Published: April 24, 2008 12:41 pm            

Entertainment: Leigh Ann Heineman

ASHLAND — When 22-year-old Leigh Ann Lambert entered the Miss Ashland Area Scholarship Pageant in 1996, it was her first experience with pageants.

“I was more of a singer,” she said. “I performed at fairs and the only reason I did the pageant was because the Miss America pageant had the talent competition.” Miss Ashland feeds into Miss Kentucky; the winner of Miss Kentucky represents the state at the Miss America pageant.

At 34, the current Leigh Ann Heineman has built a long association with the Miss Ashland pageant. In August, she will take over as director. For Gail Sammons and Glorious Hensley, who have been co-directors since 1995, the pageant scheduled for this summer will be their last.

“I have extremely huge shoes to fill,” the 1992 graduate of Paul G. Blazer High School said. “Gail is always doing something. If she’s at the mall with her grandson and sees something that jogs her memory, she’ll do something for Miss Ashland.”

She said although her family comes first, Heineman plans for the pageant to be one of her top priorities.

“The big thing is setting a good example for these girls,” the Greenup resident said. “If you are director of a pageant and your pageant requires community service, how can I ask my girls to do community service if I’m not doing it? I’ve always done community service but I’m going to keep my work up.”

Heineman met Sammons at a funeral home visitation and Sammons approached her about competing for the title of Miss Ashland. Although it was her first pageant, she was crowned Miss Ashland Area in 1996 and competed in Miss Kentucky that year, where she won the non-finalist talent award.

“I didn’t go back after that, but ever since then I’ve done things to help others that involve competing,” she said. “I didn’t want to compete anymore, but I saw the value of the scholarship pageant. It has paved the way for many girls to go to college who wouldn’t have the resources to go.”

For the years following her reign as Miss Ashland, Heineman was emcee of the pageant and served on the committee. She became the teen director in 2005.

She said she believes her experience being in the pageant will give her the experience she needs to be a good director, adding she’s already had the experience of lending support to a contestant who nearly dropped out of the pageant at the last minute.

“I said, ‘Are you dropping out because you really don’t want to be in the pageant, or are you afraid?’ I could see the drive in her and I thought it was fear, so I sat down and talked to her and told her I was afraid my first time, too. If you’ve been there, you can get to the heart of the matter where someone who hasn’t has no clue what it’s like to stand up on the stage.”

Heineman credits pageants with helping her, too.

“A lot of people think it’s just fluff and some of them probably are, but the Miss America system is not. You have to know what’s going on in the world, be a well-rounded individual and my experience has made me a well-rounded individual.” For example, she said the speaking skills she developed through competition helped her in college and in the business world and enhanced her ability to relate to the public.

She said had she chosen to pursue a singing career, she knows her association with the pageant would have opened some doors.

“There are many newscasters who are former Miss Americas,” she said. “A lot of girls I competed with are doing that. The girl I roomed with is a Rockette. There are limitless possibilities if you just give it a chance.”

But career opportunities aren’t the only benefits of being involved in the pageant, Heineman said.

“You also make a lot of friends,” she said. “Gail and Glorious (Hensley) are like family to me.”

Sammons said she has confidence Heineman will be a good director.

“I’m sure she will do a wonderful job,” Sammons said. “She has stayed right with me and she knows what’s going on and she’ll make a wonderful director because she’s kind to the girls and she’s intelligent, she’s a wonderful young lady. She’s just got it all wrapped up in one package, she really does.”

The duties of the director are primarily fundraising, Heineman said.

“People don’t realize how much work is involved,” she said. “We raise funds for the Miss America organization, which has partnered with the Children’s Miracle Network. Each girl has to raise $100 for the Children’s Miracle Network.”

There also are the expenses of the pageant, scholarship funds for winners and runners-up and selling advertising in the pageant programs; Heineman said they try to pay for as much of the trip to the state pageant as possible.

“It’s a constant process,” she said. “We’re always meeting people and talking to people. It’s just public relations.”

She not only volunteers for the Miss Ashland pageant, she has a long history of working for the community.

Heineman continues to sing, combining her talent with her penchant for volunteerism. She sings the old standards at local senior citizens centers with the group the Swing Daddies.

She is a member of the Paramount Women’s Association with responsibilities for ushers and hospitality before the shows; is a past president of the Greenup Business Association; was chairwoman of Old Fashion Days in Greenup for three years; and has been involved with the Lions Club in Greenup, of which her husband, Michael Heineman, is president.

“I just come from a long line of people who are civic minded,” she said. “My grandfather worked with chamber of commerce and was Mr. Old Fashion Days. ... When you are in a family business, you do more things like that. You have the freedom to do that.”

A daughter of Jim and Kay Lambert, she has a bachelor of business arts degree from Morehead State University. She works full time at Harold Miller Insurance in Ashland. She and her husband have two children, Anna, 5, who attends kindergarten at Charles Russell Elementary School, and Jackson, 3.

LEE WARD can be reached at lward@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2661.

        

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