Being crowned Mrs. Woman Petite America is no small feat. Just ask Katey McMahon of Marblehead, who earned the title at a national pageant in Waterbury, Conn., earlier this month.
McMahon, a 42-year-old mother of two Salem State students, Mallory and Allison, has been married to her husband, Michael, a musician, for 18 years. She learned about the pageant from a friend.
"We've modeled together at various fashion shows, she being the super-tall girl (at almost 6 feet) and me, at 5-foot-2, being the petite runway model and usually the shortest in the lineup," McMahon said by e-mail.
The Petite America Pageant is for women under 5-foot-6.
"I was thrilled when they called my name as the winner," she said. "I couldn't believe it!"
Pageant winners volunteer for community service events. For McMahon, that means promoting a cause that's close to her heart.
"My main focus will be animal rescue," she said. "I adopted my dog, Zoe, from the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem when she was only 1, and she turned 15 this year. ... I urge everyone to adopt a rescued animal."
Next June, she'll compete with international delegates in The Petite World Pageant, according to the organizers.
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Ipswich equestrian Donald Little will get a little help from Sen. Scott Brown in honoring military veterans Sept. 12 at the Putnam Boston Jumper Classic in Hamilton. The pair will celebrate construction of the Fisher House Boston, which provides free lodging for families of wounded military personnel while they get medical treatment.
Little founded the first jumper classic at Myopia Hunt Club 20 years ago. He served in the military for more than seven years as the "youngest aircraft commander in the Strategic Air Command," according to a press release from the Jumper Classic. Sept. 12 also happens to be Brown's 51st birthday.
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Peabody drummer Gabe Goldman, 9, and Salem trumpet player Frank Higgins, 94, traded 4-bar solos at Donn Carr's Performance Center Jazz Club in Peabody on Aug. 9. Gabe has been taking drum lessons since he was 4, and he plays all over New England. Higgins is lead trumpet player for the Golden Echoes Big Band.
Both musicians are regulars at Carr's jazz concerts the second Monday of each month.
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Are you doing something entertaining? We'd love to hear about it. Please e-mail Metro Editor Ben Adelman at badelman@salemnews.com.
