By Audrey Levine, The Packet Group
MILLSTONE Ashley Shaffer may not have won any titles during the Miss America Pageant, which concluded with a national TV show Saturday, but Miss New Jersey 2009 has no regrets about the experience and plenty of plans for the future.
”I put everything I had into the competition,” said the 13-year Redowl Court resident. “I made so many great friends with all the really great women (in the pageant), and I believe they were brought into my life for a reason.”
After taking the title of Miss New Jersey in June, Ms. Shaffer, 23, was automatically a contestant in the Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas, representing her state.
”It was definitely an honor to be there, and to represent New Jersey,” said the 2004 Allentown High School graduate. “It is a once-in-a-lifetime event.”
For Ms. Shaffer, her love of pageants began when she was a young girl and used to watch the (Miss America) competition every year with her mother. And four years ago, she said, she began actually competing, winning Miss Monmouth County 2006, Miss Burlington County 2007, Miss Liberty 2008 and Miss Columbus Day 2009, before taking the title of Miss New Jersey.
”I grew up around the pageants,” she said. “It (Miss America) is a great scholarship organization, and a great organization for women.”
Throughout the entire Miss America Pageant experience, Ms. Shaffer said her family was nothing but supportive.”They have been so excited and supportive,” she said, adding that her father, Bernie, has a bumper sticker, proclaiming him to be the father of Miss New Jersey. “And my whole family was at the Miss America Pageant.”The 10 days before the pageant, Ms. Shaffer said, included everything from public relations interviews and rehearsals, to preliminary competitions to determine finalists before the big TV show Saturday night.
”It is 10 days of extreme conditions, and you have to prepare physically and mentally (because) there are the other women who are equally smart and equally beautiful,” she said.
Included in the preliminary competitions, Ms. Shaffer said, are swimsuit and evening wear competitions, as well as the talent preliminaries and interviews.
For the talent portion, Ms. Shaffer showed off her classical singing voice with a performance of the song she also sang at the Miss New Jersey Pageant, “Nessun Dorma,” an aria from Puccini’s “Turandot.”
”I have been singing for 10 years, and I also played the flute for 14 years,” she said. “Music is a big part of my life.”
As for the interview portion of the pageant, Ms. Shaffer said, questions were asked about politics, war, the environment and the contestants’ personal lives.
”It was a no-holds-barred interview,” she said.
But most important were the questions about her platform, A Healthy Weight to Feel Great, which is a cause that is especially personal. Ms. Shaffer, whose grandmother died as a result of complications from obesity, has struggled with weight issues herself.
”Your platform has to be something that is important to you,” she said. “You have to be passionate about what you do.”
The cause, Ms. Shaffer said, is about getting off the couch, being active and enjoying life while staying healthy.
Since her crowning as Miss New Jersey, Ms. Shaffer said she been called for speaking engagements at schools, where she talks about healthy options and staying fit. When speaking with the older students, she said, she focuses on holding one-on-one conversations. But with the younger children, Ms. Shaffer has developed a more engaging tool.
Called “Adventures of Harry the Healthy Horse,” the coloring book Ms. Shaffer created details five key ways to stay healthy, and is a more hands-on tool for young children, so she said it is more effective for them.
Now that the Miss America Pageant is over, Ms. Shaffer said she has been approached to be a spokeswoman with the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, which looks into healthy options in schools and creates legislation to get kids out of their houses and exercising.
”I have six more months with my title, and I’m hoping to do work with the foundation,” she said. “(But after my six months), without a doubt, I don’t want to give up on my platform. I will continue with that, and hopefully make a change.”
A 2008 graduate of Marist College with a bachelor’s degree in communications, Ms. Shaffer is looking ahead to taking the LSATs with a hope to attend law school in the near future.
”I want to work for a professional sports organization, maybe in sports law,” said the diehard Giants fan.
Although she does not know how much longer she will be living in Millstone, Ms. Shaffer said she has always loved the community.”What I have loved about living in Millstone is that it is extremely quiet and peaceful,” she said. “There are a lot of nice things about the town, and (I love) the natural beauty of the town.”Although Ms. Shaffer said she wished she could have taken home at least a win in one of the categories of the pageant, she has no regrets about the experience because she knows she did the best job she could.
”It is crazy and can get to you, but the reason I felt so calm was because I knew I did everything I could to be the best I could be,” she said.