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Former Miss Auburn Amanda Pantano recalls pageant experience, urges attendance at Feb. 8 scholarship event
Summary
Amanda Pantano, Miss Auburn 2019 and Miss Auburn—s Teen 2013, described how pageants shaped her public speaking and scholarship opportunities and encouraged the public to attend the Miss Auburn scholarship competition on Feb. 8; ticket sales support scholarship funds.
Amanda Pantano, who held the Miss Auburn title in 2019 and Miss Auburn—s Teen in 2013, said the city pageant gave her public-speaking experience and scholarship support that helped pay for college.
"It was something that I did really for myself," Pantano said, describing the confidence-building and personal-development benefits of competing. She said her dance background made talent performances a natural fit and that scholarship awards were "huge" and "so helpful" for paying tuition at Pacific Lutheran University.
Pantano described competing at the state level with Miss Washington and said she stayed involved with the Miss Auburn organization after her reign ended, serving as a judge in 2024. She described judging as a detailed, official process: "They put that paper down in front of you, and you're, like, writing numbers as fast as you can. They're writing really quickly, and they, like, secure it so that there can't be any tampering." Pantano said the experience gave her a new perspective on the subjective nature of judging compared with competitive dance.
Hosts Jonathan Glover, communications manager for the City of Auburn, and co-host Chester Boyd noted the next Miss Auburn competition is scheduled for Feb. 8 at the PACCAR Performing Arts Center. Glover said ticket sales and concessions support scholarship money for competitors. "Ticket sales and anything you buy there go towards scholarship money for women," he said.
Pantano encouraged people to attend and to use the Miss Auburn website for details and tickets. She also noted the pageant has changed names over the years and now emphasizes scholarships and personal development for contestants.
The discussion included practical notes about eligibility and timelines: Pantano said winners must wait a set number of years before serving as judges (she said five years had passed since her title), and that contestants must meet rules on age and marital status to be eligible to compete.
Photos and other background from Pantano's time in pageants, including travel to state competitions and the role of dance as a talent, were also discussed during the podcast.
Pantano closed by inviting residents to the Feb. 8 event, noting it is a ticketed fundraiser that supports scholarship awards for contestants.
