Strong warrior is not the typical description of a beauty pageant winner, but perhaps it’s time to rethink your definition of beauty.

Introducing Miss Pink.

Women who compete in Massachusetts’ annual Miss Pink Pageant are referred to as pink warriors and must have breast cancer or be survivors. But mostly, they must be prepared to be pampered, have fun and feel beautiful, surrounded by family, friends and a loving crowd of fans who want every competitor to win.

Falling in love with The Miss Pink pageant is easy, especially when you meet the founders, Ashley and Nick Shultz.

Ashley and Nick are Beverly, Massachusetts newlyweds. At just 23 years old, the pair is not only talented and beautiful but exceptionally grounded.  Above all this, they radiate compassion and generosity that seems rare for their age.

They met at Gordon College, a small Christian school on the North Shore. When Ashley made reference to her upcoming doctor’s appointments, Nick looked more than mildly interested. Ashley told him, “You wouldn’t understand.”

Ashley was, and still is, being monitored for a benign tumor in her brain. She had no idea that Nick did indeed understand.

Nick’s mother, whom he was very close to, had died of brain cancer just six months prior to meeting Ashley.  In college, Nick started a non-profit charity, Cling, to raise money for Christian missionaries and children’s hospitals in his mother’s memory.

Two months after graduation, in a ceremony right on the water at the Danversport Yacht Club, the couple married.

Soon after, the new bride was ready to take the next step, and it didn’t involve buying a house or a getting a puppy or starting a family. Ashley wanted to plan an event, one that would make women feel beautiful during a time in their lives when they are stripped of traditional beauty.

Drawing upon her own background competing in pageants (Ashley holds the title for Miss Teen Maine 2006 and Miss Massachusetts International 2009),  Ashley conceived The Miss Pink Pageant.

“I wanted to give back to real heroes.” Ashley smiles, eyes full of tears, full of quiet sincerity. 

With Nick’s help and a goal of restoring femininity and confidence in women with breast cancer, Ashley went to work lining up the best venues and services she could find: Sunset Limousine, Paula’s Day Spa, florists, Tess Johnson Photography.   She even got Patriot’s defenseman, Ron Brace #97, as one of the judges of the competition. “He has the biggest heart,” says Ashley.

Then just 22 years old, Ashley, a sales coordinator, and Nick, a financial planner, convinced others to share and invest in their dream.

“Ashley has the ability to get people to believe in her,” says Nick.

It took the couple just two months to plan their first pageant, which debuted at the Danversport Yacht Club. One hundred and fifty people watched Trish Grzela, a Salem mom and breast cancer survivor, take the first Miss Pink crown.

“Trish was ‘mad’ that she won because she can’t do it again!” laughs Nick.

This past April, Ashley and Nick crowned their second Miss Pink,  59 year-old Donna Wadden, an Andover mother of two boys, ages 27 and 30, and a four-time cancer survivor.

“She changes lives,” says Ashley.

Meet Miss Pink 2011

When self-proclaimed tomboy, Donna Wadden, a custodian at Trinity Church in North Reading, was approached by a friend in church to share her story in the Miss Pink Pageant, she did not hesitate. 

“I am a party girl,” she says, “so I said, ‘Sure, I’ll be in a ‘fashion show.’ ”

But this was no fashion show.  Donna was signing up to participate in a moving and meaningful event for women to share stories while raising awareness and funds for breast cancer. This was all Donna needed to hear, referring to herself when saying, “I want other women to see what hope looks like.”

Donna, who works with tools for a living and calls herself a “a real ‘boys’ mom’,” jokes that she is most likely to win Miss Home Depot, but with one caveat, “...I hate orange.”

Diagnosed with Stage three breast cancer on May 18, 2001, Donna was 49. Since her sons were 17 and 20, she had decided to go back to school and had just completed several courses in interior design.

“Then breast cancer turns your world upside down,” she says.

She had breast reconstruction, chemotherapy and seven weeks of radiation. She finished January 16, 2002. How did she celebrate? She began to train for a 60-mile cancer walk.

Exactly one year after her diagnosis,  May 18, 2002,  Donna crossed the finish line of her three day walk. And she’s been celebrating ever since despite many setbacks.

Seven years later, Donna’s doctors found a mass during a routine liver exam. Surgery revealed three more tumors: bile duct cancer.

Donna was told she had a few months to live. Sitting with her pastor, she planned the details of her memorial which included “gospel Elvis” and a sailboat ride in Marblehead Harbor, a place where she has many wonderful memories with her boys.

“I am not a grave person,” says Donna. “Too dull!” Her ashes were to be thrown into the sea followed by the scattering of pink roses and a toast of pink champagne.

It occurred to Donna that her memorial was going to be fun...a lot of fun.  “Can we do a trial run of this?” she laughed.

Donna never got the memorial, the rehearsal or the real thing, as she stunned doctors by responding beautifully to 12 rounds of chemotherapy and remained cancer free for two years.

But breast cancer returned in 2010, the tumors doubling in size. Yet after six treatments, Donna was in remission once again. 

“I am a miracle,” she says.

Pageant Day

Donna had never had a manicure before participating in the Miss Pink Pageant, a complimentary day filled with pampering, massages, limo rides, food, photo shoots, rehearsals and champagne toasts.  “It’s so fun to see people pampered,” says Ashley.

The “pink warriors” are judged on who would be the best ambassador for the Miss Pink cause, a score that is tallied by adding 10% on introduction, 20% in evening wear and 70% on a 5-minute speech of their story. “We’re looking for a team captain,” says Nick.

“It’s a classy, quality event,” he adds. “The crowd is amazing, and everyone is crying.”

On the day of pampering, Donna and the 11 other contestants were laughing and having a good time in a white limo, which transported them to the salon for manicures, hair, makeup and massages and to the Danversport Yacht Club.

As the ladies sipped pink champagne,  Miss Pink photographer, Tess Johnson,  had the limo pull up to a spot overlooking the ocean to take some photos.

Donna sat in the limo, crying her heart out.

It was the very spot, the very bench, that Donna had imagined her boys sitting on during her memorial. 

“I am supposed to be floating in the harbor right now, but I am in a white limo drinking champagne at the very bench where I want my sons to visit me.

“It was incredible,” she gushes. “What a contrast!”

And another contrast was to come.

Six tables of family and friends were waiting at the Yacht Club for Donna to take the stage, loved ones who were accustomed to seeing Donna sick and not always looking her best. But that night, they saw Donna smile and shine instead of being sick.  “They cried their eyes out!” she says.

This is perhaps, one of the greatest gifts the Shultzs have given their pink warriors, the opportunity for their loved ones to see them at their best once again.

When Miss Pink 2011 was crowned with a custom Sherri Hill crown, donated by the fashion designer herself,  Donna says, “I was stunned. I didn’t expect my name! I am beyond humbled.”

The crown was specially selected to represent beauty through all the colors of life, and of course, the pink stands out for Miss Pink.

In all her pageant experience, Ashley has never seen such a beautiful crown.

While the pageant is getting well-deserved attention and has even been trademarked, Donna brings us back to the cause. “Two girls in the pageant are just 24 and 34. It’s time to stop this! We’ve had enough of cancer. We just need that last shove to the finish line.”

Cancer for the 4th Time

Donna may be finished with cancer but cancer is not giving up on Donna yet.

Three months ago, on July 25, 2011, Donna’s fingers went numb during a project remodeling her kitchen. She completed the job working with one arm, assuming that she had just pinched a nerve.  After one week, she went to the emergency room, never expecting doctors to discover three lesions on her brain.

“I cried for 30 seconds,” she says, “Then I said, ‘Wow. This is cool. I wonder what God is going to do now.’”

Donna is now in a rough stretch of 15 rounds of full brain radiation. Still she says that she wakes up each morning full of joy and energy. “I start every day with an attitude of gratitude.”

Since she was crowned, and especially in October, Donna attends as many pink events as she can. “I want to hear their stories. They want to tell their stories.  Every time I hear a story, it fortifies me.”

And Donna fortifies them, particularly with her hugs. “I love to touch. It’s healing. I’ll hug the life out of you!”

She also brings strength by sharing the message that cancer is coming to an end. “And I want to be at the front of the parade.”

Who would have thought that Donna’s breast cancer journey would lead to brain cancer, the disease that profoundly tied Ashley and Nick’s lives together.

When asked why the Shultzs chose breast cancer as their cause to champion, the two are visibly emotional but admit they’ve had no personal connection.

Until now.

“They are now a part of my family,” says Donna who believes that God cries pink tears and has had enough.
 
Carrie Wattu is editor of baystateparent. She is the proud recipient of a “Donna hug.” Meeting Donna and Ashley and Nick made a great impact on her.

All proceeds of the Miss Pink Pageant go to breast cancer research. For more information, visit misspinkpageant.com or email misspinkpageant@gmail.com.

Who Will Be the Next Miss Pink?

Interested in being a contestant? The 2012 Miss Pink Pageant will be held at the Danversport Yacht Club on March 17th, 2012. Yes, Miss Pink is going green!

Miss Pink is currently accepting contestants. Requirements are that you have or are a survivor of breast cancer. They want to celebrate you and recognize your story. Please e-mail MissPinkPageant@gmail.com or visit misspinkpageant.com. They also have a Facebook page.

Photos of Donna Wadden by Tess Johnson Photography

http://www.tessjphotography.com/