Brooke Haven Healthcare in West Plains held a special pageant Thursday for the ladies in long-term care, giving participants a chance to share their stories ahead of district and state-level competitions.
The nine contestants wore formal attire and answered three randomly selected questions selected. Judging was based on their responses, personality and style. The questions were designed to encourage residents to showcase their personalities, reflect on the past and look toward their dreams of the future. Each participant received a tiara and flowers.
Lanora Sanders, 93, of West Plains, was named the pageant winner. Sanders taught at Fairview School for 22 years and later at Glenwood School before retiring. When posed her three questions, Sanders was asked what flower she would be and why, answering a rose “because I like the smell and they’re beautiful.”
Asked to name a role model, she chose her pastor, and she noted that if she could be on the cover of any magazine it would be Good Housekeeping.
Sanders said she loved teaching and reminisced about her former coworkers.
“My personality is that I like to help people,” Sanders said.
Sanders, who noted she has enjoyed life and traveling through numerous states, recalled a harrowing incident during a stay at Padre Island when a store cashier warned her to leave because an armed robbery was imminent.
She said she didn’t have to be told twice, but laughed about her hasty exit, remembering she ran out so fast, she forgot the items she had already paid for.
“I’ve had a good life,” she said.
She is the mother of Teresa Wallace and her husband, Richard; Ken Sanders of Florida; and Keith Sanders of West Plains.
Runner-up honors went to Sharon Haugsted, 73, who said she would like to meet Donald Trump. Asked what superpower she would choose, Haugsted said she would pick the power of healing, though she joked that using it would put Brooke Haven “out of business.” Her final question asked where she would go on a dream vacation, to which she answered her birthplace of Wichita, Kan.
The pageant was organized by the Missouri Health Care Association (MHCA). Sanders will advance to the MHCA district competition on June 19 in Springfield, and the overall state winner will be announced at the MHCA state convention in August.
