14 comments:

• Annie Ragsdale posted at 3:55 pm on Wed, Mar 20, 2013.

  Posts: 1

  Hello:
  I am the person that wrote this letter. I will not be responding to the disrespectful comments directed towards me simply because they are so ridiculous and untrue. But I do want to go more in detail about my interest and hope to bring back the grape queen/king pageant. Many local festivals and fairs hold small pageants. Galt Strawberry festival, Roseville Strawberry festival, Placer County Honey festival, and multiple fairs and events in the Sacramento and Chico area just to name a few. My thoughts to bring back the old tradition of the Grape/King pageant without going into tons of details….
  A fun family event where children and adults would come in an age appropriate “grape theme” outfit. This would be anything from grape prints, to a cute purple dress or outfit. However the contestant wanted to portray a grape theme. Everything age appropriate and tasteful and natural. A way to show your personality and have fun!
  We could have onstage introductions and the contestants would answer a simple question about Lodi or grapes or the festival, for older contestants it could be about why they want to be the grape queen or king. Everyone would be a winner with princess’s or princes in each age group and a queen or king in each group. My hopes would be that all contestants would be invited to participate in a float at the Christmas parade and the Queen’s or Kings could attend some community events throughout the year of the title they hold. With the registration fee awards would be purchased and my hope with the extra would be to make a donation to a Lodi organization or cause (as a way to involve and give back to our community) I thought it would be fun to have previous Grape Queens be introduced and acknowledged at the pageant and be able to crown the new contestants.
  I know pageants get a bad wrap, I fully stand behind my letter and my idea to bring back the pageant as well as my decision to allow my daughter to compete in pageants. I have lived in Lodi my entire life and feel I have a pretty good idea what Lodi residents would and would not like and that is why I wanted to renew this old tradition and bring it back to life for everyone. In any activity or sport people or parents can go to the extreme. Thank you.
  

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• Jocelyn Crenshaw posted at 7:14 pm on Tue, Mar 19, 2013.

  Posts: 20

  I am also the mother of a 4 year old. She is smart, athletic, sweet, sassy, polite and a natural performer.She is in school and testing out of her grade level, is in dance and is signed up for soccer and baseball in the coming year. I have been told time and time again that she should be on television and modeling. We are also a very conservative household and take every precaution with her wardrobe that it is age appropriate and modest.

  I would support the idea of a pageant that could not only attract local contestants but people from the surrounding areas. This means another source of income to the festival and additional sources of advertisement. This also means additional revenue to vendors, local businesses, and hotels which in turn is additional tax dollars back into the Lodi economy.

  NOT every pageant is like the ones depicted on Toddlers and Tiaras, nor is every pageant parent alike. There are many options, just as there are many options in levels of recreational sports. My daughter has expressed interest in performing and this seems to be a reasonable way to expose her to that reality without spending the time and money going to LA.

  Good for you Annie for finding something your daughter loves and speaking out in spite of others not understanding and/or buying into stereotypes. I hope that both our girls grow up to have the lethal combination of brains AND beauty.

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• Jerome Kinderman posted at 11:18 am on Mon, Mar 18, 2013.

  Posts: 2029

  Mr. Paglia, how much time have you spent in the deep south?

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• Thomas Heuer posted at 11:57 pm on Sat, Mar 16, 2013.

  Posts: 1038

  [thumbup]
  Thanks Andy and Steve as well

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• Jackson Scott posted at 10:01 pm on Sat, Mar 16, 2013.

  Posts: 366

  At least Ted has a positive outlook. Granted, I'm no fan of youth pageants under age 13, but I would endorse the return of the Grape Festival Queen contest. The last Queen (Angel Parisis Brusa) was crowned in Sept 1979, its time to bring it back.

  It does need to be done the correct way. Idea: Tie it in with Sponsors. Ten local firms each put up $500 for a scholarship of $4,000, the other $1000 split between #2 - 4. The queen would be required to do some sort of appearance, marketing ad, etc for say 2 hours.

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• Ted Lauchland posted at 5:04 pm on Sat, Mar 16, 2013.

  Posts: 130

  I can not say I am for young children competing in the way currently portrayed but if Lodi held pageants it would be an opportunity to change this bad image perspective towards a more age appropriate competition. Alot can be said for teaching poise , self worth and feeling good about oneself in pride, inner and outer beauty and respect. It is also a talent competition. Self worth is not age restrictive. I am sure it teaches many more lessons along the way.

  Lodi manages to hold world wide competitions for other venues and are quite inovative with originality. Why not again be a forerunner.

  If the interest is there - Why not ?

  Lodi in the past has had many "pageants" so to speak . Miss Lodi , Grape Festival Queen and Court , High School King and Queen, Boat Club ( Queen?) Demolay Sweethearts, Rainbow (Beaus?) Lodi Idol and so on .
  - Why not think big and be influential ? - Host it !

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• Kevin Paglia posted at 4:06 pm on Sat, Mar 16, 2013.

  Posts: 1729

  [thumbup]

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• Steve Schmidt posted at 3:52 pm on Sat, Mar 16, 2013.

  Posts: 2205

  Given the fact that no four year old can make an informed decision to perform in one of these shows, they are, by their very nature, exploitative.

  I question the judgement of folks like the Ramseys and Honey Boo Boo Senior that force their children participate.

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• Kevin Paglia posted at 1:12 pm on Sat, Mar 16, 2013.

  Posts: 1729

  I don't know if your theory is right. Pagents are very strong in the conservative South.

  I would think the population base would be too small to attract much more than "local" people. Sacramento would be a much better base to have pagents from.
  

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• Jerome Kinderman posted at 12:58 pm on Sat, Mar 16, 2013.

  Posts: 2029

  In spite of the overall "liberal" presence on this forum provided by the LNS, Lodi is still considered a very conservative community. For that reason alone, I don't see those kinds of activities being welcomed in Lodi.

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• Ted Lauchland posted at 11:22 am on Sat, Mar 16, 2013.

  Posts: 130

  Why not ? Honey boo-boo is a poor representation.

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• Jerome Kinderman posted at 10:08 am on Sat, Mar 16, 2013.

  Posts: 2029

  I doubt Lodi would be the best place to hold these types of "pageants."

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• Andrew Liebich posted at 7:57 am on Sat, Mar 16, 2013.

  Posts: 2043

  http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/honey-boo-boo-harlem-shake-18734521

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• Steve Schmidt posted at 4:26 am on Sat, Mar 16, 2013.

  Posts: 2205

  Creepy.

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