THE `SPITTIN' IMAGE': CONTEST DRAWS 67 MOM, DAUGHTER LOOK-ALIKES

Carolyn Kegley and her daughter Kathy have always looked alike. People often do a double-take when they walk into a room together.

The Kegleys, from Fredericktown, beat 66 other mother-daughter teams to win the Mother Daughter Look Alike Contest Saturday at West Park Mall.

Spotting contestants in the crowded center court was easy. Mothers and daughters were dressed alike or in coordinating outfits. Beyond that, most really did look like each other -- the hair, the nose, the smile.

Mall officials expected perhaps 30 mother-daughter teams to participate, but were pleased with the 67 contestant teams. First prize was $250 in mall gift certificates. Second prize was $100 in mall gift certificates.

"All through my life, I've been told I look like my mom," said Kathy Kegley. "I take it as a compliment."

Carolyn and Kathy Kegley both work at Fredericktown public schools. Carolyn is a bookkeeper and Kathy teaches seventh-grade English. At school, students and staff often have to look twice to figure out who is headed down the hall.

On a lark they bought matching outfits Friday night to wear for the contest. "We never dress alike," said Carolyn Kegley.

Marilyn Ramsey and her two daughters, Lexi, 4, and Abbi, 3, won second place in the contest. They were all dressed in matching green outfits and each had a yellow and green ribbon in her hair, but that's nothing unusual for them.

The Ramseys, who live in Cape Girardeau, always dress alike. "This isn't a new outfit. We got them out of the closet," said Marilyn Ramsey.

Her daughters say they want to look like mom when they grow up. When asked what she has in common with her mother, Lexi didn't mention the curly brown hair, dark eyes or matching clothes. "Our teeth," she said.

Susan Pettet and her daughter Jessica Haskell from Cape Girardeau celebrated Jessica's 19th birthday by participating in the contest.

"All my friends always say they think she's my older sister," said Jessica. Her mother added, "That makes me feel very good."

The two have the same auburn hair and wore new matching outfits with a sunflower motif Saturday.

Diana Stotler and her daughter Kelly Stotler wore matching red and white striped T-shirts and both had their brown hair pulled into a pony tail.

Kelly, 30, said she and her mother own many matching outfits but never wear them at the same time. "I always ask her first what she's wearing," Kelly said. Saturday was an exception.

"Most people think she's my sister," Kelly said. "If I look like mom at 50 that will be OK with me."

Linda Kremer and her daughter, Jamie, who have long blond hair and wore matching red dresses, were finalists in the contest.

"We look alike," Linda Kremer said. "Even our baby pictures look alike."

Jamie Kremer was a little embarrassed that her high school friends would see her in the contest. But she agreed with her mother that the contest will provide a life-long memory of their close relationship.