From the Bel Air Independence Day Committee:
Stephanie Meadowcroftof Bel Air has been selected by the Bel Air Independence Day Committee, Inc., to be its “Miss Bel Air Independence Day” for the 2012 celebrations. As such, she will serve as hostess and participant in one of the region’s largest 4th of July celebrations, taking place from dawn to night on Wed., July 4, and will also help promote the event in the weeks leading up to it.
On July 4, Miss Meadowcroft, an accomplished singer, will sing the National Anthem at the flag-raising at 6:45 a.m. in front of Bel Air High School. She will also appear at the traditional Pancake Breakfast, and then will assist with the various competitions during the day, including the traditional FROG and TURTLE events, Uncle Sam Says, and the Watermelon Eating Contest. Finally, she will lead the parade down Main Street in Bel Air at 6 p.m., and address the crowd from the reviewing stand.
“I am so excited to be chosen as the new Miss Bel Air Independence Day!” Meadowcroft said. “The Bel Air Independence Day celebrations, beginning with the Flag Raising and ending with the fabulous parade and then the fireworks, have always been one of my favorite ways to spend the whole day in Bel Air! To be named the official hostess for the entire day of celebration is a wonderful way to thank the community for its support of this traditional patriotic event!” she adds.
“Choosing our 2012 Miss Bel Air took some time,” said Michael Blum, Vice President of the Committee, who chaired the process. “We had six original applicants, and we narrowed it down first to four, whom we interviewed, and then to the two finalists. Making the ultimate choice was very difficult, because both finalists were highly qualified, extremely outgoing and exceptionally talented young ladies,” he adds.
Laura Valle, a lifelong resident of Bel Air and a recent graduate of Patterson Mill High School, was First Runner Up.
Representing Bel Air, Meadowcroft will compete for the title of Miss Maryland in late June, a part of the Miss America Pageant process. A seasoned pageant competitor, she was named Miss Maryland’s Outstanding Teen in 2009, and has represented the state in various parades and events, most recently the Ed Block Courage Award ceremony on March 13, 2012.
She is the younger sister of Katie Meadowcroft, who was the 2011 Miss Bel Air Independence Day, and the first-ever holder of that title. “We certainly didn’t plan it to happen that way,” said Aaron Cahall, a member of the committee that made the final choice. “We judged each applicant strictly upon her individual merits, and made our choice accordingly.”
A current senior at the John Carroll School in Bel Air, Stephanie Meadowcroft is ranked third in her class academically, and is a member of the National Honor Society, the Spanish Honor Society and the Quill and Scroll Honor Society. An AP Scholar, she also is the recipient of a John Carroll Academic Scholarship. At John Carroll, she is Editor and Columnist for The Patriot, a member of the John Carroll Academic Team and the John Carroll Theatre Club. She will matriculate next fall at New York University as a Vocal Performance major, with a concentration in Music Theatre.
Stephanie Meadowcroft’s performing accomplishments include singing a solo with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and singing the National Anthem at Camden Yards. She has participated in over 15 theater productions in the past four years, performing ten lead roles, including the leading parts in Irving Berlin’s White Christmas and Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella during the current academic year. A voice and piano student at the Maryland Conservatory of Music, she is also a long-distance runner, and an accomplished horsewoman.
In addition to her work with the Bel Air Independence Day Committee, Stephanie will spend her year supporting and raising funds for “A Ray of Hope – Enriching the Lives of Seniors with Alzheimer’s.” As part of this work, she performs for seniors, volunteers at senior centers and raises funds to support Alzheimer’s research.
Bel Air Independence Day Committee President Donald W. Stewart said, “We are so thrilled to have our second-ever official hostess, and we thank the Miss Maryland Scholarship Pageant coordinators for supporting us in this process. Stephanie Meadowcroft is a phenomenally accomplished and promising young member of our community, and we are proud to be able to support her, and look forward to her representing our event!”
For more information on joining the Bel Air July 4 Parade, please visit belairjuly4.org (the Committee’s web site), or call 410-879-4245. For more information about the Bel Air Independence Day Committee and the July 4 events in Bel Air, Maryland, please go to the Committee’s web site, or to the Bel Air Independence Day Committee’s Facebook page. The all-volunteer Bel Air Independence Day Committee, Inc., is recognized by the United States Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt corporation.
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