Mrs. Collegeville's Beautiful Cause

Sherri Russo is a woman on a mission.

Saturday, for the second year in a row, she’ll take to the Jaffa Shrine Auditorium stage in Altoona, PA, for another shot at the Mrs. Pennsylvania crown. The Boyertown native was the second runner up in last year’s competition. Although she hopes to take the title this year, it’s more guts than glory driving her passion as this thyroid cancer survivor works to raise awareness about the disease.

Russo, who currently lives in Upper Providence with her family, including husband, Rick, will be representing her town of employment as “Mrs. Collegeville” in the pageant.

“I was given the choice of representing the town I live in or the town I work in. I chose the town I work in,” Russo explained in an e-mail. “I’ve worked at the law firm of Keenan, Ciccitto & Associates in Collegeville for the past 14 years. I think it’s a great community, and I enjoy promoting the area whenever I can. My husband grew up here, and I have spent so much time here … that I feel like it’s my hometown.”

 Russo has been tenacious in her preparations throughout the past several months. Last year, “I didn’t know a thing,” she said. “My whole training was watching everyone else at the practice that Saturday morning. I didn’t know you had to walk a certain way; I didn’t know you had to stand a certain way. You have to think of everything and do it naturally.”

This time around, Russo worked with two pageant coaches, practiced for her interview and walking in high heels, went shopping for showier dresses that will work well on stage, hit the gym and the tanning salon and, although already careful with her diet as a vegetarian, watched what she eats.

However, Mrs. Pennsylvania is more than gowns and tiaras.

“This pageant promotes the accomplishments and community service of married women,” Russo explained in an e-mail interview. “The winner is someone who has high moral values and a devotion to her platform and her community.

“The Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant is very platform oriented. Fifty percent of the score is based upon the interview, and the interview stems directly from the platform.”

Russo’s platform choice was a clear one, sparked by the life-changing moment in late 2008 when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

During a routine gynecologist’s visit, Russo’s doctor checked her neck and discovered a large lump.

“My gynecologist had just recently started doing neck checks,” Russo stated. “She said something that I truly believe in—women don’t look after themselves. We take the kids to the doctor. We take the dog to the vet. We care for our husbands, but we do not go to the doctor. We do, however, go to the gynecologist, so she decided to do this neck check, which is something a family physician would do. I was not having any symptoms, except for a very large tumor in my neck that neither I nor anyone else noticed.”

Even though thyroid cancer is “growing in incidence rates more than any other cancer,” Russo said, not many people are cognizant of the disease.

“We didn’t even know about it until November 2008 when we got hit in the head with a two-by-four (with this diagnosis),” Rick said.

“The only thing they know causes it is radiation,” Russo said. “More women get it than men.”

Russo’s tumor was large, but the fact that she was two years shy of 40 put her in a “lower (stage) group.”

Russo has been working with the Thyroid Cancer Survivors Association, and is aiming to attend their Philadelphia workshop on April 9.

“They (the organization) created a brochure that tells my story with my picture on it, and we’re trying to get it circulated to gynecologists’ offices to put in their waiting rooms. So while their patients are sitting there waiting they can read my story and learn about checking their neck.”

In addition to her hard-earned lesson in women’s health, Russo has also realized the truth to the statement “Life is too short.”

“My life has changed dramatically. I am always going to do anything and everything I have always wanted to do. I always dreamed of modeling or entering a pageant, and that was the first thing I did after recovering from my illness,” Russo said.

She hopes the title will give her “a bigger voice” when it comes to raising thyroid cancer awareness.

“Thyroid cancer affects thousands of people every year, and 75 percent of them are women. We’ve made great strides in getting women to check their breasts. It’s time to reach up and check your neck, too,” Russo stated.

If Russo becomes Mrs. Pennsylvania, her next stop will be the Mrs. International Pageant in Chicago in July. However, regardless of any victory in Altoona or Chicago, Russo has already won hearts in the Perkiomen Valley region.

When she and Rick—who could be considered “Mr. Collegeville,” given his connections to the community—recently dined at Pizza Stop, a handful of visitors, including the Pizza Stop’s proprietor and Collegeville Mayor Al Stagliano, stopped by the table.

“Sherri’s a beautiful person” inside and out, Stagliano said. “We’re proud to have her represent Collegeville.”