From pizzas to beauty pageants

ATHOL - When Dan and Lori Holmes opened KKJ's Pizza Place 14 years ago in Athol, they hired a teenager named Kristie.

A quick learner and a hard worker, Kristie was key to the eatery's success in those first years, and a reason it's still open today.

"She grew up here slinging pizzas," said Dan Holmes. "I think she was one of my best employees."

Now, since Kristie is his daughter, Dan Holmes might not be completely objective, but pitching those pies seems to have paid off for the 1999 Timberlake High School graduate.

Kristie Bear, 29, won the 2011 Mrs. Idaho America pageant on Feb. 12 at the Columbia High School Auditorium in Nampa.

The Eagle resident was selected from a field of 12 married women from across the state. She won an all-expense paid trip to the national competition and a prize package worth more than $10,000.

"I was really happy," Bear said Tuesday. "It takes a lot of preparation. Winning was a dream come true."

Bear, who also won the Physical Fitness, Best Costume and Photogenic awards, will join 50 other state winners in April at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., to compete in the nationally televised Mrs. America Pageant.

Bear and her husband, Josh, have a 2-year-old son. She credited her family for being strong and supportive of her efforts, and added that working at the pizza shop instilled a work ethic in her at a young age.

"My parents raised us to be very work oriented," Bear said.

Her mom, Lori Holmes, said they opened the pizza shop when Kristie was 15 and she had to help out.

"We didn't have any employees when we started. It was us and our kids who ran it," Lori Holmes said.

Dan Holmes, who also operates Movies and More in Athol, drove down with his family for the pageant. He said he was proud of his daughter.

"I think it's pretty awesome she won," he said. "We're all pretty elated about her accomplishments."

Lori Holmes said her daughter went on a 2,000-calories-a-day diet to tone up for the pageant.

"She worked really hard," Lori Holmes said.

Kristie Bear will spend the next five weeks prepping for the Mrs. America Pageant. Her time will be spent training, making publicity appearances and developing sponsorships.

"It's my life for the next five weeks," she said.

The 5-7, 120-pound brunette would be the first woman from Idaho to win the Mrs. America Pageant.

"I think I have a pretty good chance with support of state," she said.