When the winners were announced, tears of joy usually came afterwards. The winners would receive mountains of applause from not only the audience, but their competitors as well. When Abbotsford’s Carol Kish won in 1961, the Vancouver Sun reported that “she started to cry and all the other girls on the stage stopped trying to look happy and began crying too.”[1] Many of the winners would make statements like “I don’t know what to say,”[2] or “It’s like a dream.”[3]
There were a few quotes from winners that stand out. Nancy Hansen, Miss PNE of 1954, opened with “I’m so happy I don’t know what to say,” but shortly followed it by recounting that she never felt quite equal with the other girls because she was adopted. She said that she now knew she was “really wanted.”[4] Laura Leard, Miss PNE of 1985, would later state that “anyone who gets the chance to enter a pageant should do it – not to win, but for the experience and friendship.”[5] Considering that competition is part of a pageant, the participants did not seem to feel that way at the end of the day; they were happier for their peers and were proud of all the work they had all put in.
But what happens next? The crown has been awarded, the PNE festivities have concluded, and all the young women that participated have returned home. A short answer: there wasn’t much to be done afterwards.
The priority after returning home was, presumably, relaxing. After what may have been some of the busiest days of their lives, it’s safe to assume these young women would have wanted nothing but to sleep. On the other hand, many of the contestants were still in the middle of their studies and would soon return to school. The 1958 winner, from Port Moody, participated in the pageant just after finishing summer courses at UBC, and then promptly returned for her third year of studies.[6] A tight schedule in comparison to many of the Abbotsford contestants, who planned to take a gap year before starting their post-secondary studies.
There were obligations when the Miss Abbotsfords returned home, such as participation in community events. The advertisements run in the paper for the first Abbotsford pageant specify that the winner will participate in the Central Fraser Valley Fall Fair parade.[7]
In Davida Swelander’s case, the Fall Fair would begin on September 7th, only a week after the Miss PNE competition ended on August 31st.[8] The opening parade would start across town from the fair grounds, at Philip Sheffield school, and move through downtown Abbotsford and the Trans-Canada highway itself, rerouting traffic to side roads;[9] a feat that wouldn’t dare to be attempted in 2023. Swelander had the privilege of leading the parade, along with the RCAF band just behind her.[10] Pageant Royalty, indeed.
Other pageant winners would play similar roles, attending community events and socializing until the year of their reign would come to an end. Linda Swanson, Miss Abbotsford of 1968, would attend the Penticton Peach Festival, the Vernon Winter Carnival, and serve as a goodwill ambassador at Fraser Valley events during the rest of the year.[11] Essentially, Miss Abbotsford was wherever she needed to be.
Then, at the end of the year, they would have the task of awarding the crown to the following Queen. In 1976, Leanne Moore would lead the Miss PNE float to introduce the 40 participants for the year to the competition.[12] Passing on the crown would be the official end to their reign, and then these women would be off to the rest of their lives.
Where did the Miss PNE winners go from there? We’ve heard Sandi Friesen’s (now Konrad) story, becoming a mother of five and regularly competing in 4-H events. Jeanette Warmerdam (now Howes) became a lab technician and stuck around in Abbotsford.[13]
Leanne Moore? In 1982 it was reported that she became a flight attendant, a ski instructor, and was living in Vancouver at the time of Sandi’s win.[14] Though not from Abbotsford, Laura Leard of Delta would see great success at Simon Fraser University after her reign. The Miss PNE of 1984 was awarded the Gordon Shrum scholarship to attend SFU and study medicine.[15] Now? She’s working as a licensed Forensic Phychiatrist in California.[16]
Although not all the Queens did what they thought they would, they managed to do what they set their sights on. Many of the winners stated they would save their prize money for their education, and it helped them accomplish those career goals. When the pageant’s run ended in 1991, it reformatted to the PNE Youth Ambassador program. The program wanted to recognize youth, regardless of gender or physical appearance, for their community involvement. It’s replacement of the Pageant may have been the more progressive choice, but the Miss PNE Pageant still provided opportunities for young women across the
[1] The Vancouver Sun, 1961.
[2] The Vancouver Sun, 1961.
[3] The Vancouver Sun, 1973.
[4] The Province, 1954.
[5] The Province, 1985.
[6] The Province, 1958.
[7] The Abbotsford News, June 1955.
[8] The Abbotsford News, June 1955.
[9] The Abbotsford News, 1955.
[10] The Abbotsford News, 1955.
[11] The Abbotsford News, 1968.
[12] The Province, 1976.
[13] The Abbotsford News, 1982.
[14] The Abbotsford News, 1982.
[15] The Province, 1985.
[16] This is my own research. I found multiple webpages for a Laura Leard-Hansson, who graduated from UBC in 1955.