Meeker woman wins statewide beauty pageant

MEEKER | Beauty pageants are about, well, beauty. But for Roni Bibb, it is about more than physical beauty. A lot more.
It’s about promoting a cause.
“It’s not how you look in the crown, but what you do with the crown,” Bibb said. “I finally figured that out after four years of competing.”
Bibb, a 47-year-old grandmother, was crowned Mrs. Colorado International Oct. 24 at Montrose. She will represent Colorado in July 2010 in Chicago at the Mrs. International contest.
Bibb’s platform of awareness, education and prevention of the devastating effects of domestic violence on children, families and communities hits close to home.
As a child, she experienced domestic violence firsthand.
“The ones you don’t see are the kids, like me at 9 years old. I went and hid under the bed when my mom and step-dad fought. I kept saying the only prayer I could remember, which was the “Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep” prayer. I still remember what that fear was like. I still get that twist in my stomach,” Bibb said.
Bibb said domestic violence is “not a glamorous platform,” but it’s one she can identify with and one she feels very strongly about.
“There were five of us girls,” Bibb said of her siblings. “I’m the second oldest. We had all of the abuses people don’t imagine. We had the mental, emotional abuse. We had the sexual abuse. The five girls, all of us have lived such different lives. One chooses to deal with it like it never happened. The youngest (sister) died four years ago. They say it was heart disease. I think she died of a broken heart. The second to youngest is dying of diabetes. I think she suffered most of the emotional abuse. Her dad told her every day he hated her.”
Bibb said having the title of Mrs. Colorado International will afford her many opportunities to promote awareness of her platform.
“That’s what I’m hoping, to make people aware of the devastating effects of domestic violence, to break that cycle of abuse,” Bibb said. “There are just so many functions (she will attend), where I will be able to speak for the children. Hopefully I can make a difference, even if it’s just with one kid.”
Competing in pageants such as Mrs. Colorado International has helped Bibb with her own self-esteem and self-confidence.
“I never thought I could do anything like this,” she said. “Usually when you hear about beauty pageants, it’s a lifestyle. It’s not something you start doing after you’re 40.”
Bibb waited until her children were grown — she and husband Billy have two daughters and a son — before entering her first pageant.
“I was 42 the first year I think I competed,” she said. “I was 43 when I got my modeling contract and did my first magazine cover. I could’ve never been comfortable doing this when the kids were home. I was never willing to give those reins away.”
Bibb recognizes some people may question her motivation or are skeptical of a woman her age competing in a beauty pageant.
“Some people look at you like, Why are you doing this at your age?” Bibb said. “I’ve even had people say it. To them, I say, I wanted to do it. If they felt like they could do it, they would do it, too. For me, it has been a huge confidence boost. I really do believe competition is healthy. You challenge yourself for more.”
Her family has been supportive of her competing, which means more to Bibb than the opinion of others.
“Billy, he’s always proud. He’s always wanted me to do what makes me happy,” she said of her husband of 27 years. “And my kids, they were all very excited.”
Bibb has competed in both the Mrs. Colorado America and Mrs. Colorado International pageants.
“They both pride themselves on involving married women, but, I think one is more beauty pageant based, and the one I competed in this time is more platform based,” she said.
Bibb has been named Most Photogenic twice, including this year, and the Longest Years Married. She was also the first grandmother — she has five grandchildren — to make the top 15 in the Mrs. Colorado America pageant.
“I’m usually one of the older ones (competing),” Bibb said. “But I always pride myself that I’m one of the oldest ones out there. It’s a good thing.”
While she admits it used to sting when people were judgmental of her participating in beauty pageants, Bibb said it gives her a sense of purpose. She sees it as an opportunity to make a difference.
“In the beginning, it kind of hurt my feelings, what people thought,” Bibb said. “But, the way I look at it, I’m doing something very good. I think it’s why I’m here.”