The kickoff fundraiser for the 31st annual Arkansas Senior America Pageant will be a "Tea and Tiaras" event at the Grand Lagniappe Shoppe, 811 W. Grand Ave., on Jan. 22.
A $30 ticket includes a high tea and luncheon that will feature Miss Arkansas Senior America 2019, Sharon Morgan Tahaney, as the keynote speaker, and a fashion show. The pageant will be held June 27.
"This is for ladies who have reached the age of elegance; about 45ish, on up," ASAP Administrator Patricia Genovese said. "The proceeds from (the event) are going to help fund the Arkansas Senior America 2020 experience ... these ladies are treated like queens."
Genovese said until she can get funding from "senior agencies," she has to raise the money.
"So in doing that we have reached out to Marcia Dobbs, who is an icon in this community with her Grand Lagniappe Shoppe, that she would help us do this first fundraiser," she said. "It's about women coming together to help women, and to boost them over the hump of what they're trying to do for the community."
Genovese noted her total costs for the pageant last year were approximately $16,000, and she hopes to raise at least $4,000 at the Tea and Tiaras event.
An addition to this year's pageant is the court: The top five contestants will receive money to donate to a community project.
"It's a misnomer that senior citizens are a burden on society, that they no longer contribute," she said. "These women are vibrant, they give back to the community, their expectations are not for them, but for their causes, and for their community ... they're talented, they're like a walking encyclopedia for the younger generations to bring to the plate and make the society better than how we are leaving it."
Genovese said she saw last year that although the pageant is held at the Coronado Community Center, located at 150 Ponderosa Lane in Hot Springs Village, the Hot Springs community is the one that benefits the most.
"These women come from all over the state to participate, and they bring with them their families, and what snowballed was the lodging, restaurants, shopping, everything in Hot Springs because the Village doesn't have shopping or lodging, they have the venue," she said. "So we were going back and forth, and our community benefited all the way around. They were here Thursday through Sunday, four days I brought them in."
She said the pageant is the "best-kept secret in the state," and will stay in Hot Springs Village until she retires from her administrator position.
For interested pageant contestants, the initial application is due March 1.
For more information on contestant requirements, future fundraisers, or to purchase Tea and Tiaras or ASAP tickets, visit arkansassenioramericapageant.com.
Local on 01/17/2020