Student shares passion with seniors

On Saturday, Oct. 16, Sellers hosted an “Aging with Elegance” beauty pageant for female residents at Russellville Health Care, and inspiration for the pageant came from a few different sources.

“I’m in the Junior Leadership program and everyone in the program has to get a minimum of 50 community service hours,” Sellers said. “I love doing pageants so I started thinking of a way that I could incorporate that.”

After some thinking, Sellers came up with the idea for the “Aging with Elegance” beauty pageant.

“After I came up with the idea, I contacted Brenda Hovater at Russellville Health Care and I also talked to their activities director,” Sellers said. “They thought it was a good idea so I started making plans.”

Charlotte Tharp, Russellville Health Care Activities Director, was excited when Sellers contacted her.

“It is so hard to find people to volunteer their time here,” Tharp said. “We told all the ladies about the pageant and let those who wanted to participate sign up. They were really excited.”

Nine residents signed up for the pageant and preparations were made for them that day just like they were competing in a real pageant.

“The hair dresser came and did their hair and make-up and we picked out their nicest clothes for them to wear,” Tharp said. “We also contacted their families so they could come to the pageant, too.”

Before the pageant was held, Sellers faxed biography sheets to Tharp for the residents to fill out. Those biographies were read when each contestant was introduced.

Sellers also made sashes for the different categories of winners and she donated crowns she had won from previous pageants.

“I wanted these ladies to feel special,” Sellers said. “These women have exemplified honor and dignity throughout their lives and they are a treasure to our community.”

Sellers’ mother, Susie, and her pageant coach, Samantha Bain, served as judges for the pageant.

“We had a winner; first, second, third and fourth alternates; prettiest hair; prettiest smile; prettiest eyes and best personality,” Sellers said. “Everybody received an honor and got a crown.”

According to Tharp, the residents and the family members that joined them enjoyed every minute of the pageant.

“It can really make you feel good to do something for someone who can’t do for themselves,” Tharp said. “These ladies got to participate in something they would have never gotten a chance to participate in otherwise.

“I know the ladies appreciated Braeden doing this, and I would be glad to have anyone else interested in doing a program to contact me.”

Sellers said this was her first “Aging with Elegance” beauty pageant, but it will not be her last.

“Seeing those ladies loving every moment was just a joy to me; watching how they reacted when they got a crown made me happy,” she said. “I will never forget that feeling and it is definitely something I want to do again.”

Sellers has met her goal of 50 community service hours for the Junior Leadership program but she doesn’t plan to stop there.

“I have a personal goal to have 500 community service hours by the end of this school year,” Sellers said. “With school and all my activities, I stay pretty busy, but giving back to the community is a high priority for me. This is just something I want to accomplish.”

And for a sixteen-year-old girl, Sellers is very busy. She plays five different sports and is still competitive in pageants. She will be competing in the Miss Alabama Teen USA pageant on Nov. 5 – 7, a preliminary pageant to the Miss Teen USA pageant.

“I have been working very hard to prepare for this pageant because there are some new elements that I have never competed in before,” Sellers said. “Of course my main goal is to win, but these pageants take some experience and this is my first time doing this particular pageant. Really, it would be such an honor to be in the top 15.”