Royals

Welcome back, Lovies! 

Story time!

Today is a monumental and life changing event for me. 

On this day, August 13th, in 2017, I participated in a pageant. This pageant was the Tomato Pageant that is held every year at the Henry County Fair. It’s a pageant that is sponsored by Campbell’s Soup (hence the Tomato) and they hand out several scholarships for participants competing to be crowned the coveted Tomato Queen. So, how did I get there?

The summer of 2017, I was fresh out of high school since I graduated in May and now was transitioning into college life. In mid to late July, my good friend, Olivia Behm, had told me that she was participating in that year’s Tomato Pageant as Miss Napoleon City and asked if I could be her escort. She explained that she knew that asking me was kind of last minute, but she had recently got out of a relationship and needed an escort. She then explained what I would be doing. My job was to basically look good and, perform a little skit for the audience. After a couple of days of thought, I accepted her invitation. Most of the hard work was on Livi’s part. She had to find a dress, a swimsuit, learn how to walk the catwalk and prepare for answering questions that were going to be asked to her on stage. On top of that, she had to find a vehicle to ride in for the parade. That is a lot of requirements that she had to fulfill. 

On the day of rehearsals, we had lunch together and talked about what I was going to do. Sing, act, dance? I can’t do any of that (well). Then, Liv came up with this idea of doing a Q&A with me with tomato pun jokes. I decided to take it a step further and decided to just do what the ladies had to do: give an introduction, questions and answers, and walk the catwalk (I would’ve done the swimsuit part, too if I were allowed). It was the perfect idea and we stuck to it. The rehearsal, for me, was just to learn how to adjust the microphone and walk on and off stage. 

Sunday, it was showtime. First, we had to the parade. All the participants and their escorts met at the senior center where the participants’ dresses and swimsuits were. Then we headed to the Elks to prepare for the parade. We chatted among ourselves and got a pep talk from Miss Ohio. After a few minutes, we got into our parade order in our vehicles and were off. Riding in the parade was fun and a new experience for Liv and I both because we were accustomed to marching and playing in the parade with the band. This year, we were all dolled up and she looked like the Queen that she is, waving and smiling proudly into the crowds as little girls called her a princess. For me, I felt like the “Penguins of Madagascar,” “Smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave.” Once we made it to the grandstands, the ladies went into a trailer to prepare, while the men sat next to the stage for a long while, it seems. The pageant didn’t start until 8pm and it was only around 7pm when we arrived. Furthermore, it was quiet. Guys just don’t talk much, and we didn’t want to be on our phones because people were watching, thus, we just stayed quiet. 

Once 8pm road along, the pageant began. The judges, Miss Ohio and the host came out and did introductions and welcomed everyone to the pageant. After that, the ladies came out and presented themselves to all of Henry County. There they did their Q&As, each answering questions that the other participants had written. These questions ranged from dumb to real deep and it was confusing. What did any of that have to do with anything? Anyways, when Miss Napoleon City was called up, I was excited! It was Olivia’s time to shine and I cheered loudly, though she couldn’t hear me. The question that Liv was given threw her for a loop. She stood on stage and didn’t speak for a while until she found the right words to say. As we waited in silence, I was panicking internally. “Just say something!” I thought as I waited. I was anxious for an answer, but that’s nothing compared to how Liv must’ve felt while on stage. I’m glad that she waited to answer though because I believe that she found the right answer and sounded confident in it. 

Next was the swimsuit competition. I don’t understand why this is part of the show and I don’t care for it. First, it’s 40 to 50 degrees outside, so we know that women are cold. Second, we had older men judging these young women in their bathing suits, which is creepy. Third, what if a woman didn’t have the “ideal” body? Should their standing in the pageant be determined based on others’ perception on what a swimsuit body should look like? Lastly, what is this teaching our girls? That they need a hot body to contend in a pageant? Therefore, this part of the pageant does more harm than good in my opinion. Back to the pageant, in the intermission time to allow the participants to change into their swimsuits, Miss Ohio sang a song and played the keyboard and answered a few questions to keep the audience entertained. After that, the ladies were finally ready. I didn’t pay much attention to this part of the show for the reasons I stated before, until Miss Napoleon City came out. Olivia came out and walked the catwalk all confident and graciously. I was proud of her and we had bounced back into the competition. 

After this, it was the men’s time to perform. We all lined up by the steps on the side on the steps. One by one, the escort would take their representative’s hand and walk them to the catwalk so that the lady may walk the catwalk, again, as if the audience forgot how she looked. After that, the participant would stand in the back of the stage and allow their escort to perform. The escorts in front of me sang, told jokes, and even rode miniature tractors on stage, amateurs. Then, it was my turn. “Welcome back, Miss Napoleon City, Olivia Behm and her escort, Donovan Gaffney!” As we walked on staged, I had the DJ play “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder because the song fitted Olivia and the event. After the walk, Olivia and I were standing at the mic; it was showtime. I wasn’t nervous at all. I’ve been performing my whole life, singing, playing and giving speeches since I was young. I spoke at graduation just 2 months prior to this day in front of 2,000 plus people, so I wasn’t scared. I gave my introduction and messed up, but whatever. Then, Olivia and I did our Q&A of tomato puns that won over the crowds. I thought I was down after that, but then Liv reminded me about the catwalk. Oh crap, did I really have to do that? Yep. I headed towards the catwalk and strut my stuff. That got the crowd on their feet. I had given the people what they didn’t know they needed, and I knew it. I walk confidently to the back of the stage and reunited with my friend.

After all the other escorts did their acts, the tallying of the votes began for us and were concluded for the women. I thought Olivia had a great shot of winning the whole thing considering that 60% of the score were the pre-pageant interviews that I know she nailed because she was on the speech and debate. After a few moments, the scores were finally ready. The crowning of the Tomato King was up first. I knew I was going to win. Who was going to top me? Apparently, someone did because I didn’t win! Some dude who faked a proposal won! His act was to get down on one knee and looked like he was going to pop the “question.” What he asked instead was, “Will you be my ‘Tomato Queen?’” and handed her a tomato necklace. I was so mad, but “Smile and Wave.” Next were the ladies’ results. I was anxious, but confident that Olivia would win. Categories such as Miss Congeniality and Miss Photogenic came and went and Miss Napoleon City didn’t win either, which was good or bad. Good because that meant that she was going to place higher or bad because she didn’t place at all. Then we heard, “Third place runner-up, Miss Napoleon City, Olivia Behm!” Holy moly! Liv made it on the court! I was so proud of her and what she had done. The pageant was a lot of hard work and I have mad respect for anyone who took part in it and is going to take part of it. Since this is a scholarship pageant, Olivia was awarded $750!

After the pageant, Olivia took photos with the rest of the pageant court and I was elated. Then we took pictures together for our families. After the pageant, we walked around fair for a while and I was an instant celebrity (I mean, I was popular prior to the pageant because of graduation), but I was even more popular. I had classmates and strangers congratulating me and complimenting me on my performance. I was happy and proud of Olivia and I; we became stars.

For me the pageant became a great ice breaker for me during my freshman year in college. On opening weekend, a fellow freshman recognized me from the pageant and told me that she was related to Miss Ohio. That was cool because I had someone to talk to. A year and a half later, the pageant came to haunt me. On the second day of the spring semester, a lady sat down at my table, looked at me and stated, “I know you from somewhere.” I was shocked. How did she know who I was? She followed up by saying, “You’re Donovan Gaffney and you were Olivia Behm’s escort for Miss Napoleon City in 2017.” I was amazed. How did she remember? Turns out she was in the pageant as well! She was Miss Napoleon Township and won second runner up! And what made it worse, her escort was the one who faked the proposal and stole the crown from me! I was amazed and shocked at the same time. Furthermore, she was from Napoleon and knew of me before the pageant even happened! It was a surreal moment. She always picked on me about the pageant and Napoleon, but we became friends throughout the semester.  

As I look back on the pageant, I realize how special that day was. It was historic to be honest. First, I’m pretty sure that I’m the only black person to ever participate in the pageant. It was significant for me because I’m not originally from Ohio, let alone, Napoleon and I’m black on top of that. To represent Napoleon meant that the city had adopted me as their own after 5 years, (at least Olivia) at that time and it was a proud moment. Second, Olivia is bi-sexual, so I’m pretty sure she’s the first LGBT member to participate in the pageant. Therefore together, Olivia and I made history and we’re damn sure proud to have done it! 

I’m grateful for the opportunity to participate in the pageant alongside my friend. I think the pageant drew us closer in our friendship. Now, we’re definitely closer now than we were in high school (going to the same university helps). So, thank you, Liv, for the invite and for being such a good friend over the years! And thank all of you for reading my pageant experience! Until next time!

DRG

You can watch the whole pageant with the link below!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR5wxqEZk_o