Barbie Meyer announced this week that she is ending her involvement with the Miss Seal Beach Pageant and letting the sun set—at least for now—on the event that has long been a part of the city of Seal Beach’s community fabric.
“It’s time for me to close this chapter of my life,” said Meyer, who said she has been distracted by her mother’s declining health over the past couple of years.
Meyer, who began donating her time and energy to the event in1986, has been a hands-on director of the Miss Seal Beach Pageant since 1990.
“I didn’t get involved until 1990,” Meyer said. “That was when Dennis Pollman and the Seal Beach Business Association were very involved in supporting the pageant.
“We had a lot of Main Street businesses that were represented at our meetings. We also had financial support from the city as well.”
That has all dwindled in recent years Meyer said.
“It all started with Kristy Mutch who became Miss Seal Beach in 1986.” Meyer said. “She has been the pageant’s co-chair with me for the past 14 years and was a big part of its success … I’ve done it the last six years by myself,” Meyer said.
Meyer said the event has become too much for her to oversee by herself. She also noted that times have changed. She said that economic hard times seem to have made it harder to find sponsors for the contestants, which have grown in number significantly over the years as has the size of the Miss Seal Beach court and various queens of varying age groups.
Meyer said she was proud of how the Miss Seal Beach Pageant developed over the years.
“I wanted it always to be about the girls and their growth as people,” Meyer said. “My heart’s desire was to look for pageant contestants who were actually looking at this like applying for a job or other responsibility. I wanted them to take away some things from the experience that they could apply to the rest of their life.”
Meyer said the Miss Seal Beach Pageant was not just about winning a crown or the scholarship money awarded as prizes.
“It was not just about glitz and glamour, but fulfilling their commitment as a representative of Miss Seal Beach,” Meyer said.
Meyer said that over the years the pageant drew participation from an impressive array of local girls and young women who participated in their community by visiting the elderly and lonely at nursing homes and veterans events.
“The girls were always there helping out at things like the Thanksgiving Dinner at St. Anne’s Church,” Meyer said. “It was about learning to be in service to others.”
Meyer said she does not regret her time heading up the pageant.
“It has been such a joy to serve as the director of this event,” Meyer said. “I just feel that we are in a new season. Young women are so busy with school and so many activities that it is difficult for them to take on one more thing. I believe there are those that would want to do it, but they just don’t have the time any longer.”
Meyer said she thinks that at this time pageants may have lost some of their relevance.
“There are so many ways for young women to express themselves,” Meyer said. “However, these things tend to come full circle. If in a new season, someone chose to pick up the mantle and start the pageant in a new and different way, then I wish them all the luck.”
Meyer said that she would hope that any future incarnation of the Miss Seal Beach Pageant would keep the philosophy she said she tried to instill.
“The Miss Seal Beach Pageant was never about the contestants’ shape on the outside but about the size of their heart and the person inside,” Meyer said. “Spending every rehearsal with them I was able to see their real beauty and how they would interact with each other.”
