Wilmington News-Journal from Wilmington, Ohio • 32

12 Wilmington News Journal Thursday December 23 1976 Women make sports headlines during 1976 Women were competing against men in nearly every field but they were s'till competing against their own sex in the traditional beauty contest Barbara Elaine Peterson 22 was chosen Miss USA and her sister Polly 17 won the Miss Teen Age Minnesota title Rina Messinger 20 former Israeli soldier and more recently a gliding instructor was named Miss Universe Miss Jamaica 22 old Cindy Breakspeare was chosen Miss World 1976 Dorothy Kathleen Benham 20 of Minn was crowned Miss American 1977 at the annual pageant in Atlantic City The 5 foot 120 pound blonde is a junior at Macalester College in St Paul majoring in vocal performance wanna Kilgore 21 of Washington DC was chosen Miss Black America An English major at ederal City College she hopes to pursue a career in the arts Actress Angie Dickinson was named Woman of the Year by: the Hollywood Radio and Television Society for the success of her TV series the fourth woman ever to be given the society's top honor Tatum O'Neal 12 'was named "emale Star of the by the National Association of Theater Owners Dolly Parton 30 was named top female vocalist for the second straight year by the Country Music Association Anthropoligist and author Margaret Mead 74 was inducted into the Hall of" ame located at Seneca alls NY or the second consecutive year Trina Jarish 34 of Costa Mesa Calif won the Powder Puff Derby cross country air race The race was sponsored by the Ninety Nines an organization of women pilots who announced it was their last race It all good news for women during 1976 In the area of crime they made their share of headlines Sara Jane Moore 45 was sentenced to life in prison the maximum sentence prescribed by Jaw for attempting to kill President ord on Sept 22 1975 Patricia Hearst 22 was back with her family for the first time in almost three years out on bail while appealing her bank robbery conviction for which she was sentenced to seven years in prison Actress Louise Lasser 33 star of the TV soap opera Hartman Mary completed a six month diversionary program on a charge of possession of cocaine The program is designed for first time drug offenders Caril Ann ugate 32 was paroled after spending more than half her life in confinement She was 14 when she accompanied Charles Starkweather on an 11 murder rampage The National Center for Health Statistics reported that American divorces topped the one million mark in 1975 for the first time and that the nation's divorce rate was rising by nearly five per cent annually The marriage rate was dropping by about four per cent although an estimated 21million couples were married in 1975 The marriage rate may have been dropping in real life but in the comic strip world perennially young red haired Brenda Starr finally married her Basil St John whom she had been chasing for Be Hl 1 Ml MM Jab? SI a Chris Evert won her second Wimbledon women's singles title along with numerous other victories during a year in which she received the first Woman Athlete of the World award three decades Among real life mergers: Doris Day 52 next and Barry Comden 41 a Beverly Hills restaurateur her fourth marriage his second Nora Ephron 34 columnist and free lance writer and Carl Bernstein 32 of the Washington Watergate reporting team second marriage for each Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor 56 and Michael 47 seventh marriage for her fourth for him Contributing to the divorce statistics was television's Barbara Walters who was granted an uncontested divorce from Lee Guber or the second time Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were divorced She later married former Navy Secretary John Warner Princess Margaret 45 and the Earl of Snowden 46 separated after 16 years of marriage DIXY LEE RAY Bl ''A SI Along with the marriage rate the birth rate continued to decline the National Center Center for I lealth Statistics said that the 1975 birth rate had dropped to 148 births per 1000 population compared with 149 in 1974 Abortion continued to be a big issue even in the election campaign and in rulings on two major issues the Supreme Court declared A woman does not need the consent of her husband to have an abortion and a girl under 18 does not need the consent of a parent to have an abortion Meanwhile a US study reported hat more than two thirds of the women now have access to abortions in their countries double the number of five years ago ERAmerica an organization whose sole objective is ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment opened its national headquarters Washington in ebruary with a $50 gift from Betty ord Officials said the organization combat lies and misrepresentations of the However backers of the amendment who had hoped to see it ratified during the bicentennial year were disappointed At end it was stalled having passed in 34 of the 38states needed for ratification The first International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women was held in Brussels with women from 28 countries attending Organizers said the five day meeting produced a permanent network of contacts for planning international feminist strategy 3 4 I ft I I) ft At We Wish You and Yours A Very Merry Christmas I I a i Jfr RICE URNITURE INC 64 West Main In Wilmington Since 1 909 Phone 382 2206 I eaturing 4 loors of Quality urniture Lees and Bigelow Carpet Amana And rigidaire Appliances ree Parking Between Our 2 Stores BARBARA WALTERS A newly hatched crocodile is three times as large as the egg from which it emerged or one At the more than two generations Dame Edith Evans 88 British actress Connee Boswell 68 popular singing star in the and Claire Ruth 76 widow of immortal Babe Rosina Lhevinne 96 concert pianist and teacher Rosalind Russell 63 stage and screen actress and outspoken critic of the Nixon administration during the Watergate scandal of cancer of the bone marrow jDame Sybil Thorndike 93 grand old lady of the British stage whose career spanned 72 years Lotte Lehmann 88 internationally famed opera singer and performer for Bicentennial scholarship essay contest discussing the role in American history Deaths during the year included: British actress Margaret Leighton 53 star of British and American stage films and television Lily Pons 71 the leading coloratura soprano at the New York Metropolitan Opera for more than 25 years Dame Agatha Christie 85 one of the most prolific mystery writers ranziska Braun 90 mother of Eva Braun and mother in law of Adolf Hitler Kathryn Kuhlman believed to be in her early 60s evangelist and faith healer Angela Baddeley 71 the actress who played Mrs Bridges the cook in the popular television series lorence Ballard 32 one of the original members of the Supremes singing trio who spent the last few years of her life living on welfare of cardiac arrest Doris Miles Disney 68 leading mystery novel writer with 47 books to her credit Mary Margaret McBride 76 the undisputed first lady of radio for more than 20 years Abby Rockefeller Mauze 72 philanthropist only daughter and eldest of the six children of John Rockefeller Jr Martha Mitchell 57 estranged wife of former In sports too women were seeking to prove their equality with men Janet Guthrie 38 year old physicist who tried but failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 became the first female driver to participate in a major stock race She finished 15th in the $249155 World 600 at Charlotte NC Sheila Young 25 Detroit became the first American male female to win three medals in year in the winter Olympics Innsbruck Austria she captured gold (500 meters) silver (1500 meters and bronze (1000 meters) medals in speedskating Dorothy Hamill 19 of Riverside Conn won the gold medal in figure skating in the Olympics the world championship and the US national competition Later she gave up her amateur standing to skate in the Ice Capades signing a two yearcontract In the Summer Olympics in Montreal Nadia Comaneci of Romania became the darling of the press the spectators and the television audiences The 14 year old 88 pound gymnast amassed seyen perfect 100 in the National ootball scores and came away witn three oi tne five individual gold medals including the all around championship as the best woman gymnast JoAnne Carner 37 won the US Open golf championship and Judy Rankin 31 was honored by the Ladies Professional Golf Association as the first woman golfer to earn $100000 in a single year Tina Biscoff 17 of Columbus Ohio broke the world record for a one way swim of the English Channel crossing from Dover to the rench coast in nine hours three minutes Australian Linda McGill 29 became the first person to swim around Hong Kong Island a distance of more than 28 miles main problem was boredom and jelly she said of the 17 hour battle in rough seas adding that she swam topless most of the way because a strap was irritating her Chris Evert won her second Wimbledon singles title and retained her US Open tennis title both with wins over Evonne Goolagong The top ranked woman player 21 racked up numerous other wins during the year including the $50000 first prize in the World Series of Tennis She received a trophy and a check for 3iuuuv as winner ui me nisi woman Athlete of the World award and was US Attorney General John Mitchell votea women bports Atmete ot tne Year by readers of that magazine The Tennis Assn led by Miss Everet arit)qjmcedthat: unless women got the same prize money as the men the top women tennis stars would boycott Wimbledon in 1977 In a compromise agreement the our warmest wishes for a Yiiletide rich in goodwill and happiness Our gratitude to all WATTS Insurance Agency Blanchester purse was made 80 per cent of the men's Anna 16 year old Alexandria Va high school junior won first prize It i i I Ringing out I emories of an old fashioned Christmas' ill all our hearts with joy the joy of giving and sharing We want to share warm wishes' for all good things with you our dear friends Jh WEAVER'S PLUMBING and HEATING Blanchester i 2 war a rrkn a Jifu piWiAt i tV' SB is i IV I Uli II 'W "mI 'jS (J 1 rv AnkWni vj 4 i.