A Mechanicsville rite of spring
By Ken Odor
Mar 12, 2008

I’ve always thought that the Miss Mechanicsville pageant put on by the Pamunkey Junior Woman’s Club was one of the events that made Mechanicsville the unique community that it is.

The annual pageant with a more than 30 year history took center stage again last weekend, when Victoria Maiden was crowned as Miss Mechanicsville, accompanied by her younger companions, Hannah Tibbett as Junior Miss Mechanicsville and Taylor Dawson as Little Miss Mechanicsville.

I started going to the annual quest to find the young woman who would wear the Miss Mechanicsville crown each year back in the 1980s, when I worked as staff photographer for the Richmond Suburban Newspaper group.

It was an assignment that I looked forward to most years, although sometimes other activities beckoned on a Saturday night.
The special entertainment was always entertaining, and the contestants’ talent competition alone was worth the price of admission.
Of course the press got in free, but you know what I mean.

Last Saturday night’s event was the third in a row that I farmed out to talented photographer Skip Rowland, and as usual, the combination of the event itself and Rowland’s talents resulted in some stunning photos to accompany our story by staff writer Amy Condra.

This time around we decided to try our hand at producing a slide show to post on our web site, and hopefully by the time these printed words reach their destination in your mailbox, even more images will be available for your enjoyment at http://www.mechlocal.com. Just as over the years Mechanicsville has grown, so has the event, and so has the technology we now use to cover it.

In fact, one is tempted to stretch the metaphor of change (so popular this year) even further to take in the newspaper business as a whole.

I’ll just give it a try.

As the industry adapts to the new information age of computers, web sites and instant updates, we’re doing the same thing here at the Local.
Although we trust that folks will never tire of perusing the Local at their leisure in its traditional form, we know that more and more often readers are turning to the internet to get the latest information on topics local and worldwide.

Here at the Mechanicsville Local we’re hip to the change, and are working to improve our web site and the interaction between ourselves and our readers that the web makes possible.

Further down the road look for more slide shows, with audio as well when possible.

But that doesn’t mean our core product has lost our attention. In the near future look for a new and fresh rendition of your weekly copy of the print edition of the Local, with an enhanced redesign we hope will make it an even more integral part of the community.

We hope you’ll agree that while changing with the times, we’re keeping what’s always been good while staying on top of what’s new.

Please let us know what you think about our efforts, both on the web and in print.

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