Traveling
home for the holidays (or any reason for that matter) means driving through
Peoria, Illinois and it reminds me of a confession that I need to make. But before I can do that, I must start
where it all began, which was the Miss Railroad Days Pageant about 47 miles
from Peoria, in Galesburg, Illinois.
There
was a little arm-twisting to get me to enter the Miss Railroad Days
Pageant. I definitely didn’t
consider myself to be pageant material, but before I knew it, rehearsals were
underway and there was no turning back. I think it was 1985.
I did fairly well, and finished as the first runner-up. Honestly, it was a relief for it all to
be over. I fulfilled my duty and
life could go on. But when I stood
there on that stage that night, in the middle of Sandburg Mall, surrounded by a
few folding chairs containing family members and boyfriends, I guess I didn’t
realize the great responsibilities bestowed on a first runner-up. That, in the event of a natural
disaster, in which the queen couldn’t fulfill her responsibilities, then I
would be Miss Railroad Days.
A
few months later, the phone rang and it was the pageant people and there apparently
was a natural disaster. The queen
was pregnant. I was being promoted
to Miss Railroad Days. I thought
it through for a second. No big
deal. I would make an appearance at
the next festival, shake some hands and it will all be fine. But then they dropped the
bombshell. I would have to compete
in the Miss Heart of Illinois pageant in Peoria.
As
stressful as Miss Railroad Days was for me, Miss Heart of Illinois was
worse. Peoria was a much bigger
city than Galesburg, and things here were definitely different. One contestant sang opera and actually had
a voice coach. Some of them had
stylists teaching them how to do their hair. Many of them had several sequined evening gowns to choose
from and the pageant people helped advise them about what might look best on
stage. I had the same dress I wore
in Galesburg. I was feeling a
little overwhelmed.
We
were instructed to brush up on current events for the interview portion, and I
did. I was feeling fairly
confident on pageant day, and figured I would at least do well on the
interview. I mean, I was studying
journalism after all. And all went
well until they asked me that innocent final question. What journalist would I most like to be
like?
I
paused for a moment, and then answered, “Jessica Savitch”.
There
was uncomfortable silence that followed. A couple of the judges looked up from their papers at me, over
the top of their bifocals, and just stared. I couldn’t be sure where the question came from but I
believe I heard, “Why?” I think I
answered that she broke ground for women in journalism. And she did. But she was also dead.
She died tragically when her car skidded and became airborne and landed
in a canal in 1983. And I think in
studying for my current events questions, I must have missed that a few months
before her death, was reported to be ‘high’ on NBC network news and had practically
suffered a nervous breakdown live on the air. Not to mention her reported cocaine problem.
I
didn’t get first runner-up in the pageant, or even second or third. And maybe it wasn’t even the interview that
did me in, but the rhythmic gymnastics.
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