by MIKE CHAIKEN
CTFashionMag.com
There was plenty of public celebration at the Grand Oak Villa in Watertown on Friday night, Nov. 29 as the Miss Connecticut Scholarship Organization held a send-off party for Miss Connecticut, Monica Fenwick of Watertown, and Miss Connecticut’s Teen, Camryn Patton of Bristol.
The two women – who were crowned on June 22– will be heading to Orlando, Fla. later this month for the Miss America and Miss America’s Teen competitions, which begin New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31 for the teens and New Year’s Day, Jan. 1 for the misses. The new Miss America’s Teen will be crowned Jan. 4. The new Miss America on Jan. 5.
There were plenty of moments to share on social media as the two titleholders offered up speeches, said their thank yous to those who have supported them on their journeys in the Miss Connecticut organization, demonstrated some of the skills they have been polishing up before standing in front of a team of judges and posed for plenty of photos with friends and family.
But one portion of the evening’s proceedings were hush, hush. Top secret.
As part of the send-off, Fenwick and Patton offered guests a sneak peek of key pieces of their competition wardrobe. However, guests and press were told to stow away their cameras or hold off the publication of images until after the Miss America and Miss America’s Teen competitions had begun.
The idea is that the first jaw-dropping moments should be reserved for that moment Fenwick and Patton walk into the spotlight on the national stage from Florida.
However, the two women were more than glad to discuss how they discovered their wardrobe and what drew their eyes to their selected garments. They also went into greater detail about their selections for their all-important evening gowns.
Fenwick said, “I started screenshotting tons of gowns; none which actually looked like this in any way, shape or form. I had my heart set on blue, as you know I’m always in blue, but (my ultimate selection) was actually the first dress I saw in the store.,, My mom and I looked at the tag and we were like, ‘Girl don’t get your heart.’ And then we looked again, and then we started jumping up and down. ‘Woo, we can afford this one.’”
Then, when Fenwick tried the gown on, “I started crying and I was like, ‘I think this is the one.’ And everyone’s like, ‘No, you have to try on more.’ Okay, so every one was compared to this one and when we put the earrings on, it’s like when you’re getting married and they put the veil on… we knew it was the one.”
For her gown, Patton said a former national titleholder served as her style inspiration.
Patton said she wanted a gown that she imagined Kaleigh Garris, the former Miss Teen USA from Connecticut, would have worn at the Miss USA competition.
“Literally, we walked into (the dress store) and this is the second gown we see, the second gown we try on. And here we are,” said Patton as she showed the guests her selection.
As part of the festivities on Friday, Fenwick and Patton also were tapped to demonstrate their abilities to answer the questions of the judges during their private interview competitions at Miss America and Miss America’s Teen.
During her moment at the podium in the ballroom in Watertown, Patton was asked “What do you hope that the judges will learn about you during your interview?”
“I would say that I’m not just a dancer,” said the Bristol teen, who regularly competes as a performer. “My talents, my community service initiative (‘It’s OK. Championing mental health in performing arts’) is all centered around my experience in competitive dance, so I want the judges to know that I’m not just a dancer. I’m ready to be an ambassador for the Miss America organization.”
“What is something that you want to teach the judges about your (community service initiative) during your interview?” Fenwick was asked in her moment at the podium.
“As a speech pathologist, one of the most important things to me through my community service initiative is teaching people that there’s more than one way to communicate. When you think about communication, you often hear about verbal communication, but there’s so many other ways you can talk… I think unlocking that (realization) is unlocking the stigmas around communication disorders,” she said.
For information about Miss America, visit MissAmerica.org. The competition will be streamed live at MissAmerica.tv