Warner Robins welcomes home its own Miss America Betty Cantrell

By BECKY PURSER

bpurser@macon.com

WARNER ROBINS -- Georgia Maddox waited excitedly for a glimpse of Miss America Betty Cantrell as her homecoming motorcade traveled down Watson Boulevard on Saturday morning.

Like Cantrell, the 10-year-old from Perry wore a silver crown, the one she earned in the Queens for a Cure pageant that was part of the 2015 Houston County Relay for Life.

Maddox also aspires to the title of Miss America. She's been in 15 pageants since she was 4 years old.

"Awesome," was the word she used to describe Cantrell's win.

Maddox picked up some compliments on her crown from several of the Miss America contestants who joined the motorcade in support of Cantrell.

Several friends of the Cantrell family also were lined up along the route.

"We're so proud of her," said Leigh Joyner, of Kathleen. "She's doing a fabulous job with her duties ... her interviews. She's been so real. She's still Betty, even if she is Miss America."

Joyner's daughter, Bailey Joyner, danced with Cantrell when both were enrolled at the International City School of Ballet in Warner Robins.

Ana Raquel Morales drove down from Marietta for the event.

"I saw her on TV when she won it, and I thought, oh my gosh, from Warner Robins, so I drove all the way here," said Morales, who was Miss Hospitality at the Miss Borinquen Teenage Pan Americana pageant in 1980. "I follow her on Facebook, and I saw that the Miss America (organization) said she was going to have her welcoming home today."

Those along the motorcade route shouted well wishes, waved welcome home signs and took photos and videos with cellphones.

A throng of well-wishers, including Cantrell's parents, gathered at the Civic Center at the end of the parade route. Cantrell posed for pictures before being escorted into the Civic Center for a presentation among an invitation-only crowd of about 200.

Warner Robins Mayor Randy Toms had a surprise, hidden under a white cloth, waiting for Cantrell inside. She was presented with her own street sign: Betty Cantrell Boulevard.

A street for the sign to grace hasn't been chosen yet.

Toms quipped that her father, who owns the Cantrell Center, will have to build a new building and a road to it for the sign.

Cantrell expressed excitement over the sign, and she may have had an inkling of what was about to happen. She told the crowd that she was hoping for a "Betty Boulevard."

Cantrell received a standing ovation from the crowd gathered in her honor.

"I wish everybody could have felt the excitement along the motorcade path of seeing Betty Cantrell, Miss America, and what that meant to our community," Toms said. "Thank you so much, Betty. and welcome home."

To contact writer Becky Purser, call 256-9559, or find her on Twitter@becpurser.

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Warner Robins welcomes home its own Miss America Betty Cantrell ."