Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Missouri nursing homes hold beauty pageant

The crowning of a new beauty queen will take place tonight in Kansas City, Mo. It's not Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, Miss World, Miss Universe, or Miss Informed.

No, this pageant is the 29th annual Ms. Missouri Nursing Home Pageant, a three-tiered, statewide competition.

The pageant's c0-chairwoman Carla Lungren, who works with the Missouri Health Care Association, is proud of the pageant.

"That's totally why we do what we do everyday in long-term care," said Lungren. "To touch people's lives and make them meaningful until the very end."

According to an Associated Press story, there ares no extravagant prizes or evening gown competitions, though some women prefer to wear a fancy dress or adorn their wheelchairs with flowers as they tell stories of growing up during the Great Depression and World War II. Some reminisce about vacation mishaps or decades-long marriages — and of their children, grandchildren, even great-great grandchildren.

Georgia, Alabama and California also have long-running pageants, and West Virginia held its event for many years before the death of its organizer.

To read more, click here.

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