Virginian wins Mrs. United States pageant

Nichole Davis

Friday, Aug. 1, 1997 | 11:01 a.m.

Virginia homemaker and entrepreneur Laurett Ellsworth beat out a crowd of 52 wives to take home the 1997 Mrs. United States title.

Joanne Beauvoir Brown, a Georgia trial lawyer and mother of one, was the first runner-up in the 2 1/2-hour competition Thursday at the Cashman Field Theatre. Mrs. Nevada Carolie Terpening Swindle, who owns a local manufacturing company, missed most of the final day of rehearsal Thursday with the stomach flu and didn't make it past the first round.

Ellsworth, 35, has had a rich life experience as the wife of a diplomat, vice president of a talent management company and the mother of five children, which she believes prepared her for the title. She looks forward to promoting several charitable causes with which she's involved during her year-long reign.

"The most challenging part will be balancing family, work and Mrs. United States," she said, "but I have a full-time nanny and a tremendously supportive husband, who is always willing to be with the kids."

Judges gave no single answer as to why Ellsworth was the top choice. One said it was her ability to balance family and a career. Another said it was her demeanor and a third said she came across as genuine during interviews. But all believed she would be a good representative of the Mrs. United States title.

"You have to do a lot of interviews as Mrs. United States, and I like that she had a lot of herself on the stage," said judge Shannon Fiorito, who also is Mrs. United States 1991. "She didn't give you the standard pageant answer; she came across as real and very genuine."

"She had a certain personality that kind of jumped out," local attorney Benson Lee said. "It's the demeanor and the smiles that carry the person forth."

Pageant coach Randall Smith, who worked exclusively with Mrs. Georgia, said it boiled down to a personal preference among the judges, a choice with which he disagreed.

"She'll do O.K., but she doesn't seem to have the effervescence, the savoir faire some of the contestants had," he said. "That's what the pageant needs. The directors are going to have to make that change to get better national sponsorship."

A look at the event's prize package may bear out his point. While its older and more famous sister, the Miss America Pageant, offers a college scholarship and a new car as its top prizes, the 11-year-old Mrs. United States pageant, the premier event of its kind, is much less moneyed. A $3,000 cash award and a 21st Century cookware set valued at $2,500 were its top awards.

Immediate and extended family members, who attended the event, however, said it was no accident that Mrs. Virginia, who competed in her fourth beauty pageant, won the title.

"She really worked hard for it," her 16-year-old son Tanner Ellsworth said. "She exercises a lot and takes care of herself really well."

"She is a very determined woman with a lot of ambition," her husband, Matt Ellsworth, said. "She has prepared herself to be a model to other women. No fluke, they picked a winner."