BOSSIER CITY, La. -- Gaynell Colburn, a concert percussionist and vocalist from Baltimore who became a paraplegic in a 1974 accident, Saturday was crowned Miss Wheelchair America 1984-85.
Ms. Colburn, who has college degrees in science and liberal arts and has performed with Stevie Wonder, Bill Cosby and Lola Falana, also was named Miss Congeniality in the three-day pageant at the Bossier Hilton.
Ms. Colburn won the titles after competing with representatives of 12 states and Puerto Rico in the 13th annual pageant.
The women were judged on their accomplishments, their ability to communicate and their perceptions of themselves -- what pageant coordinators call 'inner beauty.'
Miss North Carolina, Debby Casey of Winston-Salem, was first runnerup. She is a freelance writer with a master's degree in education and was named Single Parent of the Year for Winston-Salem. Ms. Casey was diagnosed as having Friedreich's Ataxia when she was 7.
Evelyn Gilbert Ethridge, of Augusta, Ga., who has college degrees in English and business education and has worked as a bookkeeper at Paine College, was second runnerup. She became a quadriplegic in a 1956 car accident.
Third runnerup was Miss Louisiana, Patricia Ingram Jones of Monroe. She has degrees in sociology and social science, a master of education degree in guidance and psychology and a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling. Ms. Jones contracted polio when she was seven months old.
The outgoing Miss Wheelchair America, Lori Cottam of Utah, turned her crown over to Ms. Colburn before about 300 people at Saturday night's finale.
Other contestants were Diane Victor, Miss Illinois; Linda Wolford, Miss Minnesota; Maryann Mesday, Miss Nevada; Mary Truett, Miss South Carolina; Kathryn Donoho, Miss Texas; Sharon Lundell, Miss Utah; Virginia G. Palmer, Miss Virginia; Pamela Spurlock Boggess, Miss West Virginia, and Myriam Cruz Cruz, Miss Puerto Rico.
