Pageanting Part I

  “And your new, 2021 Mrs. Colorado America is . . . “ 

As much as I’d love to write that my name was called, the woman whose name was called is so amazing, I can’t even be mad. I have not heard her entire story, so I cannot rightly share it here, but I hope you will get a chance to hear Dannette Haag’s amazing story of ultimate thriving. Hint: she was burned severely in a house fire as a young girl. She still carries the scars with her that tell the story of how she fought for her life. Talk about a victory!!

But what about me? Why do I “pageant?” I threw my tiara in the ring for the first time in Minnesota at the tender age of 35 in 2006. I purchased my entire wardrobe at local thrift stores. I did not hire any outside help for honing my interview skills, stage walking, wardrobe, or any other aspect of pageantry that could have given me a leg up. The winner that year was an amazing lady, Holly Ernst, who I had the privilege of standing right next to during the whole competition (or maybe it was a little intimidating--lol!). I pretty much showed up for that first one and was pretty proud of myself for just doing that. It was the confidence that I gained from the experience that stuck with me and compelled me to enter another pageant when we moved to Idaho the next year. 

The Idaho International Pageant was launching its inaugural competition in 2007 under the direction of Autumn Short. The areas of competition for the International system are Interview, Fitness wear (as opposed to swimsuit), and Evening Gown. I competed with six other ladies for the title of Mrs. Idaho International and did not even make the top 5! You’d think I’d have been done by then right? Well, I wasn’t.

I competed again for Mrs. Idaho International two years later in 2009 and this time, I left the interview portion of the competition tied with three others for second place. I cannot tell you how exciting that was. My platform was “Supported by US: Americans behind our Troops!” My husband was attending Basic Officer Leadership Course for Chaplains at Fort Jackson, SC, and was not able to escort me on stage, so my dad flew in from Oregon to stand in. I was thrilled to learn later that I had entered the stage portion of the competition in the top 5, but my stage presence needed some work. Then 12 years went by just like that. 

This brings me to Mrs. Colorado America 2021. Because I had kept improving in all the areas of competition each time I competed, I wanted to see just how far I could get on the pageant stage and I began looking for opportunities to compete again. Enter Emily Stark and my most recent endeavor. I paid my application fee to the Mrs. Colorado America Organization a mere 10 days before the deadline for all paperwork such as printed headshots, a biography form, and any feature pages to be included in the program book. When I say I barely made this deadline, I am not even kidding, but I got help from a good friend, Ralph Clark to layout 2 feature pages, I quickly got my 15-year-old headshots dusted off and printed, and I filled out my biography. I spent the next 4 weeks meeting with a pageant coach, making purchases as needed, and scheduling things like fake tanning, alterations, and dry cleaning. 

When I arrived at my host hotel on June 3, 2021, The Hyatt Cherry Creek/Denver, I met with my roommate who was competing in the Miss division. Charnie is a sweet young lady who also has quite the story to tell for her platform. I thought dealing with Hashimoto’s was rough. Wait until you hear Charnie’s story. 

The next stop was our orientation at the Denver Botanic Gardens. We met our director, current queens Nicole Covney, Sylvia Waller, and Juliet Abdel, and all the other contestants. The night was about orienting ourselves to the areas of competition and getting to know the staff and other contestants. The other contestants, by the way, are one of the main reasons I do this. Pageants offer a perfect opportunity to meet like-minded women who want to do more with their lives and are willing to step out in faith to make that happen. 

We began with a full day of practice in order to ensure we all knew what to do and where to go from our opening number to the final announcement of the winners. For our opening number, we strutted in like rock stars to Alicia Keys’ “Girl on Fire” and if that doesn’t get your heart pumping, I don’t think anything will. We were on FIRE in our red hot dresses. This part of the show is not judged, but it gives us contestants a chance to introduce ourselves on stage. When it was my turn, I proudly announced, “Chris Arnold Fort CARSON” to wild applause (or maybe I imagined that part)!

Stay tuned for Part II where I take you through some of the areas of competition.

Orientation at Denver Botanic Gardens; photo by Bill Murf 

Photo by Megan Anderson of Graphique Fine Art Photography