Wausau Native and Miss America's Mother Hopes Girls Try Out for Pageants

Thursday, June 29th, 2023 -- 10:00 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) With Grace Stanke continuing her run as Miss America, her mother is hoping that Wausau will produce more pageant talent in the years to come.

According to Mike Leischner with WSAU, Jenny Stanke says she's seen how the competitions have helped her daughters, and she wants the same for others. "I do have one daughter that competed and never one title. But she does not regret it because the interview skills she had learned helped her in getting jobs."

She says the Miss Wausau event has been dormant for decades, and she's hoping there will be renewed interest after Grace's big win. "Hoping that she brings out some people just to try it and see what it's like and, hopefully, they'll learn how fun, how much skills they learn, and everything else that goes with the competition."

She says Miss Wausau isn't a new concept- the city used to host a competition decades ago. "It stopped in the early 80's and nobody has ever taken it up since."

She says her advice to those on the fence about participating is to close your eyes and jump in. "Try to get the experience, and you can say it, it's not for some people. But I just want them to give it a chance and try it. I want to give the girls in the area a chance to learn these skills for after college because what it has done for my daughters is absolutely amazing."

The Miss Wausau and Miss Wausau teen pageants will be held November 11th at a location to be announced in the coming weeks. Stanke says they need at least three entrants in each division to be an official competition and qualify the winner for next year's Miss Wisconsin, but they'll take up to ten in each to keep the event manageable for the first year. 

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.