Ms. Senior Trussville gains love of pageants in golden years

A “pageant” conjures up images of sequins and sparkles and of beauty queens and crowns where fierce talent reigns supreme.

But for Ms. Senior Trussville, those are just old clichés when it comes to competing in the statewide Ms. Senior Alabama competition.

Trussville resident Jean Brakenburry Taylor said she never even went to school dances growing up, so entering a pageant never crossed her mind. Taylor was working on a quilt in her friend’s shop in 2013, when an organizer for a senior pageant approached her saying she should compete. 

“I told her, ‘I don’t have any talent; I don’t sing; I don’t dance,’” Taylor said. The organizer came back at Taylor saying quilting could be her talent.

After taking the application home and reading it over with her now late husband, Taylor decided to give it a shot. She was 73 years old at the time. 

Taylor said it was a love affair from day one. As soon as she signed up, she went out to gather sponsorships, and since 2013, has raised more than $7,000 for senior pageants in Alabama, with more than 300 sponsors. 

“I get a prize for having the most sponsors and selling the most tickets,” Taylor said. 

Out of the eight pageants Taylor has competed in, she’s gone home with the Miss Congeniality title six of those times, and it’s easy to see why. Taylor is now 77, and said she doesn’t “like to let grass grow” under her feet. 

Since 2013, Taylor has gone skydiving twice; she was the first person across the zipline at Guntersville State Park during the grand opening; she’s ridden on the back of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with her son’s motorcycle club in Florida; she’s ridden a mechanical bull (and stayed on); she’s gone to Las Vegas to compete in a bowling tournament, and it’s clear she has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. 

“I’ve been a wife and a mother, I was my husband’s 24/7 caregiver for five years before he passed away,” Taylor said. “I thank God every day for all he does for me and my ability to keep doing the things I enjoy going and doing.” 

Although there is preparation required to compete in the Ms. Senior Alabama Pageant, Taylor said she is always excited by the competition. 

“It’s always such a fun thing to meet all the new ladies in each pageant and catch up with the ones you’ve known from the past,” Taylor said. “I love meeting them and getting to know them. You make lifelong friends, ladies you’ll never forget.” 

Taylor competes in Age of Elegance Pageants, for ladies 60 and older. 

“It’s to show we still have something to offer the world,” Taylor said. 

Competitors arrive to each pageant to have meetings and go over protocols, as well as have rehearsals. Each competition has an interview portion, speeches, a talent competition and an evening-gown competition. Taylor said the senior pageants are typically one- to two-day events, whereas other pageants are much longer. 

For the Ms. Senior Alabama competition, Taylor has made a quilt she calls “Stars Fell on Alabama,” comprised of 30 embroidered blocks with the name of each winner since the pageant’s inception, as well as the year they took home the title. Taylor will be raffling off the quilt and donating all proceeds back to the pageant. 

Taylor said competing in pageants is one of the greatest things she’s ever done. 

“It shows the world there’s still life out there; there’s still fun out there, and things you can contribute,” Taylor said. “It helps to build your ego, your self-esteem, and it makes me so much more aware of my posture.” 

Regardless of the great adventures Taylor has been on, she said she hopes one of her next adventures will be overseas to visit her granddaughter and new great-granddaughter. 

“She’s in the Army in Germany, and has a little baby I’ve never seen,” Taylor said. 

Even after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease three years ago, Taylor refuses to slow down. 

“I’m going to go just as hard and fast as I can go,” Taylor said.