There she is ... Miss Destin 1984: Mona Ponder won more than a tiara and sash; she also left the pageant with a lifetime of ‘fond memories'

It may have been 25 years ago, but she can still name the fish.

Mona Ponder, mother of three and wife of former Destin Councilman Mel Ponder, was Miss Destin in 1984 when Destin was toying with the idea of becoming a city.

“I remember my dad discussing it with Bob Lloyd (one of Destin’s first mayors),” Mona said. “But I don’t think I really had an opinion on it. I just didn’t understand the effects of it. But I’m so glad we did.”

Ponder, who was Mona Kilpatrick at the time, was 16 and a sophomore at Fort Walton Beach High School when she entered the Miss Destin pageant at the encouragement of her parents and a friend.

“I really honestly didn’t think I’d win it,” Mona said.

“I remember a really good friend of mine (Angelica Balzer) was running and we just kind of decided to do it ... and thought it would be fun.”

Nevertheless she didn’t let a lot of other folks know she was running.

“I had a boyfriend at the time and I didn’t even tell him,” she said. “So I think he woke up the next day (after the pageant) and said, ‘Oh!’ ”

Ponder said there were about 10 contestants in the pageant that year.

“I remember thinking, all these girls are a lot prettier ... and I wasn’t a beauty contestant kind of girl,” she laughed.

The pageant was a lot like it is today. It consisted of the girls doing a dance routine, and coming out in a formal and a casual outfit. And, of course, the judges’ interview.

She said most of the questions asked by the judges had to do with what they wanted to do and what was important.

“I was just very shocked,” she said. “I really honestly thought my girlfriend was going to win it. She was very poised.” Her friend, Angelica Balzer, tied for Miss Congeniality.

“That night I couldn’t figure out why I won,” she said.

However, it became more apparent to her about seven years later when she was asked to judge a Miss Destin pageant.

“It was interesting to see, this isn’t just a beauty contest,” she said. “It’s really about having somebody there who is going to be dedicated, has character and can represent the city.”

Serving as Miss Destin meant a month at the Destin Fishing Rodeo. It was during that time that Ponder learned her fish.

“I really didn’t know anything about fish until I was Miss Destin. And I learned a lot,” she said.

“My husband laughs now because we’ll go places and I can name the fish ... but I still have to jog my memory.”

Ponder said she was very dedicated to go to the docks every day during the Rodeo. She had a part-time job at a little dress shop called Scruples in Palmetto Plaza and would get off in the afternoons to go to the Rodeo.

“It was fun,” she said. “I really enjoyed it.”

During the Rodeo, she did manage to go fishing with Capt. Ken Beaird.

“I’ve been deep sea fishing one other time since then,” she said, noting she would rather eat fish and look at fish than go fishing.

As for gutting a fish during the Rodeo?

“Never — and I heard that they do now,” she said. “I think I could do it.”

After the Rodeo and high school, Ponder went off to college at Florida State in Tallahassee, then went to work in Orlando with a bank before moving to St. Petersburg, where she married Mel. The two moved to Pensacola in 1993, then to Destin in 1997.

And Destin had changed.

“Lots of new roads and lots of new construction,” Mona said.

“I can remember growing up here and it was such a big deal when Hardee’s came here,” she said, noting it was the first fast-food place in town.

“I can remember my Mom going to Odom’s and Jitney Jungle. They were the only two grocery stores around.” However, she said her mom would pack a cooler and go to Fort Walton Beach for her main grocery shopping.

“I like the hometown feel of Destin, and that’s really a big reason of why I moved back here,”  Mona said.

“When I was in college I would go home with some of my friends from south Florida and we’d be there a week and never see anybody that they knew. I thought, what if you broke down?

“I kept thinking that’s not where I want to raise a family,” she said.

So when they started talking about having kids, that’s when they made the move to the Panhandle.

“It’s changed a lot, but I think it’s kept that small town appeal ... family appeal,” Mona said.

“You go places and you know people. And it’s people you’ve known for a long time so you care about them. You have a relationship with them, or with their family.”

The Ponders have three children: Preston, 14; Casey, 12; and Grace, 4. And she likes the fact that they are growing up in a city where she has a history.

“When my kids went to Destin Elementary, I said, ‘Oh, I went to school here,’ and I thought they would be impressed, but they said, ‘So?’ ”
Her oldest son, Preston, wants to go to Fort Walton Beach High next year, where Charlene Couvillon is now principal.

“She was my favorite teacher,” Mona said of when she was at Fort Walton High. “I love things like that ... that’s what I think is so important that you have a history with the people here. That means a lot.”

And part of that history started when she served as Miss Destin.

“I am glad I was Miss Destin,” she said. “Because I think it made me appreciate Destin more and just learn more. And to this day I love fishing boat captains. I think they are the nicest — and the character. I always look at them and think how wonderful to do for a living what you absolutely love and have a passion about.

“To this day, I don’t think I would have appreciated their industry the way that I do. I recognize all these boat names that have been around forever. I drive by them and it brings back fond memories.”