SiS
By JEAN HILLARD
Special to The Dallas Post
If someone were to ask who is
Gina Major, probably everyone
across the state of Pennsylvnaia
would say she’s Miss Pennsylvania.
Chances are if someone were to ask
what exactly does Miss Pennsyl-
vania do for the next 12 months
after she receives her crown, most
would not know.
In an exclusive in-depth interview
for The Dallas Post readers, Gina
Major takes us step-by-step through
her year as Miss Pennsylvania.
Gina iis a Back Mountain native
and has brought us much publicity
across the state since receiving her
title of Miss Pennsylvania 1984. She
worked very hard, maybe a lot
harder would be a more accurate
statement, to achieve her goals.
The pretty girl from Lake-
Lehman High School and a former
member of the award winning Lake-
Lehman Band she went on to Drexel
University where she received a
degree in marketing and merchan-
dising. Gina was raised by a single
parent and did not come from a
money family. She had to work for
avery opportunity she had. Gina
always set her goals high and
worked very hard, her strongest
competition being herself.
“I must do better than I did the
time before,”’ she would often say.
“I must improve on myself.” Thus
she lost many pageants and kept
returning until she won the title of
Miss Pennsylvania.
The Miss Pennsylvania crown was
placed on Gina’s head in Altoona
before a crowd of nearly 3500
people. The excited screams, tears
of joy, laughter, overwhelming feel-
ings of success that night were just
the beginning of one year filled with
hard work, little sleep, miles and
miles of driving across the Keystone
State, smiling for photos, rehears-
als, shopping for clothes, etc.
Gina was presented with the Miss
Pennsyvania car, which, because of
her extensive travelling, had to be
replaced twice during the year.
From June until September, Gina
spent every day preparing for the
Miss America Contest held in Atlan-
tic City. Those three months con-
sisted of daily exercise of aerobics
and Nautilius workouts. Shopping
for evening gowns, wardrobes,
learning to walk properly, practic-
hair appointments, entertaining and
more rehearsals until nearly
exhausted filled her daily schedule.
Back home, plans were being
made for a reception in her honor at
Gus Genetti’s in Wilkes-Barre. At
the reception, Gina received a key
to the city from Wilkes-Barre
mayor Thomas McLaughlin, special
recognition from politicians such as
Rep. George Hasay, Senator Frank
0’Connell, and Rep. Frank Coslett.
Hundreds of Wyoming Valley resi-
dents as well as Back Mountain
neighbors were on hand to greet
Gina and to watch the crowning
which played on Video TV through-
out the evening.
Gina met nearly every politician
across the state and a national
senator who resides in the Philadel-
phia Area had a flag flown across
the capitol in Washington in Gina’s
name. The senator later presented
the flag to Gina.
In Altoona, Gina was sworn in as
the first female member of the
Jaycees, Altoona Chapter.
The Miss America contest over,
her traveling extended into a full-
time, where she somtimes had to
drive three or four hours to speak or
entertain or sometimes just to
appear in one corner of the state.
Every day was filled with hard
work. Gina appeared at numerous
parades across the state, attended
and entertained at fashion shows,
visited many high schools and
encouraged children across our
state. She sang at the Vets Stadium
in Philadelphia for the Phillies and
Eagles (She even got to work with
Tug McGraw one day. Remember
when he was the guest speaker for
Back Mountain Little League, the
year he pitched the winning ball for
the World Series?)
Miss Pennsylvania entertained at
many local pageants across the
state, appeared at the International
Air Show at Harrisburg Capitol, the
Pittsburgh Auto Show, the Philadel-
phia Auto Show, the famous Phila-
delphia Gimbel’s Thanksgiving
Parade, the Bloomsburg Fair and
even hosted a telethon for Hershey
Medical Center.
Gina had the distinct honor of
addressing the House and Senate at
our state capitol. She performed at
a Luau at Tamiment, sang at the
Christmas tree lighting at our Capi-
tol, made several appearances for
American Motors and also for
Pepsi, the main sponsor of the Miss
Pennsylvania pageant. Gina
appeared at many openings of new
businesses across the state, did the
opening for the State Junior Olym-
pics, Keystone Games at Penn State
Main Campus, and also opened the
State Special Olympics in the
Poconos.
Of all her appearances, Gina
laments those close to her heart
were the College Misericordia
Parade and the Sweet Valley Memo-
rial Day parade (made possible by
her uncle Russ Major of Major's
Cycles, Trucksville.) She recalls
seeing people she grew up with or
Beginning her career
On the road again
s
Disrobing?
The darndest things can happen to a Miss Pennsylvania as
Gina is assisted here by two policemen as she sheds long
underwear during a parade. With fall weather playing tricks
on parade participants, Gina started the day with long-johns
to keep warm, then needed help getting them off as the day
wore on.
graduated with and how good she
felt to see them supporting her and
sharing her excitement with her.
Though her days were full and
tiresome, her memories are numer-
ous. Gina met and in several
instances, shared the stage with
such celebrities as Liza Minelli,
Catherin Bach (Dukes of Hazard)
Tim Reid of WKRP Cinnncinatti,
Emmanuel Lewis (Webster), Bill
Beyers (of Capitol and Gina’s favor-
ite), Patrick Duffy, Tug McGraw,
Willie Stargell, Oscar Robertson,
Willie Masconi, Bob Pellegrini and
Gary Collins, of course. Gina met
and entertained with numerous soap
stars, some of them being A. Marti-
nez, Martin Vidnavoic and Stephen
Schnetzer who all appeared on stage
at the Miss America Pageant. Gina
also met two of Canada’s finest
flyers, “The Snowbirds.”
Her wardrobe sponsors for the
year were Melba’s Fashion Nook,
Diane’s Designs, J.C. Penney,
Hess’s and Muscalvos Furs. In
return, Gina made several appear-
ances for those businesses.
Through her year of meeting
famous. peaople and hard work,
Gina has made several contacts for
future jobs. Some she has already
signed with are WNEP-TV where
she will be seen on PM Magazine.
She has also signed with an enter-
tainment manager and will be doing
auditions in new York, Los Angeles
for commercials, soaps and the
theatre. In the fall, she plans to
work with Chiodo Theatre Co. in
New York and is working on some
cruise shows with two other Miss
Pennsylvanias. Gina is also going to
use her knowledge of skin care and
make up in sharing with people by
becoming a Mary Kay Consultant.
From now until September, Gina
will be appearing at functions and
meetings as Miss Pennsylvania
until the Miss America Pageant is
over, then she will be accepting
engagements as the former Miss
Pennsylvania.
We've walked through the years
with Gina and now we have a real
picture of a celebrity’s lifestyle.
Gina is most grateful to several
area people such as Gil Tough of
Lehman, local Blue Cross executive,
who provided her with health insur-
ance for the year, all the wardrobe
suppliers and Forty Fort Branch of
Local Teamsters Union and the
employees of Acme Markets and
also Gus Genetti’s for their special
help. The Mack Trucking Company
has supplied Gina with mafly spe-
cial favors during her traveling
experiences.
Gina will soon depart for a trip to
Hawaii, using tickets she received
from an airline company for an
appearance she made at the open-
ing of a new terminal. She was to
have a trip for two ‘‘anywhere she
chose” at the end of her reign, to
relax and unwind, a well-deserved
Skills can be
taught for fun
Can you find your way in the
forest? This is a very important
skill for a hunter or a hiker. Can
you find your way in the city? Many
delivery people and postal employ-
ees find this skill critical. These
skills are taught for fun, safety and
competition in the 4-H orienteering
project.
Orienteering is learning to find
your way using a map and compass.
In its competitive form, it is done
against time. Personal fitness
becomes a factor. Targets are set
up in the woods and players try to
find them, collect the secret code
and get back to the starting point
before the other competitors.
This ‘is done with very simple
equipment and basic skills. First 4-
H’ers are taught to pace to count
their steps while walking.
To learn how to find your way
with a map and compass and join
the fascinating sport of orienteer-
ing, call or write Donna Skog at the
Cooperative Extension Service,
Courthouse Annex, 5 Water Street,
Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18711. Phone 825-
1704 or 459-0736, ext. 704.