Those with special needs participate in pageant

Sparkling dresses, tiaras, makeup, hair and hoping you don't fall while performing your queen walk are just a few things girls have on their minds during a pageant.

And then there are other participants like Andrea Thorn, who would never be able to walk across a stage at all; and others like Summer Mason, who can walk but has epilepsy and is developmentally challenged.

Until a few years ago, pageants weren't necessarily an opportunity for children and adults with special needs. But an 11-year-old girl who became a quadriplegic after a stroke just after birth changed all that when she asked her mother if she could be in a pageant like her two sisters. Soon after, the girl's mother, B.J. Thorn, formed Arkansas Angels in 2010, and had the first pageant geared specifically toward special-needs children and adults the following year.

The pageant became popular and spread throughout the United States. It is now known as Angels Pageant Systems.

"Our pageant exists because we are imperfect people who love these perfect children," Thorn says on her website. "I have always said we are normal; our normal is just different from yours."

Jeff Cunningham announces the awards in the 10 to 14 age division of the S.E. Missouri Angels Pageant on Saturday at Scott City High School. (Fred Lynch)

On stage, Cinderella and Prince Charming set the scene of a fairy tale with the words, "When you wish upon a star" hovering above a castle in the clouds. The Scott City High School gymnasium was filled with anticipation Saturday that many Angels would have their wishes come true on that very stage, that very day. "Angels Among Us" played as final preparations were made to introduce hosts Kathy Sweeney and Jeff Cunningham, and then the Angels came out.

More than 40 Angels walked the stage in front of family and friends and received their crowns and titles from local royalty.

Beauty queens Rhiannon Ross Davie, Aria Parker and Courtney Todt crowned each Angel with a tiara or crown and sash.

Summer Mason, one of the Angels, was born with biliary atresia, a life-threatening disease in which the bile ducts inside or outside the liver do not have normal openings. By the time she was 12 months old, Mason had two liver transplants and many other surgeries. Doctors gave her parents very little hope for her survival, much less walking or talking, because of complications that followed the surgeries.

"I knew that God didn't give her two transplants to just die," said her mother, Chaundra Mason.

Although the road has been tough for the family of seven, they said they can't imagine life without Summer, who is developmentally challenged and was diagnosed with epilepsy. She is now 19 years old, walks, talks and attended public school at Scott City.

Mason had always wanted to be in talent shows and to perform in front of crowds, and after trying out various times, her mother was tired of seeing her daughter's heart breaking when she walked away empty-handed.

So in 2011, when Chaundra heard about a pageant in Poplar Bluff, Mo., specifically for people with special needs, she signed Summer up. The pageant was called Missouri Angels, sanctioned under Angels Pageant Systems.

"When my husband and I saw how her face shined when they crowned her and we looked around at the other Angels and their parents and saw how proud and happy everyone was, we knew we had to bring this to our area," she said.

Planning began and community support followed, along with the help of Dr. Tiffany Brey, and the first S.E. Missouri Angel's Pageant was held in 2012.

Community support is the key to the pageant being a success because families entering an angel pay no entry fees or costs. Even dresses can be found free of charge for girls without a pageant dress. Hair and makeup styling, sound and lighting, are donated. Oran High School donated stage decorations from homecoming for this year's event. The First Assembly of God Church in Scott City held a fish fry to raise money for the pageant and also donated the use of their facilities to work on stage decorations.

"I feel that when you do something good for someone and you do it with love in your heart, God will send you what you need to get the job done," Chaundra Mason said. "Tiffany and I both agree, that the love and support we get from Scott City and the surrounding towns makes our job so easy."

Andrea Thorn died in December at age 15 and left behind a legacy and an opportunity for others like her, so that they may also have their time to shine.

skluesner@semissourian.com

388-3648