Quarterbacks and Queens.

• Author: HAYHURST, SUSAN
• Position: Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Terre Haute lures Colts Camp, and Miss Indiana pageant.

Terre Haute scored two high-profile coups in recent years, attracting the Miss Indiana Scholarship Pageant and the Indianapolis Colts Camp. Why Terre Haute? "Because the community leadership here says we want it, so we go for it,"' says G. Roderick Henry, president of the Greater Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce.

The Miss Indiana Scholarship Pageant had been held in Michigan City for 43 years. Things progressed quickly when chamber officials learned in the fall of 1998 that the Miss America organization might entertain proposals from other Indiana communities to host the Miss Indiana Pageant. Less than two months later, pageant officials were in Terre Haute for a site visit.

Henry is quick to point out that the Miss Indiana Pageant is not a Terre Haute event, but a statewide event. "Since moving the pageant to Terre Haute the number of local pageants throughout Indiana has grown from 17 to 20 this year," says Henry. "Cash scholarships have increased more than 50 percent, and cash and in-kind scholarships now total more than $1.7 million annually."

On the heels of the Miss Indiana Scholarship Pageant is Colts fever in July, as the team, administration and staff descend on the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology campus for nearly a month of training camp. Lured there by community leaders including Dr. Samuel Hulbert, president of Rose-Hulman, and impressed by Rose-Hulman's new state-of-the-art athletic facilities, the Indianapolis Colts have completed two summers of camp in Terre Haute and recently announced that they plan to extend their "gentleman's agreement" for another several years.

When the Colts organization arrived in...