The Miss PNE Pageant and the Miss Abbotsfords
All this preparation and the Miss Abbotsford Pageant led to the main event: The Miss PNE Pageant. Months of preparation from young women across the province culminated with this event. The 1955 Pageant had twenty-four participants, but by 1990 this number increased to forty-five.
In 1955, the Pageant would take place at the end of the PNE’s festivities. However, the participants would arrive during the PNE Parade; pictured here is Swelander in a decorated convertible sponsored by the Abbotsford Jaycees.
The young women participating would participate in three days of competition and social activity, described by The Province as a “grind.” Davida Swelander had a lot of work to put in. Events commenced with a social dinner at the Hotel Georgia on Sunday, during which the pageant director, Tom Steeves, would introduce each contestant with a few questions.[1] Events like this one had an audience which would only grow larger; ensuing nights would involve appearing at the PNE outdoor theatre for more speeches, talents, and ceremonies.[2]
Dispersed among these audience members would be the judges themselves, their identities unknown to the contestants.[3] Anonymity is an interesting choice for the early Pageants, a standard that would later change and state exactly who would judge. Supposedly, judging was a difficult task: the 1950 participants said so themselves. The Province interviewed the participants that year, and they directly apologized to the judges for making the task too difficult: “we wouldn’t know who to pick… all the girls are so nice. I’d hate to be a judge.”[4] More than anything, this speaks to the spirit of the young women participating. To them, this did not seem like a competition, but a celebration.
The same 1950 interview also details the day-to-day obligations for the participants. In one day, they: were given a tour of the University of British Columbia’s campus, had tea with the wives of the PNE directors at the races, celebrated in Chinatown with teenagers, and the list surely goes on.[5] Not to mention that during all this the participants were being judged on their character, their personality, and their intelligence. They were under constant scrutiny, every action being monitored to see if they were Miss PNE material. No wonder Miss Alberni of 1950 said she’d never do this again.[6]
All these exhausting daily activities would conclude with the final judging at the PNE theatre when Miss PNE would officially be crowned. The participants would deliver speeches on social issues, usually relevant to the era. A common trend was the topic of women’s liberation. Jeanette Warmerdam, Miss Abbotsford and Miss PNE of 1973, responded as such:
“I know they want women to get the same pay as men and I support that. But I really don’t know what else they could possibly want.”[7]
A similar response was given by 1975’s winner Leanne Moore, who said that “she is in favor of equal pay for both sexes but admitted she likes having doors opened for her.”[8]
On the other hand, Warmerdam’s opinions on abortion were negative, stating “because that’s like killing a baby.” Now, this was in 1973, but we can reason that the Miss PNE Pageant was not exactly searching for progressive political statements from their participants.
The questions became more involved over time. Tanya Bittner, Miss Abbotsford/PNE of 1990, was asked questions about “pollution, AIDS awareness, racial harmony, the federal deficit, and Canada’s involvement in the Persian Gulf.”[9] The pageant, although near its end, was searching for and encouraging politically informed and involved young women. It’s an admirable cause, as the following year’s election saw only one third of BC’s population showing up to the ballot box.[10] Encouraging political involvement among youth is important, and although the pageant tried, we cannot say for certain if it worked.
As previously mentioned, Davida Swelander, the first Miss Abbotsford, would not take home the Miss PNE crown. Nevertheless, her duties would not conclude there. Swelander participated in the following year’s ceremonies, to be detailed in a later section of this website.
The Miss Abbotsfords that were crowned Miss PNE
Before discussing the post-pageant obligations, there were six Miss PNE pageant winners from Abbotsford that deserve attention in this website to help contextualize the pageant; though we do not have time to dive into all their stories, we should at least discuss a couple.
One of said winners was Sandi Friesen, who took home the crown in 1982. Not only was Sandi, at the age of 18, competing for the title of Miss PNE, but she was also competing as a 4-H member in the PNE Hereford breeding competition, 4-H being a Canadian nonprofit organization that sponsors youth to learn different activities, such as livestock breeding. Sandi was the first 4-H member to win the Miss PNE title.[11]
Sandi’s Hereford cow was named Miss Charming, who unfortunately did not receive the same amount of success as her owner. Nevertheless, PNE officials ensured that Sandi would be able to participate in both the Miss PNE and 4-H competitions by properly aligning their schedules.
Sandi was the 4th Miss Abbotsford to win the Miss PNE title, placing Abbotsford in a tie with the community of Penticton for the most Miss PNE’s up until this point.[12] Sandi’s win is most interesting, as one might initially imagine a livestock breeding competition to be the polar opposite of a beauty pageant, yet not only would she win the pageant, but she would also continue to compete in the 4-H competition for years afterwards. Sandi Konrad, no longer Friesen, would do an impromptu interview with the Province in 1999 at the PNE 4-H competition. Now a mother of five boys, she reminisced on the pageant:
“There was a bunch of models and people who had done acting in theatre competing for Miss PNE that year. I was just from ‘Hicksville’ Abbotsford and I liked to work with my animals out in the barn, so I wasn’t sure exactly why I was there.”[13]
Sandi’s pageant victory shows that the Miss PNE pageant was not necessarily a snobby affair; they were looking for young women that deserved recognition not only for their hard work, no matter what kind of work, but their character as well. Judges were making their decisions based on personality, conduct, charm, beauty, intelligence, special talents, and public speaking.[14] In Sandi’s case, Miss PNE was placing value on what makes someone stand out, and thus what makes a community stand out. In 1982, Abbotsford was still mostly farmland; Sandi would have been as authentic as they come.
In 1975, Leanne Moore took home the Miss PNE crown. The Vancouver Sun reported that around 8,000 fairgoers attended the coronation at the Coliseum. Leanne was also a Teamster and had been on strike for the three weeks prior to the pageant.[15] A union girl, crowned Miss PNE! Her plans for post-graduate studies were somewhat slim, aside from taking a course in fashion design at Douglas College. Considering she had designed and hand-made the dress she wore for the pageant,[16] this comes as no surprise. Leanne’s prizes amounted as such: a cheque for $1,000 (equivalent to about $5,800 in 2023), a lifetime pass to Playland (at the PNE), a silver Oscar, and a course in modelling.[17]
These prizes would remain somewhat consistent along the years: 1990’s winner, Abbotsford’s Tanya Bittner, won $2,000 (about $4,700 in 2023), a wardrobe valued at $750, a 30-volume encyclopedia, and a trip for two to Thailand.[18] 1985’s prizes were: $1,000, a new GM car for use during her reign as Queen, a new wardrobe, a gold bracelet, a photo album of her reign, and a lifelong pass to the PNE.[19] Jeanette Warmerdam, 1973’s Miss Abbotsford and Miss PNE; $1,000, a five-year pass to Playland, and a modelling course.[20] In 2023, the cash prizes seem extremely valuable, but as Sandi described it in retrospect: “… there was a small monetary package and a few gifts. Not much, that’s for sure.”
Conclusion
The Miss PNE Pageant was a busy event; young women would put months of preparation into what may have amounted to some of the busiest days of their lives; successive social events under constant attention from judges with little to no breaks during the day. By all accounts, a massive undertaking.
[1] The Province, August 1955.
[2] The Province, August 1955.
[3] The Province, August 1955.
[4] The Province, August 1950.
[5] The Province, August 1950.
[6] The Province, August 1950.
[7] The Vancouver Sun, August 1973.
[8] The Vancouver Sun, August 1975.
[9] The Province, August 1990.
[10] Electoral History of British Columbia, Legislative Library Victoria, British Columbia. 2002.
[11] The Province, August 1982.
[12] The Abbotsford News, 1982.
[13] The Province, August 1999.
[14] The Province, August 1990.
[15] The Vancouver Sun, 1975.
[16] The Vancouver Sun, 1975.
[17] The Vancouver Sun, 1975.
[18] The Province, August 1990.
[19] The Province, August 1985.
[20] The Vancouver Sun, August 1973.