North Bend girl wins public speaking award

Published 5:09 pm Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Abigail Hamilton, 11, of North Bend recently won the title of Pre-Teen National Spokesmodel at the National American Miss Competition in Anaheim, Calif.

She made the trip to nationals after taking first runner-up in the spokesmodel and actress competition at the Washington state pageant, plus third runner-up in both overall and the top model event.

At the national event, Hamilton placed in the top 10 out of 114 girls, with a speech devoted to her mother’s battle with breast cancer. She advocated lowering the recommended age for mammograms in areas with high rates of breast cancer. This emotional and personal speech resulted in her winning the national spokesmodel title, as well as an $800 cash prize, trophy, banner and crown.

Each year, the National American Miss Pageants awards $1.5 million in cash, scholarships, and prizes to recognize and assist in the development of young women.