Bree Morse is new Miss Garden Grove; Avalos is top teen

By Brittany Hanson/Garden Grove Journal

Bree Morse, 19, mouthed, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it,” over and over again as she knelt to have her crown pinned on her head. The blond California State University Long Beach student just won the title of Miss Garden Grove 2012.

Morse, last year’s first runner up, said that she is excited to win the title and is looking forward to representing Garden Grove.

“I’m so excited, it’s really all that I can think of right now is that I’m excited,” said Morse, “This is such a great opportunity. The thing is, anyone can do this. Anyone can try out and be a part of this great organization.”

Morse said that although the crown was definitely a plus to winning, that the scholarships, in this time of rising college costs, are the most helpful.

Although Morse is looking forward to her year of community service and going on to compete in the county and maybe even the state Miss California pageant, her first agenda item is getting out of her heels.

“Right now, backstage, I have a pair of fuzzy pink slippers with my name on them,” said Morse.

Saturday night’s pageant wasn’t just to crown the newest Miss Garden Grove, it was also to crown the new Garden Grove Outstanding Teen, Jazmin Avalos, 14, a Bolsa Grande High School student.

Avalos said that the program for Outstanding Teen is a great program that really helped her.

“I really grew during this program, I was so shy, but there is so much that can be learned from the experience,” said Avalos.

This year was 53rd year of the Miss Garden Grove Pageant and the theme of Saturday night was “Cruisin’ on the Scholarship” at the Marriott Suites at 12015 Harbor Blvd. in Garden Grove.

The runners up for Miss Garden Grove are Missy Mendoza for third runner up, Aimee Lee for second runner up and Julia McCurdie for first runner up.

For the Garden Grove Outstanding Teen, the second runner up is Isabella Garcia for second and Arely Mariscol for first.

The Miss Garden Grove and Garden Grove’s Outstanding Teen pageants are prelims for the Miss America and America’s Outstanding Teen pageants.

The pageants are competitive events that cover personal poise and social grace. The portions of the pageant are broken down into scoring criteria based on the components of the event. The scored components are based on points with 35 percent for the Miss and Teen talent portion, 25 percent for interview skills for the Miss and 35 percent for Teen, 20 percent for miss eveningwear and 15 percent for teen eveningwear, 15 percent for the miss swimsuit portion and 10 percent for teen active wear. Finally, the onstage question related to current events and trends is 5 percent for both Miss and Teen.

Former Miss Garden Grove 2003, Rachel Stanford, was the master of ceremonies for the evening, leading the night with a vocal rendition of the song “Love Boat” from the popular 1970’s to 1980’s television show.