Miss America, a homecoming

”The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.” — Confucius, (551-479 B.C.), Chinese author, philosopher, teacher and politician.

Obviously the concept and importance of having roots grounded in home and a sense of place has been around for a long time. It is still refreshing however to witness a warm homecoming, and its restorative and uplifting effects.

I first saw Betty Cantrell as a young girl bouncing around a cavernous museum hall at a significant birthday party for her beloved and esteemed aunt, Dodie Cantrell-Bickley, at the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins.

Tributes and roasts were being paid and made for her aunt and at a later point in the program, the young lady approached the microphone, apparently to lead their family and the crowd in singing a warm Happy Birthday.

The surprising performance which emerged was more reminiscent of a young Judy Garland or Andrea McArdle. The birthday song was followed by a few entries from the American songbook and a couple of country tunes popular in that day.

It would be years from then until I would see her again. Adolescence and high school came and went. Betty lived on a family farm nearby in Bonaire along with one brother, a younger sister and her parents. Love of music was something Betty shared with her father, Mike Cantrell, an enthusiastic and frequent performer with local bands, as well as his own business. The Cantrell family developed the Cantrell Center for Physical Therapy and Wellness, which is known and well-regarded across the country. Father Mike has become of the nation’s leading sports therapists and posture doctors.

As college years beckoned, at Mercer University in nearby Macon, several family friends noted the generous scholarships available through the pageant world, and encouraged Betty, whose singing talents were already well-known, to seek formal voice training and become a contestant. Betty had grown up a Tom-girl, and was at times more comfortable shooting and dressing a deer than putting on an evening gown, but with the full support of her mother Tassie Cantrell, and a healthy coterie of pageant consultants, Betty decided to take the leap. Local pageant victories came first, followed by two trips to the Miss Georgia Pageant in Columbus. The first time came with a First Runner-Up win, and the second came the title of Miss Georgia.

Betty, her mother and a small entourage next headed to Atlantic City, N.J., for the big show — the 90th Miss America Pageant, on Sept. 11, 2016. Betty Cantrell was crowned Miss America, only the second Miss Georgia to win in the history of the pageant. Many pageant judges and experts say that it was Cantrell’s incomparable opera aria during the talent portion of the pageant which put her over the top.

Her year with the crown had Miss Cantrell all over the nation, with a particular emphasis on events and fundraisers benefiting veteran and children causes. As the year came to a close, and an almost immediate engagement to her fiance, Spencer Maxwell followed, Miss Cantrell chose to follow her dream of a career in country and pop music, and the couple relocated to Nashville.

But home and Georgia remain close to her heart, so on Friday, Sept. 22, a year and 11-days after her own 9/11 win, Betty came home again, and her debut concert and CD launch were at the Cox Capitol Theater in front of what appeared to be a warm and familiar crowd of roughly 400. Each left with their own copy of Cantrell’s first solo CD, entitled, “Nicotine.”

A crowd favorite during the show, and a number I had seen Betty perform previously was “Georgia on My Mind.” I never tire of hearing that song, with a rendition by another Georgian, Ray Charles, named the official song of the state during the late 80s. When television stations still signed off for the day, Charles’ version of the standard was accompanied by beautific images of our great state, and if I was up that late, I never turned off the song in midstream. It was and is a lifetime favorite. Only now, the great Ray Charles has been topped by another hometown girl with her own styling on this song — Betty Cantrell.

There have been dozens fortunate to wear the crown of Miss America and inhabit the title...while a select few live and represent all that the title aspires to me. Miss Betty Cantrell is one of those. Welcome home girl.

http://thebrunswicknews.com/opinion/editorial_columns/miss-america-a-homecoming/article_ff82b5ae-43e2-5695-8710-9884f81742d3.html