'Everyday mom' to compete for Mrs. World in Korea
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Mrs. America Natalie Luttmer of Moses Lake, center, participates in the Moses Lake Buddy Walk in support of people with Down Syndrome. Luttmer will be competing in the Mrs. World Competition in South Korea.
MOSES LAKE — “In representing my country, I’m showing that everyday moms, from a small town, can make a difference,” said Moses Lake mother of seven Natalie Luttmer. “That’s what I’m doing at Mrs. World, representing your average, everyday mom.”
She was excited when she was named Mrs. Washington, experienced the surreal when her name was announced as the new Mrs. American. Now, she is preparing to take the world stage at the Mrs. World Competition Oct. 31-Nov. 4 in the South Korean capital city of Incheon.
She is in fact, making a difference in the world around her.
“This (Mrs. World) competition shows that everyday moms can make a difference in their community, can make a difference across the nation. I think it’s about being an example for all the women out there that think they’ll never be able to do something,” said Luttmer, who leaves for South Korea on Sunday. “This shows what they can do if they put their minds to something and they work hard. They can do amazing things.”
She’s lived in Moses Lake for 25 years and graduated from Moses Lake High School in 1998. She and her husband Landon have seven children, including five boys and two girls.
But this everyday mom will represent her country on the world stage with women from an estimated 40 different countries where she has a platform to add her voice to a changing world. Luttmer, who was crowned Mrs. Washington in July, hosted a fundraiser benefiting the Victoria Siegel Foundation, which provides support for youth and families affected by substance abuse. She volunteered at the Columbia Basin Buddy Walk, Special Star pageant and is a member of the Moses Lake Public Library Foundation board.
She has chosen the prevention of teen substance abuse and recovery as her platform. Luttmer will be featured on the cover of “Recovery Today Magazine,” which has also featured award-winning actor/producer/director Daniel Baldwin, supermodel Amber Smith and five-time U.S. champion and two-time Olympian Tai Babilonia, to name a few.
The resurgence of heroin in America, escalating teen addiction, the family destruction around abuse, she knows Moses Lake is not immune to any of it and she’s willing to take a stand on the frontline.
It was actually an article in the Columbia Basin Herald about the rise of substance abuse in Grant County and a few other stories of addiction that made her realize the path she needed to travel, she said.
“I do a lot of work with the Victoria Siegel Foundation. Victoria struggled with addiction and died of an overdose. There was a fundraiser and the money that I helped raise went to the purchase of a drug first responders can use to reverse the effects of a drug overdose,” Luttmer explained. “Addiction is not a pretty topic. It’s not something you want to glorify, but we are at an epidemic level with it across the nation.
“A lot of it started with Oxycontin. The restrictions got a little bit tighter and it was less available. You get the same high from heroin and it’s cheaper. It’s all intertwined, so there’s a lot of different programs I’m excited to be working with when I get back from Korea.”
An everyday mom will be taking the global stage with women from around the world to see if they can’t make a difference in a world that could put the first woman in the White House in November.
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