PATSY CRIST, of Cumby, wears a gold cowboy hat at the Black Gold Texas Tea, a tea party for 2017 contestants of Ms. Texas Senior Classic Pageant in August 2017. Crist won the 2017 Ms. Texas Senior Classic crown.

CONTESTANTS | ‘A SORORITY’

When Karen Trussell, of Lindale, heard about the Ms. Texas Senior Classic Pageant, just the idea of being in a pageant at age 61 was enough to attract her to enter the upcoming event in Tyler.

She considered as a bonus the expected making of friends during the pageant, fun and gaining self-esteem and self-confidence that people sometimes lose with the onset of wrinkles and gray hair as they get older.

But Linda Ageyitowadi Pickle-Hill, 63, of Sulphur Springs, a proud member of the Cherokee Choctaw Nation, is a contestant for the third time. Competing in the pageant, she said, “is one of the most important events in my life. It has enriched my life. This is a sorority. (Other contestants) are my sisters.”

Always escorted by her service dog named Atticus Finch who protects her from falling, Pickle-Hill said, “If I have the bravery to walk out in an evening gown with a four-footed companion, then it shows others can do the same.”

In order to compete, she is taking time off from her new career — milking 180 cows a day in a dairy — which she took up when she decided she wanted to learn to milk cows. She also said she is one of the oldest practicing competition dog groomers in the United States.

The Ms. Texas Senior Classic Pageant attracts contestants from a wide range of backgrounds and accommodates any special needs some may have, such as needing a service dog, wheelchair, a walker or cane.

This year, there are 19 contestants, most from North and East Texas although women from across the state may enter.

Contestants must be at least 60 years old and residents of Texas to be eligible to enter the pageant. Most contestants are in their 60s, 70s or 80s, even though one year a woman who was 100 participated on a cane and winked at the judges.

Peggy Wagner, of Plano, pageant director, said it is not a beauty pageant, although contestants are beautiful inside and out.

Wagner added, “We are celebrating senior ladies’ lives. Most people think when you are 60 or 70 years old, you need to be let out to pasture or sit on the couch and knit or something. These ladies (contestants) are not like that. Our motto every year is always that ‘We are changing the image of aging.'”

The pageant, Wagner said, shows the public that older women have a lot to offer. “I’m 82 years old and I’m far from that pasture they want to lead me out to and I don’t just sit on the couch.” She began directing the pageant about 17 years ago.

The competition is in four categories: evening gown, talent, philosophy of life and an interview with judges.

The pageant has been in existence 28 years, but this is only

the third year for it to be in Tyler. Wagner recalled that Tylerite Jo Ann McMeans, a former queen, suggested that the pageant consider Tyler as its new location.

“After the first year, everything had been so wonderful and the community so supportive that I just decided let’s try it again,” Wagner said. “The second year was even better, so here we are our third year in Tyler.”

Not only do citizens come out to see the contestants perform during the pageant, but there are many people in the background who help with the pageant, McMeans said, and expressed gratitude.

Sherry Macauley, of Forney, considers herself “a perpetual contestant” because this will be her 11th year to be in the pageant.

“I was still employed when I started and it had an effect on me at work,” she said. “I was more confident. It’s life-changing. It’s not your typical competition. We (contestants) all band together.”

Barbara Price, 63, of Burleson, is competing for the third year.

“I keep coming back for the sisterhood, the friendship, the growth I do each year and the self-confidence I get from it,” she said.

A housewife who has done substitute teaching, Price was born with a speech problem and was very shy.

“The pageant has helped me a whole lot,” said Price, who has two children, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. “I have come out of my shyness and it’s built up my confidence.”

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