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28/12/2021
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MARGOT FOSNES Dec 28, 2021
The year 2021 was historic for the Miss America Organization as the 100th Miss America was crowned in Uncasville, Conn. on Thursday evening, Dec. 16. It was also an historic year for Springfield and Robertson County as we watched, for the first time, one of our own compete for the crown as Miss Tennessee.
Tally Bevis, daughter of local attorney Charlotte Fleming and Dan Bevis, won the title of Miss Tennessee in Memphis in July. Speaking to her on the eve of the final night of competition in the press room of Miss America 100, she reflected on the previous five and a half months of fulfilling her new role of Miss Tennessee and preparing for the “interview of a lifetime for the job of Miss America 2022.”
She shared that being a part of the historic 100th anniversary competition and the amazing sisterhood gained with the other 50 titleholders were experiences that she will forever treasure.
Today’s Miss America competition is a far cry from the bathing suit and boardwalk early years in Atlantic City. Contestants compete no longer in swimsuit competitions, but in rigorous talent, one-on-one interviews and the creation and execution of personal “social impact initiatives.”
Tally’s social impact initiative was “Vote with a Vision,” a movement to increase voter registration among young people and to emphasize the importance of growing civic literacy and engagement from a young age.
A graduate of Belmont University with a degree in Music Business Administration, Bevis has used the more than $35,000 in scholarship awards she has accumulated as Miss Music City and Miss Tennessee to pay off her tuition loans and looks forward to pursuing a master’s degree in social innovation.
During the two-week Miss America competition, Tally represented her home state in the talent preliminaries with a piano-vocal performance of Dolly Parton’s hit song, “Here You Come Again.”
“Receiving a video message form Dolly herself wishing me the best of luck in the competition was an unexpected thrill,” said Bevis.
While she did not place in the top 10 finalists, Bevis came away a winner in several competitions, earning $11,000 in scholarships during her stay.
Bevis said, “On the eve of the finals, I was honored at the Forever Miss America Celebration to be awarded the Inaugural Forever Miss America $5,000 scholarship endowed and chosen by the forever Miss America’s via video and resume submission for my career goals and accomplishments within Arts and Entertainment. It was presented by Bebe Shopp, Miss America 1948, and the oldest living Miss America.
“As if that wasn’t enough to make me speechless, I earned a $2,000 scholarship as 2nd Runner Up in the nation for the Women In Business Award and was honored once again for my fundraising efforts on behalf of the Miss America Foundation and Miss America Organization as 4th Runner Up nationally with over $14,100 raised, earning me an additional $1,000.”
Tennessee and Robertson County showed up in force in Connecticut to support Bevis during the competition, with more than 60 Team Tennessee friends, family and supporters on hand, including 15 from Robertson County. Jordan Osborne, president of the Robertson County Chamber of Commerce and myself were among the local cheering section.
Bevis has entered into a partnership with the Robertson County Economic Development Board to use her platform as Miss Tennessee to promote Robertson County’s assets and tourism attractions, as well as to engage with Robertson County students in workforce development initiatives.
Asked what advice she would offer to young teens considering the opportunities of competitions like Miss America, Bevis said, “Just do it. Find your talent and a cause that you love and can be passionate about and keep competing. Focus on the scholarships, because they can open up the world for you.”
So what do the next six months hold for Tally? After a few days of rest and relaxation over the holidays, Bevis said she is excited to “spend the next six months serving across the state through civic literacy education, expanding new voter registration, working on legislation to improve civics curriculum in our schools, and growing my new podcast, ‘The Suffragette Series.' It’s not until now that I have felt the full weight of how hard I worked to get here and to be filled with gratitude that I get to live this reality in my dream job.”
Bevis is available for appearances at events, galas, and civic groups as a speaker. Requests can be sent to tally.bevis@misstennessee.org. She is also working to recruit the next class of Miss Tennessee hopefuls. Those who are ages 13–25 can learn more about the opportunity to compete in this program at www.MissTennessee.org.
Margot Fosnes is the chief economic development officer for Robertson County.
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