Published in Patsy's
Magazine and it was written by Ricky Clayton.
I was really unsure about
this pageant thing at first. My wife, of course, was the first
to catch the bug. I initially thought she had lost her mind.
“$500 for a child’s dress? Are you crazy?” (This was back in
the old days, when $500 was a lot for a dress.) I will never
forget the first time she dragged me to a National pageant, it
was at the Radisson in Arlington, Texas. I had checked them in
and parked the car and on the way in I paused to hold the door
for a strikingly beautiful girl of about 9 or 10. She was
dragging a large suitcase and, as she came by, she paused to
flash a smile that would have stopped traffic for 10 blocks
and said, “Why thank you very much sir!”. I suppose she
thought I was rude because I just nodded back, actually I was
struck dumb by her extreme politeness and manner. I had not
been exposed to this sort of behavior from children in this
day and age. In the next two days I learned this level of
courtesy was not only common among pageant girls, it was
expected. I was so impressed with the character these young
ladies exhibited that I decided the pageant world might be a
very beneficial experience for my child. The experience we had
at this past week’s Darling Dolls of America Nationals made me
more sure of this than ever.
As all who were there know, the DDA pageant was a marathon
event for all. I thought it was well done and Stuart & Shannon
fought valiantly to keep it all rolling. The events went on
into the night, and our biggest fear became not just the girls
doing well on stage, but keeping the girls awake long enough
to make it onto the stage. Our little pageant girl was in the
12-13 division and her first event went on around 9:30, which
is normally her bedtime. By the second event she was starting
to show the effects. My wife was about to panic by the fourth
event, which was around midnight, because Faith was getting
really sleepy. Then, there occurred one of those special
moments that you get to see in relatively few competitive
scenes (except pageants). The other girls in her group
gathered around her and began to cheer her on to try and wake
her for the event. They got her energy level up and kept her
going. Then, on the next event, it was her turn to perk up one
of the others. They began to laugh and dance with each other,
anything to keep each others’ energy level up. My wife
commented on how inspiring it was that, even though they were
competing against each other, they were all working to pull
each other through a difficult moment. There is a lesson here
that we adults would do well to take notice of. One might see
pageants criticized on TV talk shows and their negative
effects on children discussed at length, but you will seldom
get the other side of the story, which is the discipline and
character these girls possess because of them. It occurred to
me that I hoped the judges and audience realized the
professionalism and drive of these young ladies. They were all
exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go to bed, but when
they hit the stage every single one of them lit up as if they
were just as fresh and vibrant as they had ever been and
performed like the pros they are. Watching the level of
sportsmanship and camaraderie these girls exhibited was an
inspiration that convinced me that all these years of
pageantry were worth every penny.
Ricky Clayton
(Faith’s Papa) |
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