This September, the many admirers of Joan Jeanne Hart will toast the 89-year-old dynamo at a celebration soirée.
The "red carpet" gala will celebrate Hart's 50-year involvement in organizing beauty pageants and thank her for the work she has done to encourage young women to pursue their dreams.
And while there are perks to her decades of effort, such as the opportunity to travel, Hart, a former teacher, has never been paid as a pageant organizer, coach, chaperone, judge, translator or communications liaison.
Known as the "queen of the pageants" before retiring, she still remains involved as a delegate liaison for Miss Universe Canada, is president of NSEW Canada Pageant Management Strategy, and is a supporter for the Miss Ontario Regional Canada and Miss Ontario Teen Regional Canada Scholarship Pageants, which are produced by Cheryl Kozera.
Fifty years ago, organizer Yves St-Jacques asked Hart, who was living in North Bay at the time, to enter a contestant in the first Miss Northern Ontario Pageant in Timmins.
At that first pageant, she helped the young women get dressed and assisted in their hair and makeup.
Hart had training in fashion design, hair and makeup, and had modelled in her youth, so she loved the experience. Soon she was organizing pageants.
The spry senior remembers those years well although she sometimes refers to her collection of memorabilia and news clippings for details.
One of her many career highlights was being invited to a reception for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at Science North in 1984. Another was meeting actress Sophia Loren.
"(But) I don't look back at my life. I look ahead. I always dwell on success. This is why I stayed with the pageants … when I saw the young girls succeed, it was an inspiration to me."
Pageants are no longer about beauty and a bathing suit. Judges evaluate a contestant's talents, school work, community involvement and poise under pressure.
The experience gives young women confidence, said Hart, who is aware of the criticism that pageants are exploitative.
"I receive letters and emails from people who are anti-pageant. I explain I would not have stayed involved with something that would affect a young girl in a negative way or offend them.
"Contestants are coached on how to be interviewed and that prepares them for a job interview later in life. The experience teaches them about etiquette. So many girls have benefitted from pageants."
The following is an excerpt from a poem Hart wrote for pageant contestants:
- Learn to make the most of what has been given to you.
- Learn to focus your energies toward the fulfillment of your potential.
- Learn to accept the changing ways of life, as change is a constant challenge.
- Learn to be enthusiastic and you will achieve your goals and dreams.
In 2019, Hart received the Lifetime Achievement Award for 45 years of service to the Miss Canada pageant.
Hart was married to her husband, Frank, for 56 years. He died in 2012. They raised two children, Darlene and Frank. She keeps up on all the family news and is energized by the busy lives of her grandchildren and great-grandson.
Born in Mattawa in 1935, her husband had a hard time pronouncing her first name, Jeanne d'Arc, so became known as Joan.
"My mother was raised on a reserve near Cornwall. My siblings and I were teased because of our mixed heritage."
Hart is proud of her Métis heritage. Her maternal grandmother, Angelina Sabourina Paquet, was an Indigenous artist and Hart has inherited her creative talents. She is a painter, writer and singer.
"My mother played the piano … We were not very rich, but there was always singing, music and going to church."
Hart is still painting and has a studio/gallery in her basement. Her impressive copy of Leonardo da Vinci's painting, "The Mona Lisa" (holding a cat) has a prominent place in her home's foyer.
Another of Hart’s paintings, of a rural mailbox, was selected by Canada Post to appear on a postage stamp in 1992.
Hart is looking forward to a reunion with many of the pageant contestants she worked with over the years at the gala event Sept. 21 at the Caruso Club.
It is being organized by Jana Schilkie, a marketing and hospitality consultant and a former Miss Rayside Balfour.
Tickets for the Joan Jeanne Hart 50th Anniversary of Pageantry are $75 and a portion of the proceeds will go to March of Dimes Canada. Tickets are available at eventbrite.ca.
Vicki Gilhula is a freelance writer. Journeys is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
