For Rogers State University student Hannah Gerhart, representing the community as Miss Claremore 2004 in this summer’s Miss Oklahoma Pageant will be more about opportunity than beauty.
“Competing in pageants has opened a lot of doors for me by allowing me to earn scholarship money for college and to meet lots of new people,” said Gerhart, a sophomore pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences at RSU.
Competing and placing in area pageants has paid for the majority of her college expenses, she said. Her title as Miss Claremore earned her a $2,000 cash scholarship and the opportunity to compete this June in the Miss Oklahoma Pageant, where more than $6 million in scholarships will be available to contestants.
The Miss Oklahoma Pageant will be held June 9-12 at the Mabee Center at Oral Roberts University.
The Miss Claremore title was the second pageant win for Gerhart, who has been competing in local and state pageants for two years. She was named Miss Pryor in 2002 and was first runner-up in that pageant the previous year. She also has been a finalist in the Miss Lake Hudson and Miss Claremore pageants.
Her platform issue has been the importance of good dental hygiene for children, an issue close to her heart since she hopes to one day become a dentist. She currently works in Dr. Lori Smith’s dental office in Pryor.
Gerhart is a 2002 graduate of Pryor High School, where she was active in choir and jazz band. She is the daughter of Kenneth and Arlene Gerhart of Pryor.