Pageant News Bureau - Miss Maryland 2007

P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u

Maryland's power play

Photos by Joe Whiteko / PNB

Shana Powell,
Miss Maryland 2007

No other state as small as Maryland combines such diverse beauty with such a rich history. A world of spectacular sights lies within its borders -- cities, suburbs, mountains, bay and ocean. Everybody who was anybody in American history made a mark here, from John Smith to George Washington to Edgar Allen Poe to Abraham Lincoln.

Brittany Lietz, Miss Maryland 2006, does the honors

Shana Powell with Kasey Staniszewski, Maryland's Outstanding Teen

Sometimes history and beauty come together. That's what happened on June 30, 2007, in historic Hagerstown (of course), when Shana Powell was crowned Miss Maryland.

Maryland has a history in the Miss America Pageant -- a painful history. For decades, it was the original competitor with the weakest record. In recent years, it has fared far better, but is yet to win the crown.

Pageant emcee Susan Powell, Miss America 1981, with Brittany Lietz, Miss Maryland 2006

But it takes power to win, and power is what the state got. Ms. Powell, 21, is from Bowie, and she wowed the crowd with her rendition of the Broadway classic "Glitter and Be Gay." (For the enlightenment of our younger viewers, the song has nothing to do with sexual orientation.)

Will Ms. Powell glitter at Miss America? No, she'll dazzle.

P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u