Banner Graphic, Volume 14, Number 186, Greencastle, Putnam County, 12 April 1984 — Page 13

Since the very moment she was crowned Miss America, Vanessa Williams has had a reign different from any of her predecessors. Time to relax has been rare as more often than not her time has been occupied with appearances and visits with young fans like Angela Paglino (right). (N.Y. Times photos).

Miss America really becomes new symbol of pride, criticism

c. 1984 N.Y. Times News Service NEW YORK On her night off, Vanessa Williams arrived at the annual Jackie Robinson Awards Dinner in New York City and was immediately surrounded by a crowd of black teenagers. They ignored Sammy Davis Jr. and Arthur Ashe and pressed close to Miss Williams, waiting for an autograph, a picture and a chance to tell her how proud they were of her, the first black to be crowned Miss America. She smiled, posed and signed. She politely refused requests for kisses and fielded questions about the candidacy of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the role of black women. It was not until the guests and reporters had left that she sighed and said: “Tonight’s my night off. I didn’t expect it would be like this.” From the moment she was crowned last September, Miss Williams, who became 21 years old last month, has had a reign different from any Miss America before her. She became a symbol overnight, the focus of pride, scrutiny and occasional criticism. It is a role she did not anticipate and one that even now, halfway through her tenure, she would like to play down. She entered the pageant, she said, because she hoped the publicity would help her career as a singer, dancer and actress. But, instead of praising her singing voice, people extol her as a person who broke a racial barrier. Instead of questions about acting, people ask her about issues and expect her to take stands. “It was like being in a political position overnight,” said Miss Williams, who is from Millwood, N.Y., in suburban Westchester County. “People would say, ‘What about black causes?’ “And I would say: ‘What black causes? Be specific.’ “I would say: ‘l’m only 20 years old. What qualifies me to answer?’ ” The publicity surrounding Miss Williams, who was to have begun her junior year at Syracuse University last fall, has helped galvanize interest in a pageant some critics have called irrelevant or demeaning to women. The day after the pageant, the telephones in the Miss America office in Atlantic City “started ringing off the hook” with requests for interviews and appearances, according to the Miss America business manager, Robert L. Bryan. Television programs that had ignored other Miss Americas clamored for Miss Williams, and she obliged. She has appeared on “The Tonight Show,” “Good Morning America,” a Bob Hope special and “The Love Boat.” In addition, Bryan got calls from a new constituency. The Urban League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the United Negro College Fund and several black universities have asked Miss Williams to give speeches or help raise money. One of the two chaperones who accompany Miss America wherever she goes, Margaret Stevenson, said the crowds wishing to see Miss Williams included many more blacks and people from other minority groups than before. Unlike previous Miss Americas, who were expected only to get through their year of appearances around the country representing an ideal of wholesome womanhood, this Miss America is finding she has a double burden. As Miss America, she must remain composed, gracious and impeccably groomed. Her hair must always be sprayed into place, and her slip must never show. But as the first black Miss America, she said, she has had to “learn to be a role model” - giving speeches to black schoolchildren about the value of education, answering political questions without tarnishing the nonpartisan image of the pageant and remaining composed in the face of criticism from some blacks that she was not enough of a crusader “Being first and different is a pleasure,” she said. “But controversy gets a little strained at times. Some of the pressures and rewards were evident on a recent trip to Tampa, Fla., where Miss Williams signed autographs at a food fair sponsored by Kash ’n Karry, a supermarket chain. While belly dancers swayed and giant stuffed Cap’n Crunch, Kool-Aid and Twinkies figures roamed the aisles, Miss Williams signed photograph after photograph. For each four-hour appearance, Miss America receives slooo‘ if the event ** cha ritable, From the fees

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alone, Miss Williams is expected to earn SIOO,OOO this year. In addition, she receives $25,000 in scholarship money. Miss America spends most of her year traveling throughout the country making such appearances. Usually, Miss Williams travels for a month straight, with three or four days off after a string of appearances. The televised pageant has four sponsors Gillette, McDonald’s, Nestle and American Greetings which pay a total of more than $3 million. In return, the sponsors are guaranteed at least half of Miss America’s 200 appearances. The sponsors also have the right to claim Miss America’s company for a lunch or dinner. In Tampa, Miss Williams was met at the airport by a Gillette executive, Brad Smiley. Smiley told her he had scheduled dinner for company executives and a few friends in less than an hour. She walked into the restaurant and found four tables of the sponsor’s friends and neighbors, with a smattering of Gillette and Kash ’n Karry executives. Before she left, she had to pose for pictures with a half-dozen of the executive’s neighbors. Similar requests dogged her throughout her stay. People grabbed her arm as she passed and asked her to sign or pose. Men called her room pretending to be old classmates or long-lost relatives. She began every morning an hour and a half before her scheduled appearance, applying makeup and setting her hair. She taped television interviews, and on nights when she was not appearing for a sponsor, she stayed in her hotel room, ordering a room-service dinner and placing calls to a friend and her family. For four hours a day, with breaks for lunch, she signed, held babies and posed. One man told her she was not pretty at all. A 10-year-old said he thought she was pretty enough to be his wife. Some of the warmest praise was from black teen-agers and families. A 20-year-old student, Sebastian Holmes, came through the line twice. The second time, he offered her a rose. “I wanted to present this to you for all you’ve done for the black people, for representing us the way you’ve done,” he said. Miss Williams’s receptions have not always been so cordial. She said she had not encountered any direct hostility from whites. But she was not prepared for criticism from some blacks. “There was a lot of hype about how it wasn’t a breakthrough,” she said, citing newspaper articles that focused on her fair coloring. She received angry letters after articles mentioned that the man she dates steadily, a student at Syracuse University, is white. “I didn’t know I’d be scrutinized like that,” she said. “I felt a lot of pressure. There were big expectations what is she going to do to change the system? “Even if there were things I was against, I could speak out against them, and it would not make the system change.” She decided instead to talk about something she knew and understood the importance of education and the ambition to succeed. She has spoken to groups of black teen-agers and college students across the country. In Atlanta, when she walked on stage, 4,000 black high school students stamped and cheered and begged her to sing. “I felt like a superstar,” she said. And that, she said, is what she really wants to be. She is weighing two offers from talent agencies and plans to move to New York City next year to pursue her theatrical career and continue her education part-time. It is this ambition, she said, that helps her to weather the strains of instant fame. In her hotel room, with her stockings off and feet up, she reflected on her term as Miss America. “The first few months were really hard,” she said, “handling being a celebrity, a role model, what was expected of me, the controversy, the media. I hardly got any sleep, I was sick after the first weekend.” After those months, she said, she understood what judges were looking for when they chose a winner. “It’s not the person who’s got the best talent, not the best looking, not even the most intelligent,” she said. “It’s the person who is the most well-balanced mentally, the one who has the guts and the endurance to make it through the year .”

Supermarket Shopper How about a coupon yard sale this spring?

By MARTIN SLOANE Spring is here, and it’s the season for yard sales. But this year, why not have a different kind of yard sale? Why not add some extra fun and extra income potential to your yard sale by including couponing? I’m talking about holding a coupon yard sale. If you have never been to one, here’s how it works: The idea is to offer buyers an alternative method of paying for the items they want. What’s the alternative? You guessed itcoupons! YOU PREPARE FOR A COUPON yard sale in the same way you would prepare for a typical yard sale, but with these differences: First, you must establish a value for the coupons you will accept instead of cash payment. You can accept coupons in several ways: Take anything and everything; or accept coupons for particular types of products; or ask for coupons for specific brands. Accepting anything that resembles a manufacturers’ coupon will be easiest for yard sale buyers. It’s likely, though, that most of the coupons won’t be for your favorite brands. If you go this route, you may want to set a high exchange value. For instance, a yard sale item you have priced at $lO cash might also be priced at SSO worth of coupons. You can also be more specific about the coupons you will accept. For instance, you can tell buyers that you will only accept coupons for food products, cleaning products and paper products. In addition to what you will accept, you can be more definite about the coupons you won’t take. You might specify that certain foods and cleaning products are excluded. Since you will be receiving more of the coupons you can use, the exchange value should go down. For instance, the item selling for $lO cash could also be purchased for S2O worth of the coupons from your preferred groups. YOU CAN ALSO BE VERY specific and say you will only accept coupons for the particular brand you use. In this case, the coupon exchange value is likely to be equal or close to the cash value. Remember, the more particular you are with the coupons you want, the heavier the burden on your prospective yard sale buyers. Asking for specific coupons also places a greater burden on you. It is important that you let people know about it in advance. Print the “rules” on your leaflets and advertisements. Be sure to post your coupon requirements on a sign that buyers will see when they walk into your yard. Have a few empty tables available so buyers who did not hear of your requirements can sort their coupons. How do you get all those lucky buyers to show up in your yard with their coupons? The answer is advertising and publicity. Your goal is to let everyone in town know you are holding a coupon yard sale. Posters, leaflets, newspaper announcements, advertisements, radio interviews and TV appearances are just a few of the ways you can publicize the event. When you prepare for the sale, be sure to clearly mark each price tag with the cash and a coupon value. There’s also a lot more work for you when you accept coupons instead of cash, so plan to have some friends lend you a hand. If you are inspired to hold a coupon yard sale during the next few months, write and tell me about it. Address your letters to me in care of this newspaper. *** SMART SHOPPER AWARD My Smart Shopper Award goes to Sue Northern, from Indianapolis, a smart shopper who is “ever ready” for a bargain: “I’m so excited - I just made my first Triple Play! A discount store had Eveready batteries, regularly $2.19, on sale for $1.39.1 had a 30-cent coupon, so the package of batteries only cost me $1.09. When I got home, I sent in the proof-of-purchase for a $1

Will waiting one year to open your IRA cost you $3,000 or $90,000? Can you afford to wait ?

Your Amount At Age Amount if IRA Amount Yop Could Present f> r > if You Open is Opened One Lose By Waiting Age Your IRA Now Year From Now One Year 25 $973,703 $883,185 $90,518 30 596,253 540,048 56,205 35 361,886 326,988 34,898 40 216,363 194,694 21,669 45 126,004 112,549 13,455 _A° _ 69,899 61,544 8,355 55 35,062 29,874 5,188 60 13,431 10,210 3,221

Chart is based on a '2,000 contribution made at the beginning ol the year at a rate ot 9.569% Interest. The actual rate paid may vary considerably throughout the life ot your plan. Amounts shown are projections and are not guaranteed.

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Start your IRA today! You have until April 15 to make your 1983 contribution.

April 12,1984, The Putnam County Banner-Graphic

refund. I replaced the dead batteries in my flashlight for 9 cents, and an envelope and a postage stamp. ” Readers whose smart shopping experiences appear in this column receive a free copy of my refunding magazine, The National Supermarket Shopper. *** CLIP N’ FILE REFUNDS Miscellaneous Food Products Clip out this file and keep it with similar cash-off coupons - beverage refund offers with beverage coupons, for example. Start collecting the needed proofs of purchase while looking for the required forms at the supermarket, in newspapers and magazines, and when trading with friends. Offers may not be available in all areas of the country. Allow 10 weeks to receive each refund. These offers require a refund form: Aunt Jemima: Start Your Day with Aunt Jemima and Orange Juice. Receive a 75-cent refund. Send the required refund form and two Universal Product Code seals from any combination of any Aunt Jemima Waffles and-or French Toast, along with one label from Aunt Jemima Syrup; or three Universal Product Code symbols from any combination of Aunt Jemima Waffles and-or Aunt Jemima French Toast, plus the register tape with the circled purchase price of any frozen orange juice. Expires May 31,1984. Campbell Soup - Riviana Foods - Kikkoman “The World’s Fare” Cookbook Offer. Send the required refund form and three proofs of purchase -- one each from Success Rice (box top), Swanson Chunk Chicken, Kikkoman Soy Sauce or Swanson Broth (labels); or send $3.50 in check or money order payable to “The World’s Fare” Cookbook. Expires June 30,1984. Hershey Chocolate and Cocoa Cookbook Offer. (Cookbook has a retail value of $3.50. Send the required refund form and two proofs of purchase from any 11.5- or 12-ounce size of Hershey’s Chocolate Chips, plus a check or money order for $1.50. Expires June 30,1984. Hershey Cocoa Cookbook Offer. Receive a cookbook and two 50-cent coupons. Send the required refund form and one empty bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips for a free cookbook; or send two empty bags from Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips for a free cookbook and two 50-cent coupons good on Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips. Expires June 30,1984. Progresso Refund Offer. Receive five 20-cent coupons good on Progresso Bread Crumbs, Minestrone Soup, Chick Peas, Wine Vinegar and White Clam Sauce. Send the required refund form and three proofs of purchase from any of the above listed products. Expires May 31,1984. Pour-A-Quiche Quiche $1 Refund. Send the required refund form and the Universal Product Code symbols from one Land O’Lakes Pour-A-Quiche and one package of Pillsbury All Ready Pie Crusts. Expires June 30,1984. Smuckers Sundae Glass Offer. Receive two or four Old Time Sundae Glasses. Send the required refund form and the words “Smuckers Magic Shell” from the back labels of two bottles of Smuckers Magic Shell, the brand name from a half-gallon of ice cream and $1 for postage and handling to receive two Old Time Sundae Glasses; or send the words “Smuckers Magic Shell” from four bottles, the brand name from a half-gallon of ice cream, plus $1.50 for postage and handling to receive four Old Time Sundae Glasses. Expires July 31,1984. *** Here’s a refund form to write for: $3-to-$6 in coupons. 1984 Clairol Spring Savings Spree, P.O. Box 14635, Baltimore, Md. 21268. This offer expires Aug. 31, 1984. Requests must be received by June 1, 1984. While waiting for the form, save the proofs of purchase from Nice ‘n Easy, Loving Care, Condition, Final Net and Kindness products.

If you don't have the cash on hand to open an IRA, Central National Bank can loan you the money for your IRA. You can come out dollars ahead by borrowing money for your IRA contribution. Waiting until next year to open an IRA can be very expensive. To see how much waiting one year will cost you, see the chart to the left. Stop in today at Central National Bank and begin saving for your retirement with an IRA loan.

&"fCentra/ "Bank One Central Square, Greencastle, IN 46135 317-653-4161 MEMBER FDIC Substantial Interest Penalty For Early Withdrawal of IRA

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