Getting to Know YOU! by Sherry Westland

Greetings fellow pageant sisters - those whom I have met and those I have yet to meet!

I am excited to represent today's Senior Woman. We are a different breed than Senior women from past generations! This is my first pageant, born out of a desire to not only help others, but to direct some positive energy into something fun to help heal from grieving the loss of my oldest son just last year. It has and is helping me heal. I am learning a lot! I hope to glean what I learn to not only represent the Global United Pageant and awareness of needs of Children with Cancer, but to one day start a foundation in my son's memory. I am looking forward to learning so much more from the pageant experience and YOU! I am honored to get to know such accomplished women who I know will become life long friends. Kudos to our director, Wendy Lindberg! You are awesome and an inspiration to us all!

Fondly,

Sherry Westland
Senior Mrs. United States

My Crown

I love representing Ms. Global United... Funniest thing about my crown is the fact that it leaves a HUGE dent on the top of my head. I have learned that if you are going somewhere after an event to wear your down, or you will have crown dent... LOL! Having something to take for a headache maybe a good idea too. BUT, I wouldn't change it for anything! I love our charity, what we stand for, and having a lovely shiny crown doesn't hurt. =) Smiles & Sunshine! Rose Russo

Ms. Global United ~ Rose Russo

I can't believe the pageant is approaching so quickly! This year has been such a wonderful experience. While I am looking forward to meet all of the wonderful contestants and the fabulous woman who will continue the title for the 2012-2013 year, I am sad this year is coming to a close. Working with the director, Wendy Lindberg, is an amazing experience. She is an extraordinary director and a true friend. The women I met and worked with through the pageant were wonderful, and many of them have become life-long friends. This year I have participated in a variety of walks including Relay for Life, Bark for Life, Race for a Cure, and Little Heart Warriors. I have also been working with the E Street Cruisers & Loma Linda Children’s Hospital. It has been such an exciting year! So far the most exciting adventure was going to Minnesota for the Isaac’s Journey Chili Feed! I enjoyed spending time with some of this year’s contestants and seeing people come together for such a great cause. I had the joy of serving drinks at this event. I have never seen so many people drink chocolate milk! I was the “California girl” who came up for this event, so maybe it is a Minnesota thing…lol… The live auction was amazing to see and there were so many prizes, it was a truly amazing experience! Can’t wait to do it again!

Yesss!!! What a great way to kick off the flagship year of Global United Pageants! Right now there are 22 contestants registered for this year's pageant in Minneapolis MN!! This is going to be such an amazing program and I am soooo excited to see what is going to come from this year and all the AWESOME women who are joining us for pageant. I truly believe that because of this scoring system, the way we weigh the areas of the competition and the activities we have pageant week draw a whole other type of amazing woman to the pageant and we have the some of the finest contestants in the whole world coming to compete. I am so excited to see you all soon and so thrilled to welcome more into the Global United Family! --Wendy Lindberg, Director

GREETINGS FROM MRS. IOWA

I am honored and excited to represent married women as Mrs. Iowa Global United! My husband Joe and I have 5 children and 6 dogs. We are both Veterans of the Army, we grew up with parents & 13 other family members who also served our country. This pageant has offered me countless opportunities!! It has helped me rebuild my self esteem lost by being fired. I lost my job a few years ago as a single Mother because I had to care for my kids when they were ill and my Mother has Alzheimer's. She was hospitilized for several weeks after receiving poor care at her nursing home. We almost lost her!! She became my priority and I was punished for it. Pageantry has also allowed me to continue serving my country and has inspired my platform - Voice For Veterans. I have seen firsthand how serving your country can change your life and your families. As Mrs. Iowa, I encourage communities to support our Vets, Soldiers & their families in response to deployments, past and present. My platform is a way to give back to those who provide the freedoms we enjoy. I cannot begin to tell you how this has changed my life!! I am blessed to have the opportunity to change others lives…. I am an advocate for Wounded Warriors, English River Outfitters, Honor Flight, Cedar Vally Outfitters,community Stand Downs supporting homeless Vets, and the American Legion of which I am in the Auxillary. I serve on the Army Community Advisory Board and with the Military Affairs Association. I have helped send 100s of boxes to deployed troops, I visit vets at the VA Hospitals, golf with blind and disabled vets. I teach people of all ages what it means to support our military by speaking at events of all kinds. I teach kids and adults the importance of writing letter to the soldiers and vets. The best thing I do…is thanking the vets myself! I share hugs, smiles and stories. I remind them they ARE important and that their sacrifices were worth it. I never leave an event without feeling like a made a difference in someone else’s life and to me, that is what it means to be a pageant titleholder…..Using your gifts to help others. Outside of my military platform, I volunteer with the United Way, Christian Business Leaders, Girl Scouts, Alzheimer's Association, schools, 4H groups, chaperone pageants, support childhood cancer awareness and help raise money at fundraisers for families of these tiny heroes. I attend any event in which I can offer a helping hand and be an example and leader. I believe with all my heart…I CAN and DO make a difference! I look forward to every day and love being Mrs. Iowa Global United where I can be an example to all ages to follow the dreams in your heart, no matter how old you are. I cannot wait until Nationals!! This pageant is filled with women who share my desire to serve others, I can't think of a better place to find many new best friends!!! Good luck to eveyone.....may God place this amazing opportunity into the hands of the one He has prepared. Until we all meet...... HUGS to ALL from MRS. IOWA!!

I'M SO EXCITED, AND I JUST CANT HIDE IT!!!

These past 10 months of being Mrs. United States Global have been extremely rewarding because I have been able to work side by side with dignitaries and other movers and shakers throughout my community. I’ve seen familiar faces, made new contacts, and changed the lives of those around me forever through the events such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Speakers Movement, Hope Group for Autism, Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk, Phoenix Heart Walk, American Heart Association, Take Back the Night, Grand Canyon University, Brain Injury Association of Arizona, Keogh Health Connection, Jeremy Bridges Foundation, Bostrom High School, the Tonya Allen Foundation and the numerous feeding the homeless events. I am thankful that this pageant has fine tuned my public speaking abilities and has boosted my overall confidence. Not only that, as Mrs. United States Global 2012 numerous doors has opened with countless possibilities and introduced me to new friends that I know will last a lifetime. To those of you just joining the family, know that this is a family where you will always belong no matter the road it takes us on. You will learn valuable lessons that will shape who you become, and make amazing friends and everlasting memories along the way. You never know what you can do or who you can be if you are too scared to try; so give yourself a pat on the back for taking this chance, because it might just turn out to be the best year of your life. The experience is what you make it; I jumped into my title whole heartedly and have completed hundreds of hours of community service and although crazy at times, I wouldn’t change a thing about it. I will forever have a permanent smile knowing that I’m making a difference within my community and I’m making memories that will be forever etched into my mind. I want to thank the fabulous director, Mrs. Wendy Lindberg, for taking her time to successfully organize this amazing pageant and our participation at all of the community events that we will embark upon pageant week. Without her dedicated support this pageant would not be the great program that it will be for years to come. Best of luck to all the contestants competing and remember to just enjoy every minute, laugh A LOT, rock the stage, and BE YOURSELF! Blessings to ALL of you! xoxo Tonya Denise Allen Mrs. United States Global 2012