THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 16, 1995 TAG: 9508150092
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
When Abbey Delk was faced with displaying a talent last spring in the Miss Isle of Wight Academy pageant, there was no doubt what she would do.
``I love to sing,'' the petite 14-year-old says. ``I knew singing was the one thing I could do and not get nervous in front of a million people.''
So Delk sang her father's favorite country tune, ``Love Me.'' And she impressed the judges enough to become one of the youngest contestants ever to win the contest of beauty, brains and talent that has been going on at the local private school for 27 years.
That done, Delk, with little pageant experience behind her, went right on to something else. She participated in the Cinderella Scholarship Pageant. State finals were held in May in Hampton.
Once again, the Smithfield girl, daughter of Nancy and Marty Delk, impressed the judges. She won the overall state title for a $200 scholarship and was named Miss Photogenic.
And July 29, it was off to Oklahoma City for seven days to the International Cinderella Scholarship Pageant, where more than 400 girls competed.
Delk won ``best overall 14-year-old'' against girls from as far away as Guam. And she came home with a new enthusiasm for working her way through college by pageant participation.
``I'd like to do this, basically for scholarship money, and just for the fun of it. I really am beginning to enjoy it.''
Delk says that while she met lots of new friends in each of the Cinderella pageants, ``It was an eye-opener to some things about pageants. I was a newcomer. A lot of the girls had been doing it since they were babies.''
And she came away with a basic philosophy: ``Just be nice. If somebody isn't nice in return, that's their problem.''
Being nice when others aren't is just one of the multi-talented teen's abilities. She also plays flute, clarinet and piano. She sings in the youth choir at Smithfield Baptist Church and performs solos and duets there. And she's had years of dance training.
Her favorite subjects are math and science, and she will be a ninth-grader at Isle of Wight Academy this year. She still has a few years to decide for sure, but right now she hopes to minor in music and major in medicine at college. She's undecided about a career but thinks it will be in the medical field.
And with all those years of education still facing her, she says, scholarship money from pageants would come in handy. ILLUSTRATION: Abbey Delk, 14
Miss Isle of Wight Academy
by CNB