Beth Stovall, Miss North Carolina 2014, takes a look back at her year
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on August 9, 2015 1:50 AM
Beth Stovall has been treated regally for the past three years -- as Miss Goldsboro 2013, Miss Greater Sampson County 2014 and then Miss North Carolina 2014.
But when it came time to relinquish her latest title, it was a seamless transition, she said.
"The day after the (Miss North Carolina) pageant, I took out the display box, I opened it up and put the crown in there. It made it this 'back cover of the book,'" she said. "This is the end of that chapter."
She was been afforded all kinds of experiences and opportunities in the preliminaries and competitions at Miss America, where she was awarded the Most Talented Non-Finalist Award.
And then there were the lesser-known tasks that came with the role.
"At the N.C. Seafood Festival, the tradition is (for Miss N.C.) to kiss a flounder and fling it into a big frying pan," she said. "I thought they were kidding. That was interesting, one of the weirdest things I have done.
"I also auctioned off a bushel of yams at the Yam Festival and a flat of strawberries at the Strawberry Festival. I came home with probably $3,000 worth of strawberries."
She also learned much about her home state, she says.
"I learned more in the year I was Miss North Carolina than I probably have in 21 years," she said.
The highlights for her, though, have nothing to do with glitz and glamour, crowns and competitions.
"My favorite as Miss North Carolina was to visit schools. I probably (spoke to) over 50,000 kids. The great thing about kids is you can go in with a planned message and come out and you haven't touched on any of that stuff," she said, recalling a standout memory, at a school in the mountains.
"I walked in and was planning on being bright and bubbling, talking about expressing themselves as an artist. I walked in and the mood was not that. They were quiet."
One little girl, probably first or second grade, sidled up to her and blurted out, "I just can't get over the fact that my father said he will never love me," she said.
"In that moment, I didn't care about being Miss N.C. She needed Beth Stovall," she said. "I picked her up and scooped her in my arms and tried to reassure her that she was lovable and he probably just didn't understand."
Another memory was something she looked forward to since seeing pictures of a former Miss NC riding in the oversized N.C. Agriculture shopping cart in the Strawberry Festival.
"That was in May," she said. "So I knew that I had to wait until almost the end of my reign. I was like a kid in the candy store for the Strawberry Festival."
No matter how many miles she logged or how far she traveled, thoughts of home kept her company.
The daughter of Dan and Patti Stovall, older sister of Ben, a student at Wayne School of Engineering, she is still a product of Wayne County.
She graduated from Rosewood High School in 2011 and is a rising senior at UNC-Wilmington, where she studied vocal performance.
Singing has always been a passion but it wasn't until she got to college that she fell in love with opera.
"I didn't have a single voice lesson until I got to college. That's when I discovered that I could sing operatically. I knew I wanted to major in music but didn't what that entailed," she said, having previously favored contemporary music. "In third grade, I taught myself in chorus to do Beethoven's 9th Symphony in German. Just because."
Beyond all the accolades that have come her way, the most heartwarming feedback has always come from those in her hometown.
"It all started here," she said. "It all started with the people that believed in me.
"My mom was always pretty tough on me when it came to achieving things that I wanted. She would always say, 'Well, OK, if you're going to work for it.' My mom never let me settle for less than I'm capable of."
Miss Stovall's first pageant experience was for Miss Rosewood. She recalls her mother asking why she wanted to do it and the response was that her teacher wanted more participation.
"She said, 'Well, you're not going to do it unless you want to win,'" Miss Stovall said. "That was the first time I thought, if I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it with my whole heart."
It has paid off, with her gaining $20,000 worth of scholarship money a well as a sisterhood and camaderie that comes with being a "forever Miss North Carolina." It also didn't have to break the bank, she noted.
"I competed in the exact same wardrobe both years (at Miss America), except for swimsuit," she said. "I did not want to go all out because none of that really matters. It's not the dress that matters. It's about the girl wearing the dress."
She said she will always be part of the Miss America organization, she said, calling it the best self-improvement program for young women today.
"My biggest challenge when I came into this organization was getting to know myself better," she said. "I was expecting someone to tell me exactly what to say and where to stand and how to pose and this is what you do for talent."
Instead, it became a proving ground that allowed her to discover her true self.
She turns 21 on Sept. 20 and looks forward to returning to college.
She still takes voice lessons, journals -- a habit she developed early on to help remember all the names of those she met and chronicle every experience -- and is still promoting her platform, "Art and Soul," to ensure that arts are funded in public schools.
"I have an audition in August, not going to say where, but that'll direct my path," she said.
One day she hopes to perform on a big stage, like the Metropolitan Opera in New York, she said.
Meanwhile, she posts on social media and has her own website, bethstovall.com.