BY MARY MEEHAN
mmeehan1@herald-leader.comSeptember 6, 2014
Gone are the days when Ramsey Carpenter tossed her fiddle, a ball gown and a bathing suit in the back of her five-speed Ford Escort and headed off to compete in beauty pageants.
Those far-flung “prelims,” the stepping stones to Miss Kentucky, were strictly DIY affairs.
But after putting a few miles on her Ford, the former Miss My Old Kentucky Home is nowMiss Kentucky, and one of the perks of the job is a shiny white Lexus to zip around the commonwealth.
This week, she is in Atlantic City to compete for the Miss America title with a team at her disposal including a hair and makeup artist, a personal trainer and a current affairs coach. She has loaded up her four suitcases and been fitted for her own couture gown by the pageant’s official eveningwear designer, Tony Bowls.
Like her predecessors, Carpenter carries her crown in its own walnut box with a golden emblem on the side.
But for this Miss Kentucky, her platform is very personal.
As a person diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, her goal is educating people about the disease.
Before she received her title, Carpenter had been working as spokeswoman for theNational Multiple Sclerosis Society.
“Ramsey has been extraordinarily supportive of the MS movement and the work of the society,” said Arney Rosenblat, associate vice president of public affairs. “She is deeply engaged with our Kentucky-Southeast Indiana Chapter and has raised funds to help end MS through such events as Bike MS and Walk MS. She has also spoken at a number of chapter events.”
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