Sunday, Nov. 01, 2009

McKendree homecoming queens have a royal time telling tales

Pauline Hermes wasn't crowned homecoming queen at McKendree University in 1956, but she found her prince.

The freshman queen candidate started dating her escort, freshman class president Melvin "Bucky" Jordan, who later became her husband.

The university was a different place in those days. Pauline remembers her dorm mother waiting at the door to see if girls made curfew.

"One night I came in, and she said, 'That was quite a goodnight kiss you got,'" said Pauline, 71, of Columbus, Ind. "She didn't miss a thing."

Pauline and Bucky are two of about 40 former homecoming court members who returned to McKendree for a reunion last month and rode in the homecoming parade. Many had interesting stories to tell.

Shirley (Bergman) Bailey recalls students helping with the university's fall yard work in the 1940s.

"All the classes were canceled for one day, and all the students went out and raked leaves," she said.

First freshman queen

Shirley was McKendree's first freshman homecoming queen in 1942. She wore a brown suit, not a ball gown, to the coronation.

The university didn't have a football team at the time. Homecoming took place during basketball season.

"Mr. (Clark) Yost was the president," Shirley said. "He crowned me, and he gave me a huge bouquet of red roses. Then we had a luncheon over at Pearson Hall, and then we went to the Philo-Plato basketball game. Those two were rivals."

Shirley graduated from McKendree in 1945 with a music degree and went on to teach more than 30 years in Belleville schools.

Her husband, former WIBV-AM radio station manager Bill Bailey, died nine years ago.

Shirley looks back on her college years with fondness and pride.

"It was quite an honor being the first freshman homecoming queen," she said. "It was usually a senior."

Engagement surprise

McKendree's 1954 homecoming coronation was both exciting and romantic for Marilyn (Doane) Kohlmiller, 75, of Belleville.

She was crowned queen as a sophomore, wearing a long, white taffeta dress with a fitted, off-the-shoulders bodice and net overlay on the skirt.

Her fiance, Darrell Kohlmiller, served as the senior candidate's escort.

The couple already had picked out Marilyn's engagement ring, but it was being sized at the jewelry shop. At least that's what she thought.

"After I was given the basketball (on the cafeteria stage), Darrell just walked over and got down on his knee and put the ring on my finger in front of everybody," Marilyn said. "They were all laughing and clapping. It was just shocking. I guess my mouth was hanging open. It was fun."

Marilyn, a retired teachers aide, and Darrell have been married 55 years.

No dancing allowed

Pauline (Hermes) Jordan attended McKendree only one year in the 1950s, but it made a lasting impression.

"It was a school where you knew all the professors, and the professors knew you," she said. "They had a real interest in your being successful. They would help you find a job. It was like a large family."

But that familiarity created challenges for students who didn't follow the rules.

"Chapel was required in those days," said Pauline. "There was somebody in the balcony who took attendance, and it wasn't just to see how many were there. It was to see who was there, and who wasn't there."

McKendree's homecoming festivities didn't include a dance back then. The Methodist institution prohibited dancing at school functions until 1961.

Pauline went to the coronation in a borrowed strapless taffeta and lace gown with a hoop skirt.

Queen candidates practiced how to curtsy low to the floor when they reached the front of Bothwell Chapel.

"We got to have our favorite songs played as we walked down the aisle," said Pauline, who married after a year of college. "I think I had 'September Song.'"

She's a retired fragrance representative. Pauline and Bucky have been married 52 years.

Breaking racial barriers

Laura (Easley) Royston made history at McKendree's 1973 homecoming as the first black to be crowned queen.

"I wasn't sure I would get it," said Royston, 56, of Jacksonville, Fla. "I was like, 'How can I be a queen? Minorities can't do this.' But I was a minority, and the numbers just added up."

Laura's escort was a black basketball player named Dave Ellis. She wore a long, black velveteen dress with a white satin collar.

The coronation included a slide presentation on each queen candidate. At another event, Laura and her dance partner, Chondus Smooth, won a disco dance contest.

Laura lived 15 years in Germany before getting a job as a biology teacher at a magnet school in Florida. Her husband, Carl, is deceased.

Laura still feels good about breaking racial barriers in her little part of the world.

"I think it was the right time," she said. "I think McKendree had a little bit different atmosphere after that."

Queen turned professor

One homecoming queen, Jean Scheller-Sampson, returned to McKendree as an employee. She's an assistant professor of management.

Jean was a senior when she was crowned in 1982. She graduated the following spring with a business degree before earning master's and doctorate degrees at Webster University.

"My daughters still play with my crown today," said Jean, 47, of Maryville, who has five children with her husband, Adam.

Her homecoming escort, Bill Irwin, was her boyfriend at the time. She received a purple velvet cape to wear to the formal dinner and dance.

Jean's mother's friend made her simple long, purple taffeta gown.

"I didn't look at it as a real beauty contest," she said. "But it was an acceptance from your peers, and that was important. It was just kind of cool to be nominated by your peers."