Clover’s Womanless Pageant raises $32K for St. Jude Hospital

The unladylike antics of 15 contestants in drag drew more than 800 onlookers to Clover School District Auditorium on Saturday night for the sixth annual Moped to Memphis Womanless Beauty Pageant. The event raised $32,000 for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, an increase of $7,000 from the previous year.

Following the dramatic interview, talent and evening gown competitions, LaShawndra Latta played by Shawn Latta was crowned Miss Moped 2016. The pageant was hosted by Tracy Stiff, and Grant Zavitkovsky served as emcee.

The Miss Moped 2016 court was made up of Jimmy Shree, Cameron Marvin, Gavin Jenkins, Seth Hurst, Hayden Parsons, Nic Taylor, Nathaniel Hartley, Matthew Chase, Preston Hill, Ethan Armstrong, Justin White, Craig Lucas, Jody Brown, Clint Boyd and Shawn Latta.

The court generally includes Clover area high school students, school district employees and community members. For the second year in what promises to be an annual tradition, the Clover school district maintenance department has offered up one of its own as a contestant. This year that honor went to Jimmy Shreve, who performed as Jamie Parton.

“Sometimes I wonder if they enjoy it or not. They act like they don’t but I think they do. They’re good sports. When they say they’re going to do something, they go all out. Sometimes they take it a little too seriously,” said Frank Falls.

From humble beginnings in 2008 as a service project of the seniors in Falls’ economics class at Clover High School, Moped to Memphis has grown into a cause embraced by the Clover community at large. This year, the organization became a 501c3 charity and has raised $450,000 to date with a goal of donating $1 million by 2020.

Patient’s families do not pay for services at St. Jude’s, so donations from individuals and communities are essential to cover operating expenses, said SJCRH Development Advisor Anna Haug, who has worked with the Moped to Memphis organization for four years.

The Moped to Memphis crew delivers donations collected throughout the year in an annual Spring Break trek by moped from Clover to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

“Every penny is given to St. Jude’s. It’s just such an inspirational place,” Falls said. “Miracles happen there every day. I wish it didn’t have to be there, but you see their stories and it inspires you to do more. When you see how much it costs to run the hospital — $2 million a day — we can help run it for about 10 minutes. It is our little part in the grander scheme of things.”

This story was originally published February 22, 2016 at 10:37 AM with the headline "Clover’s Womanless Pageant raises $32K for St. Jude Hospital."