The Final Days

The last few days have been quite a whirlwind. First of all, I have been battling a stomach bug all week and unfortunately it caught up to me yesterday. I woke up to a racing heart and shortness of breath. I had to be taken by ambulance to Rapid City Regional Hospital and was given fluids. They also “paced” my heart by overriding my pacemaker so my heart rate is back to normal. I am very fortunate because the doctors took very good care of me. I missed my judging yesterday but the judges were gracious enough to let me make it up later this afternoon. So I’ll bring you up to speed on what’s been going on:
Thursday was the second day of judging. I was judged second at 8:30 a.m. Boy, was it an early morning! Then I went to a few workshops on what to expect if you win Ms. Wheelchair America and how to relate with the media. The first workshop was run by the current titleholder, Michelle, who had done more than a great job representing all people with disabilities! She gave some great tips on fundraising, PR, and what kinds of events to expect. It sure was great to hear all about her reign and how much she accomplished in only a year. The next workshop was on media and a local television anchor ran the workshop. It was a great discussion group and we all gave our opinions on what the responsibilities are of the media. The day wasn’t over then though.
We all lined up and walked to downtown Rapid City which was about 3 blocks away. There was a reception for all the state titleholders, companions, friends, families, and other supporters to celebrate what a great week we were having. After that, my mom and I went to dinner with Ms. Arkansas and Ms. Washington and their companions to a local restaurant that used to be a firehouse. We had a great time. By the end of the day, I was exhausted. I didn’t sleep well and had to go to the ER the next day. But everything worked out because I felt better and was able to do my platform speech last night. I spoke about how important it is that people with disabilities vote. We all have a voice that statistics show we are not utilizing. We may face barriers but not much has stopped us so this shouldn’t either. Everyone did a great job with their platform speeches which is a difficult thing to accomplish so we can all hold our heads up high.
Today we had rehearsal for the crowning ceremony. They will pick the top five finalists in random order. The top five will then have to perform their platform speech again (not judged) and will be asked a hard and “light hearted” question. There will be several awards given out, including Ms. Congeniality, and then the winner will be announced. I am so proud of all the women and whatever happens, we all have won with the experience of the week. I have to go get my hair and makeup done and get ready for tonight! I’ll let you know what happens!

The Judging Begins!

Today was the first official day of judging so it seemed like everyone was both excited and nervous. The judging sessions for today was determined by alphabetical order of the states. So my session was the first after lunch. But the start of the day began with a workshop. It was headed up by Crystal, the state coordinator of Nebraska and Autumn, our very own state coordinator from Massachusetts! They planned a “team building” workshop. We began by getting assigned an animal. We had to then make the sound of the animal to find our partner. Luckily, or unluckily, I was a cow so I put out my best moooo to find my partner who ended up being Danielle, Ms. Wheelchair Ohio. We filled out a questionnaire and presented it to our group. We then partnered up with Ms. Wheelchair Texas and New York to come up with some great ideas of what we believe should be the future of the Ms. Wheelchair America pageant. It happened to include a flying wheelchair.
After lunch, I went to wait outside the judges room to be called in. An exciting part of this week that I forgot to mention yesterday is the entire pageant is being taped for a documentary! So I was filmed before and after my interview. Although I cannot reveal the questions, I felt confident in my answers as they were true to myself. It felt relieving to get the first session over with. The second half of the day we were treated to a presentation by Dallas about how he can up with the accessible campground “Meeting the Need” and his other disability organizations. He was very inspiring. The next and final workshop of the day was taught by several martial arts instructors who showed us some interesting self defense maneuvers. I learned that there are pressure points behind both your ears that would drop to you to your knees if I hit them in the right spot. So watch out!
The day ended with the 50’s sock hop night. Everyone looked wonderful with their poodle skirts and colorful scarves. “Shelvis” performed some Elvis/Grease hits and got everyone out on the dance floor. All the contestants danced the night away and seemed to have a great time. I’m off to bed because I have an early judging session and more workshops. I’ll let you know how tomorrow goes!

South Dakota Day 1 and 2

My mom and I started our voyage to S. Dakota yesterday at 6:30 a.m. I had the unfortunate bad luck of being up since 2:00 a.m. since I did not feel good. My mom came over early to help me finish packing and looking at me, asked, “Do you still want to go?” For a second, I did not think she was serious. There would be nothing short of death to prevent me from traveling to the competition. We left at 7:58 a.m. and flew into Denver, Co and met two of the contestants while we waited to board our flight into Rapid City. We were fortunate enough to share our plane ride with Ms. Wheelchair Washington and Arkansas. We finally got to the hotel and settled in while we waited for dinner. We had dinner and orientation and got prepared for the next day.

Today was our “fun” day excursion through S. Dakota. We all traveled in accessible vans and even had a police escort through town! I think we all felt like royalty. We first laid eyes on Mt. Rushmore as we drove around the final of many bends in the road and the monument looked like it was almost not real. We gathered for our group picture which was fabulous yet chaotic. Seeing the monument close up was breathtaking. It truly is a treasure of the United States. As a politics junky, seeing such a great historical masterpiece was absolutely fantastic. We then had lunch and went to the gift shop. My favorite part of the day was when multiple Massachusetts-ites came up to me and wished me good luck. They all were happy to see their home state represented and I was proud to be their representative. We then were treated to a great show by a local Native American young woman who shared her extraordinary story with us. We also were given a brief history of Mount Rushmore. Did you know that the monument was originally supposed to be a carving of the Presidents’ body as well? I did not!
We packed back into the vans and were taken to “Meeting the Need” which is an all accessible old tin mine which has been turned into a campground. We had a big “cowboy” style meal with our meat and potatoes along with a delicious dessert. Our entertainment for the night was an all-female group called T.R.A.S.H. (Truly Rational and Sane Humans) who put on a great show and even sang an original song for us and did a roast of the current titleholder. By the end of the day, we were all exhausted and are getting prepared for tomorrow. The competition is officially going to start so I guess it’s time to put the game face on :)

Welcome Ms Wheelchair America 2010

A HUGE Thank You to All!

Hey everyone! I wanted to thank everyone who was able to attend my fundraiser on August 1st, 2009. It was a great success and I had a lot of fun. We held it at Bostonville Grill in Lynnfield, MA which happens to be where my sister works. The owner, Dawn, was very gracious in letting us use one of their function rooms and made sure everything was accessible. She even wrote “Congratulation Ashley!” on the sign out front.

It was so inspiring to see all my friends and family who attended. We had 62 people come to the event! From long time friends, former and current co-workers, family, kids I used to babysit for, and more, it sure was a night to remember. We also had a 50/50 raffle which raised an additional pot of money. Everyone stuffed themselves with pizza, chicken pasta, salad, and soda. I even saw a few friends on the arcade games and they returned with huge smiles with the cool prizes they had won. I really feel blessed to know that I have so many people that support and love me. I also appreciate all those who were not able to attend who still donated. A big thank-you to all of you as well!

Autumn and I are gearing up for South Dakota! It is less than two weeks away now and the stress is starting to build up. It is the kind of stress though that excites me because I am so anxious to meet all the wonderful women who are such great role models for women with disabilities. I am preparing my speech and hope to convey my message of how important voting is for people with (and without) disabilities. With everything happening with health care reform, no matter what your opinion is, make sure it is heard! This time is so important in our lives and we must not be left out of one of the most important discussions of our time! And as always, feel free to email me with event ideas/questions/concerns at mswheelchairma09@yahoo.com. See you all soon!

Free Soccer Clinic

Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital is offering a free soccer clinic for youth with disabilities and their siblings on Friday, August 28 from 2:00 – 4:00 at Gillette Stadium Game Field. It’s a great opportunity to play soccer and meet the NE Revolution players and coaches.

To attend, please contact:

Glenn McKenney
pccevents@partners.org
617 573 7177

Forwarded on behalf of Partners for Youth with Disabilities

Wheelchair Football Clinic

Wheelchair Football Clinic
Date: Saturday August 22, 2009 Rain or Shine

Gillette Stadium Parking lot
1 Patriot Place,
Foxboro, MA 02035

Wheelchair football is an adaption of American football that gives people with physical disabilities such as SCI, amputees, spina bifida, etc as well as the able-bodied a chance to play in this exciting sport.

The purpose of the clinic is to introduce participants to wheelchair football and to organize a wheelchair football program. Event is FREE!

To register for clinic, please contact NEPVA at 508-660-1181 or see www.nepva.org for registration forms.
10:00 - 10:30am Registration
10:30 - 12:30pm Mobility skills, Rules of the game, and football drills
12:30 - 1:30pm Lunch
2:00 - 4:00pm Exhibition Games against NY Giants Wheelchair football team

Check out there website http://www.nepva.org/files/Football_flyer_BW.pdf

Sponsored by New England Patriots and New England Paralyzed Veterans of America
For more information, please check www.nepva.org or contact
Thomas Dodd
Assistant Sports Director
New England Paralyzed veterans of America
508-660-1181
ThomasD@nepva.org

Originally posted by CHD's Disabilty Resource Program