Beauty pageant veteran ready to go for the big prize Saturday
Lisa Allen remembers the tears quite vividly.
She frantically searched for shoes she needed for the Miss Indiana competition in 2005 and nobody would help her.
Her parents were preoccupied because Lisa's twin sister, Lauren, had been crowned Miss Illinois the night before and they were looking online for pageant pictures.
It was Lisa's first state pageant and she looked to other contestants for help and advice. She was a student at Indiana State at the time.
"I tried to lay on some of the older girls who had been there for a while," she said. "Anytime I'd have a question, I'd always ask them for their opinion on it and I'd like to do the same thing for some people (this year)."
Allen, 24, finished in the Top 10 that year, and three years later, the family's spotlight is entirely on her.
The Batavia native will be one of 25 contestants in the Miss Illinois Scholarship Association 2008 pageant on Saturday at the Norris Cultural Arts Center in St. Charles.
Preliminaries begin tonight.
The winner will be crowned Saturday night and represent the state in the Miss America pageant. To order tickets, call the Norris Center box office at (630) 584-7200, ext. 10.
She will represent Cook County. Under pageant rules, she is not required to represent where she lives.
A news conference Tuesday introduced the contestants and included appearances by reigning Miss Illinois Ashley Hatfield and St. Charles Mayor Don DeWitte.
Allen enters the pageant as somewhat of a veteran. She made it to Indiana's state competition twice, finishing in the Top 10 both times.
Last year, she made it to her first Miss Illinois pageant and finished as second runner-up to Hatfield. When she heard her name called in the top five, she was shocked.
"I was ecstatic," she said. "That's the top five people that are left, so it was very exciting. It was good motivation for me for preparation. Hopefully, it will give me the crown, but you never know."
Erin Madden of Chicago will participate in Miss Illinois for the first time.
She said her strategy for getting through the week before Saturday's competition is simple.
"Just trying to stay on my 'A' game and trying to keep up with those who have already been here," she said. "Simply because they know what they're doing and it's definitely the newcomers' job to pay attention."
She said her goal changed as soon as she won the Miss Greater Lakes pageant on March 29 in Schaumburg.
"First it was just to get to state," she said. "Now that you're here, the competitive mode kind of gets you and so top 10 is definitely the goal that I would like to reach."
DeWitte declared June the Miss Illinois Scholarship Association Month in St. Charles.
"This is so much more than just a beauty pageant," DeWitte said. "These young women represent some of the brightest, most talented women in the entire state."
For Allen, winning Miss Cook County in October gave her a chance to try to carry on the family's state pageant tradition. But that comes with a little added pressure.
After every pageant, she said she gets notes from her sister reminding her about the moments in the pageant when she was not smiling. If it adds up to a title Saturday, however, she's OK with it.
"Everybody wants to have their hand in the preparation barrel," Lisa said. "But I guess I feel completely prepared and ready to take on the job, so it helps."