Hamden Patch Q&A with Miss Connecticut

Poised and eloquent, sharp and charming, confident and driven - she's got it all. Of course, we wouldn't expect anything less from Miss America. 

Hamden resident Morgan Elizabeth Amarone has been on the path to the iconic competition since her first pageant in 2006. Now 23, Amarone is just days away from jetting off to Las Vegas to participate in the 91st Miss America Pageant at Planet Hollywood Casino Resort. 

Friends, family, team members and sponsors gathered at Anthony's Ocean View banquet hall in New Haven Tuesday night for Amarone's wardrobe viewing, a tradition that has evolved into a send-off party for the contestant.

Morgan showed off her competition outfits, including swimsuit, talent, interview, walk-on gown and competition gown, all very top secret pieces that are forbidden from being exposed prior to the pageant on Jan. 14. 

Among those in attendance was Brittany Decker, the 2010 Miss Connecticut and MC for the night, and her fiancee, John Mocadlo of Barberino Nissan, who is working out the opportunity to give Amarone a car. 

"We love to do anything scholarship and education oriented," said Mocaldo. 

Another sponsor, Alliance Gas, has provided Amarone with $5,000 worth of gas to help put a dent in the cost of traveling around the state in order to fulfil her Miss Connecticut duties. 

Between dress changes, Decker entertained the crowd by singing Mariah Carey's famous "Hero," as the crowd enjoyed Anthony's diverse and delectible buffet. Seven-year-old Emerson Forbes, Connecticut's Outstanding Junior Rising Star, of Branford also thrilled the crowd with an electric tap dance performance to the song "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," while Connecticut's Oustanding Preteen Rene Myjak, 10, of North Haven danced to "The Mad Hatter" in a costume to match. 

But before any of the festivities and feasting began, Amarone graciously took a moment from her hectic schedule to share her story with Hamden Patch and answer some panelist style questioning. 

Hamden Patch: Miss America started as a beauty pageant, but it now identifies itself as a scholarship pageant. Being a scholarship pageant, would you say that it is relevant or even appropriate to have a swimsuit competition?

Morgan Amarone: I do. The swimsuit portion is actually entitled lifestyle and fitness, so this actually ties in directly with my platform, which is the Power of Pink - Cancer Education and Awareness. And the reason I say this is because I stress the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle, and that’s all the time.

I don’t believe in girls who go on a diet and exercise just for a pageant. You need to live the lifestyle every single day. So the part of the swimsuit competition really is just showing that you’re healthy.

Hamden Patch: In 1968, Ms.Magazine editor Robin Morgan, along with other feminist activists, famously protested the pageant saying, “the image of Miss America - an image that oppresses women in every area in which it purports to represent us.” What are your thoughts on similarly negative feelings toward Miss America?

Amarone: I think you need to look at the fact that Miss America literally started as a swimsuit competition, and now, 90 years later, it has evolved into the worlds largest scholarship provider for women. That’s incredible. We are so relevant, I don’t know how much more relevant you can get than that. We are educated women, we all have a platform, we’re all working in our communities, we’re all well-spoken. So I think that anyone who has anything negative to say about it really needs to be more educated about the program.

Hamden Patch: What are your thoughts on girls as young as four or five entering beauty pageants, as depicted in the popular television show Toddlers and Tiaras?

Amarone: My personal opinion is, when a girl comes to her parents and says, ‘I would like to compete in a pageant,’ then that’s the right age for them to begin. I don’t think it should be the parents telling them, ‘Oh, you should compete in a pageant.’ I did my first pageant when I was 16 years old, so I didn’t grow up dreaming to be Miss America or competing in pageants, so that was a great age for me; however, if a four-year-old sees a friend doing it or watches it on TV and they decide that that’s something they would like to do, I don’t see a problem with it.

Hamden Patch: Your platform is The Power of Pink - Cancer Education and Awareness. How do you plan on introducing Connecticut and the rest of the country to this initiative?

Amarone: It started out when I lost my grandfather to cancer about seven years ago and I started just speaking at high schools and middle schools about leading a healthy lifestyle. And then people said to me, "Well, how can you speak to children about this? How young is too young to talk to a child about cancer?"

My thought is that it’s never too young to teach your child to lead a healthy lifestyle, so I wrote a book about a year and a half ago and it was published. My goal as Miss Connecticut is to implement that book in as many schools as possible.

I’ve been working very hard and it’s really eye opening for me. I knew that it would have some sort of an impact on the community, but it didn’t realize it would be this profound. It can help a classroom of students who have never heard of cancer before learn a little bit about or it can be on the completely opposite side. I was actually invited to a class who had lost a classmate to cancer that year and it helped them to cope. So it’s really a timeless story and I’m really looking forward to implementing it as Miss Connecticut and much longer after that.

Hamden Patch: I read that you’re getting your MBA in healthcare management. What system or approach do you think the United States should adopt in order to provide adequate healthcare for all of its people?

Amarone: Well, you know I have a different perspective because my undergrad degree is in accounting, so I have a very strong business background. I think it’s really important to think of things from a businesswoman point of view, which is why I love the MBA in healthcare management.

I think it is not just healthcare, it’s finding a business perspective too, and I think you need to run our hospitals like a business. Your patients are your cutomers and they come first, they’re the most important. So I think that having that background is really going to help me, and it’s such an exciting time in healthcare right now with everything that’s going on.

I’m really looking forward to taking my expertise and hopefully one day becoming CFO of a hospital. That’s really my long term goal, but of course I need to start out somewhere. I’m really looking forward to graduating.

Hamden Patch: What characteristics do you think are responsible for getting you all the way to the Miss America Pageant in such a short space of time?

Amarone: I think the fact that I didn’t grow up around pageants has really helped me because I didn’t come into the pageant world thinking, ‘Oh, I need to be a certain person or mold myself into a certain way or act like the judges want em to act.’ I was honestly just myself and my reason for starting to compete pageants was completely different than most people also.

It was around the time I lost my grandfather. I realized this is a way for me to have a voice about an issue I care about. This is also another way for me to showcase my talent. So my reasons for competing were very different than you would normally think of why someone who get involved in pageantry. So I think that really helped to get me as far as I am and I really view being Miss Connecticut as a job and not about wearing a crown and a sash.

Hamden Patch: What is your daily regime to keep yourself as healthy as possible?

Amarone: I try to work out daily. Miss Connecticut is a full-time job so it’s been a little bit tough, it’s tough to fit everything in, but I do try to work out every day. I make healthy food choices and I basically make sure that when I have time to rest, I rest. It’s tough, I like to spend time with friends and family as much as possible, but I’ve really just been making sure that I’m taking care of my body because this job is definitely grueling.


Hamden Patch: What would your Mister America be like?

Amarone: *laughs* There is not a Mister America. No, there is no time for a Mister America. I’ve had a few proposals, but now right now, too much going on right now.

The Miss America Pageant airs Saturday, Jan. 14 at 9 p.m. on ABC.