From left: Miss Alabama Teen, Ali Mims; Mayor Brakefield; Miss Alabama, Abbie Stockard. Abbie and Ali helped crown the winners.
By Carmen Brown
Billy Hallman and Bessie Hankins are the winners of the First Annual Mr. and Mrs. Buck Creek Pageant that took place earlier this year at the Healthcare Center at Buck Creek in Alabaster.
Activities Director Stephen Beane says this is the first pageant that has been held at the facility in about 15 years. The building has undergone several renovations and is now managed by Diversicare. Beane, who came to the Healthcare Center at Buck Creek about seven months ago, says the place has always been special to him, as he remembers being a teenager and going to play games with the residents many years ago.
He first had the idea to “bring the pageant back” in March, and soon afterward, administrator Jessica Miller emailed him about the same idea “We didn’t have a lot of time, so we just started working on it,” Beane says. “I wanted to make sure the mayor, police department, and the fire department were all involved.” In June, the staff put out boxes around the facility where residents, family members, and friends could make nominations. After 30 days, Beane says, they gathered the list of nominees “We have about 175 residents, and out of those, we had 40 nominees,” Beane says. “The women and men with the top five most votes were the contestants.”
The pageant staff used guidelines from the Alabama Nursing Home Association when planning elements of the pageant. “We made a list of 12 questions that they could be asked, and we went over each of these with them ahead of time,” Beane says.
Judging the pageant were Ashley Myers, assistant vice president branch manager of Bryant Bank in Hoover; Dr. Terra Griffin from We SAGE Health and Wellness; and Alabaster Mayor Scott Brakefield. The judges selected winners based on personality and appearance (30 percent), communication and interview quality (30 percent), outlook on life (20 percent) and attitude toward being a resident at the Healthcare Center at Buck Creek (20 percent).
“Billy smiles constantly. He has so much poise and charisma; he’s very energetic,” Beane says. “Bessie had an excellent answer with her interview question. She said she really enjoyed helping people and helping children.”
The winners were crowned by Miss Alabama’s Teen Ali Mims Cathy and Miss Alabama Abbie Stockard. Ms. Senior Alabama Kathy Paiml was also in attendance.
Other winners among the women were as follows: 3rd runner-up: Johnnie Brown; 2nd runner-up: Yolande Turberville; and 1st runner-up: Drusilla Gullette. Among the men, 3rd runner-up went to Walter Ogletree; 2ndrunner-up: Victor Williams; and 1st runner-up: Johnny Davis.
Beane says the event was a “packed house,” with residents and guests taking in the big band sounds of the Wayne & Margaret Duo of Wayne Alexander Music while enjoying macarons, cheesecake, and other hors d’oeuvres catered by Papa-Ish.
In addition to the top six winners, resident Penny Fox received the Miss Congeniality Award. “Penny can’t speak in the traditional sense, but she has her own special way of communicating with all of us,” Beane says.
Former resident Jo Gibson was honored posthumously with the “You Made a Difference” Award, which her daughter Brenda Holland accepted. “She was a really sweet resident. She was in her 90s and would ride around on an electric scooter,” Beane remembers. “When she passed away, we had so many people coming up and saying, ‘I want to vote for Miss Jo,’ so we wanted to do something in her honor.”
Beane also presented surprise gifts to Miller and assistant administrator Antonio Alonso for their dedication in helping with the pageant production. “Everyone had fun putting the event together,” Beane says. “We made it a very special time. I’m already working on next year. These are some of the greatest people I’ve ever worked with in my life.”
