When I was a kid, watching the Miss America pageant was a must-see event for my family and most others we knew.
Everyone at church would talk about it the next morning -- either how Miss Mississippi was robbed by not being at least first runner-up (seems she ALWAYS placed in the Top 10). The way some men talked about it, the show was basically a non-violent football game with evening gowns.
I still cheer for Miss Mississippi, but I've also rooted for Miss Oklahoma since moving here in 1998 -- something I'll do again a couple weeks from now when Tulsa's own Kelsey Griswold, Miss Oklahoma 2013, competes for the big title in Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, N.J.
Before she left for the East Coast, Griswold, daughter of Gen. Edward Wheeler and the late Alinda Griswold, performed her talent and held a style show of her pageant wardrobe Thursday night at Tulsa Community College Southeast's Performing Arts Center for Education. Several of the Top 5 from the Miss Oklahoma pageant entertained during Griswold's wardrobe changes.
A graduate of Union High School, Griswold is now a senior at Oklahoma City University, majoring in acting and serving as a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority.
She's no stranger to the stage. Having been performing since age 5, starting with Theatre Arts in Broken Arrow, Griswold won the Oscar Meyer Jingle Jam Contest at age 8 on the "Rosie O'Donnell Show," which awarded her a $20,000 scholarship.
She's also no stranger to the Miss Oklahoma organization, having competed for Miss Oklahoma's Outstanding Teen at age 13. She competed in the teen program for several years, placing in the Top 5 and becoming first runner-up in 2008.
Miss Bricktown was the first and only title Griswold held while competing for the title of Miss Oklahoma. In addition to winning that title, she was awarded the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award, was a Preliminary Swimsuit winner, Rookie Talent winner and tied for an Overall Preliminary Talent Award. She was also the Rookie Interview winner and Rookie of the Year.
Griswold's platform is A.R.T.: Artists Reaching Together, a mentor program that gives children with disabilities the opportunity to grow and develop creatively through the arts, improving their self-esteem and quality of life. Her plan as Miss America is to educate people about the need for artistic development in children with disabilities while also promoting the production of these programs throughout Oklahoma.
The Miss America pageant will broadcast live starting 8 p.m. Sept. 15 on KTUL, cable 8.
Peace, love and pageantry ... XOXO
Follow Jason Ashley Wright on Twitter.
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