Brown Shares Dreams with Pageant Contestants

Not only did Wrentham native and former American Idol contestant Ayla Brown sing, play guitar and introduce her audience to her brand new country music album last Friday evening performed at the Underground Cafe at the Church of Emmanuel, she also gave an inspiring talk with a heartfelt message of “dreams start so young.”The event was a Miss Foxboro Scholarship Fundraiser, where Brown mingled with the nine contestants and girls participating in the Princess Program.When she began her presentation, she addressed her comments directly to them,”We all have dreams,” Brown said. “We try to make these dreams happen and be the best people we can be.”

“Dreams start so young,” Brown observed.

She was joined by her mother, television reporter Gail Huff, and grandmother, at what was billed as a mother-daughter social. She is the daughter of U.S. Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts.

Brown described in detail how she has made her childhood dreams come true and how every day she works hard to continue to make her dreams a reality. She said that, at the age of 15, she became the youngest athlete ever recruited by Boston College to play women’s basketball upon her high school graduation.

When she was 17, with encouragement and support from her mother who remembers her young daughter’s longtime love of singing, Brown tried out for American Idol. A little over a year ago, Brown moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue her dream in country music where she started playing guitar.

She has performed the National Anthem at numerous sporting events, including with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers home court. Last November, she travelled to Afghanistan to sing for American troops as part of the Outback Steakhouse Feeding Freedom Tour. Brown looks forward to opening for Josh Turner later this month at the American Music Theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and acting for the first-time in the upcoming movie, ‘Cowboy Spirit.’

Brown’s message of making dreams come true dovetails with the ultimate goal of the Miss Foxboro Scholarship Program which is to provide young women (ages 17-24) in the greater Foxboro area the opportunity to share their passion for community service, academic excellence and artistic talent. The theme for the Miss Foxboro Scholarship Pageant is “To inspire to become an inspiration.”

The Miss Foxboro Scholarship Pageant will be on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at the Orpheum Theatre on School Street. Two winners will be crowned that evening, a Miss Foxboro and a Miss Norfolk. Both women will go on to compete in the Miss Massachusetts Pageant, a step toward the Miss America Pageant, which is the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women.

The four women who make up the Miss Foxboro Scholarship Board are Executive Director Seretha Nobbin, Betty Marks of Foxboro, Janet Clifton also of Foxboro and Sharon Garland of Mansfield. For information, contact Marks at bbmarks1@gmail.com.