Ruth Bobo has grabbed local headlines in recent months for being at the center of the ongoing Save Mrs. Bobo campaign, a grassroots effort to raise money to help the retired Claremont High School English teacher stay in her home in the face of mounting health bills.

This June, she garnered more publicity when an image of her as a teenaged beauty queen gracing the cover of the 1953 edition of Realite—then the name of the trade publication for Aiken Electric Cooperative—ran on page 5 of the utility company’s South Carolina Living.

The text for the original article on Mrs. Bobo, who was crowned as Miss Aiken Co-op, read: ‘The choice was difficult, but [she was] the winner by a nose—and a very attractive nose it was, being the property of Ruth Ann Moultrie of New Ellenton.”

In a recent interview, Mrs. Bobo told the editors of South Carolina Living that winning the title gave her confidence as she continued through Aikens High School in Moulton, Alabama. There, she was crowned queen of Sadie Hawkins and 10th grade May Queen and went on to be a majorette. The blast to the past was refreshing for Mrs. Bobo.

To learn more about how to help with the Save Mrs. Bobo campaign, visit http://ruthmbobofund.com.