Star Democrat Feature

Mrs. Maryland America of 2005 is one of Easton’s own. Laura Price was raised here, and still lives here. She is the daughter of Tom and Jeanne Everngam, also of Easton.

Price’s current title is her third. She was first crowned Mrs. Easton, then Mrs. Eastern Shore America. She went on to compete at the state level, and brought home that crown, too. In June 2005 she was named Mrs. Maryland America. She entered the pageants “to promote my platform of healthy lifestyles and to educate the public on the power of prevention and its relationship to disease.”

She then competed in the Mrs. America Pageant. Though she did not win, she has no regrets. “Representing Maryland at the Mrs. America pageant was truly one of the greatest experiences of my life,” she says. “It will stay with me the rest of my life.”

Since winning her title last year, Price has worked hard to promote health awareness and healthy lifestyles, “I want to raise awareness on why we are getting diseases,” she says: “the chemicals, pesticides and hormones that we ingest and breathe in. The correlation between our exposure to these elements and the increase in auto-immune diseases, the increase in cancer, the increase in all disease.”

She especially wishes to encourage women. She realizes that, as women age and become “moms”; they sometimes forget to do things for themselves because, as a mother, one is constantly doing things for others. Through research, study and experience, she has come to understand that, “over half of all disease is triggered by nutrient deficiency.” She believes it is important for all women to take care of themselves and, as they age, to keep treating themselves to special things like manicures and shopping sprees.

Over the past year, Price said she has learned how important it is not only to serve your family, community and career, but also to look out for number one. “It’s important to do something for yourself,” she said. “It’s not being selfish; it’s something you need to continue to do....do [things] that make you feel good, so you can give back to those you love.”

Price is married to Richard Price, and they have two children, Nicholas, 11, and Justin, 8. So she understands how stressful and demanding motherhood can be. She advises all women to “control the stress in our lives, by taking time for ourselves; read, take a bubble bath, go out with a friend, exercise, do something that makes your feel good about yourself. There really is power in positive thinking and not surrounding yourself with negativity.”

In researching and promoting her platform, Price realized that the nutritional value of what we eat is not the same as it was 50 years ago. “We need to help our bodies fight the constant attacks of what is in our food and what is not in our food,” she maintains. “Our soils are depleted....I heard a quote recently that said we consume 100 times more chemicals and hormones than our grandparents did. That is scary. We need to put back the building blocks nutritionally, to boost our immune system, so our bodies can heal themselves. I suggest a good supplement that is bioavailable to our bodies. Without it, our bodies simply cannot get what they need. “

Price was never discouraged by warnings that she would not succeed. “I wouldn’t listen to them anyway.” She has plenty of self-confidence, and believes it is an important quality for all women to possess. She went on to say she is so passionate about pageants because they are “a journey where you grow and learn as a person.”

Mrs. Maryland America is living proof that pageants are not all about the tall and the young. Price defies both of those preconceptions. She is a mother of two, 5’0” tall and 39 years old. She hopes to encourage everyone with dreams of entering pageants to compete because, “if someone five foot tall and 39 years old can win, anyone can.”

Price realizes that pageants are often misunderstood. “Competing in the Mrs. America pageant in Palm Springs was beyond description,” she said. “There was none of what you might expect, no cattiness or rudeness....Everyone enjoyed getting to know each other, and we all came home with 49 sisters.” She later reflected that, “winning is not the only thing, it is the journey....the outcome is not the most important part.”

She believes this is the end of her pageant career, but hopes to continue promoting healthy lifestyles, encouraging others and being a role model for other pageant contestants.

“Even when my title is over, I will continue to help people so that we can start preventing disease instead of just covering up the symptoms. I am asking everyone to contact me and have me come and speak to your groups, so that together we can make a difference. “

When asked what medical advice she would give our readers, she suggested that less is more. “I am not qualified to give medical advice,” she said, “but I do believe that we are overmedicated. The majority of prescriptions are maintenance drugs that we are expected to stay on the rest of our lives. This is no way to live. We need to be proactive about our health and take control of our decisions. We need to get more active and not lead such sedentary lifestyles. “

Price is available for group or one-on-one appearances to talk about how to be healthier, or to speak to anyone who has loved ones suffering from disease. “Come see or talk to me,” she says. “I need to speak to people about health. I’m so passionate about it, please contact me.” Price also recommends visiting her health website to get more information on a product that will both detoxify the body and give it the nutrients it is lacking. www.greatlimu.com

When Price crowns her successor in June, she won't have far to go. The 2006 Mrs. Maryland Pageant will be held at the Avalon Theatre June 24. Entries will be accepted until May 24. Contestants and sponsors are needed. For more information see below

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