MISS MISSOURI PURSUED 'JOB'; 'PATCHES' KING SAYS SHE APPRECIATES ALL THE LOCAL HELP

After graduating from Southeast Missouri State University last month, Patryce "Patches" King interviewed and auditioned for her first job last weekend. Her family, her roommate, her boyfriend and her cheering sisters from Sigma Alpha Iota professional music fraternity were there with nearly a thousand others to see her get hired.

Applying for a job is the way the newest Miss Missouri approached last weekend's pageant. "People don't think of it as a job," she said in a phone interview from Mexico, Mo., Tuesday. "But you have to be professional, knowledgeable about your subject and talented as well."

The piano-performance graduate of Southeast won both the talent and swimsuit preliminaries on her way to the Miss Missouri title. She had competed in the pageant twice before, finishing in the top 10 last year.

The 23-year-old King had plentiful thank-yous for people in Cape Girardeau, starting with all her music professors and especially Dr. Robert Gifford, who allowed her to play her competition piece, "Rhapsody in Blue," with the Southeast Wind Ensemble in May. "That gave me the security to perform well at the pageant," King said.

But giving a good interview was key to her.

"If you can relate to the judges they're automatically going to like you," said King, who is from Wien, a town of 52 people one and one-half hours from Columbia.

The platform she chose for the pageant was empowered youth make a difference.

"Parents, community leaders and teachers need to get kids involved in community activities so they can discover, recognize and develop their specialized skills," she said.

"In my life it was music. Music helped to empower me."

Increasing activities for kids will decrease violence, she added.

During Saturday night's competition, the judges asked her why she skydives.

"If you can jump out of an airplane you can do almost anything," she told them.

While at Southeast, King was an accompanist for a group of Southeast students who went to Rome to perform in an opera festival. She also won the Concerto and Aria Competition one year and won the top award in a competition sponsored by the Missouri Music Educators.

Preparing for the Miss Missouri pageant was much less exhausting than rehearsing for her senior recital, King said. Two of Cape Girardeau's best young musicians, violinist Liesl Schoenberger and cellist Kirk Miller, performed with King in her senior recital.

On Sundays the past few years, she played the piano for services at the Salvation Army and taught a Sunday school class of teen-agers.

"The Salvation Army has helped build my character and my faith," she said.

Jackie Thieke, office manager for the Salvation Army in Cape Girardeau, said the outgoing King was "very encouraging for the kids. She always expressed to them that God is the important one."

King said she owes everything to the people who have helped her achieve this success.

"I'm incredibly humbled. I want everyone to think of me, support me and pray for me on this new journey. All the people I know down there have touched my life, and that's going to enable me to touch many more lives in the future."

Any organization that wants to book an appearance by the new Miss Missouri can do so by phoning Steve Maxey at 1-(800)-THE LAKE.

King will perform at the Illinois state pageant on Friday and will begin making other appearances as Miss Missouri. Her job now is to train for the Miss America pageant Sept. 12 in Atlantic City.

"I feel like Rocky," she said. "I've got my soundtrack ready."