Six women competed in the Ms. Mature Irving 2012 Pageant, which was held recently at the Irving Arts Center. This was the 30th year of the pageant, which is presented by Irving’s Heritage Senior Center. Two Senior Center staffers behind its annual success are Pat Davenport and Ann Gillespie.
The winner of the 2012 crown was Kay Waters, who sang a cappella version of the Dionne Warwick hit, “What the World Needs Now.”
First runner-up was JoDee Reinig, who told a humorous story as her talent number.
Mary Little, Ms. Mature Irving 2011, repeated her winning performance from last year, a workout routing in rap style.
One of the hightlights was 90-year old Vivan Kleinwachter, 1990 winner, who came out on roller skates.
The Congeniality Award went to Patricia Petell.
The event was emceed by Doug McAlister with music provided by the Russ Dorsey Band.
About the Ms. Mature Irving Pageant
The Ms. Mature Irving Pageant is a city-wide event held every Fall. The pageant is for senior women aged 60 and older who have lived in Irving for at least a year. The city of Irving endeavors to showcase senior women and demonstrate their worth and contributions to the community.
A History of Ms. Mature Irving Pageant
Linda Spencer and Cindy Jones founded the Ms. Mature Irving Pageant in 1982. The first pageant was held at the senior center. Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Bill Thompson served as the M.C. The idea caught on, and a great institution was born! For the next year 1983 the pageant moved to the Buena Vista Theater (now known as the Theater In The Commons) and was held there for the next six years. The Irving Arts Center opened in 1990, and the Carpenter Theater there has been home to the Ms. Mature Irving Pageant since. Many exciting things have happened during the run of the pageant. In 1990 for example we had to use the stage set that was being used for the Mrs. America Pageant. The largest part of this set involved a huge set of stairs, which our ladies navigated beautifully! One contestant, Vivian Martin-Kleinwachter was performing a roller-skating routine as her talent. She descended the stairs on her roller skates! Another example of the marvelous things that have happened at the Ms. Mature Irving Pageant was the performance at the 1992 of a young girl singer from the Johnny High Music Revue. Her name was Leanne Rimes!
Based on the example of the Ms. Mature Irving Pageant, many other senior pageants have come to life. Pageants in San Angelo, San Antonio, Abilene, and Corpus Christi have been founded, as well as the state pageant itself. Our representatives have performed admirably, winning the state pageant in 1991 (Vivian Kleinwachter) and winning the talent competition in the national pageant (Vivian again, with her roller-skating). We celebrate 26 years of honoring senior ladies. All of the Ms. Matures have been examples of what is best in senior women. These lovely ladies are vital members of the community with a lot to contribute. It is our hope that we will continue showcasing them throughout the twenty-first Century and beyond.
