This Just In ...
Kevin Fischer is a veteran broadcaster, the recipient of over 150 major journalism awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, the Wisconsin Associated Press, the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Wisconsin Bar Association, and others. He has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for over three decades. A longtime aide to state Senate Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature, Kevin can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, "InterCHANGE," on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10, and heard filling in on Newstalk 1130 WISN. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their lovely baby daughter, Kyla Audrey, in Franklin.
This ain't your parents' Miss America Pageant
Back when I was a kid, there was no cable television with 354 channels. You had ABC, NBC, CBS, public television and a sometimes snowy UHF channel. With limited options, making a viewing choice was easy, and nightly television became a family event.
Every September, there was a nationwide buzz when the Miss America Pageant was broadcast. Legendary host Bert Parks was mega popular. I recall my neighbor friend’s mom, Barbara Ahnert talking with my mom in our kitchen one September Saturday many, many years ago, literally swooning over Parks.
“Oh, I just LOVE when he sings that song,” she sighed, referring to, “Oh there she is….”
Bert Parks, unfortunately, is long gone, so we are left with amateurish replacements. Parks was as big a part of the Miss America Pageant as say, the swimsuit competition.
Here’s what the contestants looked like in those suits in 1960.
It’s 49 years later, the contest is now staged in glitzy Las Vegas, and with the changing times come changing fashions…….and how.
Gretchen Bergquist, Miss Nebraska, competes in a preliminary swimsuit competition for the 2009 Miss America Pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino January 22, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The pageant will be held at Planet Hollywood on January 24, 2009. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Julianna Erdesz, Miss Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Leigh-Taylor Smith, Miss New York (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
And here's Racine's Briana Lipor, Miss Wisconsin.
Looks like progress to me. Can't understand why the ratings have suffered.
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