WOODSTOCK — Mary Ashley Tucker, a Woodstock native, competed at the Miss Georgia Pageant as Miss Cherokee Rose in June, bringing home several awards.

Tucker, the daughter of John and Della Tucker, was crowned Miss Cherokee Rose, a preliminary pageant to Miss Georgia, in January, where she was named the Overall Interview Winner.

At Miss Georgia, Tucker won a Lifestyle and Fitness (Swimsuit) Preliminary Award and a Non-Finalist Interview Award.

She was also recognized as a recipient of the Duke of Edinburg Service Award. She competed in a black swimsuit with rhinestone detail, a black Tony Bowles evening gown, a royal blue Calvin Klein interview dress and sang Journey’s “Loving, Touching, Squeezing” as her talent.

Tucker said her favorite part of the competition was meeting all of the other contestants.

“I really enjoyed spending the week with them and getting to know them,” she said.

Another highlight for Tucker was visiting The Medical Center, a teaching hospital in Augusta that is part of the Children’s Miracle Network, Tucker’s pageant platform.

Tucker said she and the other contestants toured the facility and were shown how the donations from Miss Georgia allowed the hospital to make much-needed purchases. They also painted a Miss Georgia ceiling tile that will be displayed in the hospital.

Next year, Tucker said she is considering competing in Miss University of Georgia.

“I am not really a pageant-molded type of girl, but Miss Georgia was something I really did enjoy,” she said. “It’s really great how it takes young girls and makes them so well-rounded.”

In 2007 Tucker represented Cherokee County in the Miss Georgia’s Outstanding Teen Pageant.

Tucker is a 2009 graduate of Woodstock High School where she was voted Homecoming Queen, class president for three years and Student Government vice president her senior year.

She received the AJC Cup as the Most Outstanding Senior for the Class of 2009.

Tucker is a senior at the University of Georgia where she is a digital and broadcast journalism major and a communications minor.

At UGA she gives tours at the UGA Visitors Center and served as an Orientation Leader.

She is working two internships this summer at Q100’s The Bert Show and at The Voice, an in-house radio station Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston sponsored by the Ryan Seacrest Foundation.

The Miss Cherokee Rose Scholarship Program is a part of the Miss Georgia/Miss America system. Miss America is the largest provider of women’s scholarships in the world, giving out more than $45 million in scholarships last year.

Young women between the ages of 17 and 24 who live, work or attend school in the state of Georgia are eligible to compete in the 2013 Miss Cherokee Rose pageant to be held Oct. 13 at the Elm Street Cultural Arts Village in Woodstock.

Details on how to enter can be found at www.misscherokeecounty.org.