By By JOHN EBY / Niles Daily Star
DOWAGIAC -- Her head was the only thing Kate Hein lost in winning her fifth straight first place at the seventh annual "Shake, Rattle and Roll Halloween Bash" at the Museum at Southwestern Michigan College Wednesday evening.
Kate, of Niles, who clinched the age 9 to 11 category in 2002 as a mechanical fortune teller, moved up to age 12 through high school senior, but continued her winning ways while appearing to carry her head in her hands in front of a much taller torso.
She won in 2002 as "Kate a la carte," a witch holding a human head; in 2000 as a swatted fly; and in 1999 as "Mommy Weirdest," a baby with a pacifier clinging to the back of a stooped old woman.
Kate's sister, Meg, won honorable mention in the age 9-11 bracket by being as fun as a barrel of monkeys.
First went to Charlie Mehlenbeck as a clothesline.
Hannah Huber of Watervliet finished second as a bookworm.
Some costumes required a bit of explanation. Alisa Bogen of Dowagiac, who is four months pregnant, donned horns and a red tail and pronounced herself a "deviled egg."
Ages 2-5
First place, No. 19 Noah Gourley of Dowagiac as a scarecrow.
Second place, No. 18 Luke Pauley of Dowagiac as a jester.
Ages 6-8
First place, No. 20 Ivy Huber of Watervliet as a price tag.
Second place, No. 14 Michaela Smith as a Japanese geisha girl.
Ages 9-11
First place, No. 4 Charlie Mehlenbeck of Keeler as a clothesline. He won second place to Kate in 2002 as a cave man.
Second place, No. 21 Hannah Huber of Watervliet as a bookworm.
Ages 12-adult
First place, No. 1 Kate Hein of Niles as a headless guy.
Second place, No. 11 Ashley Agler of Watervliet as Jack from "The Nightmare Before Christmas."
18 and over
First place, No. 7 Holly Huber of Watervliet as snug as a bug in a rug. She won last fall as sheet music.
Second place, No. 4 Ann Biek of Dowagiac as Toymaker, Pinocchio's toymaker.
Group
First place, No. 4 Amy and Bailee Watson of Cassopolis as a magician pulling a rabbit out of her top hat when the bunny wasn't hopping away.
Second place, No. 2 Heather Fleisher of Dowagiac and her 7-month-old daughter Madison as poodle-skirted Pink Ladies from "Grease."
Historical figures
Deanna Briggs, an SMC student from Buchanan, captured this new category as a Scottish woman from the Middle Ages.
Shake, Rattle and Roll marks Ann Thompson's first anniversary as museum director because the 2002 bash, coming a few days after she succeeded Jill Dixon, gave her baptism by fire.
Shake, Rattle and Roll grew rapidly, from 91 costume parade entries in 1999 to 179 in 2000. It overflowed the museum in 1999 and moved to the auditorium in the Dale A. Lyons Building in 1999.
Masons of Peninsular Lodge 10, F&M, assisted the museum staff in getting the youngsters on and off stage for their presentations before the judges -- Cass County Probate Judge Susan Dobrich; SMC Treasurer Carol Tate, a 12-year member of the Board of Trustees and a K-12 media specialist for Decatur Public Schools; and Niles Daily Star Publisher Doug Phares.
SMC's Dance Ensemble provided entertainment while results were tallied.
The Dance Ensemble presented two numbers from its elementary school tour, the Charleston from the 1920s. It launched "Flappers," named for their arm and leg movements in fringed dresses.
They closed with a swing dance from the 1930s-'40s era.
The Savoy, in Harlem, was the home of swing dancing and jazz rhythms. "King of Swing" featured some lifts and other dance tricks.