Miss Delaware takes her alopecia message to Vegas

Miss Delaware, Kayla Martell, is ready for the final step in her journey to compete for the Miss America crown.

 An enthsuiastic crowd was on hand at Dover Downs and Casino for her final public appearance before heading to Las Vegas and the Miss America pagent on January 15th.

Martell says her message to the pagent will be the same as it has been since she was first crowned Miss Delaware this past spring.  She wants people to know that she has alopecia areata.  The disease causes people to lose their hair.  Martell first lost hers at age 11.

Martell will compete in a blonde wig.  She talked about her decision to compete in a wig and displayed her willingness to take the wig off on a June broadcast of First.

As more and more events follow the formats inspirted by “American Idol” and “Dancing with the Star” Miss Delaware officials have been pitching the idea of getting state residents to vote for Kayla.  They ask people to go to the Miss America: Votes website and vote for Kayla.