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PRUDENCE PIONEER

Monday April 16, 2012

NEWS LOCAL

Magical Prudence Senior Crowned Miss Commonwealth

By Carter Dugan

Saturday, the Miss Commonwealth Pageant Association crowned its 89^th champion at the Veterans’ Memorial Ballroom in Barnstable. Aside from a brief hiatus during the Second World War, the pageant has celebrated feminine charm and virtue throughout the state each year since its inaugural competition in the Spring of 1920.

For the first time, the winner and now reigning Miss Commonwealth is a Prudence resident. Academy senior Amelia McRae separated herself from the pack of other tanned, toned, and talented contestants with a series of magic card tricks. Asked about her sleight of hand prowess, McRae admitted that she only took up practicing her routine in the long winter months last year. If she wasn’t leading the Leatherworkers’ cheer team at basketball games, she found herself, “stuck inside with plenty of time to learn and perfect the skills.” Surely, the ability to survive the tough Massachusetts cold is the mark of a deserving Miss Commonwealth.

McRae finished in the top ten in scoring during the swimsuit, evening wear, and formal wear portions of the contest. The ranked Q&A session proved a greater obstacle, as she “didn’t feel comfortable answering the questions honestly in the way they were worded.” Despite not being able to field several hardball geopolitical questions to the judges’ liking, McRae had given herself a chance to edge out a victory in the talent round.

While others sang, danced, and acted out stirring monologues from theater, television, and film, McRae hopped onstage in a slim sequined dress and entertained the over four hundred audience members in attendance. Of her outfit, she said “I knew I was going to have to be my own assistant”. She went on to help herself to the title of Miss Commonwealth by getting the judges to join in her act. They took turns choosing cards at random that Miss McRae made disappear and then return in novel locations with skill and grace. A crowd favorite, McRae received a standing ovation after one judge found the Ace of Clubs she had selected in her colleague’s wallet.

Along with her new title, Miss McRae won a $25,000 college scholarship courtesy of the Miss Commonwealth Pageant Association and the Quindlen Auto Group. She plans on attending college this upcoming Fall in California, where to date, she has been accepted to three institutions of higher learning.