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Pageant Article - Macon Telegraph - July 18, 2006 |
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Pageants with a purpose show off young ladies’ compassion By Alline Kent TELEGRAPH COLUMNIST There are pageants that promote scholarship and pageants that promote beauty. There are the ones that the winners promote a festival or a agricultural crop. But there is one pageant, unique to this area, that’s purpose is to promote kindness and compassion in not only the contestants but the community. The Central Georgia Pageant System was started just two years ago; a group of friends that got together and wanted to do something beneficial for the area. The idea of a pageant came about, as both a fundraiser and a way for young girls to get involved doing for others. The Central Georgia Pageant System’s main focus is produce pageants that get girls involved in volunteering and giving back to the community at a young age. The group donated the proceeds from their first pageant, Miss Georgia Mid-South to several organizations including purchasing a sponsorship for May’s Relay for Life In Houston County. “We invited our queens to participate,” said Lauren Ray, one of the directors for the Central Georgia Pageant system. Other directors of the Central Georgia Pageant System are Kristin McCallum; Brooke Hawkins, Nikki Sasser, Kellie Thigpen, and Dori Dowd. While Lauren, the other directors and queens were circling the Relay for Life track, on stage was Jeff McAfee, who was telling the story of his own daughter Joanna’s battle with cancer. Six year old Joanna McAfee, died this past December, the victim of Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer. her parents, Jeff and Misty McAfee, have created the Joanna McAfee Childhood Cancer Foundation to combat cancer in children. “We heard Jeff McAfee talk on the stage and we were all just standing there crying, we were so moved and touched by his little girl’s story,” said Ray. “When we had our next pageant meeting, someone brought up the idea of having a pageant to benefit their foundation; we thought about little girls helping to raise money for a little girl’s foundation.” “It really is a perfect tie in,” said Jeff McAfee. “Joanna was such a princess; pageants would have been right down her alley. She loved to dress up.” McAfee also described Joanna as the perfect woman, one that loved to dress up for a special event but could come home kick off her high heels and catch frogs” The Miss Middle Georgia dream Doll Pageant, proceeds of which will benefit the Joanna McAfee Childhood Cancer Foundation, will be held July 29th . Other proceeds will be used for the Central Georgia Pageant System’s Queen for a Day program, where beauty queens will help give children stricken with cancer make-overs. “That is also so consistent with what Joanna would have wanted,” said McAfee. “Helping others feel better about themselves.” The Age Divisions are Sweetheart 0-2, Princess 3-4 years, Petite 5-6, Little 7-9, Junior 10-12, Teen 13-16 and Miss 17-23. Attire for the natural pageant is blue jeans and a white shirt. Ages 0-12 will their entry fee paid to the All-American Supreme Dream Doll National pageant to be held in February 2007 Teen and Miss queens will receive a free entry to the 2007 Miss Georgia Mid-South Pageant. For more information about the Miss Middle Georgia Dream Doll pageant, contact Lauren Ray at 476-4636 or 335-0375 or visit their website at http://rubyimage.com/centralgapageants/super_role_models.htm We want to change the image of pageants, said Ray. “In fact our slogan is , where we crown beauty queens with a purpose.”
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