After error in Roselle pageant, parents want Rose Queen re-do

Several parents are challenging the results of the Rose Queen pageant in Roselle, saying an error in the onstage question segment tainted the results.

Eleven seniors and junior Lauren Caputo from Lake Park High School were judged last week in five categories: A pre-pageant interview, talent, sport and evening wear, and the onstage question. Caputo won the crown.

The girls prepared for the final segment from a list of 10 potential questions. But this year, five contestants were asked questions that did not appear on their list due to a mix-up.

Pageant committee member Teri Hodgdon said she accidentally gave the announcer several questions from a prior pageant, resulting in five girls being taken off guard.

“It was an honest mistake,” Hodgdon said. “The most fair solution was to remove that segment from scoring, which we did. And since it was the last part of the show, it could not have thrown off your composure for the rest of the pageant.”

Hodgdon added that scores tallied similarly without the question segment, and did not affect the contest outcome.

But parents of four contestants — Kirstie McHugh, Marisa Farrell, Marissa Troyke and Amanda Miller — weren't satisfied with that answer. They wrote a letter to organizers calling for the pageant to be voided and scholarship money to be returned.

Caputo won a $2,000 scholarship, while Miller won $1,000 as first runner-up and second runner-up Mollie Hammerschmidt won $500.

The parents also suggested holding a new pageant with four new judges or awarding each contestant a $500 scholarship.

“How anyone can say this is a fair pageant is beyond me,” said Mary Lou Miller, Amanda's mother. “There were five girls who were very embarrassed and blindsided up there and no one is taking ownership for this error.”

In the letter, parents also said Caputo was late to her pre-pageant interview because she had mixed up the date and they complained that a committee member called to remind the teen.

“She would have been a no-show, which would have disqualified her,” the parents' letter stated. “It's ironic that she was the winner of this competition.”

Hodgdon said the pageant rules are strongly worded and have traditionally been flexible because students have school and sports commitments that often conflict with preparations. She said in the past, committee members always have called latecomers or allowed absences for prior commitments.

“We have never, never eliminated a girl for any reason,” she said.

Miller said if the questions had been asked according to plan, some girls' scores might have risen and the winner might have changed. But ultimately, she said, she's arguing on principle.

“(Amanda) feels her answers could have made a difference, but she'd rather take the risk redoing the pageant and losing her first runner-up status to do what is right,” said Miller.

But pageant organizers said the results will stand, and they are preparing a letter to apologize to contestants for the error and explain their decision.

Roselle Village President Gayle Smolinski was a recipient of the letter, although the village does not organize or sponsor the event. She said she believes judges did their best to create a fair solution, and she hopes the contestants learned life lessons that are the heart of the pageant.

“At the end of the day it teaches the girls poise, public speaking and to be introspective about how to present yourself,” Smolinski said. “These are valuable life skills and that's the lesson we hope these girls take out of it, whether they win the scholarship or not. “