Pageant News Bureau - Leslie Sale

Nov. 27, 2003, is a harmonic convergence in the pageant world. For one thing, it is America's Thanksgiving Day (a holiday that by U.S. law must always fall on the fourth Thursday of the 11th month). No less importantly, it is the birthday of Queen Leslie, Miss Pageant.com (a holiday that by PNB law must always fall on the day Leslie Sale was born).

But there's more. This particular 27th day of November happens to be the 21st birthday of Queen Leslie. In royal jargon, she has reached her majority. In street lingo, she's not a girl anymore.

To celebrate this big day, we considered holding a large PNB parade in New York City, but we couldn't get a permit. Some department store beat us to it. We also discussed staging a 21-gun salute. But there are not that many guns in the whole pageant world, let alone people who know how to fire them.

Finally we realized that such raucous celebrations would not be appropriate anyway. Thanksgiving is a quiet, family-oriented holiday, a time to be with loved ones and reflect on the good things of life. And our queen is one of the really good things.

She's beautiful, intelligent, gracious, dignified, sexy. (Now that she's 21, we can say she's sexy.) And perhaps only Queen Leslie has the patience and sense of humor to put up with the extraordinary staffers of PNB, where the worlds of pageantry and journalism converge.

Pageant fans, wherever you are gathered on Nov. 27, 2003, don't forget to toast the queen's health before sitting down to your sumptuous meal. Raise your glasses toward the ceiling and say in unison: "Here's to Queen Leslie. She not only reigns, she rules!"

The Queen is 21