Miss California pageants head to Long Beach where CSULB student will pass on her crown

From left, Sasha Ulysse (Miss Long Beach), Chloe Hatfield (Miss California Teen USA) and Taylor Cassady
 (Miss Teen Long Beach) gather in front of the Terrace Theatre in Long Beach. The Miss
California Teen and Miss California pageants will be held at the theatre Jan. 3-4.

Scott Varley — Staff photographer

By Richard Guzman, Press-Telegram

She knew it was inevitable, but it will still be a sad day for Cal State Long Beach freshman Chloe Hatfield when she has to give up her crown. The current Miss California Teen USA will pass on the title here in her hometown when the pageant, along with the Miss California USA competition, come to Long Beach’s Terrace Theater Friday and Saturday. But there’s a good chance her Miss California Teen crown, and the Miss California title too, will stay right here in the city. “It’s been a whirlwind,” said the energetic, blond 18-year-old of her experience as Miss California Teen USA as she stood outside the Long Beach Convention Center on a recent Wednesday morning. “It’s been so much fun and I’ve loved it. It’s going to be a bitter sweet moment to know that I’m going to be done being Miss Teen,” she said. Next to her were the two local hopefuls who will be going after their crowns — 18-year-old Taylor Cassady, who is a fellow Cal State Long Beach student and will be representing Long Beach in the teen pageant, and 23-year-old Sasha Ulysse, who will represent the city in the Miss California pageant. “I’m so honored and fortunate to be able to represent the city,” said Cassady, who, like Hatfield, studies nursing and has been competing in pageants since she was a child. For Ulysse, who just graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a bachelor’s in consumer affairs and has lived in Long Beach for six years, the event will be her first pageant and she’s understandably nervous but happy to be fulfilling a dream. “It’s really exciting for me. I’ve been wanting to do this since I was 12 but I didn’t have the means,” she said. With the cost of buying outfits, makeup and other expenses, Ulysse has spent about $3,000 preparing for the show. Her family and friends have helped her with sponsorships, and if she wins, the investment will pay off.

The Teen and Miss pageants are part of the Miss Universe Organization, which also produces the Miss USA pageant. Besides the crown and title, the winners of the Long Beach shows will go on to compete in the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants. The winners also get a modeling contract, scholarships, jewelry and other prizes. Getting there isn’t going to be easy though with more than 100 women competing in the Miss California pageant and more than 60 in the Miss Teen portion. The preliminary competition takes place Jan. 3 and dress rehearsal and the final coronation shows take place Jan. 4. Tickets are available to the public for all events.

“Becoming a state title holder has a lot of wonderful benefits. It’s huge exposure for them and it’s definitely going to be a lot of fun,” said Alex Kuty, the event’s associate producer. Long Beach has a long history with beauty pageants. The first Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants were held concurrently in Long Beach in 1952. The Miss Teen USA was first held in 1983 in Lakeland, Fla. But the Teen and Miss California pageants haven’t been back in the city since 1995 and it was a good time for the events to return, Kuty said.

“We wanted to come back for several reasons. The (Terrace Theater) and the hotels nearby worked out perfect for us, in addition to that there’s the harbor with the pier and all the things to do with family by the water, it was perfect for us,” she said. It also turned out to be fun for the contestants when they all came to Long Beach in November for the pageant orientation. They went to the Queen Mary and got to ride the Ferris wheel at The Pike as well as the hydro-bikes at Alamitos Bay. The outings were filmed and will be broadcast at the theater on the day of the event and online at pageantvision.com. For the local hopefuls it was a chance to show off their city and also try out some things they hadn’t done in Long Beach.

“I’m still getting to know this city myself and finding my little places, and being able to welcome all the girls to the city I now consider my home is really such an honor,” said Cassady, who is originally from Murietta. The contestants got a lot of attention when they were walking around the city, with people stopping to snap pictures of them, Ulysse said. “It felt like paparazzi almost; it was pretty nice,” she said. “And I got to ride the Ferris wheel. Even though I’ve lived out here in Long Beach that was my first time on the Ferris wheel and I was happy about that.” The pageants aren’t huge moneymakers for the city in terms of dollars spent by visitors who come to the event, with an approximate $360,000 impact for Long Beach. It’s a modest figure compared with some conventions, said Steve Goodling, president and CEO of the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau. “But it’s another opportunity to showcase all of the great development that has occurred downtown,” he said. Meanwhile, Hatfield is happy another teen will get a chance to wear her crown, which she usually keeps in the trunk of her car in case she needs it for an impromptu appearance. After the pageant is over and a new winner is selected she plans to continue with her nursing studies at Cal State Long Beach, where not too many students know she is the reigning Miss California Teen USA, at least for a few more days.

Miss California USA: Pageant contestants want to dispel stereotypes

BY GREG MELLEN / THE REGISTER

Their answers are nearly as polished as their appearances.

Not a “world peace,” “end world hunger” or “create education better” answer to be found. Nor any other gaffes, real or imagined. The four local contestants entered in the upcoming Miss California USA and Miss California Teen USA pageants and outgoing Miss Teen, all from Long Beach, wanted to dispel the stereotypes and misconceptions they say others have about their endeavor. All seemed eager to hone their skills on a reporter. Though they have practiced their pageant walks and turns and sculpted their bodies for competition, nothing quite prepares a beauty queen for “the question” posed to her on stage in the final portion of competition. It is always the big unknown, the one thing you can't really ever prepare for.

And nothing threatens to unravel all that carefully constructed confidence and wholly undermine the preparation quite so much as a botched answer to a question about global or domestic issues.

And few things do more to cement the perception some have of beauty queens as vapid mannequins or Stepford wives. The image is still fresh of this year's Miss Utah staggering through a televised answer about ongoing wage disparities between men and women and famously uttering her “create education better” line. That relegated her to an also-ran and went viral online. It also landed her a spot on the “Today” show.

“I've been following the headlines. I don't want to be Miss Utah,” said Saby Ramirez, 18, a Cal State Long Beach freshman from Long Beach who's representing Signal Hill in the teen pageant. “People get the wrong stereotypes and negative views of pageantry,” said Taylor Cassady, 18, a freshman nursing student at CSULB. “Everyone jokes about world peace as an answer.”

“The biggest misconception is that it's only about beauty, said Sasha Ulysse, 23, a recent CSULB grad. “It's about determination and stamina. The pageant isn't all (we) do.” “I think pageant girls are the most focused and ambitious women, who just happen to look good,” said Nelly Umeh, 22, a Lakewood native in her junior year at UC Riverside. Chloe Hope Hatfield, 18, who will hand over the crown she earned four months ago when the standing Miss Teen California advanced to a different level of competition, said the notion of crazy and ruthless beauty queens is also overstated. Hatfield, a second-generation beauty contestant, said: “The pageants are where my best friends come from. I've never had a bad experience.”

The local Long Beach women competing in the pageants come from diverse backgrounds. Some are pageant veterans; several are trying it for the first time. Some have moms who were contestants and have passed it along. Others have come into it by pure happenstance. Some have gained sponsorship or help to pay the many thousands of dollars it costs to be in a pageant, and others have pulled extra work shifts and scrimped and borrowed.