2025 Ms. Senior Golden Years Pageant crowns Carolyn Buckley

The Saddle West Showroom was packed wall-to-wall for the 2025 Ms. Senior Golden Years Pageant and as five fabulous contestants readied for a night in the spotlight and the beaming faces of the audience made a perfect match for the pageant’s theme, “When You’re Smiling.”

Hosted Saturday, June 7, the Ms. Senior Golden Years Pageant showcased the charm, humor and grace of contestants Carolyn Buckley, Denise Gohlson, Mercedes Kennedy, Mary McRory and Diane Sauter, each of whom made pageant founder, president and executive director B.J. Hetrick-Irwin, extremely proud. And at the end of the evening, it was Buckley who earned the title of Ms. Senior Golden Years 2025, with McRory joining her court as first runner-up and Sauter as second runner-up.

Welcoming the large crowd on June 7 and moving the event forward with seamless narration was Master of Ceremonies Stephani Weeks, who is the granddaughter of Hetrick-Irwin. Deacon Rick Minch opened the event with an invocation and local veteran Dr. Tom Waters led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance before Ms. Senior Golden Years 2024 Debbie Forrest read out the “Queen’s Creed”, signaling the contestants to brace for their first official appearance on stage.

The evening continued with several performances interspersed between the pageant segments, which included talent, the ever-popular “Bathing Beauties” swimwear competition and the evening gown presentation. The ladies were also interviewed by the judges in private, with each part of the pageant scores ultimately determining which of the contestants would be crowned.

As the contestant prepared backstage for the various segments, former pageant contestants Star Stewart, Autumn Casterline and Marjorie Washington-Nears added their own bit of dazzle to the event, as did Forrest, with songs and dances to tunes like “Stand by Your Man”, “I Believe” and “When I Fall in Love”, as well as an original song by Stewart.

The Nevada Silver Tappers, sister organization to Ms. Senior Golden Years, performed a special routine to “I’m Every Woman” and former Golden Years contenders paid tribute to the pageant’s swimwear competition with their own “Bathing Beauties” performance. Guest entertainer Danny Pillman-Braden, a singer-songwriter with plenty of experience on stage performing in a variety of venues over the years and a “Best New Artist” winner at the Nashville Music Awards, rounded out the entertainment with “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, “Put on a Happy Face” and “When You’re Smiling”.

The task of determining the winners of this year’s pageant was in the hands of three guest judges, Pervin Gupta, Bronzie Dabney and Alan Mann. Gupta, originally from India, has resided in the U.S. since 1975 and has accomplishments under her belt that include two master’s degrees and the title of “Mother of the Year” from the Clearfield Chamber of Commerce. Dabney is a retired educator with a doctorate degree who currently resides in Mesquite. Dabney is also a children’s book author, former National Ms. Senior America Pageant contestant and judge for the 2024 Nevada State Cinderella Girls Pageant. Mann is a Grammy nominated singer-songwriter, former National Hockey League player and adventurer who recently spent several months tracking African bush elephants in Malawi.

These three privately scored the contestants throughout the show, with weighted scoring depending on the category and when the results were tabulated, Buckley was declared queen and crowned with all due ceremony.

“I want to thank each of you for being a part of the Ms. Senior Golden Years USA Pageant. You truly are an inspiration to all the seniors who have reached this golden time of life,” Hetrick-Irwin told the contestants in a pageant program message. “You have brought grace and dignity to all the ladies of the valley and truly are the epitome of our nation. Keep pursuing your dreams.”

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com