Heather Latter
With the Miss North Ontario Regional Canada Pageant just over a month away, Rainy River District representative Alyssa Chiasson is in the midst of pageant preparations.
“I’m getting excited but a little overwhelmed—there’s so much to do,” admitted the 16-year-old Fort Frances resident.
One of the most pertinent tasks is getting her head shot submitted, but she’s having a hard time choosing between two shots.
“I put my two favourites on my Facebook page and asked for people to vote in order to help me decide,” Chiasson said, noting one certainly seems to have more “likes” than the other.
The photos were taken by Jonah Cawston, a Fort Frances resident who is attending OCAD University (formerly the Ontario College of Art and Design) in Toronto.
“The photo shoot was a lot of fun,” Chiasson remarked.
“And it was great experience because I will have to do a photo shot as part of the pageant.”
Once head shots from each of the participants have been received, they will be available to view—and vote—on the Miss North Ontario website.
“They do a people’s choice award that is voted on by the public,” Chiasson explained.
Although she’s unsure the exact details of how the voting works, she’s hopeful she can come out on top.
“We’re hoping everyone in the community will vote a lot,” said Chiasson’s mom, Susan.
“They’ve proven they’re really great voters in past events.”
The contestant that receives the most votes online automatically makes it into the top 15.
“That’s her goal right now, the top 15,” Susan Chiasson noted.
“And we’d really like this to be the way to do it since the community is so great at supporting voting events.”
It’s expected the voting will being around April 15 by visiting www.missnorthontario.com and clicking on the “Contestants 2015” tab at the top right.
Alyssa Chiasson said she will be posting the link and voting instructions on her Facebook page (“Alyssa Chiasson—Miss Rainy River District 2015”) when voting begins.
The pageant, set to take place May 1-2 at the Fraser Auditorium in Sudbury, is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
The event is meant to showcase the importance of promoting tourism in North Ontario, as well as the discovery of the rewards of volunteer work for worthwhile charities.
“There will be about 40-50 [contestants] and we will be there for three days,” Chiasson said.
“We get to stay in a hotel together so I’ll be with three other girls, so that will be fun,” she noted.
She also is excited to participate in the many workshops that will be offered, such as yoga, self-defence, public speaking, and self-esteem.
On the second night in Sudbury, Chiasson will complete in the talent show, where she’ll take the stage with an upbeat jazz dance number to the Taylor Swift tune, “Shake it Off.”
“I hope I can really show my personality so that everyone in the crowd has fun watching it,” she remarked.
Then the third night is the show.
“There is a fashion show, and then right off the bat everybody gets cut except for 15 girls,” Chiasson said.
She indicated there is an interview and another cut, followed by another fashion show and interview before the winners are announced.
The contestants are judged on preliminary night formal wear, personal interview with judges, beauty with a purpose, scholastic testing, final night opening number, public speaking, and pre-pageant participation and co-operation.
As part of the pageant, Chiasson had to raise at least $100 to help support Northern Ontario Families of Children With Cancer, a charity supported by the pageant.
Chiasson already has raised $200 by selling World’s Finest Chocolate bars.
In addition, she has been able to garner more than the required $600 in sponsorship, thanks to local businesses such as Pharmasave, Tompkins Hardware, Badiuk Equipment, Rainy Lake Family Dental, Wilson’s Business Solutions, and Lidkea Optometry.
“I contacted a lot of businesses and the ones who responded were quite supportive,” Chiasson noted, adding she feels she has the support of the community.
“I have people on my Facebook page commenting and ‘liking’ things, and people in the community have talked to me about it so I think people support me,” she reasoned.
Chiasson also is busy preparing for other aspects of the pageant.
She has purchased her formal dress but still needs to find shoes and have the dress hemmed, and she is working on the choreography for her dance routine for the talent portion.
The teen also is creating a scrapbook about her community involved for the “Beauty with a Purpose” category, and she has yet to pick a topic and write a one-minute speech for the public-speaking event.
Chiasson has the chance to win more than $10,000 in prizes, including a $2,000 cash scholarship, 17 extra category awards, and more than $500 in prizes just for participating.
“I’m looking forward to being on stage, doing my dance and the opening number, and also meeting everyone,” Chiasson enthused, saying the contestants who live in or around Sudbury already have met one another.
“But I’ve been in touch with them on Facebook,” she noted. “They seem really friendly, supportive, and excited . . . so I’m looking forward to making new friends from across the region.”
For more information, visit Chiasson’s Facebook page or visit www.missnorthontario.com
