TEXARKANA, Texas -- To say that Cornerstone Retirement Community residents Mike and Donna Berry are well-known in the local beauty pageant community would be an understatement.
The couple, who stepped away following the 2020 Miss Texas/Miss America competitions, which were canceled due to the pandemic, is now finding time to reflect on over 40 years of involvement with countless young women, according to a news release from Cornerstone.
"We've seen girls go on to become doctors, lawyers, you name it," Donna said. "It's amazing to watch what started on the stage with Miss Texarkana and Miss Texas."
The couple's connection to the pageant world began in part by chance.
"I worked as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal in Atlanta, Texas, in 1980," Donna recalled. "Every community had their own 'Miss,' and I was asked to do a report on each one of them. Eventually, I was asked to cover Miss Texas for the paper.
"I sat on press row knowing very little about the Miss America organization. I fell in love with the program, and it became a 40-plus year labor of love for Mike and me. Our daughter eventually won Miss Texarkana in the early 1990s," she said.
For Mike's part, he was happy to jump in and become a partner in his wife's newfound passion.
"I started by helping her when and where I could," he remembered. "As time went on, I went from minimal involvement to a true partner. It's all volunteering and fundraising, so it was truly about our commitment to those young ladies."
Mike and Donna say the stereotypes about beauty pageant contestants couldn't be further from the truth.
"These are young women who put in a ton of work, including working on public speaking skills," Donna said. "As I mentioned, many went on to become extremely successful, in part due to what they learned from Miss Texas and Miss America competitions."