Summer in spotlight

New York native Summer Maue claims title of Miss Huntington Beach. Next stop: state crown.Move away from New York. Come to California. Win Miss Huntington Beach. Star in a movie. Start her own advertising agency.

She may not have landed a role as leading lady yet, but 23-year-old Summer Maue is moving right along in her ambitious career.

On Saturday, the starlet captured Surf City’s top honors and was crowned Miss Huntington Beach 2006 during a special ceremony at Huntington Beach High School.

Maue is a native of Arcade, N.Y., a small agricultural community of about 5,000 near Buffalo. Her parents, Glenn and Dolores Maue, work as teachers, and she has an older sister, Dana.

Maue attended Pioneer High School, where she served on the student council and was voted most likely to succeed. Like last year’s Miss Huntington Beach, Nicole Smith, Maue is an avid volleyball player and received an athletic scholarship to attend the C.W. Post Campus of Long Beach University. It was her experience playing sports, she said, that inspired her campaign as Miss Huntington Beach to promote girls’ participation in school athletics.

“Sports are the solution for most of the problems girls deal with in today’s society,” she said. “It increases confidence and self-esteem, encourages you to take care of yourself and eat better foods. It also teaches you life skills, not just physical skills.”

After two years, Maue transferred to the University of Florida, where she graduated in 2004 with a bachelor of science degree in advertising.

In the fall of 2004, she made her way to Huntington Beach.

“My friends moved out here from Buffalo and I knew it was a good place to be,” she said. “I fit in right away. I love the laid-back lifestyle. I love the beach. I love the weather. To me, there is nothing to dislike about California.”

Maue is an avid piano player and saxophonist. She can often be found hanging out at the beach and walking dogs as a volunteer for the Animal Assistance League. She works as a film and television extra and hopes one day to open her own advertising agency.

This is Maue’s second year in the Miss Huntington Beach pageant; last year she was a runner-up, and she attended city events as part of the queen’s court.

“She’s always been in talent shows and pageants,” friend Davina Donovan said by phone from New York. “She’s such a star. When we were kids, we used to do our own fashion shows in her parents’ basement. We would listen to the Backstreet Boys and tape every performance. It was pretty funny.”

Maue said she’s most looking forward to participating in this year’s Fourth of July Parade and later competing in the Miss California pageant. If she takes the crown there, the next step would be the Miss America pageant.

At 23, this is the last year she is eligible for the contest.

“Since it’s my one and only shot, I need to do the best I can and give it my all,” she said.