Ms. Wheelchair California 2009 : Ms. Wheelchair America 2010, 2nd Runner Up: Councilman Holden's Block Party in Pasadena

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Councilman Holden's Block Party in Pasadena

(Alyson Roth and Councilman Holden)

On Saturday, Ms. Wheelchair California, Alyson Roth, was invited along with Executive Director of the program, Ruthee Goldkorn, to join Councilman Holden's Block Party in Pasadena. What a fun, relaxing, and productive day! Beautiful homes, sunshine, music, hotdogs, lemonade, games for the children, and great conversations made for a memorable experience for everyone.

(Alyson Roth and Ruthee Goldkorn)

Immediately upon Alyson's arrival, there were children waiting in line to meet her and get her autograph. All were so in awe of Alyson and were so excited to get a picture and personalized autograph from her.

(Alyson signing autographs for everyone.)

The Pasadena Fire Crew was there serving hotdogs. Who can resist a picture with them?

Also, gentleman from the LA Sparks were in attendance. Hopefully in the near future, the Ms. Wheelchair California program will be partners with them and their organization.

Alyson also had the opportunity to meet Larry Madick of Kiwanis who is in charge of the Rose Float Parade Club. He gave valuable insight to Alyson regarding this year's National pageant as he was a judge last year. Alyson was also able to see pictures of what this year's Rose Float will look like that she will be a part of! And the biggest accomplishment of the day is that Councilman Holden agreed to ride on the float with Alyson on January 1st!

(Larry Madick and Alyson Roth)

Another introduction that Alyson had the pleasure of having was to Robbie Motter of Flexiciser. Flexiciser is now an official partner of the Ms. Wheelchair California program which offers free training and use of the machine throughout the titleholders reign! Thank you Robbie and Flexiciser!

Big thanks to the city of Pasadena and to Councilman Holden for a great Saturday afternoon in such a beautiful city with amazing people!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Schedule An Appearance

Ms. Wheelchair California is available for speaking engagements, master of ceremony events, parades, photo opportunities and other community events. All events will be considered, and if deemed appropriate and scheduling allows, the Ms. Wheelchair California Foundation will do its best to accommodate your request.

Please contact the Ms. Wheelchair California office www.mswheelchaircaliforniafoundation.org.

(* Please note that during my reign, my title was underneath the Ms. Wheelchair California pageant with Ruthee Goldkorn as the State Coordinator. Ms. Wheelchair America no longer recognizes her pageant as part of the National program, thus a new Foundation was begun for future title holders to continue spreading advocacy in a positive manner.)

Biography

Alyson Roth, Ms. Wheelchair California 2009, lived in Southern California when she was crowned. In 2000, Alyson was involved in a near-fatal car accident that left her with a spinal cord injury and paralyzed from the waist down. Alyson obtained her BS in Music Education at Samford University, and her MS in Elementary Reading and Literacy from Walden University. While at Samford University, she was successful in establishing a “Disability Awareness Week” where students learned about different disabilities and simulated them in order to understand the barriers that confronted students with disabilities. It brought a new awareness to the campus and became a catalyst for further accessibility within the community. After graduation, she taught music in the public and private school sector before joining Free Wheelchair Mission in 2007. Free Wheelchair Mission is a non-profit organization that distributes wheelchairs to over 80 countries around the world to the poorest people with disabilities.

Alyson continued her advocacy by speaking at both the National Association for Music Education’s National Convention (2004) with her session entitled “Barrier-free Music Education: Concepts of Inclusion” and the National Orff Schulwerk Association National Convention (2005) with her session entitled “Mainstreaming the Process”. These sessions taught other music educators how to turn able-bodied music lessons into lessons that included those children with disabilities in the mainstreamed classroom. She has also written several articles and been published in several magazines regarding disability awareness.

Yosemite National Park is now more wheelchair friendly and ADA compliant due to Alyson’s input while sitting on the Board of Directors. She has assisted Habitat for Humanity to help build a house for a disabled member of the Atlanta inner-city community. To bring more recognition to those with disabilities, Alyson presented the “Ability through Mobility” Award to four recipients around the country for their outstanding work within their community despite their disability. She has traveled to Nicaragua to work at an orphanage for children with disabilities and teach music at a school for the blind. Alyson has also traveled to Mexico to deliver wheelchairs to the country’s poorest people with disabilities and has had the opportunity to collaborate with the former president of Mexico, President Vicente Fox, about the importance of providing wheelchairs to the citizens of Mexico in addition to providing aide and healthcare to everyone.

In her free time, Alyson enjoys providing mentorship for newly injured patients, participating in several outdoor activities including waterskiing, surfing, and swimming. It is Alyson’s desire to educate the public on the truths of having a disability and empower those with a disability to be all they can be in a world full of possibilities.

Ms. Wheelchair California 2009 : Ms. Wheelchair America 2010, 2nd Runner Up

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Councilman Holden's Block Party in Pasadena

No comments:

Post a Comment

Facebook Page

Alyson Roth Formal Picture

Alyson Roth Business Picture

Alyson Roth Fan Picture

Schedule An Appearance

Biography

Donations

Links

Followers

Blog Archive