Northwestern State University - Potpourri Yearbook (Natchitoches, LA)

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Ill 14

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OUR LADY OF THE BRACELET by Terri D. Griffin B eauty pageants have always been a part of student life especially here at Northwestern. Since the early 1920 ' s, girls in some way have been honored for their talent, beauty, and poise. And one of these ways was through selecting a group of girls to be Potpourri beauties. The Potpourri dedicated a section of the book to these beauties. The judging, however, varied from year to year. Sometimes the Potpourri would send in the girls ' photos to a well-known producer such as Billy Rose for his judgment. Or a student and faculty committee chose the winners. Or the panel of judges consisted of photographers, professional models, and television personalities. They con- tinued using these procedures for several years. But through these methods each girl chosen possessed charm and beauty. And these qualities were found in the first Lady of the Bracelet, Miss Kahne Dipoala. In 1958, she was chosen from twenty other contestants. The Potpourri staff created this title especially for their Potpourri beauties. And a solid gold bracelet was purchased for Our Lady of the Bracelet to wear when she represented the school in public. That bracelet passed each year to the new queen. The 1959 Potpourri editor John Rabb presented Kahne Dipoala, a senior nursing major, at the AWS Masquerade dance held on October 31, 1958. SHW along with the twenty other contestants had been presented to the students, faculty, and judges early in the evening. The judges were Webb Overlander and Jim Barker, makeup men for Sam Goldwin productions, and Benoni Crouch, a model from John Robert Powers Studios. They judged the girls on poise, facial beauty, figure, and charm. The group was then narrowed down to twelve then eight. These eight were then asked a question concerned with Northwestern or their careers. The other girls chosen were as follows: Virginia Atkinson, freshman secretarial major; Janice Lightfoot, freshman elementary education major; Ann Monkhouse, freshman pre-medicine; Bobbie Sue Craft, senior nursing major; Barbara Law, freshman business education major; Karen Stone, junior nursing major; and Marilyn DeFatta, freshman secretarial science major. For several years following this initial event, few changes were made in the pageant. But in 1971, the Potpourri relinquished it to the Student Union Governing Board, where changes were made. Robert Wilson Jr., director of the Student Union, was able to buy the franchise for the Miss Louisiana Pageant. The LOB Pageant became an exciting event for the young women entering for they knew that whoever won would get to repre- sent Northwestern at the Miss Louisiana Pageant and maybe the Miss America Pageant. But no matter how Miss LOB did, she knew that she would get to represent her school throughout the state. And she would have the privilege to wear the bracelet, which had many new charms added. And she also knew that a new charm was placed on the bracelet for her along with the honor of having a picture of herself placed in the Queens ' Room of the Student Union. The bracelet was at one time kept by the Dean of Women, but the SUGB took responsibility of it so future Ladies of the Bracelet could have the honor of wearing it. Editor ' s note: The information above was compiled from issues of Current Sauce and Potpourri and from interviews with Camille Hawthorne and Lucile Hendricks. Our First Lady of the Bracelet, Kahne Dipoala posed for the 1959 POTPOURRI. t

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MR. NSU Mr. Russcl Bienvenu, a business administration major from Natchitoches, was chosen to be Mr. NSU, one of Northwestern ' s highest honors. He was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity, SGA Student Supreme Court, Student Ambassadors, Young Democrats, Publications Media Board, Spirit Committee, and Current Sauce. Mr. Bienvenu ' s honors included: Who ' s Who, Blue Key National Honor Fraternity, Outstanding Young Men of America 1984, National Kappa Sigma Scholarship Leadership Award, T. H. Harris Scholarship, and Sigma Sigma Sigma Man of the Year. When asked who was his favorite teacher at NSU, Mr. Bienvenu replied, Dr. Eugene Williams, because he comes across so well to his students and he is always happy to help you when you need it. Mr. Bienvenu felt very strongly about NSU and thought it was a fine institution. Mr. Bienvenu added that NSU has given him the opportunity to meet many new and interesting people. His favorite memory at NSU was finding out I had won Mr. NSU. After Graduation in May, Mr. Bienvenu planned to go to graduate school, maybe law school. Mr. Russel Bienvenu 20 t Russel Bienvenu prepared the circulation report for the Current Sauce.