North Vancouver’s Cheryl Dietrich won the Miss BC 2011 title this past Canada Day long weekend.
Dietrich was crowned at the annual charity event which was held at the Chief Sepass Theatre in Fort Langley.
The pageant raised a total of $21,205 for the Cops For Cancer organization.
“It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you are not,” says Dietrich in her online bio at www.missbc.ca.
With her new title, Dietrich hopes to help other young woman out there feel like they are “amazing, worthy, and enough.”
The Miss BC Pageant is a developmental program for young women. Each contestant received professional training in areas such as modelling, stage presence, manners and etiquette, self-esteem, interview skills, public speaking, self-defence, and assertiveness.
Previously, the pageant courted controversy when it allowed a mother of two to enter the competition. Most pageants would not have permitted that, but Miss BC is committed to being inclusive and empowering to women in this province.
This year’s pageant introduced two new categories: Mrs. BC and Mrs. Lower Mainland, for those contestants who are married. Once again, the Miss BC show has opened up doors and given opportunities to women who never would have been able to participate in a show like this elsewhere.
Other winners of the evening included:
Miss Northern BC – Amanjit Minhas
Miss BC Interior – Cindy Duerst
Miss Vancouver Island – Sabiha Zafar
Miss Fraser Valley - Nadine Mross
Miss Lower Mainland – Melissa Muirhead
Miss Charity BC – Alyssia Tang
People’s Choice Award – Mina Khtaria
Miss Okanagan Valley – Natalie Rivard
Mrs. Lower Mainland – Tara Nakano
Mrs. BC – Carla Wayes
Miss Congeniality – Karly Keshavarzi