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Special Beauties photo by Jim Craven Charla Carney, of Grants Pass, was the reigning Miss Oregon Special Beauty this past year and competed for the national title again Sunday night in Medford By Jonel Aleccia From the time she was a little girl, Charla Carney watched the Miss America Pageant on television and prayed for a crown of her own. "She was always right there, telling me that she was going to do it one day," recalled Charla�s mother, Pam Weber. But when the Grants Pass woman, now 30, inquired about entering the local contests that lead to the national pageant, she found there was no place for her. Born with a developmental delay, Carney�s disability kept her from competing. To organizers of the Miss Oregon Special Beauty Pageant, that just didn�t seem fair. "She was turned away at the door of Miss America," said Sierra Faith, coordinator of the pageant held Sunday night in Medford. "They decided to do something about it." Four years ago, Karrie Kay, a former Ms. Oregon, and her husband, Bob, decided to create a beauty pageant for girls and women with disabilities. Since then, the event has grown from about a dozen contestants to nearly 60, ranging in age from 3 to 60, with winners in six divisions. Contestants are judged in three categories: interview, formal wear and sportswear or talent. Everyone recieves a crown and a title, from the six queens and 24 princesses to the remaining contestants, dubbed "duchesses." One of the first big winners was Carney, who was named Miss Oregon Special Beauty in 1996 and 1999. At long last, she said, she got her crown. "I think there�s some women out there who are disabled like me and they always dreamed of being shining," she said. "I like to tell them about this. Sometimes they feel like they are not beautiful because they are disabled." On Sunday, though, everyone was beautiful, from the preschoolers in velvet dresses and shiny white shoes to the teenagers who wore taffeta in their wheelchairs. Carney was prepared to defend her crown. She had a floor-length evening dress in black velvet and lace. She had an interview answer about her role model, Princess Diana. And she had a song to sing, Elton John�s "Candle in the Wind." But being prepared didn�t stop her from being scared. "It�s fun," she said. "But I get nervous." And she�s not the only one. Weber, Carney�s mother, expected to be anxious the whole time her daughter was on the Rogue Valley Country Club stage. Watching Charla sing beneath the spotlight, in front of the silver curtain, always brings tears to her eyes, Weber said. "I�m so soft-hearted," she said. "And this is so good for the girls. It�s very special, just very special to me." Like Special Olympics, an athletic event for those with disabilities, the pageant offers disabled people a rare opportunity for participation and recognition, Faith said. "It�s not often that you get both beauty and substance for these women," she said. Others aren�t so enthusiastic. "I think there are mixed reactions in the community," said Roger Hassenpflug, president and CEO of Living Opportunities, an agency that works with disabled clients. "The pageant gives people with disabilities exposure in the community, but it also separates people with disabilities ... And there�s the mixed reactions people have to beauty pageants in general." Charla Carney�s reaction was unabashedly positive, even when faced with the thought of losing her crown to another contestant. "I would be sad to give up my title, but happy that someone else would have the fun I had," she said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.