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.