THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 23, 1996 TAG: 9605220161
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHIRLEY BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 72 lines
BEFORE MAKING PLANS these days, Adell Healy reaches for her appointment book, ``my life on paper.''
Healy, 18, may be among the busiest teenagers in Hampton Roads. Crowned Miss Suffolk Tri-County in March, she is preparing for the Miss Virginia Pageant, June 29, in Roanoke.
A full-time student at the Portsmouth campus of Tidewater Community College in Suffolk, Healy plans to take summer classes at Old Dominion University while continuing her volunteer work at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, teaching evening classes at Charm Associates in Virginia Beach and attending social functions. She also is working on a community service book required of Miss Virginia contestants.
``It's no longer just a beauty pageant,'' said Betty Shifferly, a director of the Miss Suffolk Tri-County Pageant. ``A contestant has to be a young woman of the '90s, someone who is not afraid to speak out on issues.''
A lifelong resident of Chesapeake, Healy is the daughter of Juanita and Robert Healy. She has an older sister, Aliza Andrews, also of Chesapeake.
Last June, Healy graduated from Western Branch High School, where she played clarinet in the concert band and twirled flags and banners in the marching band.
Friendly and articulate, Healy said she was painfully shy when she transferred from private school to public school in the fifth grade. ``I had such low self-esteem that I developed an eating disorder,'' she said. My parents enrolled me in a class at Charm Associates, which is built on who you are rather than what you look like. I brought my grades up. Now, I teach there.''
Healy, who has participated in several pageants, said: ``Competition keeps you on your toes. This is true not only for pageants but for all walks of life.''
She won the title of Little Miss Chesapeake in 1985. And last May, she captured the crown of Miss Teen Hampton Roads 1995 at Indian River High School.
The winner of the swimsuit competition in the Miss Suffolk Tri-County Pageant, Healy is 5 feet, 8 inches tall. She inherited her olive complexion, black eyes and straight black hair from her mother, who is of Mexican descent.
To maintain her physical fitness, she begins her day at 6 a.m. by joining a friend for a run through the neighborhood. And as often as possible, she drives to the Portsmouth campus of TCC to practice piano for the upcoming pageant's talent competition.
A self-taught pianist, Healy was also the winner of the talent competition at the Miss Suffolk Tri-County Pageant with her rendition of George Gershwin's ``Rhapsody in Blue'' and she plans to repeat her performance in June.
Although she had a few piano lessons at age 11, Healy plays by ear and learned to play Gershwin's ``Rhapsody'' by listening to it for months.
``Rhapsody in Blue'' was my grandfather's favorite song,'' she said. ``He introduced it to me when I was 8 by playing an old record, and I fell in love with the song. I played it for him before he died last Christmas.''
Twice a week, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Healy dons a colorful apron at the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters to play games, read and talk with patients.``I'm there to be their best friend,'' she said. ``I want to go into child psychology, and working with children in the hospital gives me an idea of what I'm heading for. I love doing it.''
While participating in the Miss Virginia competition, Healy will spend a week at the Hotel Roanoke.The primary reason for competing, Healy said, is to win scholarship money for college.
Healy appeared in the recent Ruritan Founders Day Parade in Holland and will attend Peanut Fest in October. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Adell Healy was crowned Miss Suffolk Tri-County in March and is
preparing for the Miss Virginia Pageant in June. Healy was the
winner of the talent competition at the Miss Suffolk Tri-County
Pageant with her rendition of George Gershwin's ``Rhapsody in Blue''
and she plans to repeat her performance in June. by CNB