Former Miss N.C. heads to pageant
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 6, 2015 1:50 AM
Former Miss Goldsboro and Miss North Carolina Beth Stovall is heading back to the Miss America pageant this week.
But not as a contestant.
The 2014 state queen has been invited to sing the national anthem on the Atlantic City stage during a preliminary night competition Thursday.
She will also be part of a special 9/11 luncheon the following day, officials said. The televised 2016 pageant will be Saturday night.
The Miss America organization is holding an inaugural Miss America 9/11 Military Tribute Concert to honor the men and women who have given and risked their lives for our freedom. Miss Stovall is included in some impressive company, which includes six former Miss Americas and six former state queens on the entertainment lineup. The reigning Miss America Kira Kazantsez and Miss America 1971, Phyllis George, will be emcees.
Miss Stovall, a Rosewood High School graduate and operatic singer, has been quite busy since entering the pageant realm.
She was Miss Goldsboro 2013, placing in the Top 10 at the state event that year. She went on to be crowned Miss Greater Sampson County in 2014, which propelled her to receiving the state honor and going on to compete at Miss America.
In the months since crowning her successor, she has been invited to serve on the board of ARTS North Carolina, which serves 205 non-profit arts organizations, including Arts Councils throughout the state and the North Carolina Symphony. It also coordinates grassroots advocacy to increase public funding for the arts in all 100 counties and create a statewide policy for arts education in public schools.
The role is in line with her platform of "Art and Soul," to ensure funding of the arts in public schools.
"I'm excited to be the first college student and youngest arts advocate to be on the ARTS North Carolina board," she said. "My responsibilities as an ARTS North Carolina board member include the promotion of the mission and guiding principles of ARTS North Carolina and participation in the creation of a yearly plan of action that advances ARTS North Carolina's mission."
She has also recently resumed her college career, at East Carolina University. Prior to her first pageant title, she had been a student at UNC-Wilmington.
"I'm finishing my undergraduate education at ECU as an entering junior, pursuing a bachelor of music degree in vocal performance," she said this past week, adding, "I'm excited to be a new member of the internationally recognized ECU Chamber Singer Ensemble."