University of Delaware senior named Miss Delaware

The First State has a new Miss Delaware, and she is from New Jersey.

After a three-hour-long competition Friday, a panel of five judges crowned Chelsea Bruce the 2017 Miss Delaware. Bruce, a senior at the University of Delaware, wore a black flowing gown that sparkled as she accepted her crown, a bouquet of roses and well wishes from a long line of women who had also worn the crown before.

Bruce, who is from Manasquan, New Jersey, beat out 13 other young women for the title. As she had her photograph taken in the hallway at Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes, Bruce said she was excited to represent Delaware in the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City in New Jersey on Sept. 10.

If she is successful, Bruce would be the first Miss Delaware to become Miss America. In the 75 years since the Miss Delaware pageant has been taking place, no Miss Delaware has taken the crown in the Miss America pageant. For some reason, the pageant was not held between 1945 and 1949.

The evening’s masters of ceremonies, Kayla Martell, nearly won in 2011 when she was among the top 10 in the Miss America pageant. She was the third Miss Delaware to ever reach that level within the Miss America pageant.

Bruce has a few months to worry about Atlantic City. For now, she plans to take the opportunity that she has been given to promote awareness about mental health issues. Bruce, who is a political science and economics major, said she chose mental health as her platform because a family friend committed suicide. She said she believes the issue needs more attention.

She also said she plans to attend law school after she finishes her undergraduate degree at the University of Delaware. The scholarship money that she will receive, as much as $10,000, should help defray some of the costs.

In a year that saw women knit pink pussycat hats and take to the streets throughout the country in protest, a beauty pageant might seem a little dated and out of touch with what is going on in the world.

The Miss Delaware had its sequins and swimsuits, but underlying the pageant it had a purpose. The purpose was the scholarships and women supporting one another. Many of the women who had participated in the pageant years before, in some cases, decades before were at Cape Henlopen High School to lend a hand to the pageant and support the current contestants.

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Several of the former Miss Delaware winners also offered encouragement to those who did not win, Martell for example, said she had lost several times before being crowned.

Her persistence paid off.

Alyssa Murray, Miss Delaware 2012, was on hand to sing and also to celebrate her 5-year anniversary on being crowned. Being Miss Delaware meant driving throughout the state every day, she said.

The Selbyville native said Delaware is a much longer state than people think, particularly when you have to drive its full length every day. Being Miss Delaware kept her busy, she said, but was awesome. Murray now teaches Spanish at Sussex Tech.

Murray was not the only former Miss Delaware to return to the state Friday night. The pageant brought back winners from as far back as 1937.  

Beatrice “Nickey” Harriett Thompson celebrated her 80th anniversary of being crowned Miss Delaware in 1937.

She was brought out to the stage at Cape Henlopen High School as a line of former Miss Delawares cheered her on as she received her crown. Back when Thompson was crowned, the contestants were not allowed to keep their tiaras. Thompson, this go around, would get to take her crown home.

It was fitting to honor Thompson.

The Miss Delaware pageant got its start at the beach in 1933, but for the last 11 years, it had been hosted in Dover. This year’s event was the first time in more than a decade that the pageant has been in held in Sussex County. The change in venue has allowed the pageant to keep costs down so it can award more money in scholarships, said Laura Moylan, executive director of the pageant. In all the pageant awarded about $32,000 in scholarships at the event.

Linda Weller, a board member from Dover, said the move has gone well.

“Rehoboth and Lewes have graciously welcomed us back,” she said.