June 26, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 11A
Miss Oregon Scholarship Program
M
On the road to Miss America
iss Oregon Scholarship
Organization, founded
in 1947, is unlike any
other group conducting a pageant
in the State of Oregon. With a fo-
cus on conducting a competition
that emphasizes the unique aspect
of each young woman and which
highlights their personal successes
from community service to aca-
demics to performing arts, the Miss
Oregon Scholarship Organization
is so much more than a “stereo-
typical” pageant. The organization
strives to provide young women
with the opportunity to rise to the
top. The program is fully com-
mitted to motivating and assisting
young women in the state of Or-
egon to ful¿ ll their individual and
professional goals by rewarding its
participants with signi¿ cant college
and university tuition assistance.
Supporting and promoting the
self-esteem of the contestants is of
the utmost importance to the or-
ganization. It is essential that the
young women who compete feel
a sense of belonging with both her
fellow contestants and the larg-
er pageant community. The skills
learned in the Miss Oregon and
Miss Oregon’s Outstanding Teen
Pageants have been said to last a
lifetime. Contestants gain the abil-
ity to speak and perform in public,
to serve as leaders in their own
communities and to have a sense of
con¿ dence in themselves and their
abilities.
From its signature font to the
winner’s crown and sash, the Miss
Oregon Scholarship Organization
is committed to representing the
Miss America brand and the young
women we serve with service,
scholarship, success and style.
Miss Oregon and Miss America
paint a vivid picture of the chang-
ing ambitions of their contestants.
Miss America is a powerful cultural
institution that continues to reveal
much about our changing nation.
But beyond the symbolism lies the
human stories which speak of the
changing position of women in so-
ciety and how the pageant has been
a road to personal and professional
success.
The Miss Oregon Scholarship
Organization has created a relevant,
forward-thinking public program
based upon the sense of tradition
that makes the Miss Oregon Pag-
eant one of the most popular and
anticipated events on the state’s
cultural calendar.
For more information about
Miss America, go to www.MissA-
merica.org.
Ally Pederson
Tamara Evans
Kaylee Nelson
Alexandra Amber
Bailey Pilant
Allison Burke
Title: Rogue Valley
Hometown: Medford, Oregon
Age: 18
Platform Issue: Diabetes Education
Talent: Vocal Performance – Black
Horse and the Cherry Tree
Education:
Scholastic/Career Ambition: Train
Diabetic students internationally
Local Pageant: Rogue Valley Schol-
arship Program
Local Pageant Director: Shannon
Monning
Scholarship Received: $350
Title: Southern Jewel
Hometown: Bend, Oregon
Age: 22
Platform Issue: Slavery to Freedom
± +uman Traf¿ cking Awareness and
Prevention
Talent: Vocal Performance – Via Do-
lorosa
Education: Bend High School, Oregon
Institute of Technology
Scholastic/Career Ambition: Obtain
Master of Science in Civil Engineering.
To design infrastructure in order to build
water systems in developing nations.
Local Pageant: Southern Gem-South-
ern Jewel Scholarship Program
Local Pageant Director: Jann Leeper
Scholarship Received: $250
Title: Three Rivers
Hometown: Eugene, Oregon
Age: 23
Platform Issue: CPR: Stayin’ Alive
One Beat at a Time
Talent: Sassy Jazz Dance – Ruby
Blue
Education: University of Oregon
Scholastic/Career Ambition: Bach-
elor’s Degree in Psychology, Teach
High School Psychology and Liter-
ature.
Local Pageant: Three Rivers Schol-
arship Program
Local Pageant Director: Julie Fleck
and Vicki Mills- O’Donnell
Scholarship Received: $400
Title: Cascade
Hometown: Eugene, Oregon
Age: 21
Platform Issue: Fit for Life
Talent: Vocal Performance – Orange
Colored Sky
Education: High School Graduate,
Lane Community College
Scholastic/Career Ambition: Mas-
ters in Social Work, Family and Mar-
riage Counselor
Local Pageant: Cascade Scholarship
Program
Local Pageant Director: Julie Fleck
and Vicki Mills- O’Donnell
Scholarship Received: $900
Title: Marion-Polk County
Hometown: Salem, Oregon
Age: 21
Platform Issue: Domestic Violence
Awareness
Talent: Vocal Performance – It’s
a Good Thing He Can’t Read My
Mind.
Education: Oregon State University
Scholastic/Career Ambition: Earn
Bachelors, then Masters in Commu-
nication, Peace Corps
Local Pageant: Marion-Polk County
Scholarship Program
Local Pageant Director: Blaine
Barlow
Scholarship Received: $1,250
Title: Mt. Hood
Hometown: Tigard, Oregon
Age: 19
Platform Issue: The Backpack Pro-
gram: Feeding Americas Children
One Backpack at a Time
Talent: Classical Violin – Vivaldi’s
Concerto in A Minor, 1st. Movement
Education: Tigard High School, Lin-
¿ eld College
Scholastic/Career Ambition: Com-
plete Bachelors of Science in Nurs-
ing and work in Pediatrics.
Local Pageant: Cascade Scholarship
Program
Local Pageant Director: Julie Fleck
and Vicki Mills- O’Donnell
Scholarship Received: $900
Katie Noyed
Cassidy Smith
Veronica Norris
Liza-May Skeie
Ali Wallace
Title: High Desert
Hometown: Minnetonka, Minnesota
Age: 21
Platform Issue: Eating Disorder
Awareness
Talent: Lyrical Dance – Back to the
Earth
Education:
Minnetonka
High
School, Arhus Katdralskole Col-
lege, OSU Cascades/Central Oregon
Community College
Scholastic/Career Ambition: Wants
to become a Naturopathic Doctor,
Peace Corps Volunteer
Local Pageant: Hi Desert Scholar-
ship Program
Local Pageant Director: Ann Fisher
Scholarship Received: $250
Title: Douglas County
Hometown: Roseburg, Oregon
Age: 19
Platform Issue: Community Out-
reach: Helping People Help Them-
selves
Talent: Piano - Vesuvius
Education: Roseburg High School,
Oregon State University
Scholastic/Career Ambition: Ob-
tain Biology Degree and Doctorate of
Medicine to become an Obstetrician
Local Pageant: Douglas County
Scholarship Program
Local Pageant Director: Summer
Fox
Scholarship Received: $6,400
Title: City of Sunshine
Hometown: Aurora, Oregon
Age: 18
Platform Issue: Griselda Project
Talent: Lyrical Ballet - Bloom
Education: North Marion High
School, Oregon Institute of Technol-
ogy
Scholastic/Career Ambition: Bach-
elor of Science in Diagnostic Medi-
cal Sonography
Local Pageant: Klamath County
– City of Sunshine Scholarship Pro-
gram
Local Pageant Director: Jann Leep-
er
Scholarship Received: $3,800
Title: Bandon Cranberry Festival
Hometown: Bandon, Oregon
Age: 17
Platform Issue: Band for Everyone
Talent: Alto Sax – Georgia on my
Mind
Education: Bandon High School
Scholastic/Career Ambition: Mas-
ters in Hospital Administration
Local Pageant: Bandon Cranberry
Festival
Local Pageant Director: Robin
Koch
Scholarship Received: $1,000
Title: Portland
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Age: 21
Platform Issue: Traumatic Brain In-
jury: Education and Awareness
Talent: Lyrical Dance - Latch
Education: Sunset High School,
Portland State University
Scholastic/Career Ambition: Grad-
uate from Portland State University
with honors and pursue a career in
the ¿ lm industry.
Local Pageant: Three Rivers Schol-
arship Program
Local Pageant Director: Julie Fleck
and Vicki Mills- O’Donnell
Scholarship Received: $360
Phillips: ‘We call ourselves a pageant family and we really are’
Phillips from Page 1A
the Miss Portland pageant
— Phillips was herself a
theater major at Portland
State University and very
anti-pageant — that is, until
one of her friends became
Miss Oregon, and it sucked
her in, she said.
In the early 1970s, Phil-
lips started working on the
Miss Portland pageant,
which is a preliminary to
the Miss Oregon pageant.
When she moved to Sea-
side in 1979, her husband,
Steve, was running the
Miss Oregon Scholarship
Program as a co-executive
director. Seven years later,
it was Phillips.
“I always laughingly
say I didn’t like the way
he was running it, so I
took over,” she joked.
Around the time of
transition, the Phillips-
es and a few others had
recognized the program
needed to grow in terms
of the scholarship dollars
distributed, and they knew
the way to do that was
by setting up a nonpro¿ t
foundation with a sepa-
rate board of directors.
The Oregon Scholarship
Foundation now handles
the scholarship money
for Miss Oregon, as well
as the memorial scholar-
ships the Phillips family
set up in the name of their
daughter, Tiffany.
When reÀ ecting on
which aspect of the pro-
gram she takes the most
KATHERINE LACAZE PHOTO
Dana Phillips has been the
executive director of the
Miss Oregon Scholarship
Program since 1986, but
has been involved with the
program since 1979. She
is retiring after the 2015
Miss Oregon Pageant, held
in Seaside from June 24
through 27.
pride in, Phillips said it
would have to be that the
¿ rst Miss Oregon, Jo Ann
Amorde, is still involved,
although now at a local
level as she progresses in
age. “We have so many of
our past contestants, past
Miss Oregons, past Miss
Oregon families, past con-
testant families still being
involved in the pageant,”
Phillips said. “We call
ourselves a pageant family
and we really are.”
That became evident
in a personal way when
the family lost Tiffany
in a car accident in 1998
shortly after she turned
17. Phillips was supposed
to À y to a National Asso-
ciation of Miss America
State Pageants meeting in
New York when the acci-
dent occurred. She didn’t
attend the workshop, but
when her counterparts
heard what happened, “the
phone calls kept coming
in,” she said. They also
raised about $50,000 to
set up a memorial fund in
Tiffany’s name.
Tiffany — a 6-foot-4
star athlete — was never
a contestant herself, but
she liked the behind-the-
scenes aspect and was
close to the Miss Oregon
winners who would stay
with the family, Phillips
said. “She was one of
those young ladies who
was always willing to help
others and believed in
making sure people under-
stood that you can pick up
your own bootstraps and
you do whatever you want
to do,” she said.
Tiffany “was a miracle
child,” and though she
was unexpected, Phillips
said. “We were so bless-
ed to have had her, but
too short.” Her spirit re-
mains, however. “She’s
my guardian angel,” Phil-
lips said.
Having Tiffany also
gave Phillips a deeper un-
derstanding and ability to
form relationships with
the Miss Oregon winners.
Growing up, she didn’t
babysit and she didn’t like
being around children.
“Then Tiffany came into
my life,” she said. “It just
gives you an insight, to
have a little person that
you made and that you
can sit there and enjoy and
mentor. It gives you an in-
sight that I wouldn’t have
had without that. I didn’t
really have the true heart
of it until I had my own
child. And I think that’s
one of the reasons Steve
and I have stayed so in-
volved is because of the
heartache so many of these
young people go through
in life because they don’t
have or come from loving
families. And there isn’t
anybody to be supportive
and there isn’t anybody to
lift them up and say, ‘you
can achieve whatever you
want to achieve.’”
From not being partic-
ularly fond of children,
Phillips now has been
“accumulating daughters
in a special way by being
involved in this organiza-
tion” for several decades.
“These young ladies
are the legacy that we’ve
helped build in this pro-
gram,” she said. “Our
daughters — our Miss
Oregons — are very spe-
cial.”
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