Mary Jean Brannum will represent Falcon in the 2007 Mrs. Colorado-America state pageant May 12 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver. Brannum will compete for a prize package valued at $10,000 plus and an opportunity to compete with 49 state delegates at the Mrs. America Pageant.Growing up in a small town, Medora, N.D., Brannum said she loved watching the Miss America contest on television. ìThe young women were so beautiful, smart and talented,î Brannum said.Brannumís mother encouraged her to compete in the ìMiss North Dakota National Teenagerî contest. She won the title.Following her reign, Brannumís great-grandfather died, and she started helping her great-grandmother who had health problems. The experience was life changing, she said. ìI knew what I wanted to do as a career.îAfter graduating from high school, Brannum worked with disabled adults. She later married Ben Brannum, and six years ago they moved to Falcon. The Brannums opened their home as foster parents for adults with disabilities. In 2002, they were awarded the ìHost Home Provider of the Year.îWhen the Brannums decided to have children, they reluctantly stopped fostering the adults, she said. ìWith Ben working full-time in our family business and with two young children (Michael is 5 and Jacinta is 3), I couldnít give the time and attention to the adults that it requires,î Brannum said. As a busy full-time mom, Brannum said it had been a long time since she had thought about pageants. Once again, her mother motivated her daughter, proposing that she enter the Mrs. Colorado-America contest. ìShe researched it online and sent me an application,î Brannum said. Since Falcon, like many other small towns in Colorado, does not have a local contest, contestants submit applications to the pageant. Brannum entered and is now the first-ever ìMrs. Falcon.îThe Mrs. America organization is the only nationally televised pageant competition that celebrates Americaís married women. Contestants are encouraged to voice their opinions on important issues. Each contestant has a platform, and Brannumís focus, of course, is adults with disabilities.For more information about the pageant, visit www.mrscolorado.com/mrs_america_pageant.html.
