Amber Hoover begins her reign as Miss Greene County 2008

By Alex Carrier, Special Correspondent
Published: April 10, 2008

Special Correspondent

Cameras flashing from the crowd glittered as much as the winners’ crowns at William Monroe High last Saturday night, April 5.
A packed auditorium of family, friends and fans applauded and cheered each contestant at the Greene County Lions Club’s “Miss Greene County Contest,” emceed by soon-to-retire Superintendent of Schools Ray Dingledine.
If this year’s winners of the Miss Greene and Little Miss and Mister Greene pageants represent the young people of Greene County, then they are smart, charming and enthusiastic. 
The 2008 winners are as follows: Miss Greene County, Amber Hoover; Little Miss Greene, Lacey Marie Beale; and Little Mister Greene, Luke Berry.
Miss Greene 2008 will compete in the Dogwood Festival pageant and will represent the community as Miss Greene County Fair.
Little Miss Greene 2008,  Lacey Marie Beale, is the daughter of Shane and Michelle Beale.  A native of Greene, seven-year old Lacey is a first-grader at Greene Primary School where her favorite subject is math. 
Lacey, who plays basketball, dances and swims, says she likes most to play with her three sisters.  Although she has competed in three other pageants, winning Miss Albemarle County Fair, she is excited about being Little Miss Greene and was still wearing her crown on Sunday afternoon.  For the moment, she wants to be a taxi driver when she grows up.
“I think even though I won, everybody still did a great job,” stated the young winner. “The best thing about winning was being myself.”
Little Mister Greene 2008 is Luke Berry, son of Brad and Betsy Berry.  The seven-year old is a first-grader at Greene Primary School, where his favorite subject is also math. 
Luke was a last minute entry who decided to compete when he found out one of the perks was “riding in the parades.”  More interested in athletics, where he has won several trophies, Luke was also pleased to discover this one was the biggest of them all.
A native of Greene, Luke uses his enthusiastic energy to participate in his favorite activities: soccer, t-ball, running, riding his scooter and playing with his new best buddy – a beagle puppy.  He would like to go into the Army when he grows up and then become a policeman.  Winning Little Mister Greene was part of Luke’s weekend birthday celebration. 
Amber Nicole Hoover, Miss Greeen County 2008, is a senior at William Monroe High School.  Daughter of Mike and Vickie Hoover, Amber will be attending Bridgewater College in the fall where she plans to major in biology.  With a love of science, especially chemistry, she hopes to make a career in microbiology. 
A competitive swimmer since age 5, Amber will be trading her Greene Gator’s swim logo for the Bridgewater Eagles logo. Her favorite stroke is the butterfly.
“It is a difficult stroke,” admits Amber, “but I love the challenge.  It keeps you in amazing shape.”
Amber also enjoys the scoring of local competition. 
“You don’t really win for yourself,” she explains.  “Every time you place you score points for the team. It is individual but at the same time it’s a team sport so you get the best of both worlds.”
This was Amber’s fourth pageant but her first win and she admits one of the hardest parts of competing is simply smiling so much for such a long time.  She prefers the fun she has with the other contestants.
“Doing the interviews gives you experience for when you do job interviews,” says Amber, “but the most fun is just being with all the other girls. People think the contestants are all fakes but they are genuine people just like everyone else and they really care about others.”
A competitive cheerleader and part of the WMHS team since her freshman year, Amber enjoys supporting her school.  She is currently working with the Community Service Club in organizing and hosting a golf tournament to benefit the Adam Fargo Memorial Fieldhouse Fund. 
“We are still looking for sponsors and teams. It is a big project and people are amazed at all we have done,” says Amber proudly.  “People did not think we would be able to accomplish this.”
Amber is looking forward to graduation when she can visit with all the friends and family she doesn’t get to see that often. 
“I want to thank everyone and I want to thank the Greene Lions Club,” she added.  “Winning this feels absolutely amazing.” 
For decades, these pageants have been an active part of the Lion Club’s service to the community.  The winners represent the club during the Fourth of July and Christmas parades and help spread the word about the many and varied Greene Lion’s projects such as eyeglass and hearing aid assistance, eyeglass recycling, hosting of bimonthly blood drives, preschool vision screenings, the annual Bland Music Scholarship Competition, holiday food baskets and many other community service activities.
This year’s Little Miss Greene contestants were: Samantha Brunelle, Catherine Duprey, Georgia Duprey, Jillian Fryer, De’mari Gerald, Madison Camilla Harris, Morgan Hollis, Shalita D. Kenney, Kalayna Morton, Abigail Sheler, Brianna Nicole Shifflett, Kelsey Leigh Shifflett, Madison Sprouse, Morgan Elizabeth Taylor, Hailey Nicole Watson, Hannah Marie Watson, Alexis Morgan Wayland, Margaret Weakley, Brianna P. Williams, Callie Wilson, Anna Brooke Baker, Katelynn Marie Miller and Lacey Marie Beale.
Little Mister Greene contestants were Luke Berry, DeShawn Gerald, Jacob Proffitt, Ryan William Shifflett, Colton Shane Stephens and Jonathan Chase Miller.
Miss Greene contestants were Brittany Leigh Gibson, Amber Nicole Hoover, Alison Laird, Rachel Lynn Reynolds, Cali Rowe, Dana Reye Shifflett, Chelsea Pierce Vannatter and Amanda Weisel.