Bay Area women compete for teen and miss titles in Miss Texas USA pageants

A number of young women from the Bay Area will compete for the crowns of Miss Texas USA and Miss Texas Teen USA in a weekend of pageantry July 1-3 at the Hilton Houston Post Oak in Houston.

The contestants include last year’s first runner-up at Miss Texas USA and a former Miss Mississippi Teen USA.

The Miss contestants, who include 89 women born from 1994 to 2003, will be scored in three categories: personal interview, swimsuit and evening gown.

The 80 Teen contestants, for girls who were born from 2003 to 2007, will be judged in personal interview, active wear and evening gown.

Friendswood

Representing Friendswood in the Miss pageant is R’Bonney Gabriel, 28, a fashion designer and model who was the first runner-up at Miss Kemah 2021, Miss Houston 2021 and Miss Texas USA 2021.

In 2018, the Filipina American earned a degree in fashion design with a minor in fibers from the University of North Texas.

She works as the lead sewing instructor for domestic-violence survivors at a nonprofit design house, Magpies & Peacocks, in east downtown Houston.

Gabriel designed and constructed her wardrobe for this year’s pageant. Info on her design and sewing work is at rbonneynola.com or Instagram: @rbonneynola.

Gabriel’s favorite historical figure is Maria Orosa, a Filipina chemist who was credited with saving thousands of lives by smuggling food into internment camps during World War II.

League City

Both a Miss and a Teen contestant are representing League City.

Destiny Fernandisse, 27, is her hometown’s first Miss League City USA.

The 2013 graduate of Clear Springs High School is a marketing manager, web designer, writer and model.

At San Jacinto College, Fernandisse earned an associate degree, and she recently completed a certification from Rice University in strategic digital marketing for business.

She held a fundraiser in memory of her grandmother, the late Inez Foster of Dickinson, that provides “comfort kits” for women undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Fernandisse enjoys spending time with family, singing opera, reading and rollerblading with her border collie mix.

Last year, she competed as Miss Clear Lake.

Representing League City in the Teen pageant is Jaelynd Edwards, the 17-year-old daughter of Joseph and Dora Edwards of Conroe.

She was a student at Grace Christian Academy and the First Baptist Christian School in League City before graduating this year from Covenant Christian School in Conroe.

“I plan to go to flight school and become a commercial airline pilot,” she said.

“My goal is to fly with my dad, before he retires,” she said, explaining that her father is a veteran pilot at United Airlines.

“That is subject to change, because I might join the U.S. Navy.”

After competing at Miss Houston Teen last year and not placing, Edwards returned this year and was second runner-up.

“I learned to be persistent,” she said.

For more information or to find out how to interview, sponsor or book the League City USA titleholders, contact director Kelly Williams, kellyjw518@gmail.com, or visit https://bityl.co/Cs0R.

Galveston County

Galveston County also is represented by both a Miss and a Teen contestant.

The Miss contestant is Andrea Hightower, the 24-year-old daughter of Minnie Cortez of League City and Gregory Hightower, who lives in Webster.

“Pageants are something my mom and I bond over,” said Andrea Hightower. “I started out really shy, and she thought that pageants would teach me to speak up and hold my own with adults.”

While living in Mississippi, where she graduated from Oxford High School, Hightower won the 2015 Miss Teen Mississippi USA pageant and advanced to Miss Teen USA when it was held in the Bahamas.

For three months, Hightower lived in the Czech Republic.

“While there, I learned about how quickly the world can change and how a twenty-something-year-old can shape history with faith and sacrifice,” she said.

Hightower studied journalism at the University of Mississippi but after earning an associate degree, she decided to switch careers by going to cosmetology school.

She is a hair-and-makeup artist for Kiss and Makeup Houston.

Wearing the Galveston County banner in the Teen pageant is Addison Willey, 16, who will be a junior this fall in the gifted-and-talented program at Dickinson High School, where she is active in volleyball, track and field, Future Farmers of America and art.

The daughter of Lacy Willey and Todd Isaacson of League City, Addison Willey aspires to become a sideline reporter for National Football League telecasts.

On her judges’ form, she listed her favorites as “Adventures in Babysitting” (movie), “Columbine” by James Cullen (book), Drake (musician), Dolly Parton (celebrity) and Susan B. Anthony (historical figure).

She added, “My fondest wish is that everyone in the world has at least one person in their corner to be an unconditional cheerleader and supporter.”

Hitchcock

Representing Hitchcock is Chloe Simmons, 22, a homeowner who works as a legal assistant.

She graduated from Episcopal High School in 2018 and has attended Xavier University of Louisiana and Lone Star College.

Her first pageant was Miss Houston 2022, in which she placed as second runner-up.

Simmons said, “I recall hearing a roar from the crowd and thinking, ‘Mom, how many people did you bring?’”

She views pageantry as a way to highlight the plight of towns such as Hitchcock, which doesn't have a grocery store.

“My fondest wish is to help depressed communities have access to fresh fruit and produce, which I view as a basic human right,” she said.

Simmons is penning a screenplay that she hopes will be produced and turned into a series.

“I want to attend film school and become a screenwriter and an actress,” she said.

A Miss contestant representing Clear Lake and two teens representing La Porte and Pasadena did not respond to interview requests for this story.

The Miss Texas USA Preliminary Show will be held at 8 p.m. Friday, July 1, at the Hilton Houston Post Oak Hotel, 2001 Post Oak Blvd, Houston, TX 77056.

The Miss Texas Teen USA Preliminary Show will begin at 3 p.m. Saturday, July 2.

The Miss Texas USA Final Show will be at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 2.

The Miss Texas Teen USA Final Show will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 3.

For more information, call 469-202-7550, email info@misstexasusa.com or visit https://bityl.co/Cs1s, where head shots can be viewed of all of the contestants.

Don Maines is a freelance writer who can be reached at donmaines@att.net