Close Up
View from her throne

By Nancy McCleary

Staff writer

When Brooke McLaurin was born, her grandmother sent flowers to the hospital. They were addressed to “a future Miss America.”

It could happen.

McLaurin, 23, was crowned Miss Fayetteville on Aug. 28 at Reeves Auditorium on the Methodist College campus, winning the title that twice eluded her. She was first runner-up in 2003 and second runner-up in 2002.

But before she sets her sights on Atlantic City, McLaurin will have to capture the Miss North Carolina title, scheduled for June in Raleigh. That, she said, is her goal.

McLaurin, dressed in a light blue top and navy skirt, her crown perched atop her head, sat in her Eastover home and reflected on the title.

Teresa Carter, her mother, began entering McLaurin in pageants when she was a child in an effort to help her daughter overcome shyness.

“When I was 4,” McLaurin said, “my mother could not get me to let go of her leg. A friend suggested entering pageants.”

It worked, McLaurin said.

But she is cautious when it comes to youngsters who are thrust into pageants too soon. McLaurin believes that pageants can help some children, but thinks some mothers are going too far with it.

As a cosmetologist, McLaurin said, she has seen mothers putting hairpieces on children as young as age 4.

“I’ve seen little girls have their legs shaved and eyebrows waxed at the age of six,” she said. “I do not agree with that.”

The Miss Carolina Princess competition, which was held Aug. 27, is not just a beauty pageant, McLaurin said. It’s affiliated with the Miss North Carolina Scholarship Pageant and is a mentoring program for younger girls. That’s one of her roles as Miss Fayetteville, McLaurin said.

It would be nice to see more contestants in the Miss Fayetteville pageant, McLaurin said.

“I think a lot of time, the Miss Fayetteville pageant doesn’t get the coverage it deserves,” said McLaurin, who stands 5-foot 2 and weighs 113 pounds.

Local media needs to do more to publicize the event ahead of time, she said. Pageant organizers are busy raising scholarship money, McLaurin said, and helping to prepare Miss Fayetteville for the state competition.

“If (interested women) would just read,” McLaurin said. “It offers money to continue your education or get an education in general.”

McLaurin won educational scholarships worth $38,500 along with the title, according to Ben Minter, executive director of the Miss Fayetteville Scholarship Pageant.

‘‘Brooke won $3,500 in cash scholarship from the Fayetteville Scholarship Pageant Association,’’ Minter said, ‘‘a $1,000 scholarship to Fayetteville Technical Community College for the 2004-05 year, an $8,000 scholarship from Methodist College -- $2,000 annually and renewable for four years -- and a full tuition scholarship to Fayetteville State University valued at $26,000 -- $6,500 per year, renewable for four years.’’

Currently, McLaurin is taking an online course at East Carolina University.

McLaurin is passionate, too, about her community platform, which is bringing awareness of Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes blood vessels to knot. The disease causes cysts and tumors in the body.

McLaurin has had two surgeries to remove benign tumors from her brain, but has not been officially diagnosed. But because the symptoms are so close to Von Hippel-Landau, she said, she chose to promote it.

“Von Hippel-Lindau doesn’t have a support group here or in North Carolina,” she said. “I want to promote my platform and give a voice to Von Hippel-Lindau.”

She does not anticipate any health-related problem that could interfere with her Miss Fayetteville duties.

McLaurin is excited about the opportunities her title offers. As an ambassador for Fayetteville and Cumberland County, McLaurin wants to promote the region she calls home.

“With the title of Miss Fayetteville, that definitely is one of my goals,” she said.

McLaurin wants to help draw business and industry to the county. She doesn’t understand why more businesses do not come to the county. The region’s diversity should be a drawing card, she said, along with Fayetteville’s All-America City designation it won in 2001.

As Miss Fayetteville, she’s obliged to keep up with city happenings. McLaurin has tried to do that, but admitted that she’s not quite up to speed on Fayetteville’s now-halted annexation plans.

“I’ve read about it here and there,” she said, “but I’m not really clear on it. I know there’s a lot of people who don’t want to be in the city because of a tax increase.”

McLaurin said she knows Eastover could be faced with annexation in future years, something she’s not ruling out. After all, the blue pipes in her grandparents’ front yard are being installed as part of a project to provide the community with water and sewer service.

The state pageant is nothing new to McLaurin. She participated in the 2003 Miss North Carolina Scholarship Pageant as Miss Erwin-Harnett County, the sixth title in her pageant career that was preceded by Miss Fayetteville Dogwood (2000), Miss Teen Fayetteville Dogwood (1998), Miss Cape Fear High School (1996), Little Miss Fayetteville (1988) and Wee Little Miss Fayetteville (1986).

Five local queens have won the state title -- Lorna Hazel McNeill in 1998, Heidi Sue Williams in 1992, Joni Bennett Parker in 1985, Francesa Adler in 1984 and Vivian White McDonald, the inaugural Miss Fayetteville, in 1947. Only one Miss North Carolina, Maria Beale Fletcher from Asheville in 1962, has won the Miss America Scholarship Pageant that is scheduled to celebrate its 50th anniversary Sept. 18 in Atlantic City.

‘‘We have a good representative for Miss North Carolina,’’ said Brenda Heath Wilson, 57, another Eastover girl who wore the Miss Fayetteville crown in 1966. ‘‘Brooke is adorable, cute and very personable. She made the top 10 in the 2003 Miss North Carolina Pageant and I think she has a very good chance.’’

Minter, who will assist McLaurin in her preparation for state competition, points to speaking and singing skills as assets along with her fitness and ‘‘natural beauty.’’

‘‘I do think Brooke will do well at the Miss North Carolina pageant,’’ he says. ‘‘She is a true ‘people-person’ who feels at ease with anyone on any level. And her dimples don’t hurt, either.’’

***

BROOKE MCLAURIN

Age: 23

Family: Father, Jerry McLaurin; mother, Teresa Carter; 1 sister; 1 brother

Education: Part-time student, East Carolina University; Cape Fear High School, 1999

Occupation: 2005 Miss Fayetteville, cosmetologist

Hobbies: Acting

Staff photos by Tracy Wilcox