This is the story of a dress, a dream and a rock and roll legend, all nodding to one very special lady.  

 

Almost exactly a year ago, Sophia Martino was crowned Miss West Virginia Teen USA.  

 

Wearing that crown had been a dream of hers since she was small and she embraced the title with true beauty queen fashion, complete with gratitude and grace.

 

At that time, the national competition for Miss Teen USA was slated for late spring or summer. Plans changed, then changed again, and eventually were finalized for November in Memphis, Tennessee.

 

This is where the rock and roll legend comes into play.  

 

Memphis, specifically Graceland, was the home of the iconic Elvis Presley. Known for making women swoon and scandalous dance moves, the musician and movie star put Memphis on the map.  

 

As it turns out, Sophia’s Mam-ma, the late Jo Ann Rohr, was one of Elvis’s biggest fans. She had all his albums, movies, the dolls, the plates, the trading cards and all the other memorabilia available to preserve his standing as an icon. So, when Sophia found out the national pageant was going to be in Memphis, she knew she had a special connection.

 

Fast forward to December of 2019. As the titleholder of West Virginia, Sophia and her mother, along with the state pageant directors and Angela Oliverio, were invited to Atlanta to watch the Miss Universe Pageant and meet with formalwear design legend, Sherri Hill. 

 

As contestants of the Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, and Miss Universe pageants, the women were given the honor of working directly with Hill to design the dress of their dreams.

 

Prior to the trip, Sophia and her mother Donna discussed the plan. It was going to be sophisticated and flowy.  

 

They had looked forward to sitting with the designer and creating a unique masterpiece that perfectly captured Sophia’s beauty, inside and out. While unpacking holiday decorations before leaving for Atlanta, they found an unlabeled tote in the basement that, as luck would have it, contained a dress that Sophia’s mother, Donna, had worn in a pageant as a teen.  It was not one she immediately fell in love with when she was shopping with her mother, referenced above, but Jo Ann loved it so much that Donna bought it and wore it anyway.

 

Donna reminisced about the dress, telling Sophia how her mom had been drawn to the ruffles, which brought up another story of when Jo Ann bought Sophia a ruffled dress for her middle school dance.  The two laughed and packed the old dress back in its tote and soon left for Atlanta.

 

Upon arriving at Hill’s store, Sophia made a beeline for a particular dress with ruffles in the back of the showroom.  

 

Thousands of dresses were on display, personalized designers at the ready, but Sophia immediately knew she had found the one, the dress that was like no other and certainly not like the one she and her mother had planned.

 

As it turns out, Jo Ann’s presence was so evident with the selection of the ruffled dress, that both Donna and Sophia’s eyes welled up, knowing she not only was smiling down on the pageant that was going to take place in Elvis’ home, but also that she had a hand in directing her granddaughter to the perfect dress. 

 

Although she tried on countless others, even Sherri Hill agreed that the dress was made for Sophia.  She even said it was one of her favorite dresses she had ever designed, so maybe Sophia will make the dress as iconic as Elvis made the white jumpsuit.

 

With the perfect dress, months of preparation, numerous zoom conversations and ever-changing safety protocols, Sophia will finally be traveling to Memphis at the end of October to be one of 51 girls featured in the Miss Teen USA Pageant on Nov. 7. 

 

She will arrive a few days early and undergo COVID testing and isolation in order to ensure safety among the contestants. Although many of the public appearances that would normally take place have been scaled back, the contestants will tour the Civil Rights Museum and Graceland’s complex as they shoot promotional segments for the show.

 

Much like the NBA, the contestants will be in a bubble of sorts to keep them safe during the events. They will compete in evening wear and active wear, but the interviews will be done via Zoom prior to arriving in Memphis and their event introductions will be taped ahead of time to keep talking to a minimum on stage.  

 

The pageant will take place during the same time frame as the Miss USA Pageant, which will be aired on the FYI network, Nov.9.  The Miss Teen USA Pageant will be streamed through the Miss Universe Organization’s social media sites and many details about the competition are cloaked in secrecy until that night.  

 

Leading up to the big event, supporters are encouraged to download the Miss USA App and vote for Sophia Martino.  There will be a People’s Choice Award for the contestant with the most votes and all money raised will be donated to the winner’s charity of choice.  

 

Sophia’s platform throughout her pageant history has been Feeding the Hungry.  She has spent countless hours organizing events and drives to raise awareness and funds for the cause and has volunteered with the Mountaineer Food Bank, the Mobil Food Pantry and other organizations.  

 

If she is chosen as the People’s Choice, she will donate the money to Feeding America, a national initiative to reduce hunger.

 

A 2020 graduate of Notre Dame High School, Sophia is the daughter of Donna and Gary Martino, sister to Gianna Martino, granddaughter of the late James and Jo Ann Rohr and the late David and Margaret Martino.  

 

She is a member of All Saints Catholic Church and currently a freshman at West Virginia University pursuing a degree in Dermatology and Entrepreneurship.  

 

When she walks across the national stage next month, she will be representing her state, her faith, her platform, and her family and one very special family member will be cheering her on as she wears the dress that was chosen from the great beyond.