Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 26, 1995 TAG: 9507260042
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SHANNON D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Her agenda is already packed with guest appearances all over the state, many of which will be at local pageants.
But the conditions under which Medlin was crowned are unprecedented in the 42-year history of the pageant in Roanoke.
Medlin was named runner-up during the Miss Virginia Pageant on July 1 and inherited the crown after it was taken from Andrea Ballengee last Thursday.
And while acknowledging that her reign as Miss Virginia may be somewhat challenging because of the situation, Medlin said she hopes "we can lean forward."
Local pageant directors have said they will be open-armed to the 23-year-old from Virginia Beach.
"Under the circumstances, I'm sure there is some degree of hardship," said Leigh Berry, public appearance director of the Miss Norfolk Pageant. "I'm not sure if she was friends with Andrea, but she knew Andrea."
Berry, who said she knew Medlin prior to the pageant this year, believes Medlin can handle it.
"I think she's mature enough that she can go on with this," Berry said. "She will be a wonderful representative of our state."
Other pageant directors say Medlin will have their support as well.
"As far as the local pageants, she will have enough local support," said Shirley Phillips, director of the Miss Amherst County Pageant.
M.C. Gravely, who directs the Central Shenandoah Valley pageant, said Medlin may have to prove herself under the circumstances, but she will not "get a cold shoulder by any stretch."
If the pageant board had stayed with Ballengee as their Miss Virginia, however, she may have had mixed reception.
"I could not have booked Andrea here," said Nonie Kellogg, director of the Miss Williamsburg Pageant, who normally asks Miss Virginia to appear at the pageant. "I would have lost major support [from businesses in the area]."
Kellogg, who was Ballengee's pageant sponsor in 1991, said this would not have been a reflection on her personal opinion of Ballengee.
"I love Andrea to death," she said.
Kellogg said she will try to schedule Medlin to appear at the Williamsburg pageant, which is normally held at the end of February.
Other local directors said they still would have invited Ballengee to appear at their events.
Phillips said she had been preparing a birthday party/crowning celebration for Ballengee in August.
"They didn't take the crown or title away; it was this child's dignity," Phillips said.
Before Ballengee lost the crown, some local pageant directors met on July 10 and discussed the mistakes on her fact sheet.
Gravely, who attended the three-hour meeting, said about 12 of the 31 local pageant directors were present.
He found that the directors were split over whether or not Ballengee should be dethroned.
Gravely was Ballengee's sponsor as Miss Central Shenandoah Valley in 1993 and said he still supports her. The mistakes may have been obvious, he said, but "I don't feel they were intentional."
by CNB