By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer 

COLUMBIANA – A new Ms. Columbiana Health and Rehab was crowned in the facility’s annual beauty pageant on May 17.

Sylvia Weis was named Ms. Columbiana Health and Rehab 2019, following the announcement of alternates and winners in other categories.

“Wow,” Weis said after hearing her name. “Thank you. I love you all so much.”

2018 Ms. Columbiana Health and Rehab Barbara Higgins crowned Weis.

Other winners included: Frances Lucas, first alternate; Pearlie Mae Drake, second alternate; Anne Tortorigi, third alternate; Kellie Conn, best dressed; Juanita Griffith, most photogenic; Frances Gravelle, best personality; and Helen Harris, best hair.

Activities Director and Coordinator Miriam Gentry said the facility has held the pageant ever since it opened 14 years ago.

The pageant coincides with National Skilled Nursing Care Week, she said.

“It’s something annually we do that I think the residents enjoy, the staff enjoy and the families enjoy,” Administrator Shannon Bell said.

Chris Blackerby and Tim Meehan with Senior Placement Services in Birmingham served as emcees for the pageant.

Judges were Carrington Carter-Glover, owner of Carrington’s Caring Comfort Birth and Postpartum Doula Services in Alabaster; Shecaro Davis, caregiver at Premier Assisted Living in Columbiana; Sheila Lackey, account executive at Central Alabama Home Care; and Meehan.