A University of Mobile student has set her sights on the Miss Alabama Pageant after being crowned Miss University of Mobile 2000 Feb. 5 at the Saenger Theater in downtown Mobile.
“I was totally shocked and overwhelmed when I heard them call my name as the new Miss University of Mobile,” Christin Kelly said. “And now I am anticipating the Miss Alabama Pageant in June as the representative of the University of Mobile.
But Kelly said she thinks her current title has an even greater meaning. She referred to Matthew 23:11 where the Bible commands Christians to be a servant.
“I think God has blessed me with the Miss University of Mobile title to be just that — a servant,” she said.
Kelly, a member of First Baptist Church North Mobile in Saraland, sang “L.O.V.E” by Natalie Cole during the talent portion of the pageant.
Her platform, “Amazing Grays,” allows Kelly to reach out to the elderly through volunteer work. She plans to motivate church youth groups and community service organizations in local schools and universities to volunteer in long-term elderly facilities.
“I feel that it is vital to volunteer and give of ourselves to the fastest growing population in our country – the elderly,” she said. “My platform gives me the opportunity to reach out to the younger generations and inform them of how important the elder generation still is in our lives.
“They are our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents,” she added. “We need to show them how much we appreciate all they have contributed to our lives, and I believe it is now our turn to contribute to their lives.”
Kelly said she became involved in volunteer work for the elderly five years ago, after visiting her grandmother in a nursing home.
“All the residents were in the halls and reaching out to me and my family. They just wanted someone to visit with and listen to their stories,” she said.
“At that moment, God placed the desire in my heart to be there to listen and spend time with the elderly as long as I can,” Kelly added. “And you know, I receive more out of the time I spend volunteering with them than what I put into it because the are such great people.”
The 19-year-old Mobile native is not a stranger to pageants. Last year, she was first runner-up in the Miss University of Mobile Pageant and she competed in the 1999 Miss Mobile Pageant.
Kelly exemplifies the qualities and characteristics of a Christian, with her family standing by her all the way. Her father, Rick, is the minister of music at Spanish Fort Baptist Church and her mother, Cindy, is the secretary of the athletic department at the University of Mobile. She has one brother, Richard, 16, and a sister, Cari, 13.
Kelly’s talents extend beyond her vocal abilities. She is majoring in sociology and theater, and has played most of the female lead roles in the University of Mobile’s Upper Room Dinner Theatre since the fall of 1998.
Other contestants who placed in the Miss University of Mobile Pageant were: Sarah Goff of Mobile, a member of First Baptist Church of Mobile, first runner-up; Aubrie Cassity of Mobile, a member of First Baptist North Mobile, second runner-up; and April Wallace of Andalusia a member of First Baptist Church North Mobile, “Miss Congeniality.”
Share with others: