STANTON : Pageant Contestants to Speak Their Minds

When young women from around the area vie for the title of Miss Stanton next week, the judges will have more than the usual evening gowns and swimwear to guide them. For the first time, contestants must also offer a “platform” of political or personal beliefs.

Alex Telson, an 18-year-old student at Rancho Santiago College, already knows what she’s going to talk about: graffiti, or more precisely, getting rid of it.

“We pretty much had a war with taggers in our neighborhood,” she said. “We painted over, they painted over . . . but finally we won.”

Andrea Fuhrmann, 21, plans to talk about awareness of deaf people.

Fuhrmann, a Cypress College student born with a 40% hearing loss before an operation last year increased her hearing range, will also use sign language for the lyrics of songs from “Beauty and the Beast” for her talent performance.

These two will be among the pageant contestants in Stanton, which holds the distinction of being the smallest city to host a primary contest for the Miss California pageant.

No contestant from this three-mile square city has ever won the title. But eight young women are training hard each week, and they say they are having fun--win or lose.

“My motto in life is pretty much try everything once,” Telson, a would-be fashion designer, said recently after practicing the comic monologue she will present Friday at the contest.

The winner receives a $2,000 scholarship, and some admit that’s a reason for entering.

“I need money for school next semester,” said Jodi Martenson, 22, of Aliso Viejo, a Cal State Fullerton student planning a jazz dance for the pageant’s 2.5-minute talent performance.

To draw more competitors, organizers allow contestants from outside of Stanton. Contestants may live or work in Stanton, Buena Park, Cypress or La Palma, or attend Cal State Fullerton, Cypress College or Cal State Long Beach.

The winner of the Stanton pageant will advance to the Miss California pageant next year to compete against 37 other women. Miss California goes on to the Miss America pageant next September.

“It’s a tremendous character builder,” said Joan Thomas, director of the Chamber of Commerce, which is sponsoring the event. “Only the sharpest girls make it through.”

The other contestants:

* Pli Chhuon, 19, a Fullerton resident and Cal State Fullerton student. Chhuon will lip-synch to music for the talent section of the contest. She is studying to become a child psychologist.

* Sarah Feurborn, 21, a Tustin resident and Cal State Fullerton student, will read a poem. She wants to teach English when she graduates.

* Laura Garcia, 18, an Anaheim resident and Cal State Fullerton student, will sing and perform a jazz/salsa dance. She wants to become an elementary school teacher.

* Tiara Garcia, 17, a Stanton resident and senior at Western High School, will sing. She wants to become a lawyer.

* Melanie Jurado, 23, a Costa Mesa resident and Cal State Fullerton student, will dance to salsa music. She is a psychology major.

Tickets to the pageant are $10. It will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Civic Center, 7800 Katella Ave.