Reese first runner-up at Mrs. Nebraska pageant

On Saturday, April 21, Mrs. Western Nebraska, Adair Reese of Grant, competed in the Mrs. Nebraska pageant at the Scottish Rite in Omaha, receiving first runner-up overall. 

She also placed first in interview and was awarded most photogenic. 

Reese is proud of her accomplishments and how she was able to represent Western Nebraska, but said she surprised herself how disappointed she was this year to not win the crown. 

“My knee-jerk reaction was to be mad. And rightfully so. You don’t ever enter without the thought of ‘I want to win’,” she said. “So I’m glad  I was mad. If I wasn’t mad, then I didn’t want it.”

Reese said her experience this year was different than others in that all the contestants got along and enjoyed one another, despite the competition.

“Other years have been much colder and you don’t really talk to each other” she said. “You’re obviously competing and you want to win, but this year was just a lot different.”

As part of the competition Reese focused her platform on A.D.H.D. awareness in adults and children. She was able to focus on her platform with the judges in interview, but not during her onstage questions.

“We all have our soapbox. You run for Mrs. Nebraska because you want a bigger one,” Reese said.

Reese, who was personally diagnosed with A.D.H.D. as a child, became even more passionate and driven about sharing her experience with a learning disability when her son was also diagnosed. 

“The misunderstandings and misconceptions with it are pretty huge,” she said, which further drives her desire to compete and share her message.

When asked if she’ll compete again: “I don’t know. That’s kind of like being asked if you’re going to have another baby, right after you have a baby,” she said with a laugh. “But I would never say never. It’s a lot of fun.

“I think you learn something every year. And you grow every year from it.”