Homecoming event honors BG’s Miss Kentucky winner
Published 12:00 am Thursday, September 1, 2011
- Alex Slitz/Daily NewsMiss Kentucky Ann-Blair Thornton signs autographs during her homecoming event Wednesday at the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce.
When Warren Circuit Court Judge Steve Wilson coached Ann-Blair Thornton in Little League years ago, he told her to stop the ball at all costs. He instructed the young shortstop to use her glove, sit on the ball or even use her face to stop the ball.
“She said, ‘Oh no, Coach. This is the face of Miss America,’ ” Wilson said. “I didn’t know how serious she was.”
But Thornton wasn’t kidding. After winning Miss Kentucky 2011 in July, Thornton returned to Bowling Green on Wednesday after a month of touring the state and speaking to elementary school children. She has already put 5,000 miles on her new car, she said during a homecoming reception hosted by the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I hope I can have the same effect on children that Miss Kentucky had on me when she spoke at my school,” said Thornton, a Western Kentucky University senior and Bowling Green High School graduate.
After spending the next few months touring schools and promoting the Kentucky Proud program for the state Department of Agriculture, Thornton’s next stop is Las Vegas, where she will compete in the Miss America pageant in January.
More than 125 Bowling Green residents have already purchased tickets to the Miss America pageant, and several of those friends and family members dropped by the chamber Wednesday to congratulate Thornton.
Salon owner Regina Webb has styled Thornton’s hair since the pageant winner was around 8 years old. Webb was in the audience when 21-year-old Thornton won the crown in Lexington.
“She has a really great shot of winning Miss America,” Webb said. “She’s well-rounded. She has the personality, and she has the confidence.”
It’s a goal Thornton has pursued since she was a child. But she didn’t want to talk about the pageant Wednesday. Instead, she focused on the support she has received from Bowling Green residents.
“I have never experienced as much love as I have this year from you all,” she said.