Mackenzie Bart is Miss Ohio 2014. She and her puppet Roxy will embark on a journey of service for the Miss Ohio Scholarship Program while making an appearance in Atlantic City in September, hoping to capture the crown and title of Miss America.
Bart, who was Miss Montgomery county, wowed the audience with her talent performance of ventriloquism. She and her vivacious dummy, Roxy, won the preliminary talent competition on Thursday night.
Bart’s platform is Universal Screening: Saving babies lives; one heal prick at a time. She is an advocate for the quality and quantity of newborn screens to identify serious physical and mental disabilities regardless where babies are born. She is also involved with STEM: Science Technology Engineering and Math, a program geared at aiming young girls to those fields of study.
The 22-year-old won a $10,000 scholarship from Newman Technologies, a 2014 brand new Chevrolet Cruse, courtesy of Graham Chevrolet, and many other awards and prizes.
The Columbus native is a senior at The Ohio State University studying atmospheric sciences. She hopes to also pursue a master’s degree in broadcast meteorology and become a meteorologist.
Like outgoing Miss Ohio 2013 Heather Wells, Bart credited persistence to making her dreams come true of capturing the state crown.
“I have been involved in the Miss America organization for 10 years now, whether as teen or now as a miss,” Bart said after the show. “And throughout that time I have been able to achieve so much scholarship money.”
Bart is a first generation college student and that, coupled with medical problems faced by her sister, sparked her drive to compete in the Miss America organization in hopes of making scholarship money to pay for school.
“College is very important to me and being able to pay for that is also extremely important,” she said. “So competing in the Miss America organization gave me that scholarship money to fulfil my dream.”
Bart said she “trained” with former Miss Ohio Kimberly Yeager Miller, a fellow ventriloquist.
“A couple of years ago, we got to chat back and forth but I think our dummies enjoyed chatting more than we did,” said Bart with a chuckle. “She’s been able to give me many tips whether for performances or how to do her hair properly.”
The bubbly Roxy and Bart have been together since Bart was about 10-years-old, she said. “We have this special bond. She is someone that I can have fun with and someone that I can share joy with to smaller children.”
(Click here to see the full image gallery from Saturday’s Miss Ohio event)
As she finishes her courses to become a meteorologist, Bart said she also hopes to incorporate Roxy into her own children’s weather show one day. “Being able to incorporate Roxy would be a great way to explain the weather to children.”
Bart said she is a go-getter and couldn’t be more pleased to represent Ohio in the Miss America program. “I am so excited to be able to have this title and serve Ohio throughout this year.”
Angel N. Ross-Taylor is a correspondent for Richland Source. Follow her on Twitter @angelnichole222
First Runner Up: Kara Mitchell, Miss Northwestern, of Columbus
Second Runner Up: Camille Dyquiangco, Miss Ohio River, a student at Case Western Reserve
Third Runner Up: Kristy Ressker, Miss Oxford, of Fostoria
Forth Runner Up: Allison Vance, Miss Cuyahoga county, of Mount Gilead
Other semifinalists: Lindsay Hanson, Miss Clayland; Jenna DePizzo, Miss North Central Ohio; Sarah Clapper, Miss Maple City; Alissa Brumbaugh, Miss Miami Valley; Alexis Richter, Miss Capital City; and the people’s choice for the number 11 spot, Hannah-Jo Weisberg, Miss Vacationland.
