Published: March 22, 2008 06:56 pm            

Branching out

First-time pageant contestant Rebecca Branch uses title to teach seniors the joy of living

By Brittany Woodby

BWOODBY@CULLMANTIMES.COM



To Rebecca Branch, elegance has nothing to do with age. Instead, the 69-year-old pageant queen says elegance is a matter of attitude.

“I just try to be an encouragement to older people,” she said.

Since winning the Ms. Senior Cullman County pageant, Branch has taken every opportunity to present her platform, “Tips on How to Age Elegantly,” to senior citizens across the county.

“Sometimes people my age choose to stop being involved,” she said. “They choose not to participate in society, but I think there is still so much we can do and give.”

Branch herself made a choice to participate when she signed on to be part of the Ms. Senior Cullman County Pageant, the first pageant she has ever been a contestant in.

“This was the first time I’ve ever done anything like this,” she said. “I grew up on a farm. I had no expectation of winning.”

However, Branch said once she got involved with the pageant, she realized how the experience would open up doors for her to uplift others in the community.

“I just became more aware of senior citizens and the fact that some of us choose not to participate in life anymore,” she said.

As Ms. Senior Cullman County, Branch worked to develop her “tips” to help motivate seniors to continue being active and enjoying life. The lessons stem from three basic areas: Attitude, exercise and health.

Branch says choosing to be happy and maintaining a positive outlook on life is essential and tell seniors to find a positive attitude through loving God, loving others, counting blessings and volunteering to help others.

“I would tell anyone to study Romans 12,” she said. “Learn and apply that verse and you will have a peaceful and fulfilling life.”

She also encourages seniors to keep their bodies active, as well as their hearts and minds.

“If you don’t use it, you lose it,” she said. Branch said she tells seniors to stretch their muscles and develop a daily exercise program with the help of a friend or by joining a senior citizen exercise program. Additionally, she advises seniors to stay healthy by eating right, drinking plenty of water and getting enough sleep.

While she shares her tips to help seniors enhance their lives, Branch has always lived by them. The mother-of-two, grandmother of four and great-grandmother of two, has served Cullman County in a number of ways. She spent many years working in education, serving as the president, treasurer and secretary for the Alabama Association of Community College Dean of Business Services organization, as well as treasurer of the Alabama Junior College Association.

Branch was also the first woman bank director in Cullman after taking the helm at First State Bank of Cullman in the 70s. Wallace State Community College named a woman’s dormitory after Branch in honor of her service and leadership as the school’s Dean of Business and Treasurer from 1966-1990.

Despite her extensive list of professional achievements, Branch hardly slowed down when she turned 60.

“During my early sixties, I was very involved establishing my consulting business,” she said. “Even though my business required much of my time, I enjoyed family and some of my hobbies.”

Branch also spends her time working in the community. She volunteers as a fundraiser for the Cullman County Regional Medical Center Foundation, works in the children’s ministry at her church and sings in the choir.

In 2006, Branch retired from her private financial firm and said she’s spent the latter part of her 60s traveling and cooking with her husband, Clark Charles Branch, Jr. Together, they prepared a ballad called “Glimpses of Southern Heritage,” which she will perform during the Ms. Senior Alabama Pageant at Wallace State Community College March 29.

“The ballad tells of our southern lifestyle, hospitality and is reminiscent of things we remember,” she said.

With the pageant only a week away, Branch said she is staying busy rehearsing and is starting to feel a little nervous, but is loving everything about being a pageant contestant.

“I’m really looking forward to participating with the other state contestants,” she said. “It has been so much fun getting to know the other contestants. There are 14 very talented ladies in this competition and I just with them the best.”

        

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