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New Miss Heart Is Sara York

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By GEORGE H. NEWMAN

gnewman@tampatrib.com

Published: March 11, 2009

PLANT CITY - The winner of the Miss Heart of Plant City pageant, Sara York, will compete later this year for the title of Miss Florida.

If she's successful there, she has a shot at the ultimate prize - Miss America.

York, 19, a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, has experience in state pageants. But not in Florida.

York competed for the title of Miss Alabama in 2008, after winning the title of Miss Wiregrass Area in a pageant held near Dothan, Ala.

Miss Wiregrass Area represented the southeast corner of Alabama, part of Georgia and a small part of northern Florida. The pageant was named after the grass grown in that area.

After winning the local pageant Jan. 31 at Plant City High School, York now represents Plant City in the Miss Florida pageant.

York said she was honored to compete in the Miss Alabama pageant and is now excited to represent Plant City.

She was born in San Diego and moved to Dothan when she was 4. She graduated from Houston Academy, a small Dothan school with a graduating class of 54 students. She moved to Orlando last year.

"Coming from a small town in Southern Alabama, Plant City is a reminder of the strong community values and southern hospitality that I grew up with," she said. "I knew I wanted to attend college out of state, and Orlando has unlimited opportunities for me to pursue my aspirations of becoming an event planner for a major hotel/corporation.

"However, it's refreshing to drive into Plant City and see the small-town charm and focus on community growth. Within my first moments as Miss Heart of Plant City, it was apparent to me that I was not simply winning a pageant. I had become the newest member of the Miss Heart of Plant City family."

Other winners at the Miss Heart of Plant City pageant included Junior Miss, Caitlyn Kent, 11; Little Miss, Kaylee Stallard, 8; and Tiny Miss, Jaileen Borrero, 6.

The Miss Florida Pageant will be held July 8-11.

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 865-4451.

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