The Miss Pittsburgh Beauty Pageant – A Different Kind of Pageant

When you think of beauty pageants, the pictures that may come to mind are either young children wearing make-up and inappropriately mature outfits, or a bunch of empty-headed, anorexic teenage girls.  But, that is not what you would have seen at The 2012 Miss Pittsburgh Summer Preliminary on Saturday, June 23^, 2012.  Instead, a supportive crowd of men and women, family and friends, watched as girls between ten and twenty-two, of various shapes and sizes, exhibited their confidence, inner strength and beauty.  Uniquely placed, the event was held on Pittsburgh Luxury Cruise Liner’s Fantasy Yacht and The Miss Pittsburgh Water Limo (www.pittsburghluxurycruises.com).   Rather than a competition, contenders were evaluated to determine if they qualified to compete in the Jr. Teen, Teen and Miss Division finals on Sunday, September 23, 2012, at 3:00 p.m. at the Sheraton-Station Square in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The guiding force for the pageant is Michele Alexander, Pittsburgh paralegal, tax & audit professional and business owner (www.JacksonParalegals.com).  She has owned and produced pageants since 1998. Her passion is “to operate a pageant system that focuses on the development and articulation of various skills at multiple levels while giving all contenders the opportunity to shine in ways they never knew possible.”

The girls and young women are taught pageant training competition basics and life skills using Ms. Alexander’s book, Preparation for Winners, Success for Life (available on www. amazon.com and http://www.winacrown.com).   Ms. Alexander is the owner of WinACrown, the company that produces the Miss Pittsburgh Pageant.  The mission of WinACrown, is “Empowerment …Self-Confidence…Self Esteem, accomplished through the Basics of Pageantry.” The focus is on “recognizing intelligence, beauty & talent” while “celebrating the young women in our community.”

Ms. Alexander is surrounded by talented artists and entrepreneurs who share her vision of empowering young women.  Pittsburgh TV personality Shirley Douglas was on hand to “warm up” the crowd as we waited for the competition to begin.  Judges were Rita Gregory, author and actress, Jessica Bassulto, public speaker and Miss Pittsburgh 1998, and Terri Berceli, talent agent and actress (tbtalent.com).  The entertainment was provided by Jazz Diva Patte Terrell, who sang a mix of blues and jazz that forcefully highlighted current social issues, and Hakim Rasheed, smooth singer of soul, R&B and alternative music.  Troi Simpson, owner of Steelmindz Entertainment Agency, has assisted Ms. Alexander with the pageant for five years.  Eric Gaines, talent agent and owner of Emage (OneFashionPlace.net), has been the pageant photographer for the last three years.   Stephanie Scarci, Miss Pittsburgh 2011, distributed crowns and sashes to the participants, as all qualified for the finals.

Captain Mark Schiller, part owner of Pittsburgh Luxury Cruises, sees the value of The Miss Pittsburgh Pageant.  He approached Ms. Alexander with the idea of having the pageant on his Water Limo “The Miss Pittsburgh,” because of the name similarity and to promote this innovative pageant style to  benefit his own daughters, now two and six.  If you agree with us that it is imperative for society to foster the growth of young girls into strong and successful women, go to www.winacrown.com and get involved in The Miss Pittsburgh Beauty Pageant, as an audience member, participant, or promoter.

Watermelon Day!

Laura woke all hot and sweaty, her first thought “Oh no, the air conditioning is broken again.”  When she saw that the outdoor thermometer already read 79 degrees at 7:00 a.m., Laura knew the day was going to be a scorcher.   Laura took a cooling shower and dressed for work, carefully choosing the thinnest garments.  Pulling her chestnut brown hair back into a low-hanging bun, she went to the kitchen for breakfast.  Surveying the refrigerator contents, she decided that a meal of bacon and eggs was too heavy.  She took out unflavored yogurt and fruit.  Laura cut strawberries into pieces and spooned them onto the yogurt, along with a handful of blueberries.  Instant iced coffee completed her selection.

Laura ate in her tiny-alcove-of-a-breakfast area, jockeying for room on the table to put her laptop so she could catch up on emails.  After deleting several emails touting goods and services she didn’t want, Laura opened an email from her brother, John.  Several months ago, after college, he had moved over 500 miles but promised to send weekly emails; they helped Laura feel she was still part of his life.  In his email today, John complained about his warehouse manager job (workers didn’t listen to him) and his latest girlfriend (he was sure she was the one), then asked how she was doing.

Laura paused after reading John’s email trying to decide how to reply.  She missed having him live nearby.  She thought about what they would be doing on a day like today when they were children.

Before their mother could wake them, Laura, eight, and John, six, were up and dressed.  They wore shorts, tank tops and sandals, knowing that it was going to be a hot summer day.  Laura got the milk and cereal while John got the bowls and spoons.  After quickly downing Sugar Pops, they grabbed a loaf of bread and headed outside.  “I want to go down to the lake,” said John.  “Sure, we’ll go there,” said Laura, ”but first I want to check on the puppies and see if they’ve opened their eyes.”  Waving goodbye to their mother, they left through the garage.

Just five days before, their mixed-collie mongrel, Sally, had birthed six fuzzy babies and she was still a bit skittish when anyone tried to touch them.  Laura carefully knelt down next to the big box inside the garage and gently ran her hand along Sally’s head saying, “It’s Ok Sally, we just want to visit your babies.”  Giving a low, but hesitant, growl Sally allowed first Laura, then John, to touch the puppies.  Their eyes were still closed but they nuzzled up to the warm little hands.

“Now, let’s go to the lake,” said John.  They raced down the street and turned left to the lake.  Walking along the edge of the lake, they looked for fish hiding at the edge in the shadows of big trees.  Every time they saw the dark, slightly undulating, fish bodies, they threw pieces of bread.  Sometimes there were so many fish, they piled in a frenzy on top of each other trying to get at the bread.  In this way, they walked a good way around the lake.

Laura wiped her sweaty brow with a dusty arm and looked up, only to realize how far they were from home.  She didn’t see any roads coming down to the lake.  At the same time, John said, “I’m so thirsty Sis.  Can I drink the water in the lake?”  “Oh no,” said Laura, “we can’t do that and I am so hot and tired that I don’t want to walk all the way back around the lake.”  While they were talking, an elderly woman popped her blue-grey head up over an ivy-covered fence.  Smiling gently, she offered “If you want a drink of water, I can help you.”  At first Laura was going to run because she knew to avoid strangers, but then she recognized her as a woman her parents talked to at church.  “Yes, please,“ she said relievedly.  “I’m Mrs. Sams.  Aren’t you the Brown children?” the woman asked.  “Yep, that’s us,” said John.

Indicating where the children could enter, Mrs. Sams, led them around the fence and into her backyard.  Laura’s eyes widened when she saw that the yard was planted from one end to the other with watermelons.  John eyes got big and he said, “Boy, they’re big.”   “This is my hobby,” said Mrs. Sams. “I sell them to raise money for church missions, but I can spare one for a hungry little boy and girl.”

After calling their parents, Mrs. Sams sat them down in her air-conditioned kitchen and let them eat as much watermelon as they wanted.  They were so hungry and thirsty they ate and ate.  By the time their parents came, both Laura and John were so full that they couldn’t eat their dinners.  Both groaned with  stomach aches.   Any time after that if one of them complained of eating too much, or wanted to get the other to groan in mock distress, the simple cry “Watermelon Day” did the trick.

Laura shook herself back to the present and started her reply to John.  It took very little time.  In the “Re:” line she put “Remember” and in the body she put “Watermelon Day!  Tag, you’re it.”  Smiling to herself, Laura grabbed her briefcase and ran out the door to catch her bus to work.

Laura’s Waiting

Laura was hiding behind boxes in her basement.  She was playing hide ‘n’ seek with her friends Mary, Amy and Josh.  Josh was “it.”  In her six-year old mind, she felt like she had been waiting for a long time.  Laura silently chuckled, holding her hand over her mouth.  She was pleased that she had picked such a good hiding place.  If Josh didn’t find her soon, she was going to sneak out and try to win by getting to home base without being caught.

It was quiet and warm in the basement.  Laura started to feel herself getting sleepy.  She struggled to stay awake, straining to hear Josh coming to find her.  This reminded her of when she was four and Mommy and Daddy had gone away and come back with John, her younger brother.

Daddy had left her with Aunt Barbara.  Aunt Barbara put Laura on the big bed in her bedroom.   “But I don’t want to take a nap Aunt Barbara,” said Laura.  “I don’t have any toys for you to play with so you’re just going to have to take a nap,” said Aunt Barbara.  After Aunt Barbara left and closed the door, Laura got off the bed and looked for something to play with.  She pulled clothes out of the drawers and looked under the bed.  She found a box of colors, like her watercolors.  Using her fingers, she painted a picture onto the mirror behind the bedroom door.  She knew Aunt Barbara would like it because she already had Laura’s watercolor pictures on her refrigerator.  Then she opened the closet door and found lots of blue, red and black high heels.  After trying on all the shoes and leaving them all over the bedroom, she started pulling down Aunt Barbara’s pretty dresses.  She wanted to look pretty for Mommy and Daddy when they came back to get her.  Laura found a blue, shiny dress.  She put in on and found shoes.  Then she sat on the bed to wait.   She must’ve fallen asleep because the next thing she knew Daddy and Aunt Barbara were in the room.

“What did you do in here?” wailed Aunt Barbara.  “I made you a pretty picture, Aunt Barbara,” said Laura as she pointed to the mirror.  “Daddy, do you like my pretty dress?” she asked Daddy.  Daddy quickly picked her up and left the bedroom, leaving Aunt Barbara frantically picking up make-up, shoes and clothes.

When they got home, Mommy was holding a baby.  It was so tiny.  “This is your new brother, John,” said Mommy.  They wouldn’t let her hold John, but she gently touched his hand and hair.  When she reached to touch his hand, John latched onto her finger and wouldn’t let go.

Suddenly, six-year-old Laura heard the noise of someone coming down the basement stairs.  She held her breath and stayed very still.  Then her Daddy called out, “Laura, it’s time for dinner.  All your friends have gone home.  Time to come out.”  Laura straightened up and came out from behind the boxes, hungry for her dinner.

Literary Magic

I turn the corner and catch my first glimpse of the clock on the tower above the entrance.  I anxiously scan the parking lot for a spot as close to the door as possible, in case it starts to rain while I am inside.  Leaving all my daily cares behind, I snatch up my book returns and prepare to enter my library.

I love my library — from the glass-enclosed rotunda to the tables hidden behind the bookshelves.  It is like taking an expedition.  I never know where I will end up or with whom I will spend the day.  I may have tea with Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple while I listen to how she solved another murder.  Or I might scale bitter Mt.Everestwith John Krakauer, suffering from hunger and frostbite.  I have commanded at Gettysburgand mourned my death onNormandy Beach.  I have been a juror at the trial of serial killer Ted Bundy.  I have explored science, both real and fictional.  Some of my dearest friends are people I met after their deaths and through their biographies, authorized and unauthorized.  Then too, there were the occasional romances with an Avalon consort, innocently consummated in an afternoon.

My earliest memories include visiting Oz with Dorothy and Toto and wondering if I would ever get back to Kansas.  I solved mysteries with Nancy Drew and lived as a concubine in China, courtesy of Pearl S. Buck.  Since then, I regularly travel the globe, as well as the universe.  Occasionally, I find a book that is almost 100 years old and take it out to read, both to show respect and to marvel over the changes in writing style over the last century.

But, nowadays, my library has more than books.  I can take out movies that date from the silent picture era up to a couple of years old.  I can surf the net while listening to live music in the main hall.  Curiously, the acoustics are such that it is easier to hear music while at the other end of the library rather than directly in front of the performers.  I can even read newspapers and magazines from New York to Taiwan.

In my library, I can sit in comfy armchairs with footstools, at desks with convenient lamps, or, if I am adventurous, I can sneak into the children’s section and sit on green carpet with lily pads.

I always have a list of “to-do’s.”  I check my e-mail, read today’s local paper and find a funny movie.  But, I am in no hurry while I look at the latest exhibits in the rotunda, glance at the newest additions to the library tantalizingly displayed atop the front bookcases, and wander through the biography section on the lookout for a book cover that catches my eye.

After what seems like days but may only be an hour, I slowly and reluctantly get in the checkout line and make small talk to the librarian who scans my library card and books, and cheerfully wishes me a good day.  As I gather up a fresh stack of adventures, I prepare myself to leave this sheltered world where time stands still and re-enter my humdrum, everyday life.

All too soon it is over and I am back in my car headed home to attack another, more practical, to-do list.  But, luckily, I carry with me a piece of my library and at the end of the day, when work is done, I can curl up with a new book and leave this world behind.  Who will I be today?  Where will I go?  Magic.

Alexis

I wrote this piece in response to unexpectedly losing a friend who had an addiction.  I feel that this is what she would have said to me in response to my question “Was there something I could or should have done that would have prevented this outcome?”

I sit in a chair

Like I haven’t a care

Laugh and smile

Drinking tea all the while

Discuss politics.   Books.

Give understanding looks.

Who would guess there’s fear

Sometimes far.   Sometimes near.

Pervasive as fog

Grasping like a swamp or bog

The annoying buzz of summer insects

Always there.  Ever present.

How can you help, you ask?

That is not your task

Just sit with me a while

Gentle talk.  Gentle smile.

Your presence will help me through the night

Help me win this fight.