Miss-Delectable
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MLive.com: Everything Michigan
Kenya Lowe, 1999's Miss Deaf Michigan, couldn't wait to hand off her tiara.
The biennial Miss Deaf Michigan pageant, which went on hiatus in 2001 after the 9/11 tragedy, returned in 2005 thanks in large part to the efforts of its former queen -- and now Miss Deaf Michigan Pageant Association president.
"I went to the Michigan Deaf Association and was told that if I wanted to pass on the crown I would have to host the pageant myself," Lowe said via e-mail interview. "No one had time to do it again. So I asked April (Lindbergh, who'd later be crowned the '95 queen) if she wanted to work with me and rebuild the pageant again -- the rest is history."
This year is also historic for the pageant as it's the first year it will hold a teen pageant (for 13- to 17-year-olds), which will warm the stage for the Miss Deaf Michigan pageant at the State Theatre on Friday.
Last year introduced the first Junior Miss Deaf Michigan pageant for youth, which will also be held biennially in the off-years from the adult and teen pageants.
Lowe explained that the Miss Deaf Michigan pageant operates similarly to the Miss America pageants in terms of categories of competition, although it doesn't have a swim-suit category and instead features a Platform Presentation category in which the young women present a topic that's important to them.
Talent, evening gown and interview categories are the same, although at the deaf pageant the hopefuls are interviewed both on- and off-stage.
The contestants will communicate via American Sign Language, but there will be voice interpreters for hearing people, according to Oshtemo resident Liz Gilmore Bystrycki, the first Miss Deaf Michigan queen in 1978.
Kalamazoo resident Aalia Amin, age 27, is one of the eight hopefuls who'll vie for the tiara at the pageant. The Indiana native, who earned a general education degree from Indiana University at Purdue, said she moved to Kalamazoo two years ago to be closer to her family -- Dr. Mohammad Amin and Farida Amin.
A friend in the deaf community, Shelly Chu, brought the pageant to her attention and encouraged her to apply.
Kenya Lowe, 1999's Miss Deaf Michigan, couldn't wait to hand off her tiara.
The biennial Miss Deaf Michigan pageant, which went on hiatus in 2001 after the 9/11 tragedy, returned in 2005 thanks in large part to the efforts of its former queen -- and now Miss Deaf Michigan Pageant Association president.
"I went to the Michigan Deaf Association and was told that if I wanted to pass on the crown I would have to host the pageant myself," Lowe said via e-mail interview. "No one had time to do it again. So I asked April (Lindbergh, who'd later be crowned the '95 queen) if she wanted to work with me and rebuild the pageant again -- the rest is history."
This year is also historic for the pageant as it's the first year it will hold a teen pageant (for 13- to 17-year-olds), which will warm the stage for the Miss Deaf Michigan pageant at the State Theatre on Friday.
Last year introduced the first Junior Miss Deaf Michigan pageant for youth, which will also be held biennially in the off-years from the adult and teen pageants.
Lowe explained that the Miss Deaf Michigan pageant operates similarly to the Miss America pageants in terms of categories of competition, although it doesn't have a swim-suit category and instead features a Platform Presentation category in which the young women present a topic that's important to them.
Talent, evening gown and interview categories are the same, although at the deaf pageant the hopefuls are interviewed both on- and off-stage.
The contestants will communicate via American Sign Language, but there will be voice interpreters for hearing people, according to Oshtemo resident Liz Gilmore Bystrycki, the first Miss Deaf Michigan queen in 1978.
Kalamazoo resident Aalia Amin, age 27, is one of the eight hopefuls who'll vie for the tiara at the pageant. The Indiana native, who earned a general education degree from Indiana University at Purdue, said she moved to Kalamazoo two years ago to be closer to her family -- Dr. Mohammad Amin and Farida Amin.
A friend in the deaf community, Shelly Chu, brought the pageant to her attention and encouraged her to apply.