Loomis Grad Wins Coveted Crown

The gowns have been donned, the crown has been placed and Kaitlyn Tarpey has been announced as the new Miss Greater Simsbury. It is the first time this crown has been given out.

Tarpey is a 2008 Miss Teen America and is from Stamford, Conn. She was crowned Miss Rocky Hill in 2011. She also graduated from Loomis Chaffee.

Andreanna Buccheri was chosen as the new Miss Farmington Valley. The competitions were held Feb. 11 at Canton High School.

The Miss Connecticut Scholarship Corporation is used to promote the Miss America and Miss America's Outstanding Teen programs.

In addition to Tarpey and Buccheri's wins, Danielle Sturgeon was chosen as the new Greater Simsbury’s Outstanding Teen.

The scholarship pageant, an official preliminary of Miss America, featured nine miss contestants and five teen contestants from around the area.

As new titleholders, the young women will be volunteering throughout the Greater Simsbury and Farmington Valley community, raising funds for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, the national Miss America philanthropy, and preparing to compete for the Miss Connecticut and Connecticut's Outstanding Teen pageants.

The state finals will be held from June 28 to 30 at the Garde Arts Center in New London, Conn.

Additional awardees include:

Alexandria Puglisi – 1st runner-up in the Miss Division

Gina Salvatore – 2nd runner-up in the Miss Division

Kaitlyn Tarpey – Miss Division Lifestyle and Fitness and Talent winner

Teairra Manuel – 1st runner-up in the Teen Division

Danielle Sturgeon – Teen Talent

Melanie Lydem – Teen Lifestyle and Fitness

The Miss America Organization is one of the nation’s leading achievement programs and the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Each year, the Miss America Organization makes available more than $40 million in cash and tuition scholarship assistance. On an annual basis, Miss America state and local titleholders, along with the organization’s network of volunteers, participate in more than 12,000 community-service projects, providing in excess of 500,000 service hours to worthy causes.

For more information about the Miss America Organization please visit www.missamerica.org. For more information about Miss Connecticut, visit www.missctamerica.org.

If you have local volunteer opportunities at which the title holders could participate, or would like to be a sponsor, please e-mail missgreatersimsbury@hotmail.com.