AMERICA'S JUNIOR MISS/April Blog

This new little church Tim and I are attending believes in spiritual gifts. Neither of us grew up with this and it is all-new thinking . . . which we are actually enjoying. Personally, I've never seen a supernatural gift or a miracle. However, I do believe certain people have a gift that manifests itself through the Holy Spirit. They have an extraordinary thing going on.

My obvious gift would be the gift of music. But my other gift which isn't so obvious is the gift of gut instinct. I have an unusual ability to read a person or a situation pretty well. Some mornings I will wake up and tell Tim about a new insight that was revealed to me in the middle of the night. When I first started sharing my early morning thoughts, Tim would half-listen to me or maybe laugh a little bit. He doesn't do that anymore.

When my two kids were little, they'd say "but Mom, how do you know?" I'd joke with them innocently and say "the Holy Ghost told me" and we'd laugh. Today they still challenge my insights, but at least they listen. Well, maybe just a little bit. Admittedly, most of what I say just comes from experience.

So when I walked into my interview and sat down with a new panel of national judges at the America's Junior Miss pageant and they called me "Lenne" instead of "Lorie," I knew it was over. She was going to be the winner.

Miss Washington had just walked out and I was next. I would describe Lenne Jo as cute . . . not pretty, or beautiful . . . but cute. Snappy. She was short, had a bubbly personality, a fun smile and a cute short haircut. It was 1976 and shorter hair had just come back into style. (Someone talked me into cutting mine too, and looking back I wish I hadn't done that.)

After winning Nevada's Junior Miss, I had about two months to prepare for America's Junior Miss. We were serious now. The first thing was to up the ante on my piano piece. Alleta said we needed something more showy, more demanding. We selected Malaguena. It fit the time constraints, it was a more recognizable tune, and it was difficult. So I got up early before school and started learning it. With the average-size stretch in my hands, I dedicated my after-school hours to mastering the octaves.

It was a ton of work getting ready to go. I decided to enter the national sponsor scholarship programs. The national sponsors were Kraft, Kodak and Breck. For Kraft you had to host a dinner party and document the event, complete with photography and original recipes (utilizing their products). My mom and I had so much fun pulling this together and we invited a school friend and his family to join us for the dinner party. For Kodak you had to prepare a photo album/scrap book of the Junior Miss experience utilizing their film. For Breck you had to do a hair photo shoot.  

The most fun part of getting ready to go was the shopping!! There were a ton of local Reno stores who donated clothing and pretty items to take along with me to Mobile, Alabama. So it seemed I was shopping almost every weekend in stores I'd never been in before. Honestly, I had really never "shopped" before and it was a breathtaking experience. I couldn't believe I was walking out with something beautiful in my arms that was donated to me . . . free. 

The Junior Miss committee went with me on most of my excursions. We picked out two pageant dresses and Alleta helped to select my performance dress which had a Spanish flare to it . . . perfect for Malaguena. It was hand-embroidered and had big wide panels, so unusual and very couture for the time. They made sure I had pretty jewelry and casual clothes to wear for the events during the day. I felt so spoiled. I was seriously overwhelmed with all the attention and everyone's generosity.

It was such a special event that my parents saved everything they could and bought plane tickets to go. My grandparents jumped in too, and it was thrilling to think they would all be there with me for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

When I arrived to Mobile, Alabama my host family walked me into the great exhibition hall where all the cameras were setting up for this nationally televised event. There in alphabetical order were all the girls and their states they represented. Nevada was in the middle and there I was. It was the biggest photo ever and I started looking at all the other candidates from the remaining 49 states. We all kind of looked the same. . . no one was "the most beautiful of all." We were just a bunch of ambitious girls up there on a wall of fame with dreams.

The first day we met the Master of Ceremonies, Michael Landon. It just so happened his dressing room was right next to mine, so I saw him often and shyly said "hi" in passing. Yes, he was as handsome in person as he was on Little House On The Prairie. My goodness, he had great hair.

All the girls nervously met and everyone wanted to know what their talent was. It ended up that out of 50 states, about 5 of us were going to play the piano. I couldn't wait to hear what the others had selected.

And it came time. The old Steinway piano from backstage was rolled out and the pianists had a chance to practice and play on it. The first girl sat down. She played her first notes.

It was Malaguena. Oh no.

The second girl stepped up onto the stage, sat down and played her first notes.

It was Malaguena. Oh no.

And then me. 

The two remaining pianists played simple pop songs, but for the three contenders playing Malaguena it was a phychological nightmare. The other two pianists had edited their version (leaving out some of the harder parts). I played mine unedited, top to bottom, but I knew the judges wouldn't notice this little detail.

After a week of working on the pageant, my parents and grandparents flew in. "Everyone is playing Malaguena."  I felt I played the piece the best, but it wouldn't matter as our idea wasn't unique enough. Too many girls were playing the same thing.

The night of the pageant came and we were all excited to be on national TV. We all got to walk up to the microphone, say our name and the name of our high school. I swear when it was my turn I heard everyone back home cheering me on. They announced the top five talent finalists. None of us playing Malaguena made it. The evening was going to be oh so short, but oh so long.

Miss Washington made the top five. There she was, her cute little self, and for her talent she showed off her public speaking abilities and recited a poem, using that wide smile and swinging her cute bob side to side. 

She won.

I did not win anything that night, but the national sponsors later announced the winners. Unbelievable, I won both Kraft and Kodak awards. Kodak gave me a $1000 scholarship and a new camera and enough film for a lifetime. Kraft gave me a $2500 scholarship. And funny thing, you'd think the first thing ever published in my lifetime would be a piece of music. Nope. Kraft published my recipes from my Country Cookin' dinner party in their 1976 Hostess Awards cookbook. Today that cookbook proudly sits on my shelf in my kitchen (right next to every volume of Ina Garten . .  .  my hero as you know).

It was all adding up. More scholarship money to go to the "college of my choice." And the Junior Miss program also offered full-ride scholarships to a dozen different schools across the country.

I now had enough money to get there. And you can bet I was going to go. 

Many thanks to the Junior Miss program.

Florida College, here I come!

The above photo was taken during the talent competition at the America's Junior Miss pageant, May, 1976. Lorie Line (then Lorie Porter) was 17. The photo now sits on a shelf in Studio L, Lorie's recording studio.

The America's Junior Miss Competition is no longer a pageant. Today it is the Distinguished Young Women Program. 

Miss Washington's parents won Congeniality Parents of the Week. (The force is strong.)

Below is the Kraft cookbook publication which featured Lorie's Country Chicken Casserole. She never made it again.