Amid fish fry and fresh faces, a queen is crowned

Deirdre Newman

Evening gowns and fried fish make strange bedfellows unless you’re at

the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club Fish Fry.

Costa Mesa chose a new beauty queen out of a festive atmosphere of

yummy fried cod and entertainment Saturday at the fry.

Jordi Bradshaw, 16, a junior at Estancia High School, was chosen

out of seven other girls to become Miss Costa Mesa. The event was the

first Miss Costa Mesa Pageant in three years.

Jordi, of Newport Beach, won a $500 gift certificate from South

Coast Plaza and a $700 scholarship for college. The competition was

open to girls between 16 and 25.

“I think ballet definitely contributed to poise, and cheer

contributed to being confident in front of a lot of people,” she

said, pondering the factors that gave her an edge in the field of

beauties.

While the Fish Fry returned last year after a two-year hiatus

because of a lawsuit, it started off small for organizers to see what

the turnout would be. This year, the event, which enjoyed a 57-year

history before the lawsuit stalled it, expanded with a larger

carnival and the pageant. And the pageant went splendidly,

coordinator and former Mayor Arlene Schafer said.

“Everything went well, and the girls were all exceptionally great

girls,” she said.

Other criteria for entering included being single and of good

moral character. The pageant consisted of a swimsuit display -- the

girls were advised to pick a conservative style -- and a formal

evening attire display. Plus, they had to answer two questions.

Judges evaluated qualities like poise, overall appearance,

articulateness and the content of the contestants’ answers.

Jordi, who is also the student body president at Estancia, was

asked the question, “What is the biggest problem you see in society

today?”

Her answer: “A lack of respect for life.”

“When we don’t’ respect life, life has no meaning,” she said. “If

we don’t’ respect each other, our leaders, then what is life? It’s

meaningless.”

Like old times, former Police Chief Dave Snowden emceed the

pageant and City Manager Allan Roeder was one of the judges. Roeder

said he used a more complex scoring system than some of the other

judges.

“Dave said, ‘This isn’t the city budget,’ and I said, ‘No, it’s

more difficult,’” Roeder joked. “They teased me for my attention to

detail, which is sort of what I do.”

Roeder said Jordi’s ability to convey her thoughts clearly

impressed him.

Jordi said she is considering Vanguard University and Point Loma

Nazarene University in San Diego as colleges to attend. She is

thinking about going into broadcast journalism or family and consumer

sciences, an umbrella field covering essential subjects for raising a

family such as child psychology and culinary arts.

As Miss Costa Mesa, Jordi will represent the city at events like

groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings, Schafer said. To increase the

number of contestants for next year’s pageant, Schafer said she wants

to do more promotion.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].