Miss Loris Bog-Off Teen receives inspiration from both parents

Deegan Hudson is nearly halfway through her reign as current Miss Loris Bog-Off Festival Teen and is now preparing to participate in the Miss Teen South Carolina Pageant.

Hudson, a high school junior, traveled to Columbia on Saturday to begin training for the pageant that takes place in June.

Deegan is the daughter of Deborah and Dale Hudson and, as she proudly admits, she is who she is today because of the two of them.

The pageant gene is something she inherited from her mother who was a Miss South Carolina contestant in 1989. Her father, who passed away in 2009, was studying to be a psychologist -- a career goal Deegan has now set for herself.

She said she is excited about the upcoming state pageant because this is the last year she will be eligible to compete for the teen title.

The smile people see on Deegan's face while she is on the stage or at other events is genuine. But, she and her family have endured a major tragedy.

On Aug. 12, 2009, Dale Hudson left his family's Conway home for a business trip. He went missing for three days until some fishermen found his body in the Pee Dee River two miles south of the U.S. 76 bridge.

It was an accidental drowning, a coroner ruled.

Dale Hudson was an author who had written true crime books, non-fiction humanitarian novels as well as fiction novels. He loved telling stories to children.

Deegan recalls helping her family in the hunt for her father. It was during one of the searches she saw something she says changed her life.

"I saw a beautiful rainbow, and I thought it was a sign we were going to find my dad alive," she said. "Now, I see it was a promise that everything would be OK."

Deegan says even though the loss of her father was a tragedy, it has helped her grow stronger into the person she is today.

Not only does she want to follow in the footsteps of her father by going into the field of psychology (she intends to be a child psychologist) but she also has become a writer.

She has written two children's books she hopes to have published.

One is titled "Peanut Learns About Kindness," and the other is "Peanut Learns About Bullying."

The title character in the books is Peanut the Elephant which stems from some of her other talents: Puppetry and Ventriloquism.

She said she started dabbling with ventriloquism during the period after her dad's death. It was something she could focus on to take her mind off of the situation.

She said ventriloquism "is much harder than people think." She and her mother now give ventriloquism lessons.

Deegan said she calls her program "Puppets with a Purpose" and she uses the puppets to entertain children, teens, and elderly audiences.

She also uses her talents to help raise funds for the Children's Miracle Network -- a partner of the Miss America Pageant.

She said her goal is to raise at least $2,000 before her reign ends. She is more than halfway to that target.

Her next fundraiser will take place March 25 at The Boathouse Waterway Bar & Grill at 201 Fantasy Harbour Blvd., Myrtle Beach. She said there will be plenty of entertainment from local talent.

Deegan said even though she is still in high school, she has time to devote to her goals because he takes online courses at home. That means she is flexible to doing her schoolwork anytime day or night.

As for her future, while she wants to pursue a career in child psychology, she is unsure where she will attend college. She is leaning towards the College of Charleston.

When asked how her dad would react to the way her life has turned out, she said: "he would be smiling ear to ear."