Brooke Feldman of Margate is crowned Miss Atlantic County Region, Sunday, March 6, 2022.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
FOLSOM – Wearing her prom dress from a few years ago that made her feel “confident and beautiful,” Margate native Brooke Feldman took the Miss Atlantic County Region title Sunday night at a competition held at Folsom Elementary School.
Feldman, 24, who has worked as a correspondent for Downbeach.com, competed with six other women for the title, which is a pre-cursor to the Miss New Jersey Competition being held at Resorts Casino Hotel in June. It was her first competition and the last year she was eligible to compete.
“I grew up watching the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City and always looked up to who she is and what she represents. It was always in the back of my mind to enter and when I found out the age limit was approaching, I thought, it’s now or never,” she said Monday afternoon.
Miss Atlantic County Region is an open competition where women from outside the county can enter.
Feldman said she was honored to be selected to represent the county where she lives.
“The one thing that impressed me is how incredible the women are – intelligent and supportive. Knowing it was my first competition, they really opened their arms to me,” she said.
Miss Atlantic County Region Brooke Feldman, 24, of Margate.
Feldman has a diverse background that combines talent, intelligence, physical stamina and caring for others. She has been involved in musical theater, where she is “the happiest,” since she was 4-years-old, acting and singing in musicals at the Eugene A. Tighe Middle School. Her most recent performance was in Decmeber as the Ghost of Christmas Past in “A Christmas Carol: The Musical” performed at Gateway Playhouse in Somers Point.
She is a graduate of Atlantic City High School and a 2019 graduate of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where she was captain of the Division 1 squash team. She obtained degrees in pre-med and journalism.
In the talent portion of the competition, she sang “Astonishing” from the musical “Little Women,” which was an appropriate way to welcome her to her new sorority of sisters.
“I feel so honored to be a member of this new sisterhood of excellent women,” she said, noting that past title holders were texting her with congratulations and well wishes.
Her team of supporters include Suzie Neustadter, Sal Dupree, and Bill McCullough, all of whom have coached numerous women during their journeys to the crown.
Feldman’s social impact statement is “Serve and Support Our Seniors: Bringing Generations Together,” and service to seniors is something that will outlast her reign, she said.
“I’ve been volunteering with seniors for about 15 years and have an affinity for the elderly,” she said. “The senior population is often forgotten, and many are isolated, especially since the pandemic. That service won’t end with the Miss New Jersey competition.”
On Monday morning, she was calling Bingo numbers for the seniors at the Rosin Senior Center in Atlantic City.
“It was my first stop as Miss Atlantic County Region and they were relishing my win as much as me,” Feldman said.
Miss Atlantic County Region Brooke Feldman with Miss New Jersey Alyssa Sullivan
She was reserved speaking about the topics discussed during the interview portion of the competition, but that it was important for her to let all five judges know who she is.
“I didn’t want to give the answers the judges wanted to hear, but stayed true to myself and who I am,” she said.
Regardless of the outcome of the Miss New Jersey Competition coming up in a few months, Feldman said her ambitions include going to med school, perhaps specializing in geriatrics, or using her writing ability to become a medical correspondent, which would combine all her talents, she said.
In the meantime, she is looking forward to her year of service as Miss Atlantic County Region, and if the stars align, representing her state as Miss New Jersey.
She has a long to-do list before June when the Miss New Jersey Education Foundation holds its competition in Atlantic City, including selecting a new song to sing that represents who she is, being active in the community, and furthering her social impact with senior citizens.
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