Bowling Green’s own Chapel Tinius, who was crowned Miss Kentucky in June, is competing at the 2025 Miss America competition at The Walt Disney Theater in Orlando, Florida.

The finals will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Born and raised in Bowling Green, Tinius is the daughter of Jim and Dana Tinius.

She is a graduate of Belmont University in Nashville, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in musical theater and a Bachelor of Arts degree in corporate communication, and is an employee of the Veterans Administration in Lexington.

Her community service initiative for the Miss Kentucky competition was “Operation Gratitude: For the Fallen, For the Fighting, For the Veterans,” and since its inception, Tinius has run over 25 half marathons and three full marathons to raise funds for the Honor Flight Network.

During her childhood in Bowling Green, she sang at First Baptist Church and performed in several musicals and plays in southcentral Kentucky, playing harp at various events and her fiddle in the Red River Fiddlers Band for 12 years.

As Miss Kentucky, Tinius has been traveling the state representing the Kentucky Department of Agriculture as a spokesperson for its Kentucky Proud Initiative.

The Miss America finals can be viewed on YouTube as well as on PageantVision.com.