Rebecca Robinson named Miss Congeniality

Miss Congeniality. Rebecca Robinson. and Kayla Ray Many local folks -- including some who have NEVER watched a televised pageant -- were glued to their television sets Saturday night as Buffalo's own Rebecca Robinson competed in the 2009 Miss America Pageant. The event was broadcast live on TLC (The Learning Channel) from Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Miss Robinson "did us proud" onstage, and a very vocal group of about twenty Buffalo-ians were in the audience, whoopin' and hollarin' for us all. Although our local beauty did not advance into the fifteen finalists -- (a poor reflection on the judges!) -- she was stunning and charming, and very gracious nonetheless.

One of the attendees at the pageant was thirteenyear old Kayla Ray, a Buffalo Junior High School student and the reigning "Junior Miss Buffalo Stampede". Kayla explained why she and her mother Gayle went to Vegas for the pageant. "Rebecca's one of my role models. I always knew her, and we danced at the same studio (The Edge Dance Company in Teague, formerly Anne's Dance Com- pany). I admire how she can talk with anybody and not be nervous, and she's always optimistic. Even when she lost, she was still happy -- it didn't seem to bother her."

The Rays flew to Vegas on Friday evening, and hooked up with Rebecca briefly on Saturday morning. "We texted her and found out she was at the theater for rehearsal. We got a split-second hug -- she just hugged and ran!" Kayla shared.

The actual pageant began at 5:00 afternoon (7:00 CST), and most of the fans from Buffalo were seated together in the audience to cheer for Robinson. Kayla shared that the scene at Planet Hollywood was not what you might expect. According to Miss Ray, "On TV it looks elegant, but it was more like a football crowd -- waving signs and flags and screaming... when Rebecca introduced herself I could hardly hear her, we were screaming so loud!"

After the pageant there was a reception at a conference room upstairs and each contestant had a table to receive guests. Kayla says that, even though she had not won, Miss Texas still had her act together. "Rebecca did very good, as always. She was very poised and still happy. She claimed she'd probably used more tissues than anybody, but if she'd been crying, I couldn't tell!"

During the reception, there were announcements of the winners of the preliminaries and special awards. Rebecca was honored by the other contestants by being selected "Miss Congeniality" -- and no one who knows her is the least bit surprised. Congratulations, Miss Texas. We couldn't be prouder!