A Greenport teen has been selected as Miss Polish Town USA.
Stephanie Clark, 18, was crowned at Riverhead Polish Hall this weekend. Olivia Lagun of Riverhead was first runner-up and Kelli Cichanowicz, of Baiting Hollow was second runner-up.
Clark, who just finished her first year of studies at Suffolk County Community College student, graduated from Greenport High School last year. She is majoring in early childhood education and plans to transfer to LIU to continue her studies and pursue a bachelor’s degree after receiving her associate’s degree next year.
Clark said she’s wanted to enter the Miss Polish Town USA contest since she was a little girl.
“I’ve always wanted to be Miss Polish Town USA,” she said. “This is a dream come true for me.”
Clark, whose mother’s grandparents immigrated from Poland and has family members who reside there, said she enjoys her Polish heritage and the traditions that come along with it.
“My Polish heritage means a lot to me,” she said in a phone interview this evening. “I love Polish traditions, like baking babka with my babci at Christmas time.”
A former member of the St. Maximillian Kolbe Polish Dance group, she was captain of the cheerleading team and played varsity field hockey and softball in high school. She is an altar server at St. Agnes Church in Greenport, though she often attends Mass at St. Isidore’s with her grandparents, Frank and Carol McKay, of Riverhead.
Contestants in the Miss Polish Town USA are judged on poise and appearance (25 points), answer to a question randomly pulled out of a fish bowl (25 points), written essay on “Why I would like to be Miss Polish Town USA” (25 points) and answer to a final question, also worth 25 points, “What do you value most about you Polish heritage?”
That was easy, Clark said: It’s the Polish traditions.
Clark’s “fish bowl” question — “What do you feel is our biggest threat in society?” was also easy to answer, she said.
“It’s when people don’t respect each other.”
Clark is the daughter of James and Doreen Clark. She lives with her parents and younger sister Elizabeth in Greenport.
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