Miss Stanly County Megan Frick, Miss Stanly County’s Outstanding Teen Mackenzie Page and other pageant representatives will soon be off to Raleigh for their respective competitions at Miss North Carolina.
Frick, 19, is a rising junior at Campbell University and the daughter of the late Chris and Sandra Frick. She will be encouraged by family members including her aunt and uncle, Brenda and Randy Mabry of Albemarle.

“It has been such a great opportunity to talk about my platform,” Frick said. “My favorite appearances have been giving presentations to schools, performing at nursing homes and getting to make a little kid’s day by seeing a ‘real life princess.’
“I have been to several schools and spoken about how we can fight against mental illness and how it is okay to ask for help,” she added.
Her schedule for pageant week includes interview on Monday, lifestyle, fitness and swimsuit on Tuesday, talent competition on Wednesday, evening gown on Thursday and finals night on Saturday.

For her talent, Frick will play her guitar and sing “Little Do You Know” by Alex and Sierra, the same song she performed in memory of her parents at the Miss Stanly County Pageant.

“I am most excited about seeing all the close friends I have made through this competition,” Frick said. “I have been preparing for this competition for three years, so finally being able to see this come to fruition is also truly amazing.”
Frick said she trains by making sure she keeps up to date on current events and also goes to the gym before work.
“My mom is really my motivator,” Frick said. “She always loved seeing me on stage. And when I was younger I was really shy, so she loved seeing me grow more confident. Part of the reason I competed this year was because I knew she would have wanted me to keep going.”

Page, the 17-year-old daughter of Darryl and Kim Page of Stanfield, is a rising senior at West Stanly High School.
She is ready to compete for Miss North Carolina Outstanding Teen.
Her schedule for the week includes interview on Monday, talent on Tuesday, evening gown on Wednesday and fitness on Thursday.
“I am also in an opening number routine with all of the other contestants, as well as a dance performance with my Carolina Princesses,” Page said. “Finally, the teens have a special performance that we do with the Miss North Carolina’s Outstanding Teen executive director, Kevin Driver.”
Page said her favorite part of the week is the evening gown competition.

“I have had the opportunity to work with a dress designer in creating my perfect dress,” she said. “I am looking forward to showing off my dress on the Miss North Carolina stage. This dress truly makes me feel like Cinderella.”
For the talent portion, she will dance.
“Dance is a gift I have shared with many for 13 years,” Page said. “I am doing a lyrical dance to the song ‘Clay’ by Grace VanderWaal. The song is very special to me because it connects to my platform.”
Her platform has been the importance of kindness.
“I have activities I let the children do during my program to teach them about spreading kindness,” she said. “At the end of my presentation I leave strips of paper at the school for the students to make a paper chain. On the strips of paper, I have them write on one side how they can be kind to someone and on the other, how someone has been kind to them. Once the chain is put together, it is a great visual reminder of kindness.”
Page said winning the local teen pageant has created several opportunities.
“I have been very busy. I have had an event almost every weekend since winning the title, whether it be parades, photo shoots or appearances,” Page said. “I have made over 40 appearances so far and plan to make many more before my reign is over.
“While it has been very busy, I have enjoyed each and every appearance I have made,” she added. “I have met some great people along the way and I have been very blessed to have had such amazing people and opportunities come into my life.”

As for training for the competition, she says it is “fairly simple.”
“If you eat right, drink lots of water, exercise and practice, you will be ready to go,” she said. “It is crucial to keep the right mindset and motivation needed to keep going and know why you are doing what you do.”
She said, “the best motivation with this job is being able to work with the students in the schools here in Stanly County and knowing that I am making a difference.”

Page added, “I wanted to have an arena to share my voice and this job has given me the perfect audience in sharing my views and strategies on how to stop bullying. Twice now, young children in the community have seen me, and took the time to ask if I was the person that came to their school to speak about my platform, Links of Kindness. Moments like these make me realize how many lives I have touched, and that motivates me to keep going.”

Starla Whitley is the executive director of the Miss Stanly County Scholarship Pageant Association.
“Stanly County has two strong representatives that I am extremely proud of and have the utmost confidence in their abilities,” Whitley said. “I am excited for both Megan and Mackenzie.”Besides the two queens, three Carolina Princesses will participate in the events.
The Carolina Princess program is a mentoring program under the Miss American organization, Whitley said. It is for ages 6 to 12.

Logan Marker, daughter of Shane and Lisa Marker, is the Miss Stanly County Carolina Princess.
Shae Almond, daughter of Derrick and Jennifer Almond, and Lillian Edwards, daughter of John and Christina Edwards, are the Miss Stanly County Outstanding Teen Carolina Princesses.
“All five young ladies leave for Raleigh on June 17,” Whitley said. “The week will consist of rehearsals, appearances, luncheons, fun activities and competition each night beginning Tuesday, with grand finale for Outstanding Teen on Friday and Miss North Carolina on Saturday.”
ABC 11 in Raleigh will televise the pageant finale on June 23. Daily posts can be read on the Miss Stanly County Pageant Association Facebook page.

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