A Rare Beauty of Poise and Politics

Your new 2012 Miss. Memorial Day is.... Miss. Reba Shelby Jack!"

That was the announcement at the seventh annual Miss. Memorial Day Pageant! Dressed in a soft blue evening gown and a crowd pleasing smile, Miss Jack impressed the judges with her many hours of service to her community, her excellent communication skills and her ease on the stage. " I am excited to have a queen that understands that service is what the meaning of wearing a crown is all about," said Cynthia Montogmery, owner and director of the Miss. Memorial Day Organization. The pageant places their winning queens and princesses in places where they learn about their community, state government, the military and patriotism.  

"Our pageant focuses strickly on teaching our girls about elections, government, our military, and patriotism," said Montgomery. "There are wonderful other pageants that offer young women exposure to volunteering in other areas but we focus on patriotism," she stated.  "We are excited that Miss Jack's year long attention and platform will be within our pageant's field," Montgomery stated. 

Miss. Jack's platform, during her reign as Miss Memorial Day, is the Steven Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. The Foundation has established the "Let Us Do Good Programs" that strive to make a lasting and positive difference in the lives of others. One of their programs is called “In the Line of Duty” and it pays tribute to the 343 FDNY fallen brothers who sacrificed their lives on 9/11. Their annual race, called the Tunnel To Towers Run, supports the Weill-Cornell Burn Center and Burn Centers across America. They also restore shattered lives by building homes for surviving quadriplegic servicemen returning from combat. This summer the organization will be building homes here in Georgia for two soldiers, both triple amputees. "All of the money we collected at the Dacula Memorial Day Festival, by face painting and tattooing will being donated to this worthy organization," said Miss. Jack.

Miss. Jack's first order of business was to lead her fellow queens and princesses in the design of the Miss Memorial Day float to appear in the Dacula Memorial Day Parade which took the prize for Most Patriotic Float.  

"She went right to work and they came up with a great design," said Montgomery. Next, Miss Jack and her fellow queens will be hosting the "2012 Your Vote Counts" Dinner Debate this Thursday night at Stars and Strikes at 6 p.m. as well as holding a voter registration drive from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the same location.  

Miss. Jack is the daughter of Ms. Diane Jones, and recently graduated from Dacula High School. She teaches a fourth-grade Sunday school class in her church and has plans to attend Georgia Gwinnett College in the fall. Miss. Jack's plans are to obtain a bachelor’s degree to become an RN in a pediatric hospital.

She has served over 1,100 hours of community service in 2010 and 2011 and received four gold medals from the President’s Council on Civic Service and Volunteerism. Shelby was also recognized by the Georgia House of Representatives with a resolution commending her for community service.

Miss. Jack led a campaign to collect over 1,100 children’s books for The Boys and Girls Club Organization. She packed meals for the Feed My Starving Children Organization, she sorted toy donations at Toys for Tots, face-painted and read books to homeless and foster children at the American Youth Council’s Holiday for Hope Christmas event. She also visited Dacula Elementary School weekly this past year to read to students as part of the Read to Succeed program. This past February, she delivered Valentines to veterans at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. She was a featured speaker at City Hall in Dacula’s Day of Service on 9/11, where she gave a speech to explain what volunteering means to her and recently she was honored by Governor Nathan Deal for her outstanding community service.   

Some of the organizations Miss. Jack has worked for are the Gwinnett County Relay for Life, Gwinnett County Special Olympics, Walk for Autism Speaks Now, Easter Seals Walk, Day of Hope, Step Out for Diabetes Walk, Skylar’s Run for special needs children, Walk for Lupus Now and the Ms. Senior Athens Pageant to benefit Meals on Wheels.

Miss Jack is a true example of what a pageant girl should be. "We see and hear all the time about pageant girls that can't remember whom the vice president is or worse, but I believe that Miss Jack is the true representative of what a pageant girl really is!" said Montgomery.  

The Miss Memorial Day Queens will be at the Stars and Strikes at 1700 Winder Hwy, Thursday June 14, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. registering voters. Also as part of her duties at Miss Memorial Day, Miss Jack will be searching for a young lady that will be crowned Miss Stars and Strikes on Saturday at the family entertainment center. For more information on Miss Reba Shelby Jack or the Miss Memorial Day Organization, please go to Missmemorialday.com or call Miss Jack's director at 770 826-8704