PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles City Council member Cherie Kidd has earned the title of Ms. Senior USA.

Kidd won the national Ms. Senior USA pageant in Las Vegas over the weekend and said she is thrilled to bring the national title back to Port Angeles.

“I’ve worked really hard for this and I’ve had so much community support,” she said. “The community has been encouraging.”

The five-day-long pageant started June 11. Kidd said she rehearsed much of the week and the top-five competitors were announced Friday.

“When you go into the top five it’s a whole new competition,” she said. “You just start over and you have to do your best.”

Kidd represented Washington state in the 2017 Ms. Senior America pageant and last year she was the first runner-up in the Ms. Senior USA pageant.

She was then invited to the Ms. Senior Universe Pageant last November, where she was also the first runner-up.

“I went back [this time] having that knowledge and experience from the previous pageants and I felt very well prepared this year,” she said. “I worked hard. I nailed my dance number.”

The Ms. Senior USA pageant honors and celebrates the lives of women older than 60. The organization seeks to empower women of all ages, nations and cultures to strive for equality, to achieve their personal best, to make real and meaningful changes and to individually redefine what it means to be a senior woman.

Kidd said that having competitors older than 60 also means many of them are accomplished professionals.

“I’m not a professional entertainer,” she said. “I just have to work really hard to perform. It’s the past experience that has helped me learn and prepare for this time.”

Kidd, a Port Angeles native, is past president of Soroptimist International Noon Club. She said she has used the Soroptimists’ advocacy for women and girls as a platform.

Kidd also has served as past president of the Kiwanis Noon Club, as had her father, Ray Kidd.

Kidd said that as Ms. Senior USA, she will be making national appearances throughout the next year and as she travels she will be seeking to empower women of all ages.

She said that being a senior is a “state, not an age.”

Kidd said she wanted to encourage young people to work hard because they have a lot to contribute to their communities.

“For seniors, I’m saying set your goals and learn new skills. You are the foundation of the community,” she said.

Kidd said seniors do not need to retire and that they should continue to set new goals and “keep going.”

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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.