As 2025 comes to a close, we’re taking a moment to revisit some of the stories that resonated most across Vestavia Hills. These aren’t just top clicks or biggest headlines — they’re pieces that captured something real about the people, places and moments that defined the year.
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Photo courtesy of Houston M Photography.
Miss Alabama 2024 Abbie Stockard takes a walk as the new Miss America 2025 in Orlando on Jan. 5.
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Photos courtesy of Houston M Photography, Abbie Stockard and Kimberly Stockard.
Miss Alabama 2024 Abbie Stockard takes a walk as the new Miss America 2025.
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Photos courtesy of Houston M Photography, Abbie Stockard and Kimberly Stockard.
Miss Alabama 2024 Abbie Stockard, left clutches Miss Texas Annette Addo-Yobo moments before Stockard was announced as Miss America 2025.
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Photos courtesy of Houston M Photography, Abbie Stockard and Kimberly Stockard.
Miss Alabama 2024 Abbie Stockard is crowned Miss America 2025.
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Photos courtesy of Houston M Photography, Abbie Stockard and Kimberly Stockard.
Miss Alabama 2024 Abbie Stockard is swarmed by delegates from other states after being crowned Miss America 2025.
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Photos courtesy of Houston M Photography, Abbie Stockard and Kimberly Stockard.
Miss Alabama 2024
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Photos courtesy of Houston M Photography, Abbie Stockard and Kimberly Stockard.
Miss Hoover 2024
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Photos courtesy of Houston M Photography, Abbie Stockard and Kimberly Stockard.
Abbie Stockard as a young girl.
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Photos courtesy of Houston M Photography, Abbie Stockard and Kimberly Stockard.
Miss Cahaba Valley 2022
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Photos courtesy of Houston M Photography, Abbie Stockard and Kimberly Stockard.
Miss Trussville 2023
Abbie Stockard never competed in beauty pageants or scholarship competitions growing up.
Although she watched the Miss America competition with her mother and sister over the years, she never imagined she would one day hold the title herself. So when the 22-year-old Auburn University student from Vestavia Hills heard her name called and felt the crown placed on her head in Orlando on Jan. 5, the moment felt surreal.
“I entered my first pageant my freshman year of college on a whim,” she said.
She took part in the Miss Auburn University competition hoping to earn money to help pay for college. She came in third runner-up but also gained determination to keep trying.
Photos courtesy of Houston M Photography, Abbie Stockard and Kimberly Stockard.
Miss Alabama 2024 Abbie Stockard takes a walk as the new Miss America 2025.
The next weekend, she participated in the Miss Cahaba Valley competition and won, earning her a spot in the Miss Alabama competition. She was third runner-up her first year in Miss Alabama in 2022, then fourth runner-up as Miss Trussville in 2023, and finally won Miss Alabama in 2024 as Miss Hoover.
But Stockard said she believes the key to winning isn’t competing in many pageants. “You win by going in and staying true to your unique and beautiful self, not conforming to what you consider is America’s idea of perfect,” she said.
Especially in today’s social media-driven world, where people can use technology to manipulate pictures of themselves, it can be easy to fall into a trap, Stockard said.
“It’s so easy to look at the influencers you see on Instagram or the models on TikTok, and you start to get in a little spiral of thinking that’s what you have to look like, that’s the standard you have to meet in order to be considered beautiful, and that is just such a false perception of reality,” she said. “I would encourage young women to take a step back from social media and realize that you are beautiful, you are valuable just the way you are. You don’t have to conform. You need to embrace your differences because that is what makes you authentically beautiful.”
Photos courtesy of Houston M Photography, Abbie Stockard and Kimberly Stockard.
Abbie Stockard as a young girl.
Determination and growth
Stockard’s parents described her as a very driven, focused, and determined person.
“Abbie’s a hard worker. She’s a perfectionist,” said her mother, Kim Stockard. “She won’t just do something halfway. She will go at it full force until she gets it right. She was like that as a child. If she took tennis lessons, she was going to be the best at it. That’s just her personality.”
Her father, Brad Stockard, said Abbie is a very resilient person who has a positive attitude and always tries to look for the best in everything.
“She went through a pretty difficult time when her mom and I got divorced, and I think she just made a decision at that point in her life that she was going to overcome that and be the best person she could be and be a light to those around her,” her dad said. “I think she’s just an extremely hard worker. She doesn’t let obstacles get in her way. She’s very determined, and she has the ability to see something that she wants and figure out how to get it and not be deterred.”
Stockard said her parents’ divorce when she was 9 was a key event in her life that helped shape who she is today.
“I was not always the happy and joyful Abbie you see today,” she said. “When I was little, I was in a pretty dark place and honestly didn’t know if there would be a light at the end of the tunnel. That was just a crucial moment in my life, and it showed me that your attitude shapes your entire perspective. … Going through all of that and just being in a dark place and having to go to counseling — it was really hard, and I had to make a decision. Was I going to let this moment in my life defeat me and go down a darker and darker hole, or was I going to rise above it? That is why my tagline in life is ‘Choose joy.’”
Photos courtesy of Houston M Photography, Abbie Stockard and Kimberly Stockard.
Miss Hoover 2024
It’s easy to look at things we don’t have in our lives and forget how truly blessed we are, she said. She has an amazing relationship with both of her parents, she said.
“It’s just a reminder that hope always shines bright, even in the darkest moments,” she said.
She believes her experience with hardships and not having a perfect life will help her be more relatable to people as Miss America, she said. Being vulnerable and going beyond surface issues will help her be more impactful, she said.
Diane Westhoven, Stockard’s childhood friend and college roommate for their sophomore and junior years, said Stockard is the most positive person you’ll ever meet — very uplifting and exciting.
“She’s up for any adventure, and I think that’s what kind of thrust her into this [spotlight],” said Westhoven, who was the 2024 winner of the Miss Alabama USA competition, a separate but similar competition to Miss Alabama. “She’s such a go-getter. I think that her family has shaped her, her friends have shaped her, but also her own determination — where she wants to go. … She is so deserving. I don’t know anyone that works as hard as her.”
Civic awareness
Stockard said she did indeed do a lot of preparation for Miss America, working out daily to stay physically fit, practicing her dance routine daily for her talent, and doing extensive preparation for interviews and on-stage questions.
“The judges’ one-on-one interview — they can ask you anything, so I spent the past six months educating myself on social and political issues, making sure that I could formulate opinions basically to anything that’s happening in our nation, but also globally,” Stockard said.
At first, it was overwhelming, she said. “I’m a nursing student. I’m not super into politics,” she said. “But I just took it one day at a time, and I realized it was all part of the journey, and I had to learn to embrace it. … I used those times of disappointment and discouragement to grow and learn and used it as an opportunity to better myself and better my knowledge because it is important to know what’s going on in the world.”
For winning Miss America, Stockard received a $50,000 scholarship, bringing her total scholarships from competitions to more than $89,000. She had to take a year out of school as Miss Alabama, and now that will be extended with a year as Miss America. She plans to return to Auburn to finish her undergraduate nursing degree and then obtain a doctorate in nurse anesthesia and become a pediatric nurse anesthetist.
Stockard also will be using this year to further shine a spotlight on cystic fibrosis and the need for a cure. Her best friend has cystic fibrosis, and raising awareness about it and money for research is a passion for her.
“I have a heart of compassion and joy and service, and so I have found that I have the greatest sense of fulfillment when I’m giving of myself to others,” she said. “That’s when I’m at my personal best, so that’s what I want to make the focus of my year — serving others and truly using this position of influence to touch the hearts and the lives of the people across our nation.”
