Pageant News Bureau - Snapshots of 2001

Beauty queens caught in the middle of a national emergency? No, just a couple of pageant stars, Kelly Gaudet (left) and Jenna Edwards, sharing the fun with young cancer patients. It was called "Queen for a Day."

Here's looking at you, 2001

Years are like people. They are with us for a while, then gone. Some years are barely remembered, existing only as faded numbers on crumbling calendars.

But 2001 won't be forgotten soon. It was turbulent and scary, and it reminded us that not everyone loves the beauty culture. Pageants and pinups and makeup and high heels are anathema to some people. They would like to make them all disappear.

What if such people succeeded? What if beauty pageants and all they stand for were suddenly banished from our lives? What if beauty queens were outlawed?

Some brave souls in this grim new world might risk their lives by hiding away a few pageant photos. If we were so brave, we wouldn't choose the standard "pageant" shots, but the sweet, the silly, the sexy. We would hide away a few images that would remind us of the diversity and humanity of the pageant experience.

What if that grim new world were starting now? Well, we would grab up these few images from 2001, and head for the nearest cave.

Chelsea Cooley (above and right), Miss United States Teen, paid her respects to the manly firefighters of New York City after the terrorist attacks. Southern charm was a big hit in the Big Apple. Someday we will all get along.

Terri-Lynn Yee won a petite crown in Canada, and she was photographed in some exotic costumes, straight out of "Mutiny on the Bounty." But when she put on these casual duds for a night out, we said, "That's the look."

Kara Brown was crowned Miss Rodeo America. The Old West still lives, and in the most extraordinary places.

Miss Latina World, Amy Diaz of the Dominican Republic, didn't wrap herself in the flag. Some people thought she should have, but we think Francis Scott Key would have liked her just the way she was.

Puerto Rico became the new home of the Miss Universe Pageant. But not every beautiful woman on the island was a "Miss." Shirley Rentas was chosen Mrs. Puerto Rico Globe.

This photo of Farah Fallowfield by PNB's Joe Whiteko troubled one reader. She thought it mixed images of childhood and eroticism. We respectfully disagreed. It was just a picture of a mature, well-adjusted young woman having a bit of childish fun. Sometimes trouble is in the eye of the beholder.

Marilyn Ahelia Sewbalak was crowned Miss Hindustani of Holland. That's the beauty of diversity.

Natalie Langor, Stephanie Brennan and Lori O'Keefe

What do women really want? Old men with white beards and red suits. Just ask these three beauty queens, (from left) Natalie Langor, Miss Teen Newfoundland and Labrador; Stephanie Brennan, Miss Teen Millennium; and Lori O'Keefe, Miss Newfoundland and Labrador. This photo is courtesy of Isabelle Fry.