Mahwah Contestant Crowned Mrs. New Jersey

A contestant from Mahwah has been crowned Mrs. New Jersey.

According to resident Paige Lippe, she won the Mrs. New Jersey pageant, held last weekend at a performing arts center in Cape May. The former Mrs. Mahwah Township will now go on to represent the state in the Mrs. United States pageant, happening in Las Vegas this July.

Lippe said she entered the pageant, which is open to married women across the state, in order to create awareness about the Dr. Michael S. Lippe Memorial Project, which she and her family members started in honor of her late father.

Dr. Michael Lippe was killed in a place crash in 2010. During his lifetime, Lippe was a big supporter of EMS and pre-hospital patient care, so the Memorial Project puts on fundraisers to benefit the Hudson Valley Paramedics Association, and provides scholarships to local EMS college students, as well as Mahwah High School students.

"I am very serious about my platform as a way to continue my father's legacy and help my mother…spread the word since it is a relatively new project,” Lippe told Patch.

Lippe has created a Facebook page to help residents follow the charity's work.