Pageant News Bureau - North Dakota tradition

Evelyn Gedde, Mrs. North Dakota International, is a mother who shatters that stereotype into a fine powder. She's a professional, a multi-career woman nationally recognized in her field. At age 50, she entered the pageant world . . . following in her daughter's footsteps.

You may have guessed the name of the daughter. She's Sonja Gedde, who was Miss North Dakota 1998 and competed at Miss America. She's back at her studies now, enrolled at Concordia College, looking forward to eventually continuing her education at Oxford University in Britain. And she's looking forward to cheering for her mother in August 1999 as Mrs. Gedde tries for the Mrs. International title.

Mrs. Gedde never disdained pageant competiton. "I've always admired it from a distance," she says. But pageants were not part of her world. She was busy earning a degree, working as a high school teacher, then building a career in public relations. She spent nine years as public relations and marketing director for a college. Then she accepted a senior position at Prairie Public Broadcasting, a post she still holds.

At home, she was equally busy raising a family. She and her husband, the Rev. Larry Gedde, have three grown children and three young grandchildren. He's a Lutheran pastor, and she has assisted him in his mission work and in ministering to people at the end of life.

Once Sonja, a studious young woman with lofty goals, discovered the Miss America program as an opportunity for scholarship money, life was never the same. The Gedde household suddenly found itself in the middle of the pageant world. Sonja's self-discipline, especially her interest in physical fitness, had always inspired her mother, and it didn't take long for the pageant bug to prove infectious, too.

At the Miss America Pageant, Sonja Gedde became known for her platform urging teenagers to postpone sexual activity. Her cause was rooted in her faith, but she wasn't preaching sermons. Instead of simply insisting on self-denial, she emphasized the positive benefits of waiting for an appropriate, fulfilling relationship.

Mrs. Gedde, in her own platform, deals with a force even more powerful and dangerous than sex -- television. With her knowledge of broadcasting and her experience of how certain programs can affect young minds, she advocates "smart choices" in what young and old watch on the tube. So much of popular programming shows people involved in risky or antisocial acts, she says, "but too often it doesn't show the consequences."

Every story about family should end with a bit of homespun advice, and we have some for our readers. If you think your mother should be in pageants, call her and tell her. And if you don't, just call her and tell her you love her.

Going backa generation

Going back
a generation