What's it like to be a pageant winner from Central Minnesota?

by Frank Lee

Kimberly Stommes knows what it’s like to win with a wave and a smile. Competing in her fourth pageant, the 26-year-old wife and mother from St. Cloud was crowned Mrs. Minnesota 2014 at the March 8 competition hosted by St. Cloud State University. “It’s a really great experience,” said Stommes, who will represent Minnesota at the 2014 Mrs. International pageant in July in Jacksonville, Fla. The Sartell High School graduate began competing when she was a teenager and was named Miss Minnesota Teen in the 2005 National American Miss pageant.

“Some people may have an idea of pageant stereotypes, but I have really made long-lasting friendships through the pageants I have done,” she said. “I think a lot of people assume that a pageant is all about beauty, and that you need to be thin and gorgeous to do a pageant and to win a pageant.” Stommes recently graduated from the University of St. Thomas School of Law and was admitted into the Minnesota State Bar Association. “A pageant really gives you a sense of confidence and a sense of getting to know who you are as an individual,” said Stommes, a judicial law clerk. Stommes is an avid volunteer with the American Diabetes Association and Sauk Rapids Riverside Lions Club. She began volunteering at a young age as a pageant contestant.

“Competing in pageants really made me want to be a better person, not only academically but also in the community,” she said. The Mrs. International pageant system recognizes women “for their commitment to family, profession and community stewardship,” according to a news release. “The beautiful thing about the International system is that they really are looking for women that are intelligent and involved in the community,” Stommes said. “The women that are competing are really being an advocate for something, and so for me, I’m an advocate for diabetes because my father has diabetes.” Stommes is a treasurer in the Lions Club, and also first vice president, when she isn’t doing special presentations and assisting with civic and nonprofit projects. “I think as a pageant contestant, there can be a lot of pressure involved to be well-rounded and to be smart but also physically fit and healthy, and I think I deal with those pressures by just being who I am,” she said.