Canfield High senior wins Ohio Jr. Miss pageant

CANFIELD — Lauren Gessner, a Canfield High School senior, has won first place and a $6,200 college scholarship in Ohio’s Junior Miss competition for high school seniors.

Miss Gessner, 18, of Russo Avenue, is a daughter of Dr. Larry Gessner, an Austintown dentist, and Renee Gessner, a member of the Canfield Board of Education.

Miss Gessner was among 18 contestants in the statewide competition held Friday and Saturday in Mount Vernon, Ohio; and she’ll compete with 49 other state winners for a $50,000 first prize college scholarship in national competition in June in Mobile, Ala.

This is the 50th year for the contest. Participants competed in a step aerobics routine, public speaking, an interview with the judges, theatrical or musical talent and scholastic performance.

Miss Gessner plans to attend a small liberal arts college and aspires to be a TV news broadcaster or a book or magazine editor.

Her aunt, Pamela Rigas Filutowski of Longwood, Fla., formerly of Canfield, won the Ohio contest in 1978.