Miss Michigan in 1950s featured controversy, ace archer, batting champion
NOTE: This is the first in a series of stories looking back at the quotes and notes of Miss Michigan title-holders through the years.
MUSKEGON, MI – Even though the Miss Michigan Scholarship Pageant had been held for more than a decade prior, it's move to Muskegon's Michigan Theater in 1951 symbolized new life for the event.
The pageants of the 1950s were much smaller than the modern competitions, but its winners no less radiant or deserving.
Here are some interesting quotes and notes about the Miss Michigan title-holders of the 1950s:
Miss Michigan 1950 Bette Lou Pittman
A native of Owosso, the 18-year-old Pittman was employed at the Clark Drug Store in Owosso when she was entered into her local pageant at the Corunna Chamber of Commerce without her knowledge.
Miss Michigan 1951 Dolores Berruezo
Born the second oldest of four girls in St. Clair Shore, the 19-year-old Berruezo was the first contestant of Spanish decent to claim the Miss Michigan crown.
Miss Michigan 1952 Karol Ann Dragomir
A native of Benton Harbor, Dragomir was once married to Peter Palmer, a one-time tackle on the University of Illinois football team and actor known for his portrayal of L'll Abner on Broadway and in film.
Miss Michigan 1954 Janice Somers Jonson
The native of Lansing originally wasn't Miss Michigan at all. She assumed the title after pageant officials reviewed the ballots and determined there was "an unusual pattern" in the judging and ruled the competition "no-contest."
The ballots were reviewed because the winner, Delores Susin, was such a surprise the audience left in protest during her crowning. Susin eventually decided to "bow out of a beauty pageant that had become a brawl." according to a Muskegon Chronicle article pulished that June."
Miss Michigan 1956 Shirley Ann Swanson
Swanson, 19 was Muskegon's first Miss Michigan. A graduate of Muskegon Heights High School, she was the only auburn-haired entrant in the field that year. According to a Muskegon Chronicle article published that year, her hair was an inheritance from her grandfather Charles Anderson.
Miss Michigan History: A day of their own
Prior to the 1957 Miss Michigan Scholarship Pageant, Michigan Gov. G. Mennen Williams declared Wednesday, July 17, 1957 as "Miss Michigan Day.
"Evidence of Michigan's greater tomorrow is all around us. And nowhere is it better found than in her greatest resources, her young people – in their faces and in their hearts. They are strong faces, full of character and vitality," he said.
"Women as much as men will build this tomorrow. It is particularly fitting therefore that a day be set aside on which to choose a representative of all the rest, a Miss Michigan. She will be the personification of the beauty, the vigor, the talent, the grace, the personality and the charm of young ladies from both our great peninsulas. She is the strong lady who lives down the street; she works in the office or in a plant; she is a college girl and she helps out on the farm. She is intelligent and she is imaginative. She is the proud standard bearer for all the women before her who helped bring Michigan to its present greatness. She is in truth Miss Michigan."
Miss Michigan 1957 Valerie Joy Strong
The 21-year-old from Williamsburg was the daughter of Grand Traverse County cherry grower. During her reign as Miss Michigan, she skied with U.S. Olympic Ski team in Ishpeming and Iron Mountain and visited Washington D.C. with Sen. Charles E. Potter and Vice President Richard Nixon, where a resolution was passed honoring her for her services to the state.
Miss Michigan 1958 Patience Joann Pierce
A star athlete from Detroit, Pierce pitched for several years for a Detroit industrial league team and won the leagues batting title on one occasion, batting .580.
According to a Muskegon Chronicle account In June of 1958, she "collapsed in a near faint before regaining her composer and holding back tears as the flash bulbs popped around her" following her win at the pageant inside the Michigan Theater.
Miss Michigan 1959 Ann Penelope Marsten
The final Miss Michigan of the decade was born in London on Aug. 7, 1938. Her family was bombed out of four homes during the WWII blitz before coming to America in 1949.
Marsten won her first beauty contest before she was a year old, claiming a "Most Beautiful Baby" contest at 10 months. She was the current women's national archery champion at time of her crowning and demonstrated it at the pageant.
She popped three balloons onstage with arrows shot from the back row of the upper balcony 200 feet away. Arrow from her bow also snuffed candles, broke an egg and transfixed an apple on a dummy's head, according to Muskegon Chronicle reports.
http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2016/06/miss_michigan_title_in_1950s_f.html
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