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Samantha Gregory and her pigs Molly and Wilber.

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Not your average beauty queen

By JUSTIN HARMON/Staff

Many high school girls aspire to clothe themselves in an array of expensive dresses and tackle world issues with an opinionated smile made possible only with the help of over-the-counter tooth whiteners while a panel of judges meticulously analyze their every step and breath.
For these girls, the lights and cheers that come with a tiara and a dozen roses after a big win in a beauty pageant represents the ultimate high. For these girls, “pretty” is more than just a word.
Samantha Gregory isn’t one of those girls.
According to Gregory, many people expected her to strut her stuff in the Burly Tobacco Fest Beauty Pageant, but she opted for a second, very different choice; instead of being judged on her etiquette and appearance, the task fell to her pig in the festival’s livestock show.
“Everyone was expecting me to enter the beauty pageant… it kind of shocked everyone,” she said.
According to Gregory, she had been in a couple beauty pageants before, even taking second runner up in the Miss Patrick Henry Beauty Pageant. However, it wasn’t something that held a lot of interest for Gregory.
“Sometimes I like the thought (of a beauty pageant), but I don’t need to stand in front of people to tell me I’m pretty,” she said. “Others take it too far. They act like they’re better than other people and I don’t like that.”
Gregory said that, while no one outright said she would fail, many people weren’t so sure she should or even could handle the livestock showing competition. Some of her friends and relatives, even her mom told her that she would be better off in the pageant. Others were afraid she wouldn’t be able to keep her pig under control.
“They said it would be too rough to handle,” she said.
But that didn’t stop her.
According to Gregory, she worked hard to make sure she was in top form for the competition, even in the face of all the doubts that were put on her and some from the back of her mind.
“It was my first year and I thought I’d either bomb or do good. I didn’t know what to expect or even if I was doing it right,” she said.
Though the odds and opinions were stacked against her, Gregory ended up doing quite well in the competition. Exceptionally well, actually.
According to Gregory, she took first place in her pig’s weight class and won the distinction of being the show’s champion.
“I was so happy. I knew I deserved to get it,” she said.
According to Gregory, the overall experience was much more rewarding than entering a beauty pageant, mostly due to the amount of work that went into preparing her pig for the competition. For the better part of the summer leading up to the fair, Gregory worked with her pig to ensure it looked its best and that she knew how to handle it at the show. While the work obviously paid off, Gregory said another thing that made her proud was that the judges noticed all her hard work.
“They said I did really good about keeping my pig under control… they were impressed,” she said.
Along with the win, according to Gregory, comes a whole new attitude towards the competition itself. Gregory plans on entering more livestock shows more frequently now and no longer has reservations about proclaiming what she does in her spare time.
“Nowadays, some people look down on you if they know you live on a farm,” she said.
Gregory also said that her friends’ and family’s attitudes toward the competition has changed as well. The previous naysayers are now fully supporting her choice to show pigs instead of herself and are proud of what she was able to accomplish.
While the livestock competition is taking the lead as far as priorities in Gregory’s life go, she hasn’t completely given up on beauty pageants. Even so, she doesn’t see them comparing to the accolades of livestock showing.
Justin Harmon can be reached at 628-7101 or