February 7, 2001
TC resident recalls her crowing achievement
Elizabeth Stokes competed for title of Mrs. America 41 years ago
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
A one-woman media blitz, Elizabeth "Buff" Stokes descended on Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., 41 years ago spreading word about Traverse City and cherries all during the Mrs. America Pageant. With her brilliant smile, poise, style and domestic flair, the 1959 Mrs. Michigan placed as first runner up in the contest, setting off a year of travel, speeches and media appearances.
For a relatively shy housewife who devoted herself to raising her four children, the whole year was the experience of a lifetime.
"I was thrilled to death because I could tell everybody about Traverse City," said Stokes, who moved here in 1954. "I was a super Traverse City representative. My grandpa lived here and I came up ever since I was born, though I am from Chicago."
Traverse City residents reveled in her first runner up showing. That night she received a 21-foot long telegram from Western Union including best wishes from more than 800 people, personally delivered by the company's executives. Although she was a relative newcomer to Traverse City when she headed to Florida as Mrs. Michigan, city residents threw their support behind her. Bartling's department store gave her clothes, including the evening gown she wore at the pageant. A send-off at the airport drew the mayor and other city dignitaries.
While in Florida, Traverse City area businesses sent her enough ingredients for a giant cherry pie, which the hotel chef prepared so she could share it with everyone at the pageant. Businesses also sent her enough cherry products that she made a basket representing Traverse City for each contestant. Both events set her apart from the other contestants, she said, some of whom were jealous of her because of it.
Cherries also helped her garner first place for her yeast bread, one of many of her first and second place showings in events.
"Mr. Fleishman himself presented me with the silver plate," said Stokes, who also won the West Bend Trophy for meal planning - an all-American meal that featured cherries.
Other events at the pageant ranged from dying a tablecloth, shopping and cleaning a rug to washing clothes, washing dishes and fixing hair. All events were geared to a product featured by one of the nearly two dozen sponsors. Contestants also had to write essays about how they managed their homes and children.
"My profession was a homemaker, but I was no expert," said Stokes, who was a Girl Scout troop leader and active in the National Cherry Festival at the time. "I liked to cook but I told them I don't iron; they said, 'That's good because we don't have an ironing contest.'"
As she wound her way through the grueling competitions and placed in the top ten, WTCM reporter Ken Haven and Bill Smith from the Record-Eagle flew down to cover the happenings.
"They were having a good time while I was slaving away in a 120 degree hall, baking, cooking and cleaning," said Stokes, recalling the large, non-airconditioned auditorium the pageant had set up with 20 kitchens and laundry facilities.
Television viewers around the city and state stayed glued to their sets during those weeks, watching the first-ever broadcast of the Mrs. America pageant. The final night of the pageant, Stokes remembered wishing she was back in Traverse City. It was the opening night of the Traverse City Country Club, which had burned down and just been rebuilt. All her friends were there and she missed being with them.
"They had 10 televisions set up in there and a lot of people went home to watch it," she said. "When I heard about that, I was so excited."
When the winning Mrs. America resigned after eight months, worn down by the grueling schedule, Stokes assumed the mantle. She had already traveled extensively in Michigan, meeting the governor and addressing the state legislature, but now her scope widened to include the whole country. For the next four months, she traveled four days each week, accompanied by a friend, a publicist and a photographer capturing every event.
"People would ask me to tell my experience of how I became Mrs. Michigan and Mrs. America," Stokes said. "I think the pageant was a wonderful idea. I am not a women's libber but I feel women should get their due."
Reflecting back on her whirlwind year, Stokes is sure it is not something she would do again.
"I am glad I did it, though," she said. "So many people in Traverse City are so sweet now, especially the older ladies. When I go to meetings or the grocery store, some come up to me real shy, like I am someone special, and say they remember me."