Tara Allain '08, Miss Maine
At Colby she’s Tara Allain, but on stage in Las Vegas in January she’ll be known simply as Miss Maine.
Allain ’08 was crowned in June and spent the summer on the road, tiara and banner at the ready. By mid-August she had been to Florida for Miss America’s Outstanding Teen Pageant and around Philadelphia for appearances at city schools and at a Ronald McDonald House. All that was to be followed by a trip to Georgia to visit the headquarters of Habitat for Humanity, her “platform issue” for Miss America.
“For the whole month of August, I’m booked,” Allain said at home in Worcester, Mass., between trips. “September—everything just fills up so fast.”
She opted to enter the Maine contest because, had she won in Massachusetts, logistics would have required her to take a year off from Colby. Even as Miss Maine, things will be hectic—Allain will have appearances around the state this fall and possibly a photo shoot in Los Angeles and reality show taping. But, as a seasoned multitasker, the biology major and Colby dance team captain and co-founder feels she can handle it.
Allain is hoping to have fun at the Miss America pageant, and, though she’s aware Maine and New England aren’t usually winners, she’s not just going along for the ride. “Yes, I’m there to have fun and the experience is incredible, but at the same time,” she said, “I would love to put New England on the map.”
—Gerry Boyle ’78
