St. Clair Shores

Miss St. Clair Shores wins Miss Michigan title

By Kristyne E. Demske
C & G Staff Writer

The third time was the charm for the newest Miss Michigan, Angela Venditti.

This was her third time competing in the state pageant and she is now the second official Miss St. Clair Shores to be awarded the state title.

“It was so incredible,” said Venditti, who was crowned June 16 after three days of the pageant. She also won the June 15 swimsuit preliminary contest. “So many girls just dream of that moment and I was the lucky one that got to do it.”

Venditti a Shelby Township 24-year-old, competed for the Miss Michigan crown in 2009 as Miss Oakland County and in 2011 as Miss Lighthouse Coast before winning the July 2011 Miss St. Clair Shores pageant, which sent her to the 2012 Miss Michigan contest.

“When it opened up to Macomb County, I thought I’d give it a try,” said Venditti. “A lot of my family lives there and I knew they would be really excited if I was able to represent” St. Clair Shores.

The last Miss St. Clair Shores to take home the state title was Sherry Agnello Colby in 1973. Delores N. Berruezo also took home the Miss Michigan crown for the area in 1951, but the Miss St. Clair Shores Scholarship Program did not officially begin until 1954.

The Miss St. Clair Shores Scholarship Program is open to all residents of Macomb County.
“It’s amazing, I’m still kind of on cloud nine,” said Elizabeth Munger, executive director of the Miss St. Clair Shores Scholarship Program.

“I think we had a phenomenal group of young women,” said Shelley Taylor, state director for the Miss Michigan Scholarship Organization of the June 14-16 pageant, held in Muskegon. “Truly, the judges saw her as standing out. She’s vivacious and, certainly, a lovely young lady.”

Venditti said she thinks her experience helped her to win this time around.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “The community, they love when we all come here.”

She performed a tap dance routine to “I’m going to live till I die,” a Frank Sinatra song redone by Queen Latifah, and her platform is “Above the influence: keeping kids drug free.”

“About four years ago, I lost a very close friend, a cousin, to a heroin overdose,” Venditti said, adding that she’s looking forward to being “able to do something good with that story I have.”

She said knowing what to expect during the week-long festivities that accompany the Miss Michigan pageant surely helped.

“It can kind of wear you down and you’ve got to just keep going,” she said. “Having fun with the other contestants, that’s what it’s all about.

“I’m excited for my year representing St. Clair Shores and Macomb County and now the state — it’s an honor.”

“She was just solid in everything,” Munger said. “The timing just has to be right.”

The Miss St. Clair Shores program had seven girls from the area up on stage — former Miss Teen St. Clair Shores and the 2011 Miss Michigan’s Outstanding Teen Marissa Cowans and the second runner up in the Miss Teen pageant, 2011 Miss Teen St. Clair Shores Vanessa Chambe.

Five other contestants in the Miss Michigan pageant had ties to the city as well: Miss Saginaw County Brenda O’Malley was Miss St. Clair Shores 2010; a top-10 contestant — Miss Washtenaw County Lauren Brown — was a former Little Miss St. Clair Shores and Miss Teen St. Clair Shores; Miss Spirit of the State Sarah Suydam, third runner-up this year for Miss Michigan, has been the first runner-up for Miss St. Clair Shores for the past three years; and Miss Wayne County Shelby Gardiner, who was first runner-up, has competed in the Miss St. Clair Shores pageant for many years.

Taylor said Venditti will be participating in many appearances throughout the state and will be in Florida in August for the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen pageant while working on her wardrobe and talent for the Miss America contest in January.

“It was her last time, and that was something we really focused on,” Munger said of Venditti. “I wanted her to enjoy everything.”

This year’s Little Miss, Miss Teen and Miss St. Clair Shores pageants will be held at 6 p.m. July 28 at South Lake High School Auditorium. Tickets are $15 at the door.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Kristyne E. Demske at kdemske@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1041.