By Connor Adams Sheets
The gorgeous gals of Whitestone have a new opportunity to move into the spotlight with the first-annual Miss Whitestone United States pageant planned for next month.
A gala event, the showcase is an opportunity for women from the neighborhood to compete for cash as well as a slot in the annual Miss New York United States pageant, a televised event whose winner moves on to the national pageant.
The preliminary contest, in which organizer Tino Maiolo hopes 100 beauties will take part, is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 3, with a break from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., at The Dance Project of Whitestone at 150-47 Willets Point Blvd.
The top 10 winners from that competition will proceed to the pageant finals April 17 at Valentino’s on the Green restaurant, at 201-10 Cross Island Pkwy. in Bayside.
The winner at that gala event will win $1,000, the title of Miss Whitestone, gifts from sponsors and the opportunity to advance to the statewide competition. Second- and third-place winners will also receive cash prizes.
Maiolo, the founder of the burgeoning new business promotion website whitestonevillage.com, said he is helping to organize the event in large part because he wants an opportunity to promote Whitestone’s offerings to a wider audience.
“It will be good for the community because we’ll bring the name ‘Whitestone’ to people across the United States,” he said. “Whitestone will get its name out there, and it will promote my website and local businesses. It’s good exposure to show the businesses we have in Whitestone.”
He said he hopes the event will breathe some life into the Whitestone entertainment scene, which he describes as sorely lacking.
“It’s good because it’s an activity you can do in Whitestone. Whitestone is a dead town, there’s nothing to do,” he said. “It’s a good way for people, especially young people from the age of 20 to 28, to get a little excitement.”
Whitestonevillage.com launched Sept. 15 as a for-profit undertaking with several dozen paying clients. Maiolo has had it officially incorporated as a business, and it provides networking, advertising and promotion services for businesses throughout Whitestone and surrounding areas, including Bayside, Flushing and College Point. The site gets dozens of hits per day and Maiolo hopes to one day expand its reach to include the entire borough of Queens.
Visit whitestonevillage.com for more information or for instructions on how to enter the pageant.
Reach reporter Connor Adams Sheets by e-mail at csheets@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
