I think I have all the right credentials to write this as I was voted Nicest Smile when I graduated High School.  This was quite a surprise to me  as I thought very straight, perfect teeth would have to be a prerequisite to winning.  My front teeth were just like my Mother’s, which I liked, but they were a little bit crooked, not Nicest Smile material by any means.  When I analyze my victory,  two things come to mind.  First…in the 50’s we didn’t really know what we were suppose to look like…there were no perfect figures, perfect hair, skin or teeth, no super models to emmulate, therefore the smile was judged in a very different way than it would be today.     Secondly, my idol was Susan Cahill, and I wanted to be just like her.  When I think of it now,  I probably really liked her because she was friendly and talked to me, even though I was an underclassmen.  I wanted to be the Susan Cahill of my class and in order to do that I had to walk like her, talk like her and smile like her.  Susan won Nicest Smile the year before me.  I might add she also won Most Popular, Best Personality, Most Likely to Succeed and Nicest Smile.  Sadly I didn’t win the others, but Nicest Smile was just fine.  Actually there was a third reason.  My Grandmother taught me many lessons and one was respect for older people.  Charlotte, if you see an older person walking towards you,  always smile at them and say hello.  You may be the only one that recognized them that day, and if you stop and talk to them for a minute that is even better.  At the time she told me I thought she was talking about herself and telling me to smile at her and talk to her, which I did do, so she knew I was listening to her, and I wouldn’t get in trouble for bad manners.    I also extended her advice outside the house and started smiling and talking to older people.  The results were very rewarding as,  in most cases, you got very good feedback.  What got me thinking about smiling,  was the other day I passed a car driven by the best looking clown you would ever want to see.  He (or she) made me really smile.  I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but I have seen more and more clowns (real clowns) driving around lately.  I’m assuming this is happening as our population grows… more people more clowns.  It’s a wonderful thing though, as I don’t know who could be in the presence of a clown and not smile.  I continued my thinking along those lines, and we have so many reasons to smile in the Villages.   A sunny day, a good golf game, card game, tennis match, good friends, meeting new friends,  and I’m sure you can add more reasons of your own.  Because there are so many things to smile about in The Villages,  I do believe I no longer  have the Susan Cahill smile… I  now have The Village smile.