Cannon Family Home

Here follows an excerpt from the Spring 2012 edition of the "Franconia Legacies" newsletter published by the Franconia Museum:

Bette Jean Cannon
By Carl Sell

The popular radio and television show of the day named a different “Queen for a Day” on each program. In Franconia, Bette Jean Cannon was the queen EVERY day.

Already as an accomplished horsewoman, Bette was named Miss Virginia in 1946 at age 18. Shortly thereafter, she started a highly successful dance studio that wowed audiences from the White House to the stage, arenas and professional stadiums. It all began in the big brick house on Franconia Road built by her father, Eugene Cannon. The house still stands next to Clermont Park near the intersection of Franconia Road and Cannon Lane, named for the family.

As a youngster, the perky blond with big brown eyes won numerous blue ribbons at local horse shows sponsored by various fire departments and clubs. As she grew into a stunning young lady, friends encouraged her to enter beauty contests. She was named Miss Alexandria before becoming the overwhelming choice as Miss Virginia. She went on to be named Miss Southern States and competed in the Miss America contest in Atlantic City. Even after she won the titles, Bette continued to ride, competing at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Bette started riding and taking dance lessons early in life. She rode horses entered by her mother, Mary Ellen, and her father in numerous shows, taking firsts on Golden Belle and Chink on a regular basis. She spent eleven years taking dance lessons at the Hoffman Dancing School in Washington, D.C. She performed the hula at the Virginia state-wide competition in Ocean View, VA.

She spent 10 years as a student at St. Mary’s Academy in Alexandria, earning top honors and a high school equivalency degree. Later, she would attribute her successes to “good outdoor exercise, mainly working with horses, good food, rest and lots of study.”

Bette started her dance classes at a facility in Old Towne, then moved to the Cameron Street Recreation Center where the old city swimming pool was located behind the Reed Theatre near what is now King Street Metro and the railroad station. Finally, she opened Bette Cannon School of Dance on Montgomery Street near Washington Street on the way to Ronald Reagan National Airport.

Shirley Wilmer Sigler began as a student dancer with Bette and wound up as a teacher. She recalls Cannon’s group “The Beauty Dots” performed at President Kennedy’s birthday party at the old Wardman Park Hotel on Rock Creek Park in Washington in 1961. They also performed at halftime of the Redskins-Giants game that opened then D.C. Stadium the same year. Sigler was a member of the dance team, a forerunner of today’s Redskinettes, which performed at Redskins’ games.

Horse shows were a big deal in Franconia and nearby areas in the 1940s and 1950s and Bette was one of the best riders. Local volunteer fire companies, such as Franconia, Penn Daw and Bailey’s Crossroads were among the sponsors. Shows were held on the fire company grounds and farms such as Willow Springs on Franconia Road at Clermont Drive which was owned by the Robertson family.

Riders like Bette and Betty Plaugher Nalls were among the regulars. Hard to believe today, but they kept horses and practiced routines right on their parents’ property. Betty Plaugher’s family owned the old Ward’s Corner, named for her father and located on Franconia Road at Old Rolling Road where the three gas stations and McDonald’s are today.

Penny Proffitt from Groveton competed against both Bette and Betty although he was a few years younger. “I never had a chance,” Penny recalled, “they were too good and were much prettier than I was.” He remembers a show in Alexandria on Monroe Avenue at the railroad where competitors from Groveton and Franconia rode their horses to the show and back.

Bette Cannon died of cancer on August 10, 1987, just 16 days short of her fifty-ninth birthday. She is buried in Mount Comfort Cemetery.