Sweethearts of Central NY
Photos and Story by Sam Okazaki
In Central New York, families do not take pageantry with a grain of blush. The area is a hotbed of competitors and queens. Some participants treat their pageant selves like secret aliases—tucking their frilly dresses into costume trunks and donning regular clothes for school and work. Many of the families, however, live pageantry with every breath. Participants spend their weekends caravanning to various competitions and their cash on fake teeth and hairpieces. The girls walk and talk like they're always on stage, and the parents coach them like drill sergeants.
The lives of entire families revolve around pageants. And sometimes they compete together from childhood onward. Sue Lamarre, 39; her sister Jackie, 37; and their mother, Gertrude, 64, compete throughout New York. They've passed the tradition onto their kids too. Sue's 6-year- old daughter, Anna, and Jackie's daughters, Destiny, 6, and Shaylenn, 14, also compete. In the fall of 2011, all six competed in Angel Face Pageants in Owego, N.Y. There are 11 age divisions in the Angel Face contest. They range from the 40-and-above Miss competition to the Teeny Baby Miss contest for less-than-1-year-olds. And while the highest scorers win crowns, contestants of all ages leave with—and look like—a trophy.
