New Miss Ohio takes up cause of lightning safety
22-year-old to compete for Miss America in January
6/20/2011
Miss Clayland, Ellen Bryan rejoices as she is crowned Miss Ohio 2011 by the outgoing Miss Ohio Becky Minger Saturday.
MANSFIELD, Ohio — Ohio’s contestant in the next Miss America competition says she’ll make lightning safety her platform because it’s an issue close to her family.
New Miss Ohio Ellen Bryan tells the Mansfield News Journal she has an older sister was struck by lightning 11 years ago and is now in a wheelchair and doesn’t speak. Bryan says her parents missed when her crown was being put on Saturday night at Mansfield’s Renaissance Theatre because they were busy tending to her sister, who got emotional after Bryan won the title.
The 22-year-old beat out 25 pageant contestants in the statewide Miss Ohio Scholarship program. Bryan, of Celina in western Ohio, will compete for Miss America in January in Las Vegas.