Before there was a television show to idolize singers or a program to see who thinks they can dance, there was Miss America: a showcase for talented young women. And before social networking meant interacting through a website, there was Miss America: a pageant that brought together women from every state to share their hopes for our great country. Over the last 90 years, Americans have been mesmerized by the magic of Miss America. I personally have been enchanted for more years than I dare put in writing, and it started way before I married a Miss Mississippi or became Chairman of the Board of the Miss America Organization.
Growing up in my hometown of Amory, Mississippi, I always loved a good show: on TV, on the school stage, or in my community. A good show connects the audience, and I loved how a beauty pageant made ordinary girls into American princesses. I attended the Miss Mississippi Pageant for the first time when I was fifteen because my good friend Frank Page's sister, Sara, was Miss Amory. My mother drove me and my buddy Mike Burgess to Vicksburg to hang out with Frank and cheer Sara on. By the time I was a high school senior, I had called the pageant's producer, Don Barnes, and talked my way into the Miss Mississippi chorus; I would sing backup in the pageant production over the next several summers.
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