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National honor earned by Ms. Senior Mass.

National honor earned by Ms. Senior Mass. ms-sr-ma-seated.jpg
Prime photo courtesy of Bert Krasner
Dr. Bobbie Rennix of Springfield takes second runner-up at Ms. Senior America pageant By Mike Briotta PRIME Editor When Dr. Bobbie Rennix first wore the 2009 Ms. Senior Massachusetts crown nearly one year ago, she could not have predicted she would go on to place among the top 10 in the Ms. Senior America pageant this fall at Harrah's in Atlantic City, N.J. The 62-year-old Rennix earned second runner-up among candidates from 33 states in early October. It marked the highest finish by any Ms. Senior Massachusetts in the history of local participation in the national pageant. And, like many things in her life, it didn't come easily. "It was so fast-paced, I didn't get any rest," she said upon returning from the trip. "They [event organizers] forgot that we were seniors in our 60s, 70s and 80s. The schedule was grueling. We had orientation on Sunday, and they were also featuring teenage night or college night [at the venue]. Someone who had a room above us didn't stop partying. They brought it to the room. Security finally was called around 5 or 6 a.m. but I had to be up at 7 a.m."
Bobbie Rennix is a Springfield educator and reigning 2009 Ms. Senior Mass.

She said of the predicament, "My neighbor came with me and was my chaperone. Luckily, she made me some coffee that morning, I had crackers and grapefruit, and I was on my way. I probably only had about an hours' sleep to start the pageant." Rennix was in Atlantic City through the first full week of October, with rehearsals lasting all day long, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. "We had a half-hour break for lunch at 12:15 p.m. and had to be back by 12:45 p.m. My room was a quarter-mile from the theater," she said. "There was only time for a quick lunch, maybe three bites of a hamburger, and I was gone again. I think the break should be a little longer." Regardless of the challenging circumstances, however, Rennix is not one to shy away from adversity. Even when she entered the auditorium, heard angelic singing voices, and saw an array of other great talents, Rennix would be daunted but not deterred. "When I heard those talents, I said, 'Oh my goodness,'" she recalled. "I called home and said, 'I don't have a chance.' I've seen every type of pageant there is. I've been around talent. However, these seniors were so talented, graceful, dynamic and educated. For example, at least five of us had a doctorate, and there was one dentist. Many were teachers. I've never seen such elegance." Her family back home in Springfield reminded Rennix by phone that she, too, was a talented performer and an educated woman with all the style and grace of every other contestant - perhaps more. She picked up her head, as she always had in the past, and soldiered on. "I was sixteenth in line," she said. "We had opera singers, jazz singers. People who had been on tour with Bob Hope and in pageants for their entire lives. There were classical pianists, too. Out of all the musicians, I couldn't tell you who was best." Rennix added, "They were all unbelievable. There were people with 40 to 50 years of experience in dancing schools; tap-dancers and cloggers. There were two baton-twirlers. It was hard to even imagine that evening who would make the top 10." Personal Narrative The women were judged by a panel of five experts according to the following categories: age-appropriate evening wear, talent, interview skills, and philosophy of life. Rennix's talent, a dramatic monologue about a moment of personal crisis, would steal the show during the first night of competition. She spoke, nearly to the point of tears, about being suddenly asked to step down from a job that she loved. Rennix had been in a school administrative position in Springfield through 2004. "It was about a woman who was a teacher; who lived her dream. She got her dream job, but had to leave it," Rennix said. "There were no calls, no justification, and no closure. She doesn't really know what happened. She says, 'Why are you doing this to me? I haven't done anything wrong.' Near the end of the story, I reveal that this person was me. My heart is pounding, I'm shaking. I'm screaming, begging, and pleading for some answers." Although she wasn't quite sure at first how the monologue affected the audience, Rennix soon found out that people were enthralled by her moving performance. "That night, before I could get off the elevator, people were bombarding me," she said. "They were saying that they cried and asking me, 'You wrote that?' I started feeling a little better." Her monologue was titled "Reflection of a Dream." Based in part on its strength, she would be chosen into the pageant's top 10 that Wednesday. Philosophy of life, another component of the pageant, would turn out to be another home run for Rennix. "My philosophy of life is pretty strong," she said. "I am blessed, but I talk about this: If you don't know where you are going, any trip will do. Someone must come before you as a positive image, a role model and motivator. One's purpose is to assist others." Power of Education Growing up in Arkansas, Rennix attended all segregated schools through 1965. She found such role models in her mother, who was handicapped, and her father who made certain that she got a proper education. "We had hand-me-down desks and books from the white school," she said. "We had typewriters that didn't work and books that were 10-15 years old. But I always craved education. I would make sure all my children got the best education possible." She continued about the challenges she faced, "Even when you went to a doctor, you had a different waiting room. Our waiting room was hot, no air-conditioning, and it was full of torn-up chairs. We couldn't go inside certain restrooms or movie theaters." When Rennix doubted that she could attend college at Henderson State University, her father gave her some very clear advice, which would stick with her on her life's journey. "He said, 'There's nothing wrong with your brain,'" Rennix recalled. "And by the time I left there, I was on the Dean's List." This achievement was earned despite a lot of institutionalized racism against the just 60 African-Americans among a class of about 4,000 students overall. "Some of the professors acted like we didn't even exist," she said. It was also quite an accomplishment for someone hailing from a small town in Arkansas, the population of which at the time was a mere 310 people. The sharecropping population has since dwindled, and Rennix estimates that only about 100 people live there now. "I came from this little town, and I made it," she said. "Most of the men were sharecroppers. My dad was a sharecropper. My mom [suffered from rheaumatoid arthritis] from the time I was one or two years old. I never saw my mom walk." She added, "We wore clothes made from feed sacks and bought clothes from rummage sales. When we went to town to pick out a feed sack, it was like going to Macy's. One sack would make a skirt, two would make a dress. We may not have been rich, but I've never been hungry, and always had a roof over my head." Rennix would finish her undergraduate degree, then obtain her Master's Degree in Education from the University of Massachusetts before earning her doctorate in Educational Leadership at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. She began working for the Springfield school stytem as a teacher in 1969; eventually holding administrative positions including elementary school vice principal and principal. Her motto has always been that every child should be afforded a quality education under equitable conditions. The pageant judges in Atlantic City were equally impressed by educational background and her well-balanced character. "The pageant was phenomenal," she said. "It was the experience of a lifetime. The only regret I have is not having enough time to get acquainted with the other women. The only people you really get to talk much with are the person in front of you and the person in back of you." All told, it was another extraordinary achievement from a woman whose life is all about overcoming the hardships set in her way. "I am very pleased," she said. "So pleased with my accomplishments. I couldn't have asked for anything else. I feel so accomplished and so good. I accomplished something for Massachusetts, Springfield, and for myself." "The support I had from the community could not have been any better," Rennix said. "I beat out 31 very talented women and represented Massachusetts. I didn't come in first. But I did win. I call it a journey; the journey of a lifetime." PRIME Bookmark and Share