FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS
Troup beauty brings a smile to your face
BY SUZANNE LOUDAMY Staff writer

Amanda Margraves

She's got grace, she's got poise. She's got brains, she's got beauty and she blows a mean bubble! Amanda Margraves has a lot going for her. And she is doing her best to bring a crown to her hometown of Troup.

Amanda said she never really saw herself as the beauty queen type and laughed when her mom suggested that she go by the Dairy Queen and pick up an application for the Miss Tyler Teen USA pageant. But she did it anyway.

"I had watched those pageants on television and thought, WOW, that's really cool, but I never ever thought I'd actually do it," Amanda said. She soon found herself on a stage with 20 other girls in Tyler vying for the title of Miss Tyler Teen USA. Amanda was chosen in the top five which gave her the opportunity to take the next step in the Miss Texas Teen USA competition.

With the title of Miss City of Roses, Amanda joined 151 other contestants from across Texas in Houston as they competed for a prize package that included a four-year college scholarship, jewelry, travel, wardrobe and the honor of representing Texas next summer in the premiere national pageant for teenagers, Miss Teen USA.

AMANDA MARGRAVES

"The hardest part of the competition was the interview competition," Amanda said. "It takes a lot of preparation and even with all that work, sometimes the judges will ask you something completely random. You just never know what they'll ask."

Amanda said that the swimsuit competition was the most fun. "You can really just go out there and be yourself during this." Attention is focused on beauty of face, figure, physical fitness and the confidence with which each contestant carries herself.

During the evening gown competition each delegate wears a gown she has chosen for herself. Amanda chose a bright orange gown with a sleek fitting bodice and gathered halter top. She accented her gown with earrings and a sparkling bracelet.

Amanda said that while she did not win the competition, the experience she gained was immeasurable. Her family, including mother Terry Weiss, father Donnie Margraves, sister Amber Turner and brother Chris Margraves, suppor ted her through everything. "I have a new view of what

pageants are all about. You have to be really confident and know a lot about the town you represent," Amanda said.

Between everything else Amanda is involved in she plans to enter the Tyler competition again in February of 2007. Her schedule is already quite busy as a varsity cheerleader and junior at Troup High School. She plays volleyball, runs track and plays trumpet in the band. In between sports and band, she makes time to do well in the AP and dual credit classes she takes. And, as if she didn't have enough to do, Amanda just started a new job as a hostess at a Mexican food restaurant.

Amanda says she always makes time for her youth activities at First Assembly of God Church in Whitehouse.

This is the type of drive, confidence and dedication that beams from Amanda every time she flashes that smile .. the smile of beauty that shines inside and out.