Miss Resaca Beach competition taking stage

The well-known Marla Maples almost did not win the 1983 Resaca Beach poster contest — a victory which, of course, directly launched her career and directly led to her marriage to New York real estate mogul Donald Trump.

“The same two years, the same girl was runner-up who, personally, I thought was the best choice both years,” Dan Bowen, co-founder and organizer of the contest, confided.

If you’re looking for something to do Saturday evening, check out an event that has become a local tradition and showcases the humble odds and ends of the North Georgia area. Well, more ends than odds — but don’t worry, no thongs allowed.

The 22nd Miss Resaca Beach Calendar Girl contest will showcase 20 to 30 local women as they seek the calendar cover and other prizes. Mr. Bowen said he expects almost 45 entries from which to choose the finalists.

I just moved to Chattanooga from New York. My editor told me about Miss Resaca Beach and, being new to the area, I had to ask myself: Is the Resaca Beach calendar contest a microcosm of life here in Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia? Like most responses to reporters’ questions — even silly ones such as that one — it’s a mixed answer.

What first caught my eye — yes, before the pictures of Mss. June and October — was the notice: “Entrants must be at least 18 years of age by June 14, 2008 and be a natural born female (There are some weird characters around these days!).” The 18+ part made sense. But the latter part of that entry restriction struck me as a sign that I wasn’t in New York anymore (not that I’m complaining). You just don’t say that kind of thing out loud in the Northeast.

That said, the event seems pretty good-humored. After all, there is no sand, water, or actual beach at Resaca Beach. Just a vague, ancient connection to the Rio Grande that may have existed once.

If you go, you might not want to bring the kids. Then again, Mr. Bowen said the event is classier than your average nightclub contest. “It’s really tame now compared to the early days,” he said. “It’s done in a ballroom, it’s done at a pretty high level. That’s one of our selling points. ... We get girls that do contests in bars and things like that, but we also get girls that won’t do a contest in a setting like that that will do this one.”

“We’ve got a good reputation, I think you can see the quality of the girls we get,” he continued. (Again, the New York snob in me flinched.)

A LOCAL TRADITION

The contest got its start as a poster contest that Mr. Bowen’s carpet company used for promotions and trade shows. Ultimately Ms. Maples trumped the other entrants — of which, at the time, there were only 6.

“She worked hard at the things she did,” Mr. Bowen said.

In 1990, the event changed to a calendar contest to add more than a dozen more young women to the fun. It’s a serious affair, now — though still pretty tongue-in-cheek. Its Web site offers “more information than you probably need to know.”[link to http://www.resacabeach.com/interest.htm] The site tells the story — it’s worth a visit. It also features pictures, if you don’t want to fork over the hefty entry fee to the live event. Sponsors acquire many of the tickets though, so if you’re a friend of a sponsor you’re all set.

Sponsors include a number of photography businesses, flooring and construction centers, and, strangely, a pillow company. I wondered what the connection might be. Mr. Bowen explained that many sponsors were friends of his.

I caught up with the winner of the 1992 calendar contest Tuesday afternoon. Holli Collins has gone on to judge most of the contests, but she said that sixteen years ago she did not know of the competition. Mr. Bowen approached her. “I decided, why not? I was in college and it sounded like a great idea,” she said.

“I’m partial to that year because I won, but that’s also the year that Billy Ray Cyrus was the entertainment,” she remembered. “That was just as ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ was coming out on the airwaves. People were really excited. There were 4000 people at the trade center the night that I won.”

President George Bush Sr. also was in Dalton that day. Ms. Collins said she did not see the former president at the show.

OBJECTIFYING OR EMPOWERING?

After being crowned Miss Resaca Beach, Ms. Collins did some modeling for Budweiser and others. But she then graduated from college and is now a manager at an insurance company in Cleveland, Tenn. She said that back in 1992, the competition led her to travel, a perk that she enjoyed. “I’m from a small town. I was able to travel to St. Croix, Virgin Islands, to do my poster. We just went to a lot of places that, as a kid in college, I probably wouldn’t have been able to go if not for that opportunity.”

“The girls were a different class,” Ms. Collins remembered, adding, “The judges really took the time to get to know you ... which I really thought was a big plus.”

I noted that in the application form, in the drop-down box asking for years of college experience, there was no “zero” option in the list of possible answers. Must one have a master’s to be in the calendar?

“We want attractive girls but we try to find people that are nice and have good personalities, things like that too, because actually these girls, some of them do get some opportunities as a result of the contest that they might not otherwise have had,” Mr. Bowen said, “So I want them to be good representatives.”

He went on to list a number of past Resaca Beach finalists who had become successful in entertainment — but also in business.

Mr. Bowen included Lisa Robertson, Miss Resaca Beach of 1988, among the biggest successes he’s seen. Ms. Robertson starred the last 15 years as a hostess on the shop-at-home network, QVC. “First time she’d ever done a contest and she was runner-up, and she came back the next year and won it. And then she entered Miss Cleveland and won that, entered Miss Tennessee and won that, and went to the Miss America pageant. She started in ours ... I think it maybe gave her some confidence to move on to other things.”

Meanwhile, Candy Brown, of Calhoun, was a runner-up in Miss U.S.A. A number of finalists have gone on to work for Playboy. Lisa Wilson was on American Idol. (For even more information on Resaca Beach, and even information about how pageants “will outlive us all,” click here.

Aren’t these women (or “girls”) being objectified? If so, is that wrong? I asked Ms. Collins, who has experienced the contest both from the stage and the judge’s table.

“I think a lot of times the people who are criticizing have never experienced it themselves. ... If I can stand up there in a bathing suit in front of 4000 people that I don’t know, I can do anything.”

Ms. Collins said Resaca Beach could be a launching point for young women’s future. And, for the young college student, the prize money is worth it. “One of the main reasons that I was in the contest was for the prize money. I was in college, and the year that I won it was $5000. ... Sixteen years ago that was a lot of money.”

This year, the cover girl/grand prize winner will receive $2,000.

I asked Mr. Bowen how old most contestants were. “Most of our entrants are from 18 to 24, we’ve got a few that have entered that are over 30, we’ve actually had a winner that’s over 30 and we’ve also had a lady that’s over 40 that made the calendar once.”

As the must-see Web site states: “Can you say WOW!!!”