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Allen woman dedicates Mrs. Texas victory to veterans
By Conner Hammett, chammett@starlocalnews.com
Allen resident Rachel Hedstrom sure does seem to have a full plate these days. The full-time public relations professional and writer balances work with marriage, volunteering for veterans and the American Heart Association while still having time to become a licensed pilot and race car driver.
On April 29, the 34-year-old was bestowed with a whole new set of responsibilities: she was crowned Mrs. Texas International at the Selena Auditorium in Corpus Christi as Mrs. Collin County after competing against 24 other married women from across the state.
Founded in 1985, Mrs. Texas International is a little bit different compared to similar pageants: modest fitness wear replaces the more traditional swimsuit competition, and 50 percent of a contestant's score comes from both on-stage and off-stage interviews. The interviews focus on the specific cause each contestant has worked to call attention to and will promote during her reign as Mrs. Texas International.
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| Submitted photo -- Allen resident Rachel Hedstrom accepts the crown of Mrs. Texas International April 29 at the Selena Auditorium in Corpus Christi. The 34-year-old public relations professional, who competed as Mrs. Collin County, has volunteered for two years with Honor Flight DFW, an organization that works to provide veterans with all-expenses-paid trips to Washington, D.C. to see memorials of wars in which they fought. |
As the daughter of a Vietnam veteran, granddaughter of two World War II veterans and the great-great granddaughter of a Civil War veteran, service is something that is very close to Hedstrom's heart.
"I'm always there to send [the veterans] off and welcome them home with a hug and a kiss, and when you look into their eyes, you can see it," she said. "You can see how much it means to them, for somebody to just say thank you. And once you see that, you can't stop. You've got to see it again."
When the National World War II Memorial opened in 2004 in D.C., many of those veterans were already in their 80s, Hedstrom said, making it even more urgent to take as many veterans as possible to see the monument before it's too late.
It costs the all-volunteer organization about $1,000 to fly each veteran to D.C. Currently, the organization has 400 veterans on a waiting list.
"They did so much without asking for a thank you, without asking for an acknowledgement, and unfortunately, that silence is what's going to cause us to miss their great stories," she said. "We need them to speak up, we need to be able to honor them so we can not only acknowledge their service but preserve their history."
Kristen Koether, director of Texas International, the organization that holds the Mrs. Texas competition, said the competition seeks to highlight accomplished married women of today who balance their careers, families and communities to make the world a better place -- a standard Hedstrom more than meets.
"She's absolutely the total package," Koether said. "She's beautiful, she's poised, she's graceful. She has a platform that's near and dear to her heart, and she's worked hard at it. She's articulate, and she really has the support of veterans all over Texas, which is wonderful."
In July, Hedstrom will visit Chicago to compete against 49 other winners and several countries around the world for the title of Mrs. International. In the meantime, she will continue her fight for veterans, but with a little extra flair.
"As soon as you put on the crown and the sash, people tend to stop and listen to what you have to say," she said, "and so if I can use that notoriety to help veterans, then that's what I'm all about. While it really is an honor to wear the crown and the sash and to represent Texas the way that I do ... it is a supreme privilege to do so while standing next to a veteran and honoring them for their service, because they are the real heroes here."
For information on Honor Flight DFW and instructions on how to "adopt" a veteran, visit www.honorflightdfw.org. For information about the Mrs. Texas International Pageant, visit www.mrstexasinternational.com.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
bromhead wrote on May 29, 2012 8:06 AM:
" Very good that her passion is directed towards veterans service ,,by the very small turnout at the allen memorial day service and the perhaps 10 percent of allen homes with flags etc ,,this very conservative area needs a tune up. "
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