Elegant aging : THREE LOCAL SENIORS TO SING, DANCE, AT MS. SENIOR ARKANSAS COMPETITION
Posted on Sunday, June 1, 2008
" Idon't need your rockin' chair, your Geritol or your Medicare / I've still got neon in my veins, this gray hair don't mean a thing …," George Jones sings on "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair. "
He continues: "I do my rockin' on the stage / I don't need your rockin' chair."
Neither does Jan Baker. Or Katy Phillips. Or Virginia Risley.
Because singing and dancing is much more fun than lying around or watching television, they say.
Baker, from Farmington, and Phillips and Risley, from Prairie Grove, are willing to do some rockin' on the stage, and in public, too. The trio from Washington County will be among about a dozen contestants for the 2008 Ms. Senior Arkansas 2008, which takes place Saturday in Alma. There the women will compete for the right to be called Ms. Senior Arkansas and represent the state at the national competition in Atlantic City, N. J.
And it all stems from the trios' unwillingness to slow down. Well, slow down too much, anyway. "Let's be happy while we're here," Baker said. "Aging can be just as rewarding as any stage of life."
' Never too old' It was Baker who first competed in the contest. She had just moved to the area from Oklahoma, and she met the woman serving as queen at a local senior center. Baker, now 72, decided she might give it a try, too.
Each year for the past six years, she has danced her way onto the stage.
Her routine is always a dance number, performed as a backing track plays fiddle music or does the twist in a poodle skirt. But the talent portion of the competition is just a small portion of the larger competition.
The contestants face a panel of judges with various levels of pageant experience. This year, Evelyn McDonald of Springdale, Ms. Senior Arkansas in 2003, will be among those who serve as a judge.
Any woman 60 or older who has been a resident of Arkansas for more than six months can participate in the pageant.
The contestants are scored in an evening gown competition, an interview segment, an opportunity for the contestants to share their philosophy of life and the talent showcase. Of the four elements, the interview is the most important, as it is 50 percent of the overall score.
Baker has learned much in the process. The first year of the competition, she had to look up the word philosophy in the dictionary to make sure she had the right concept for it. And she's learned something else: She loves the competition, and the friendships she's made through it. Just more than two years ago, Baker suffered a heart attack just six weeks before the competition. She willed herself back to the stage. It was hard, she admits, but it gave her the motivation she needed to get going again. She shortened her talent routine for fear the full program would wear her out, but otherwise, she was back at full strength. Her doctor tells her to just keep dancing, she said, something she's never seemed to have trouble doing. She's impressed several with her ability to keep going, including some of those closest to her. "' Grandma, I didn't know you could do that !'"her granddaughter said after watching a previous performance at a Ms. Senior Arkansas competition. "You're never too old to do the twist," Baker said.
Beyond the crown More than 30 states have a Ms. Senior contest, and the winner of each state program is sent to compete on the national level in Atlantic City, N. J., for the right to be called Ms. Senior America. Although all of the local competitors would be honored to represent Northwest Arkansas and the rest of the state, they say there is much more to the pageant than a satchel and a crown.
"It's not about winning, really," said Phillips. "It's about having fun."
Phillips, 64, got involved in the competition last year at the urging of Baker. And, she had a talent to offer: She loves to sing. She is a vocalist in several local bands, including the Twilight Blenders and OK Country.
She is planning to sing Loretta Lynn's "Coal Miner's Daughter," but she might opt for a song where she can show off her talent at yodeling. It would set her apart from the competition, she said," Because no one yodels anymore."
She was nervous at last year's pageant, the first time she had ever participated in any such event before. Again, she stresses, it's not about winning, it's about having a good time, and making friends.
"I feel like we're all winners," Phillips said.
One of the friends Phillips has made through the pageant is Risley, who lives just a few miles from Phillips outside of Prairie Grove. ' A lot to offer' Risley first participated in Ms. Senior Arkansas in 2006, and like Baker and Phillips, she'd never participated in a pageant before joining this competition. In her first year, she was first runnerup.
Risley, 66, plays piano and sings, and she will perform Jones' song," I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair"for her routine.
And while she understands what she and her friends do might not meet definitions of a classic pageant - with tall young girls and swimwear - aging is something everyone, even the traditional beauty queens, does every day.
"You can't hide it," she said. "It's a fact of life."
So, she chooses not to sit around and sulk.
"Our philosophy is, we've reached the age of elegance," Risley said. "We still have a lot to offer, even though we're retired."
As participants in the pageant, the trio are also ambassadors throughout the year, traveling throughout the state to senior centers and retirement homes to share the message that no one is ever too old to have a good time.
In fact, the 2007 Ms. Senior Arkansas, Delores Bates, is 79 years old. Her onstage talent was dance, and she can kick her leg above her head, Risley said.
And so on Saturday, three representatives from Northwest Arkansas will spend two days in Alma, the first night rehearsing, the second, performing. The event is free to the public, and several hundred will attend, Baker said.
There they will sing, dance and celebrate their health despite their age. It's going to be a tough competition, everyone agrees, and there isn't likely to be a favorite when the competition begins.
"It's not cutthroat," Risley said.
"Everyone is on the same level," Phillips agreed. "I'm going to give it everything I've got, and let the judges decide."
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