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"Mr. Shippensburg Contestants Woo Crowd"
By Julia Stein
Asst. Focus Editor
On Tuesday, Nov. 11 Bridge for Kids sponsored the annual Mr. Shippensburg male beauty pageant in Shippensburg University’s Memorial Auditorium.
The beauty pageant, designed for male SU students, consists of a choreographed dance, swimwear, talent, formalwear and a question and answer portion.
This year’s contestants included sophomore Ben Hewitt, sophomore Derek Whitsel, junior Rylan Good, senior Zach Zortman, sophomore Brandon Smith, sophomore Mike Glessner, junior Martin Campbell, senior Brandon Geib, freshman Terrance Griffin, junior Leandener Toney, junior JohnPaul Bennett and sophomore Kenton Kramer.
Former Mr. Shippensburg, James Wilson, was an emcee, along with Mandi Foltz. The two entertained the crowd for the duration of the evening while introducing the contestants and sharing personal facts about themselves, including their favorite pick-up lines, hobbies and hometowns.
The pageant began with a dance routine choreographed by Megan Heidel and had the boys shaking it to the tune of “When I Grow Up” by the Pussycat Dolls. Each contestant even had the opportunity to do a solo dance. Some of the dances showcased moves such as the lawn mower, the thriller claws and the water sprinkler.
The swimwear modeling consisted of everything from a grass skirt and coconut bra to a fully decked out wet suit accompanied by flippers and goggles. Some apparel was much more risqué than others and involved props like oil and very skimpy swimwear.
The 12 men pulled it together for the talent portion, blessing the audience with a wide variety of performances. Some talents included Hewitt’s evolution of dance, Good’s completion of a human version of a level of the video game “Super Mario Bros.,” Glessner’s card trick and Campbell’s salsa dance routine.
Other talents displayed were musical abilities, dance routines and poetry.
After the talent portion of the pageant, the audience was able to enjoy an intermission and watched SU’s In-motion Dance Troupe perform a routine.
Next, the contestants proved to be able to clean up well, sporting formal wear such as suits and khakis, each also being lucky enough to escort a beautiful lady or two.
The question and answer portion of the pageant forced the contestants to think on the spot. Some of the questions asked were, “If you had to choose one food to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?,” “What’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever done for a girl?” and “If you could date any Disney princess, who would it be and why?”
After the Q & A portion, the 12 men each received cans to make one last attempt at collecting money for Bridge for Kids by going into the audience and doing whatever they could to get students to donate.
After the money in the cans was counted, Griffin came in third place for the most collected money, Good came in second place and Kramer came in first.
The judges deliberated while the money was being collected and counted before finally announcing the 2008 winner of Mr. Shippensburg: sophomore Brandon Smith.
The five judges included SU professors Janice Minetola, Lynn Baynum and Gwendolyn Durham, as well as two faculty members from King Street Elementary School.
The pageant was organized by Bridge for Kids to help raise money for a book fair in the spring for the King Street Elementary School in Chambersburg, which has combined with several other local schools.
Even though several schools have combined into a larger one, Bridge for Kids wanted to keep the event going and decided to have a book fair for the kindergarteners and first graders.
During the fair, SU students will read stories to children and make crafts with them as well.
The Mr. Shippensburg event brought in approximately $2,400 for the book fair in the spring that will allow elementary students to have their own books.
“Raising this money and counting it made me realize just how lucky I am to be able to help these students that have so little at their homes,” said Lauren Kelly, president of Bridge for Kids.
Books can be donated to Bridge for Kids all year long. They can also be donated at Wal-Mart during the spring semester.
The Slate