Contestants earn awards in Miss Arkansas Pageant
LITTLE ROCK — Miss Northeast Arkansas Bailey Moses of Cabot was named third runnerup Saturday night in the Miss Arkansas Pageant at the Robinson Center in Little Rock. She received a $7,500 scholarship sponsored by the Former Miss Arkansas Association.
Moses, the 22-year-old daughter of Jeff and Marsha Moses, is a social-media management major at Arkansas State University.
She won several other awards in the pageant, including the Miss America Community Service Award, which is a $1,000 scholarship given by the Miss America Foundation; the Sloane Roberts Overall Dance Award, a $500 scholarship given by Michelle and John Mark Roberts; the Preliminary Artistic Expression in Talent Award on June 15, a $2,000 scholarship donated by Mary and Rick Edwards with Triple S Alarm; and the Preliminary Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit Preliminary Award on June 13, a $1,500 scholarship donated by Brittany and Clay Combs.
For her talent, Moses performed a jazz dance to “Respect.” Her platform is “Suitcases for Kids: Advocacy for Foster Care Children.”
Moses was also third runner-up in the 2016 Miss Arkansas Pageant. Other contestants from the Three
Rivers Edition coverage area who won awards in the Miss Arkansas Pageant include the following:
• Miss Apple Blossom Reagan Wheelis of Melbourne, the 19-year-old daughter of Dr. Brad and Tina Wheelis and a student at the University of Arkansas, was named one of the five semifinalists finishing 6-10 and listed in random order. She received a $3,000 scholarship sponsored by Jones and Son Fine Jewelry. She was also named a Children’s Miracle Network Miracle Maker Finalist and placed third in the competition, receiving a $500 scholarship. Her platform was Breast Cancer Awareness: Early Detection Is Key, and her talent was a piano solo, “Pirates of the Caribbean Medley.”
• Miss Arkansas River Bethany Kasper of Jacksonville, the 18-year-old daughter of Travis and Melissa Kasper and a student at the University of Arkansas, was announced as finishing 1115, listed in random order, receiving a $1,500 scholarship sponsored by the Miss Arkansas Scholarship Fund. She also received a $500 Loren McDaniel “Confidentially You” Scholarship, given by Melissa and Kevin McDaniel to two alpha (first-time) contestants based on their platform in the pageant. Her platform was “Our Kids Read,” and her talent was a vocal rendition of “Maybe This Time.”
• Miss Batesville Christian Weatherly, the 19-year-old daughter of Ronnie and Darlene Weatherly and a student at ASU, was awarded the Fine Lines Training Nonfinalist Swimsuit Award, a $500 scholarship given by Ann Marie and Kenny
Gibbs. Weatherly also won the Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit Preliminary Award, a $1,500 scholarship donated by Mary and Rick Edwards with Triple S Alarm, in a tie June 15, and she was named a Savvy Shields Alpha Swimsuit Winner, receiving a $500 scholarship from the Miss America Homecoming Celebration Committee. Weatherly also received the Combs Caught Ya Act of Kindness Award, voted on by contestants and based on an act of kindness; this award was a $250 scholarship given by Brittany and Clay Combs. Weatherly’s platform was S.M.I.L.E.: Seeing Miracles in Life Everyday, and her talent was a clogging routine to “Can’t Stop the Feeling.”