LAS VEGAS - At the Miss America competition in a city with labyrinths of casino slot machines, there is a figure that equals the brilliance of the Las Vegas strip.
Nicole Rash's directors from Miss Indiana carry it around with them.
A good luck troll doll, standing six inches tall with blue hair flowing as freely as liquid in a lava lamp, has been a pageant good luck charm for 14 years, Rash's directors said.
Rash touched "Pageant Troll's" hair before the first round of preliminaries Tuesday, her directors said, because she has acknowledged its powers.
"All the girls know we're nuts," co-director Frank Ricketts said. "They know just to roll with it."
Ricketts and Aren Howell, Rash's co-directors, said the Pageant Troll originated when both were co-directors at the Miss North Central pageant, a preliminary for Miss Indiana.
Ricketts said he had the doll lying around, and to relax, he introduced the troll to the pageant scene.
Only when the troll started to bless Ricketts and Howell did they start to take its powers seriously.
The directors said four of their pageant winners had become Miss Indiana, and they attributed their success to the troll.
"Oh, it's the troll, it's the troll," Ricketts said about the doll.
Howell said from then on, all the contestants had to touch its hair.
When the directors moved on to direct the Miss Indiana Pageant, the troll came along for the ride, they said.
"There were girls backstage who had to touch the troll," Howell said.
Ricketts said all the Miss Indiana contestants heard about the Miss North Central troll, and the legend grew.
When he was a Miss North Central pageant director, Ricketts said, contestant Jana Henley was backstage at Miss Indiana and he started to wave the troll ceremonially around her head.
"What the hell's that," Ricketts said in a high screech, imitating Henley's voice at the time.
"This thing has won Miss Indiana three times, first runner-up twice and second runner-up, now let me stand here and wave it around your head," he said.
After Ricketts defended the troll, Henley complied.
Ricketts said at Miss Indiana, Pageant Troll looks upon the contestants from above a door frame.
Because Nicole Rash is a fashion merchandise major, Ricketts and Howell said, the doll needed a new swimsuit, evening gown and talent gown.
"[Pageant Troll] even has little rhinestone shoes," Howell said.
Howell's mother made the doll dresses just for Miss America, she said.
The Pageant Troll breaks the tension for the girls, he said.
Everyone takes pageants seriously and works hard, they said, but they have to remember to have fun.
"Pageants enhance your life," he said. "They should not define your life."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
