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Ready to sparkle on stage
Women vie for Ms. Missouri Senior America crown
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| Roy Sykes photo -- Penny Fischer sits at her Warrenton home. She is vying for the crown in the Ms. Missouri Senior America pageant. | ||
Last year, Penny Fischer sat in a dark auditorium watching women model evening gowns and share talents. As she watched, Fischer's usual determination bubbled up.
I can do that, she thought.
The problem was, at 59, she wasn't old enough. (Usually, Fischer says, people think she's 47. "I don't look my age at all.")
But this year, at 60, she's just the right age, and the Warrenton woman joins nine other contestants in the quest to become Ms. Missouri Senior America. Most of the contestants are from the St. Louis area, but not all, including Joan Justice, 72, who currently lives in Stockton, but spent 17 years in St. Charles County.
When Justice inquired about competing, she was told she'd have to wait until she was old enough. She was 71 at the time. "I just don't give in to being old," she says.
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In fact, neither woman has time for slowing down.
Fischer has worked as a dental assistant and started her own bakery, Just Cakes. At 54, she decided to begin a new career and became a flight attendant for GoJet Airlines. Now, at 60, she's pursuing her pilot's license. She and her husband, Jim, have two children and six grandchildren.
Justice worked as assistant principal for Fort Zumwalt High School, then as principal at St. Peters Elementary School, and finally as an English teacher at North Middle School. She water skis, rides horses, has written a book about marriage and has another book on the way. Justice and her husband, Jimmie, have four children, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
"Attitude is absolutely the most important thing there is," she says. "Attitude. That's it ... I refuse to be old."
This year's competition is scheduled for July 11 at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre and marks the 20th anniversary of the pageant, says Joan Daues, co-state director and the 1997 title holder.
Competitors pay $200 in entry fees, she says, and after they compete become members of the Cameo Club, which performs variety shows throughout the area. Currently, she says, the club has about 65 members.
The pageant brings together women 60 and over for the competition and the winner goes on to compete in Ms. Senior America.
This is the first year for both Fischer and Justice. Both women are excited about the pageant and plan to share some of their spunk in the talent portion of the competition. Justice will read an excerpt from her book, and Fischer will give an inspirational speech.
This is Fischer's first pageant, but it doesn't matter if you're 21 or 60, she says. "You're never too old to really live your dreams."
And this year, she won't be watching in the dark, but strutting on the stage in an aqua blue evening gown, vying for a crown that celebrates age, grace and women who are determined to shine as much as possible in their twilight years.
For more information about the Ms. Missouri Senior America pageant, call 314-921-5678 or visit www.msmissourisenior.org.
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