By Ashley Sinclair

One of our very own is excited to express her loyalty to her community while competing in the Miss North Carolina USA 2023 pageant. Reanna Ruark, Miss Forsyth County USA 2023, a life-long resident of Belews Creek, is looking forward to representing her passions, her community, and her, local sponsors this month at the state pageant.

Reanna attended Wesleyan Christian Academy until COVID, then continued her studies through an online homeschool program and graduated in April of 2021. She is passionate about growing her skills of interior design and currently working at Linon Powell Furniture in High Point, as the Assistant to Director of Showroom Designs. She briefly pursued a career in real estate until she realized she was more passionate about decorating the inside of homes rather than selling them.

Reanna has never been a participant in a pageant, but she takes on new experiences as they come. During the fall of 2022, she went to pick out a dress for her boyfriend’s racing banquet at McKenzie Jade’s Pageant Prom & Bridal Shop in Concord. There is when the staff encouraged her to do a pageant and thus lead to her finding RPM Productions. She began to pursue the next steps to run for Miss North Carolina USA. Despite not having any previous pageant experience, Reanna applied directly to the state pageant and was given the title Miss Forsyth County USA 2023 and will represent Forsyth County in the 2023 Miss North Carolina USA pageant. Although she took an untraditional route in the pageant industry, she states, “It was humbling to have someone approach me and ask if I ever considered running in pageants. That one conversation instilled hope in me and sparked this big adventure.”

Pageant weekend is Friday, February 24 and Saturday, February 25. The Preliminary Competition takes place February 24 with the Final Competition on February 25. If you were unable to purchase tickets, there are still ways for you to support and watch Reanna. A People’s Choice Award is given to the contestant who has the most votes online, and the winner of the People’s Choice Award is guaranteed a spot in the Semi-Finals! Contestant photos should be online about 2 weeks prior to the pageant. You can always support her by watching live online at pageantslive.com or follow her journey on Facebook (Miss Forsyth County USA 2023) and Instagram (@reannaraeruark).

Lastly, Reanna Ruark would like to thank her sponsors, without them by her side none of this would be possible for her. Caudill’s Electric, Ellington Jewelers, Clifton Plumbing, Accent Prone, Genevieve Aesthetics, 11/11 Veteran Project, Emrys Properties, Sunless Body, Kernersville Lashes, T Wayne Fitness, Hip Chics Boutique, Clean Eatz of Winston Salem, Hair by Kathryn Hartley, and Pierce Jefferson Funeral and Cremation Services of Kernersville.