In many small towns like Alliance the young adults coming out of high school are looking for opportunities to get out of the rural life style and to do something extraordinary, to somehow set themselves apart. In recent years, AHS Bulldog alumni Jordan Hooper, Brodrick Nickens, and Mike Peltz have each used their athletic ability to play Division I sports at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and to become local heroes. These three have proven that sports are a great vehicle with which to pursue success, however, athletics are not the only way. For many young women, beauty pageants provide another viable way to chase their dreams. For some of these girls, getting involved in pageants brings many opportunities and advantages.
Local women, Megan Dimmit and Kayla Batt, both AHS 2009 graduates, have each been successful in their pageant careers. Kayla won the Miss Nebraska title in 2012 and competed in the Miss America pageant that same year. She says pageants have given her, “…too many opportunities to count,” but that she especially cherishes the friendships she has created. She says, “I’ve had the opportunity to meet hundreds of talented, beautiful, intelligent women from across the country and been exposed to many organizations I would like to be a part of in the future.” Because of her relationship to the Miss America Organization, Kayla knows she will “…have those connections for the future.”
Kayla began her career in pageantry at the age of sixteen with the Miss Alliance / Miss Panhandle Outstanding Teen Pageant in 2007. She says she, “…did everything on [her] own in order to compete. We were required to have ad pages as well as turn in paperwork. I decided I was going to compete and the rest fell into place.” Kayla says she wore her sister’s prom dress for the evening gown portion of the competition and a pair of Converse Chuck Taylor’s onstage that evening and still won.
Since then Kayla has gone on to win the titles of Miss Nebraska’s Outstanding Teen 2007, Miss Great Plains 2009, Miss Lake McConaughy 2010, Miss Omaha 2011, and, of course, she was Miss Nebraska in 2011.
The first pageant Megan Dimmitt competed in and won was the Box Butte County Fair Contest when she was seventeen. Megan said a friend signed her up to be a contestant, but she wasn’t sure if pageantry was for her. She had always been a sports fanatic and she never saw herself competing in pageants. After a little encouraging from her friend she decided to go ahead with the pageant. “I ended up winning the contest and I was immediately hooked,” Megan said.
Throughout her years of pageantry, following that first success, Megan has held the titles of Box Butte County Fair Queen, Miss Oregon Trail, Miss Alliance, and Miss Panhandle. Currently she holds
the title of Miss Northwest in the Miss Nebraska Organization and will compete to be the next Miss Nebraska this coming June.
Megan says her best pageant memory was when she competed in last year’s Miss Kearny pageant. She was named First Runner Up and when she walked off the stage she found around twenty friends and family members waiting there, ready to support her. “When you’re a part of something like pageantry you need to have a lot of support mentally and emotionally because it can be draining at times,” Megan said. Having an easy-going personality and laughing things off is what helps Megan get through the stressful obstacles she sometimes meets while she is competing.
Kayla Batt’s most cherished memory is the moment she was named the Non-Finalist Talent Award at Miss America. Kayla says she has always “…loved performing…” and felt she had “…grown into [her] voice and was able to sing [her] thoughts, feelings, and emotions.” She adds, “The night I performed my talent at Miss America was incredible. I killed it. I laid everything down on that stage and when I stepped behind the curtain when I was done I was in tears because of how awesome it felt! And it wasn’t until two nights after that, that I heard my name called followed by ‘Non-Finalist Talent Award Winner.’ It was one of the most extraordinary moments I think I will ever have. “
The inspiration to chase their dreams has been a steady in both women’s lives and both say the source of their inspiration is a family member. Megan’s mom, Sue Dimmitt, an economics teacher at Alliance High School, has been her inspiration throughout her pageant career. “Several years ago I told her that I had a dream of becoming Miss Nebraska someday. Since that day my mom has done everything in her power to make that dream come true.” Competing in pageants is not the cheapest hobby and, at times, it can be financially challenging. Sue works three jobs to support Megan’s dream and other family members help as much as they can.
Kayla says the source of her inspiration and her idol is her Grandma Mary. She says her grandmother has, many times, gone without so someone else could have and given until she had nothing else to give. My grandma, Kayla says, “…has supported me every step of my life. Aside from forgetting to sing me Happy Birthday a couple years, she hasn’t missed [any of] the big moments in my life. She played a large part in my upbringing and for that I will always owe her. If I can grow to be even half of the woman she is, my life will be blessed.”
Kayla also says it is her family who has helped her to be able to afford to pursue her pageant dreams. She says that at first she had to borrow money quite often, but that later she found support. She adds, “ Is it easier for the economically privileged, definitely. But why would you want to do something easy? It’s the challenge that makes you learn and grow.”
However costly it may be, participation in pageants is not limited to the economically privileged. The current Miss America, Mallory Hagan, reportedly left Alabama and moved to New York with only one thousand dollars in her pocket. Once there, she raised enough money and got enough sponsors to pursue and win the title of Miss New York. She then went on to become Miss America 2013 at the pageant held not long ago in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mallory’s story proves that with hard work and a little drive, anybody can be a part of the Miss America Organization.
The current Miss Wyoming, Lexie Madden, who received Third Runner Up at this year’s Miss America Contest, emphasizes the idea that anybody can be a part of the Miss America Organization. Lexie shared a story about a very inspirational woman she had the chance to meet during her time in Las Vegas: Alexis Wineman who currently holds the title of Miss Montana. Alexis was the first woman to ever compete to be Miss America after having been diagnosed with autism. Lexie said she wasn’t sure Alexis ever understood “…how inspirational she really was….”
Lexie started her journey to the Miss America pageant by becoming Wyoming Jr. Miss in 2009 when she was a senior in high school. She decided to get involved in pageantry because exactly twenty-five years earlier her mom had won the Wyoming Jr. Miss pageant. While being Wyoming Jr. Miss, Lexie got the chance to go to a camp and work with kids who were diagnosed with cerebral palsy. “That opportunity was amazing and inspired me to stay involved,” Lexie said.
As Miss Wyoming Lexie had the opportunity to visit the Children’s Hospital in Denver and spend time with the kids there. This trip was especially important to Lexie because her own sister had been born with a hole in her heart and spent the first two years of her life in and out of that same hospital.
Lexie’s inspiration throughout her journey in the Miss America pageant was Theresa Scandlan, Miss America 2011, who came from Gering, Nebraska. “I thought if she can do it, being from a rural state, then I can do it too,” Lexie said. Of course, those who are from a bigger city have access to more resources, but that does not prevent women from smaller towns from excelling in pageantry. “It doesn’t matter if you’re from a big city, if you have the most money, or if you have the biggest hair,” Lexie said, “Pageantry is much more than that.”
Pageantry provides many opportunities for small town girls. Lexie says she was able to travel all over the country to promote her platform and she received thousands of dollars in scholarships to continue her schooling at the University of Wyoming.
Many reality shows, like Toddlers and Tiaras, have, according to Lexie, put a negative spin on the pageant world. She said pageants both build and reveal character. And while it is true that at times competition can be really stressful, Lexie said, “If you are able to stay true to yourself and be kind to others throughout that experience there’s something to be said for that.” That is something that the reality shows about pageant life do not depict.
Kayla Batt agreed saying, “It is unfortunate that much of America see these shows as “pageantry”. As Miss Nebraska I was often asked if I started competing when I was a baby. Obviously, I did not. And it’s a huge misconception that people make about most pageant girls. In all the hundreds of women I have met there may be five or six who started that early.”
Many young girls in small towns all over the United States share Lexie, Megan, and Kayla’s dream. As these amazing women have proven, pageantry is for more than just privileged girls from big cities. Pageantry is able to give average girls from rural areas amazing opportunities and help them become the women leaders this country needs.
If any local girls are interested in participating in local pageantry they can contact Misty Grahm, for information about the Miss Outstanding Teen pageant at her e-mail, [email protected], or contact Shardel Nelson for information about the Miss Alliance pageant at her e-mail, [email protected] or cell phone, 760-7266.
