Our lives get so awfully hectic and, even here in the Old South, we get busy and race from one obligation to another more often than most of us care to admit.

So, it’s good to just stop for a few hours, sit back, and enjoy a good belly laugh or two.

The Wendell Community Center was packed to the gills – 300 people by some estimates crammed into the gymnasium there, filling bleachers, sitting at tables or taking up residence in a fold out chair while others just stood around the periphery watching the antics on stage.

A lot of the success for Saturday night’s pageant goes to the contestants themselves who understood that the attraction of an event like that is watching people act silly.

The eight contestants – Tim Hinnant, Jason Klepchick, Jody Wall, Allen Swaim, Shane Gay, Glenn Alford, Mike Costantino and Peedie Edwards – played their roles to the hilt.

They were funny, they were active and, to be honest, they all shared some hidden talents that caught me, at least, off guard.

Tim Hinnant has quite the crooner’s voice and Peedie Edwards twirls a mean baton. Glenn Alford’s daughters might be more talented dancers than he is, but at least he was smart enough to put them on stage with him as backup dancers during his talent performance.

Jody Wall delivered the best line of the night when he admitted that “women are always right” and should never be questioned.

Mike Costantino reverted to his real-life persona as a social studies teacher when he was asked in his interview about people who use their celebrity status to dive into political issues. His run-on answer went on so long that DJ and sound man Fred Ammons cut off his mike, drawing a look of shock from Mike and howls of laughter from the emcees, Kathe Anderson and Allison Klepchick.

And, while the night was hysterically funny, there were two other moments that bear remembering, one for its poignancy, the other for the purpose for which everyone gathered.

Early in the program, William Ammons, walking with the aid of a walker, made his way to the front of stage wearing a pink boa, angel wings and a crown.

Ammons was the last person to win a womanless pageant in Wendell, when he took the crown in 1974. His son Fred, he of the DJ fame, came up with the idea of having his father present the crown to the contestants as a way to tie the past to the present. When William Ammons walked to the stage, all eight contestants went to greet him and shake his hand. It was quite the touching moment.

Must of the anticipation for Saturday night’s event came from people who remembered those pageants from nearly 40 years ago and they were excited to see it revived.

Among the crowd at Saturday’s pageant was Bill Connolly, who was in those early pageants. He laughed as he recalled some of the antics of those contestants from years ago, but it was clear the memories were quite vivid.

The other notable moment in Saturday’s pageant came when they announced how much money had been raised. Allison Klepchick told the crowd they had raised just over $7,100. A few minutes later, Donna Driver handed her $400 more from concession sales and the fundraising total bloomed to more than $7,500.

That’s money that will go to the American Cancer Society through the East Wake Relay for Life, an organization just about everybody in these parts loves to support.