to Action: Igniting Purpose in a New Generation.”
“Every woman that competes for Miss Alabama would dream of having her name called out as the winner on that Saturday night, but having any of the Trussville natives win would be a huge accomplishment for our representation and city as a whole,” Chramer said. “Trussville, despite having one of the best records in the state for number of representatives, has not produced a Miss Alabama, to my knowledge. It would be a momentous occasion for all of us to see our city reach this goal.”
Malone, competing in her third Miss Alabama, will represent the Ronald McDonald House as her platform
. Malone said she believes all five Hewitt-Trussville graduates have competed against each other in past pageants.
“We are always excited for one another’s successes,” Malone said. “There is nothing like Husky pride.”
One June 8, there will be a nearly 10 percent chance that a Trussville native wears the crown.
“The best part is that we are foremost a Miss Alabama and Trussville family, so even if we see someone else wear the crown, we can still all celebrate her success,” Chramer said.
Clay native Jamie Brooks will compete in the competition as Miss Shelby County, and Janet Pugh will compete as Miss Clay-Chalkville.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.