CAPE LIFE
NIKKI MCKIN/Y
JESSICA LYNN NEAL
COURTNEY M. BAUER
PATRICIA MCCAUSLAND
JODIE M. KELLY
JUNNIE Y. CROSS
JACQUELINE PILLA ALISON C. WHITE ERIN L. COOPER THERESA M. LEAR EBONY T. BROWN JILLIAN L. DAISEY
18 contestants to vie for Miss Delaware crown in R('.noooth
The Miss Delaware Pageant
will be held Friday, June 6 and
Sunday, June 7 at 8 p.m.. at Con-
vention Hail in Rehoboth Beach.
Aimee Voshell, Miss Delaware,
1996, will crown the new Miss
Delaware. Eighteen talented,
intelligent and attractive young
women will compete for the
opportunity to represent Delaware
at the Miss America Pageant in
September.
Contestants will arrive on
Wednesday, June 4 at the Adantic
Budget Inn in Rehoboth, the home
of the Miss Delaware Pageant. All
contestants at the state level have
already won scholarships at their
local pageants. $29,750 in schol-
arships will be awarded. The Miss
Delaware Scholarship Organiza-
tion has received a $3,650 schol-
arship matching grant and a
$5,000 anniversary grant from the
Miss America Organization. Miss
Delaware 1997 will receive a
$10,000 scholarship to be used at
the college of her choice. In addi-
tion, she will be awarded a $4,000
tuition scholarship to Goldey Bea-
com College and a $41,000 tuition
scholarship to Palmer College of
Chiropractic in Iowa.
In addition to Voshell, the
pageant will also feature Susan
Powell, who will act as Mistress
of Ceremonies as well as enter-
tain. Also performing will be
Michelle Harris, Miss Delaware
1995, Ann Marie Jarka-Hajjar,
Miss Delaware 1987; Donna De
Kuyper, executive director of the
Delaware Music School; and
Bryan Clark, vocalist-impression-
ist.
Tickets for the pageant are
available by calling Bill Collins at
539-9292.
The 18 contestants vying for the
1997 Miss Delaware crown are:
• Nikki MeKinney, Miss Uni-
versity, a political science major
at the University of Delaware who
will perform a Broadway jazz
dance in the talent competition.
Her platform is Prevention of Illit-
eracy.
• Jessica Lynn Neal, Miss Sus-
sex County, who will major in
nursing administration at the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, will per-
form a theatrical vocal. Promoting
Literacy by Reading to Children
is her platform.
• Courtenay Marie Bauer,
Miss Georgetown, an architec-
ture major at the University of
Georgetown, will present a rhyth-
mic gymnastics routine. Her plat-
form is Team Up..Housing of
People in Need.
• Patricia Renee McCausland,
Miss Tri-County, is a political
science major at the University of
Delaware. She will sing, "Colors
in the Wind." Her platform is
Education First in the First State.
• Jody Michelle Kelly, Miss
New Castle County, who is
majoring in German at the Uni-
versity of Delaware, will perform
a flute solo. Her platform is Habi-
tat for Humanity.
oJunnie Y. Cross, Miss Dover,
is a music major at the University
of Delaware. She will perform a
Broadway vocal and her platform
is The Importance of Arts in Edu-
cation.
• Jaequeline Padgett Ptlla,
Miss Collegiate, is a University
of Delaware graduate who is pur-
suing a Master of Education
degree at Wilmington College.
Continued on page 24
Into every graduation ceremony some rain must fall
"Into this life, a little rain must
fail." This is a very famous quote
used by a lot of famous people
like the Watergate burglars and
recently by celebrities like Eddie
Murphy. Even the IRS likes this
quote, adopting it on their letter-
head, along with a personalized
note; a stamp in red that says
"refund denied."
But anyone who knows me will
tell you that I cry at the drop of a
hat. It used to happen mostly
when I opened my pay check. Big
wails and huge sobs would over-
come me at the copy machine,
forcing my co-workers to race
down to the 7-11 to Xerox the rest
of their work. Now it occurs
whenever I see a recent photo-
graph of myself or if I try to
squeeze into a pair of spandex
pants that always seem to snap off
and boomerang into the next
dressing room.
AROUND TOWN
My lack of ability to control my
crying is one of the main reasons I
never enlisted in the service. It's
not that I am a coward. Well,
yeah, maybe that too. But I knew
I couldn't take those war songs. I
am too emotional. One stanza of
"The Battle Hymn of the Repub-
lic" or "Shenendoah" and I would
lay my rifle down and turn into a
blubbering mass, stumbling and
failing into the arms of the enemy.
Not exactly what the military
would call the right stuff.
I remind you of this disgusting
trait because we are entering the
mother lode of crying season:
graduations and weddings, not to
mention the annual country music
awards.
Graduations always hit me hard.
My eyes well up at the sight of
any diploma, even if it is from a
correspondence school. Maybe
this is because they tend to look so
official and academic. I remem-
ber one that made me choke up
pretty badly. It was from a place
called the University of the Pacifi-
ca, which was supposed to be
located off of Catalina Island in
California, but in actuality turned
out to be a drop box by a WaWa
convenience store. Anyway, it
had all this Latin scrolled all over
this paper that bore an imprint of a
reproduction of Thomas Jeffer-
son's home with the surf coming
in. Like I said, it choked me up
for days.
And I don't even have to know
the person graduating. Last week
I saw a short clip on television of
the graduation at the Naval Acad-
emy in Annapolis. All those hats
thrown in the air. People hugging
each other. Others giving sworn
depositions in the back of station
wagons.
It was very moving and I carded
on like I was peeling a bucket of
onions. It's funny though, I've
never cried at my own children's
graduations. I guess it was the
distraction of writing all those
checks.
Now weddings are a whole dif-
ferent category of crying. There is
something about a young girl in a
white dress, with a groom stand-
ing there in a tuxedo (or it might
also be a white dress, hey I've got
no gaps here) and all those brides-
maids in outfits no one would be
caught dead in. And then there is
the mother of the bride, the father
of the bride, the step-mother of the
bride, the stepfather of the groom,
the therapist of the couple, the sur-
rogate parents and the spiritual
advisor to some stranger in the
front row. It's a very moving
scene, especially if it's held in Las
Vegas with a Spanish minister and
the strains of Elvis Presley singing
in the background "Hunka, Hunka
Burning Love." Again, I missed a
golden opportunity to wail at my
daughter's wedding. Too busy
writing those checks.
So, get yourself some Kleenex.
And gear up for a small amount of
rain to fall.
