Ariana Barre is Miss Grays Harbor 2017. The former Aberdeen High School graduate and Seattle University student was crowned in front of a packed house at the 7th Street Theatre in Hoquiam on Feb. 25.
Barre, the daughter of Eric and Michelle Barre of Cosmopolis, sang “What I Did for Love” from the Broadway musical “A Chorus Line” during the talent portion of the competition and admitted to being a Harry Potter superfan during the formal wear competition. Her platform was avoiding preventable accidents and illnesses, which, she said during the on-stage question portion, anyone can do just by “being educated and aware of the situation you are in.” Barre’ was awarded a $3,000 scholarship for taking the title, and another $500 for being selected for the Four Points of the Crown honor.
The first runner-up award went to Stephanie Hornback, a student at Grays Harbor College. She also took the $200 Staff Award for a total of $1,500 in scholarship money. Kylie Shepard was named second runner-up and also took the Together We Can and Miss Congeniality awards for a total of $1,500 in cash and scholarships.
Other awards included the $300 Living Your Platform honor, which went to Hoquiam High School student Paige Folkers; and the $300 Scholastic Achievement award, collected by Grays Harbor College student Ericka Manwell.
The Miss Grays Harbor Outstanding Teen Award and the $350 cash award that goes with it went to Aberdeen High School’s Paicyn Dragoo. She’s a varsity cheerleader and sang Adele’s “Hello” for her talent. Her platform was the Kids Hunting Foundation. Her parents are Ben and Trina Dragoo. She also was awarded the title of Miss Congeniality, which came with another $100.
Other awards in the Outstanding Teen pageant were the Staff Award and Personal Growth Award, worth $100 and $75, both going to contestant Shayli Burlingame.
The Miss Grays Harbor and Miss Grays Harbor Outstanding Teen programs are an official preliminary to the the Miss America and Miss America’s Outstanding Teen programs. Barre’ will next move on to the Miss Washington pageants, held June 30-July 1 at the Highline Performing Arts Center in Burien, in hopes of moving on to the Miss America pageant. Dragoo will compete in the Miss Washington Outstanding Teen pageant May 26-28, which will also be held at the Highline Performing Arts Center.
Hosts for the evening were Miss Grays Harbor 1986 Jill Smith and Miss Grays Harbor 2014 Connie Morgan; both also performed in between pageant stages. Also performing was 2002 Miss Grays Harbor Elise Rooker, who is now an actress, television host and model living in New York. She played Ed Asner’s daughter on an episode of CBS’s “The Good Wife” in 2015 and has also appeared in the Investigation Discovery series Momsters. She and a band performed The Police classic “Driven to Tears.”
Pageant judges included Aberdeen native and Columbia Bank Senior Vice President and Marketing Manager David Devine; Jennifer Bushong, vice president of a marketing partnership for a Wenatchee sports and entertainment venue; longtime paralegal for the State Attorney General’s Office Diane Hoosier; Dot Stewart, a microbiologist and researcher who serves on the Miss Tri Cities scholarship program; and Jamie Jo Hiles, who grew up in McCleary and is currently a business education teacher at Elma High School.
