Photos: Reviving the Ms. Senior Minnesota pageant

Ms. Lake Elmo Barbara Nash shares her philosophy.
Ms. Lake Elmo Barbara Nash shares her philosophy of life about paying it forward to others as part of the competition.
Tom Baker/For MPR News

"Okay ladies, you look like dynamite! Just do it!" says Melodee Bahr, pageant director for the Ms. Senior Minnesota Pageant, offered last words of encouragement before the contest.

Escorted by honor guardsmen, each of the seven contestants walked to the stage at the Rochester Senior Center to compete for the title of Ms. Senior Minnesota 2014 in front of five judges and a nearly sold out crowd.

This is the first year for the contest since 2011. Bahr's goal is to have the pageant held annually once again. She wants the pageant "to continue on every year and let as many seniors as possible come to life by being in the pageant."

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