Conway woman wins Mrs. International 2008 crown

By Carol Rolf

LITTLE ROCK — Opportunity came knocking for Laine Berry of Conway and she answered.

Berry, 35, has been a contestant in several beauty pageants over the past few years and has won her share of crowns. She thought she was finished with that stage of her life last year, but upon learning that the Mrs. International Pageant had partnered with the American Heart Association this year, she knew she wanted to try to win that national crown. Berry’s platform for pageant competition has always been centered on heart disease, especially that related to women.

She entered this year’s pageant as Mrs. Southeast International of Arkansas and won the crown of Mrs.

International 2008.

She was crowned Mrs. International 2008 July 19 at the 21st annual Mrs. International Pageant at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Chicago. The pageant featured 47 contestants competing in three categories - interview, evening gown and fitness wear. Berry’s husband, Kevin, crowned her Mrs.

International on the eve of their 12-year wedding anniversary.

“I didn’t plan to enter any more pageants,” Berry said. “Then I learned the International pageant had formed a new alliance with Go Red for Women, and whoever won would get to be a spokesperson for the American Heart Association.

“It was just too prime an opportunity for me not to try to win the contest,” said Berry, who had competed in the pageant in 2005. “In Mrs. International, once you’ve been in the pageant you can go back one time.

You get a second chance to go for your dream job.

“I was fourth in the 2005 national contest, competing as Mrs. Arkansas International,” she said. “I was really afraid to return a second time. Those who go back a second time usually don’t do very well. But I was able to move up a few points this year and won. This is the first time for the Mrs. International crown to come home to Arkansas. It’s a pretty big deal.”

Berry, daughter of the Rev. and Mrs. David Hatfield of Conway and a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas with a degree in communications, said the Mrs. International pageant “is a very, very platformbased pageant.

“That platform fits right into what I’ve been promoting for the past several years,” she said.

Berry, owner of AdWorks with her husband, Kevin, will spend her year as Mrs. International promoting her platform, “Women’s Heart Health.” In 2000, Berry founded Taking Wellness to Hearth (takingwellnesstoheart. org), a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds for women’s heart health education and cardiovascular research, aswell as community programs providing free hearth health screenings.

“My journey began eight years ago when my mother and I were both diagnosed with heart disease,” said Berry. “Mrs. International gives me a great opportunity to speak internationally about the importance of women’s heart health and to be an ambassador to the new alliance between International Pageants and the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women movement.”

International Pageants created an alliance with the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women movement this year. Throughout the year, Berry and the state queens will provide volunteer support and help raise funds for Go Red for Women. In addition, a portion of the Mrs. International proceeds will be donated to the organization.

Berry has already begun her new job. “We just finished filming a promotional spot for the Go Red for Women Web site,” she said. “It should be up and running soon.”

Among Berry’s upcoming appearances locally are the Conway Lions Club at noon Tuesday at Central Baptist Church and the Newcomers’ Club of Conway in September at Conway Country Club.

“It’s such a joy for me to be out in my community,” Berry said. “I’ll also have the opportunity to travel all over the nation bringing the message of how important it is for women to know about heart health.”

The Mrs. International Pageant is owned and operated by International Pageants Inc. It is the only platform-based pageant system dedicated to highlighting women’s accomplishments through community support. Mrs. International showcases married women 21 to 56 and includes their husbands as an integral part of the event.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 123, 133 on 08/03/2008