By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
BENTON HARBOR - A nice girl in a brown dress won.
Miss Blossomtime Kaylee Magro also was selected Miss Congeniality Monday night by her 23 competitors, a dual achievement which occurs so rarely no one could immediately say when it might have happened last, if ever, in 73 years of southwestern Michigan community queens.
Kaylee can be a witch, too.
She expects to play the wicked one from the West in a May production of "The Wizard of Oz" at the New Buffalo Performing Arts Center.
Preparation for that role will include "a lot of time in front of the mirror, practicing that laugh," Kaylee said.
Performing in theater and dance - and she's said to be a good singer, too - are her passions.
That kind of range will determine if she reaches her ultimate destination - Broadway.
In the meantime, Miss Blossomtime expects to spend a couple of years in Dowagiac.
Kaylee, a New Buffalo High School senior competing as Contestant 23, Miss Three Oaks, wants to continue her education at Southwestern Michigan College due to the strength of its performing arts program "and because of the scholarship opportunities they offer."
Then she will transfer to Columbia College in Chicago.
The 2005 bud queen stands 5-foot-7 and is the daughter of John and Kimberly Magro.
She turned 18 Jan. 29. She is the first Three Oaks Miss Blossomtime since Jackie Marschke in 1992.
Bright yellow like the sun, she said as one of 10 finalists when asked what color best describes her personality. Like the sun, she's always vibrant and excited.
Kaylee has brown hair and brown eyes and found success in Sunday night's Showcase of Queens as one of three communications winners with her commercial for Bit-o-Honey as Winnie the Pooh.
And then there was her striking brown gown Monday night.
It was unique in a sea of sherbet sheaths spanning the Lake Michigan College Mendel Center Mainstage.
First runner-up, Contestant 24 and Miss Watervliet Kourtney Marvin, chose a green gown, but said she's red at heart because that hue, which they painted tinsel town in for the "Hollywood Stars" "There's No Business Like Show Business" opener, can be sophisticated when need be - or sassy and fun, too.
Edwardsburg kept second runner-up in the family, with 2004's Jessica Neagu crowning junior Chelsie Baucus, who competed as Contestant 11.
Cass County was also heard from when Cassopolis won $475 for selling the most tickets of any local committee.
Finalist Miss Buchanan Chelsea Ghatoaura said yellow was the color that described her personality. She likes to be bright like the sun. That's also what Kaylee said. When Chelsie gave a variation on that answer, the audience laughed, but her composure never cracked.
Chelsie immediately recognized that the titters were for three similar answers and not directed at her and shrugged it off.
The first finalist called was Miss Berrien Springs Jessica Gilbert. She swatted the softball question a country mile, saying green was her favorite color, a harbinger of spring and new beginnings and, of course, her school color as a Shamrock. She even slid in a "Go! 'Rocks!"
Miss St. Joseph Meenakshi Davuluri, who prepared for the career she wants as a doctor by volunteering last summer at a hospital in India, picked blue because she's an open person, "like the ocean and sky."
Miss Bridgman Abbey Nemitz chose her favorite color, pink - cheerful, outgoing and fun, like her.
Miss Paw Paw Danielle Small said orange - it's vibrant and lively, like her.
Completing the 10 finalists, Miss Galien Paige Olney pointed to her purple dress. That color is bright and cheerful, like her.
She plays softball and serves as class representative in Student Senate.
Her favorite musicals include "Oklahoma" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."
Of the work leading up to this moment, Kaylee recounted, "Starting a month ago, we had practices every Sunday. You got to meet these 23 other amazing girls and 44 guys who are actually pretty amazing, too. Every Sunday was a blast. Monday you were always tired, but you enjoyed Sunday. Staying in the hotel we had a lot of girl time and got to know each other on a personal level. A lot of us had no more than four hours of sleep, but your adrenaline gets going and you enjoy it a lot."