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SATURDAY NOVEMBER 18 | SUNDAY NOVEMBER 19 2017
SUNDAY BREAKFAST
Highland Park Hospital President Peterson Hall cares deeply about patients’ experiences. P18
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SPORTS
Glenbrook North’s Ellen Gilbert makes her mark in sectional swim meet. P16
Glenview | Northbrook
SOCIAL SCENE
The 36th Annual Holly Fair kicked off with a festive Ladies Night Out. P12
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NO. 109 | A JWC MEDIA PUBLICATION
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hile Alicia Keys’ ode to girl power, “This Girl is on Fire,” played over the banquet hall’s sound system, nearly twodozen hopeful contenders competed in the 2018 Illinois International Pageant at the Renaissance North Shore Hotel in Northbrook on November 12. More than 300 attendees watched as contestants, who ranged f rom pre-teens to married moms, were judged in four categories: Interview, Fun Fashion, Fitness Wear, and Evening Gown. The pageant drew participants from all over the state, and a portion of the event’s proceeds will support the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign, aimed at raising awareness of heart disease, the number one killer of women in the United States. Now in its 20th year in Illinois, the International Pageant was founded by Mary and Mel Richardson more than 30 years ago in Roanoke, Virginia as “Mrs.” competition, aimed at highlighting the distinct accomplishments of married women aged 21 to 56. Unlike other pageants, the Mrs. International competition invites husbands to play a direct role in the pageantry. Men take the stage to escort their wives through the Evening Gown competition, and are later invited to crown their “better half ” should she go on to win the coveted Mrs. International Title. “The goal with the Interna-
Teen contestant Madelyn Merryman representing Woodstock, walks by the judges during the fun fashion category at the Illinois International Pageant in Northbrook. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
tional pageant system is to create a family and sisterhood among those involved,” said pageant director Randi Moxi, who was Mrs. Illinois International 2014. “Our event teaches poise and speaking skills, but it also helps women learn to connect with each other.” Over the years, the Mrs. Illinois International competition has grown to include a
Miss competition for unmarried women aged 19-30, as well as a Teen category for participants between the ages of 13-18, and, for the first time for 2018, a Pre-Teen category, comprising girls aged 10-12. From August to June of each year, local competitions take place in countries all over the world, culminating in a final annual pageant on July 20-21, 2018 in Charleston, West Vir-
ginia. Talk show host Whitney Reynolds and Chicago fashion designer Boris Powell were among the 2018 Illinois International Pageant’s five judges, as was Mrs. International 2017 crown holder Melissa Pocza, who traveled from Dallas to participate in the Northbrook pageant. Pocza, a busy mother of two young boys, will make more than a dozen special ap-
pearances at events throughout the year in addition to promoting Broken Little Voices, the child-abuse-awareness advocacy non-profit she founded three years ago. Each contestant in the Mrs. International competition has the opportunity to select and promote a charitable platform of her choice. Continued on PG 9
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