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25/08/2017
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Miss Ohio Sarah Clapper smiles during a interview Thursday on her thoughts on being a contestant in the Miss America pageant on Sept. 10 in Atlantic City, N.J. (TimesReporter.com / Jim Cummings)
By Jon Baker TimesReporter.com staff writer
Posted Aug 24, 2017 at 5:02 PM
Former Miss Clayland Sarah Clapper will be heading to Atlantic City, N.J., on Tuesday to represent Ohio in the Miss America Pageant on Sept. 10.
“It’s been an absolute whirlwind,” the Stark County native said Thursday. “I can’t believe it’s here, but I’m just so excited and so humbled to have this opportunity.
“There’s no words that you can ever use to describe what it’s like preparing for Miss America. People tell me I’m going to Miss America and I don’t know if it’s really going to set in until I’m actually there.”
She spent the last couple of days packing her wardrobe into huge trunks that will be shipped to New Jersey. One crate goes to her hotel and the other, with her competition wardrobe, goes to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
“One thing not in the crate is my competition evening gown, which arrived Wednesday in the dress store on my birthday, which is the best birthday gift I will ever receive,” Clapper said. “It was not supposed to arrive until this weekend. So the fact that it came early and on Aug. 23 was definitely a blessing.”
Clapper grew up in Louisville, where her parents own the Louisville Herald newspaper. She is the sixth Miss Clayland to be crowned Miss Ohio — the fourth in the last 10 years.
She will spend 13 days in Atlantic City preparing for the pageant.
“Most days you wake up really early in the morning, eat breakfast, because you need a lot of energy for the entire time you’re there, and then you have rehearsals at the theater,” she said. “In the evenings, you go out to different dinners that are sponsored by different businesses around Atlantic City. One of the days is the Red Door Spa. So they not only treat us to dinner, but we get facials and just get to relax. So I’m very much looking forward to that night.”
Another evening will be the Show Me Your Shoes Parade, which is a Miss America tradition. Clapper has adopted an Ohio State theme for the event because she is an OSU graduate.
She will be wearing a head-to-toe red jumpsuit, sponsored by Henry’s Cloud Nine of Columbus and Minerva, her official clothing sponsor. The jumpsuit will have an open back with rhinestone details around the neck and waist. She will also be wearing an Ohio State flag turned into a waist cape which is covered with rhinestones and 9-inch shoes with the Ohio State logo.
Accompanying her to Atlantic City will be several people from Tuscarawas County, including Martha Campbell, the Miss Clayland Pageant director; Diana Lindsay; Linda Eggan; Becky Ayers; and Jill and Willie Grove.
Clapper works for Berardi Partners, a Columbus architecture firm, where she is a marketing and projects coordinator. She is on sabbatical from the company while she competes for the Miss America crown.
She noted that her employer has been very supportive. Employees will be having a company watch party on Sept. 10, and her boss, his wife and two children are going to New Jersey for the pageant.
People can follow her on on social media at @missamericaoh, her official social media handle. They also can vote for her at missamerica.org/vote, which could help her get into the Top 15 in the pageant. They can vote every day.
“One of my preliminary judges is Susan Perkins Botsford, who was Miss Ohio, but even more importantly was Miss Clayland,” Clapper said. “This is her 40th anniversary. So that means Ohio has not had a Miss America in 40 years, because she was the last Miss Ohio to ultimately win the title of Miss America. So I think Ohio is due for another Miss America.”
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