©Hinesville Coastal Courier 2003
By:Patrick Donahue , Executive editor
11/28/2003

The way Justine Riggs figures it, more people will pay attention to her talking about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as Miss Hinesville than they will if she was just Justine Riggs, member of the Bradwell Institute class of 2005. Contestants for the 2003-2004 Miss Hinesville pageant had to pick a platform they endorsed. Riggs had no doubt in her mind she was going to talk about ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

"I was thinking, 'This is what I wanted to do,'" she said.

ALS became to be known as Lou Gehrig's disease after it claimed the baseball star Hall of Famer at 38 years old in 1941. Riggs' grandfather died from ALS when she was just 3 years old.

"It struck our family so hard," she said.

The ALS that claimed her grandfather was genetic in nature, according to Riggs. At least 10 percent of ALS cases are hereditary in nature. When the disease occurs two or more times in the same bloodline, it is called familial ALS. In familial ALS, if a parent has the disease, the children have a 50 percent chance of inheriting the defective gene.

There is no known cause for ALS.

"This could be any of us," Riggs said. "It's a field that really needs more research and needs more funds for research."

The night before the pageant, Riggs didn't so much rehearse her speech as she tried to make sure she had her facts down, with family listening.

"They were in tears," she said. "They're hopeful I can raise awareness for Lou Gehrig's Challenge."

Riggs competed in the Liberty County Junior Miss pageant last year, so this was her first try at the Miss Hinesville title. When they got to the end, maybe Riggs started to think she'd have to try again next year.

"When they got to the first runner-up and I wasn't called, I thought, 'I didn't get anything at all,'" she said.

So when her name was called as the next Miss Hinesville, she didn't believe it.

"I was shocked and amazed," she said.

So was her family. Her mother, Patricia McDonald, called Riggs' uncle from the pageant and screamed, "She won! She won!" Riggs said.

"They were all very proud of me," she added. "They were more excited than I was."

Riggs plans on majoring in early childhood education when she goes to college in two years and will get a $1,000 scholarship at the end of her reign. She has been competing in pageants for three years and, yes, being Miss America is on her mind. Not just yet, however.

"A lot of people have been calling me since this weekend saying, 'You need to be in this pageant,' and 'you need to be in this pageant,'" she said. "Right now, I just want to focus on being a good Miss Hinesville."