In 1985 Queen Glenda, attorney Nancy Willard, boasts that she was “first to win in an honest beauty and talent competition.” Part of her royal platform: boosting Eugene’s then-sluggish economy with a “Slug-It Note” or “Slime-A-Note” factory manufacturing organic post-it notes. “Unfortunately, we were never able to get the slugs to leave their trails of goo straight across the top of the memo paper,” she said. Although the concept would have put thousands to work, it never attracted sufficient venture capital.

Of course, in the tongue-and-cheek miscongeniality that marks this anti-beauty pageant, her sovereignty was challenged by pretender-to-the-throne Kathy Gillespie, who rode atop a huge float in the 1985 parade, contending Queen Glenda was the imposter.

Kathy won the crown herself the following year.

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