By Annie Ropeik, KUCB
On Friday, 19 young women competed to represent Alaska in the next Miss America pageant — among them, Unalaska resident Doanh Thi Tran. The Miss Alaska pageant usually gets most entries from urban places. That made Tran an exception.
Doanh Thi Tran shows off her previous pageant crowns in her Unalaska home. (Annie Ropeik/KUCB)
She didn’t advance to Miss America, but she did take home the Miss Congeniality and People’s Choice awards.
KUCB’s Annie Ropeik spoke to Tran last month as she was getting ready for the pageant. As she reports, Tran wanted to show off a different side of the last frontier.
On a rainy April evening, 24-year-old Doanh Thi Tran is driving across Unalaska to pick up a clothing donation at a local liquor store. The clothes are for her charity, Thread By Thread, which started as part of her run for Miss Alaska.
Tran: “The idea kind of came about when we were thinking of things that I’ve done in the past. Clothing drives were one … We just kind of brainstormed and Thread By Thread came about. We, of course, thought about the name and the concept, our childhood — just kind of the way we live now, and it seemed very fitting.”
For the past several weeks, Tran’s sent hundreds of clothing items to shelters and villages across the state — from Little Diomede and Tooksook Bay to Anchorage and Wasilla.
Today, she’s getting some men’s clothes from her friend Glenn.
Tran: Oh my gosh, new shirts!
Glenn: Lots of shirts, and … yep.
Tran: This sweater, that’d be great…
Glenn’s not the first local to donate to Tran’s charity. In fact, if you live in Unalaska, you’ve probably heard by now that this small town will have a face in the state pageant.
And that’s not all that common — most Miss Alaska contestants hail from Anchorage or Fairbanks. Alaska has an open pageant, though, which means you don’t have to win a more local competition to qualify for the state.
Tran’s competed in pageants before, while away at school in more populous parts of Alaska. But Unalaska was her home long before that.
(sound of clinking dishes)
At the restaurant in Unalaska’s Tom Madsen Airport, Tran is clearing tables. It’s a force of habit — her parents have owned this place since they came here from Vietnam in 2002.
Tran: “Their work ethic has really helped me. They’ve trained me mentally for that in the world… and then having the chance to go to school and meet people, I feel like it’s all come almost full circle and brought me where I am.”
Tran was in middle school when she moved here. Her family started out in a cramped bunkhouse without many comforts. At first, it was hard to find her place.
Read the full article by Annie Ropeik from KUCB.
