Pageant Press: Miss Ohio pageant will stay in Mansfield

Miss Ohio pageant will stay in Mansfield

Lou Whitmire / Mansfield News Journal

November 11, 2010

MANSFIELD -- The Miss Ohio Scholarship Program will stay in Mansfield.

Zanesville officials had tried to lure the pageant there, possibly before next year's event in June, but the board decided Wednesday "that remaining in Mansfield would be in the best interest of the program at this time," according to a press release from program spokesperson Kim Kanary.

“Now the hard work of partnering with Miss Ohio to rebuild them, so they become self-sustaining again, needs to begin,” Lee Tasseff, director of the Mansfield-Richland County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said today,

The Miss Ohio board was pondering a departure from Mansfield, where it has been for 36 years, without a written contract from the City of Zanesville, Tasseff said Wednesday.

Tasseff said he asked the board if it had an official commitment from the City of Zanesville and was told it did not. "It has never been brought up to Zanesville council," Tasseff said.

Community leaders met with the Miss Ohio Scholarship Board of Directors on Wednesday night and went through the board's wish list point by point, Tasseff said after the meeting. "We said they were all doable. We did ask them, if they're sticking around, we intend it to be a partnership.

"They have to commit to helping us and we'll commit to helping them."

Tasseff said the board had a lively, hour-long discussion of the matter.

"We asked, they asked," Tasseff said. "It was much more targeted because there was the list in front of us."

Kanary's press release referenced the partnership proposed by Mansfield leaders and acknowledged the "stirred emotions" the proposed move had created. "(W)e believe it ultimately resulted in a stronger partnership with more open and improved lines of communication," Kanary stated.

On Oct. 13, a contingent of community leaders addressed the Miss Ohio board. That group of about 10 people gathered at the Renaissance Theatre on Wednesday night.

Tasseff said he told the board, "We need to make a decision. We think you need to do it now."

In late September, board member Steven Oliveri told Mansfield Mayor Don Culliver the organization needs more financial support from the community.

"The organization has plenty of volunteers. We need people to come see our show, participate in our fundraisers ... if people aren't willing to do straight donations," Oliveri said.

The board has declined to release Zanesville's financial proposal.

The Miss Ohio program operates with expenses between $175,000 and $225,000.

Zanesville Mayor Howard Zwelling said he had been talking to members of the Miss Ohio board for two or three years about the prospect of moving the pageant. "I think Mansfield has done a good job of it and I'd like to have it for my community, too," Zwelling said.

Tasseff said Mansfield has been the single best partner Miss Ohio has ever had. The city's lodging tax contributes $10,000 annually to the Miss Ohio Scholarship Program. Newman Technology Inc. donates $10,000 to the new titleholder each year.

Miss Ohio officials did not return calls seeking comment this morning.

Tasseff was grateful for the efforts of local officials to keep the program here. “It’s been an enthusiastic and very focused group of community leaders. It’s been a true team effort and we will continue that,” he said.

A press conference is set for 11 a.m. today in Zanesville.

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