The Ms. Senior California, America pageant crowned 64-year-old University City (UC) resident Jean Margaret Jones April 25, naming her Ms. Senior Orange County. “I went in a pageant and I won,” Jones said. “Of course, pageants aren’t about being beautiful. I always say, ‘It’s about inner beauty with makeup on.’” Although Jones has “lived here for three whole weeks,” downsizing from her Point Loma home to a UC condo, she was crowned Ms. Senior Orange County and will compete for the Ms. Senior California crown in August. “You can come from wherever you like, you can come from a different state if you like… if your state doesn’t have a Ms. Senior pageant,” Jones said, adding that she recently directed Ms. Senior San Diego. “The oldest woman I ever competed against was a woman who was 80; she was a tap dancer. A lot of women who compete are women who had talents and they let them go.” Jones will wear the Ms. Senior Orange County crown for one year, heading to Westminster Aug. 21 to compete against other seniors statewide for the Ms. Senior California title. If Jones wins the state crown, she’ll vie for the Ms. Senior America title during a national pageant Oct. 4 through 10. “This is good for older women because they do their volunteer work and they help out with the family, but this is for them,” Jones said. Jones started competing in pageants around 2007, she said. Although she lives in UC, she said senior women could compete in area pageants, including Orange County’s. “I competed in a couple of pageants back then, and I came in fourth in the first one but I knew nothing,” Jones said, looking at photos from her first competition held at a senior center that show how far she’s come. “I was very naïve and I can’t believe the dress I wore. “It was in a senior center. It wasn’t a very good stage and I was scared to death. And now I see the ladies who do it for the first time — they’re backstage nervous and almost throwing up, but they never say ‘forget it,’ they always say, ‘OK, let’s go for it.’” Jones said standing and speaking to an audience has inspired self-confidence. “I had no problem modeling in front of people but I had to learn to speak,” she said, adding that she concentrated on hiding her British accent. Now, Jones choreographs Polynesian dances, which she uses during the pageant’s talent portion. “I did a patriotic [Polynesian] dance to ‘God Bless the USA,’” Jones said. “I do my own choreography.” Jones said she is preparing for the Ms. Senior California pageant. “The first three winners go on to compete in the state pageant and then to Ms. Senior America pageant, so yes, I’m going to compete in the state pageant. It gets tough when you get to that level,” Jones said. “Timing is everything. If you go over, you lose a lot of points.” For more information about the Ms. Senior California Pageant, visit www.mssrcalifornia.com.