I had such a fun time at the Senior Expo this Tuesday! This was an enormous event for the seniors living in the Mankato area. I greeted everyone at the door and had a great time chatting with the many vendors who attended the event.

I was just elected Vice President of the St. Olaf Chapel Choir for the 2011-2012 school year! I am so excited to spend my year working with Carlo, Noah, Thore, and Eileen! Thank you Chapelites for the opportunity!

Wow! I was truly inspired at this event! Miss Minnesota Kathryn Knuttila has spent her year of service promoting her platform of Inspiring America: Crowning the Good in Your Neighborhood. She has been traveling across the state, holding Night of Inspiration concerts to honor local community members who have inspiring stories to share. She also used these concerts as a forum to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals organization. Tonight was her tenth and final Night of Inspiration concert, with special performances and presentations by decades of past Miss Minnesotas, and this time, all proceeds supported the Miss Minnesota scholarship fund. Kathryn has inspired hundreds of people this year with her service to her community. I am proud to call her my Miss Minnesota!

Breakfast Fit for a Queen was a successful event! My family made the trek down to Mankato to enjoy a delicious, all-you-can-eat breakfast at this Miss Mankato fund raiser. My brother was given the first door prize of the night, a Team Miss Mankato t-shirt, and my dad won a University of Minnesota hat, which he was pretty excited about. The silent auction was a hit, with some fierce silent auction battling going on in the last few minutes. It was great to catch up with my "younger sister" Chandra, Miss Mankato's Outstanding Teen, who successfully won her pink, puzzy, crown-embroidered blanket. She is such a poised young lady, and I can't wait to see her progress through the Miss America Organization as a Miss contestant someday soon. Thank you to Pub 500 in Mankato for hosting us at your restaurant and allowing us to raise money for our scholarship program!

I had a busy Saturday with 3 appearances across the state!

I started out my day as the keynote speaker at the Dassel Evangelical Covenant Church Women's Brunch. I was so honored to have been invited to share my experiences with the Miss America Organization, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals organization, and most importantly, autism. I have been going to that church since I was 10 years old, and I believe I am the 6th or 7th generation from my family to attend that church. In fact, I had a number of family members and close family friends there to support me. Thank you so much to the Covenant Women's Ministry for including me in your program!

Immediately following the first event, I hopped in my car and drove the 2 hours down to Mankato. Thank you to the American Bikers for Awareness, Training, and Education (A.B.A.T.E.) for including me in your bikers awareness parade. May is bikers awareness month and it is so important that we remind people to stay safe on the road! It was extra exciting for me because I got to ride on the back of a Harley for the first time! Thank you, Brian, for letting me tag along with you! After the motorcycle parade, A.B.A.T.E. allowed our Miss Mankato Organization to serve hot dogs and nachos at the park. We sold 200 hot dogs in 40 minutes! What a rush! Thank you for supporting our scholarship fund!

A few hours later, I headed to MACS NITE, the "Mankato area catholic schools" fund raiser. I had several more firsts that night! I witnessed my first live auction. The auctioneer was the 2010 national champion who also placed 16th in the world competition! He was a pro! I was also auctioned off myself! Brad Steel from HOT967 radio station and I were auctioned off to host a picnic barbeque. I also had the opportunity to perform a number of songs for the crowd. I was so humbled by the positive feedback I received. I especially loved speaking with Loyola schools' nuns, who embraced me and gave me their blessings.

 

This Saturday, though I was exhausted from such a long day, was definitely the most fun I have had as Miss Mankato thus far. Please come to my send off party next week, Breakfast Fit for a Queen, at Pub 500 in Mankato! It's all-you-can-eat breakfast food for $10! Proceeds support the Miss Mankato scholarship fund!

This week at Awesome Club, we made some final preparations for our "Field Day" themed party next Thursday. It will be the last Awesome Club meeting of the year, so we will be sure to end on a positive note! All of the high schoolers were obviously looking forward to the activities (Rock Band, relay races, and some tasty food, of course!). Today, because of the beautiful weather, we walked to the park. Everyone enjoyed the fresh air and took advantage of the room to run around after being cooped up in class all day. The weather was perfect - it was bright and sunny for the duration of Awesome Club and only started to rain as everyone headed home. It is sad to see this year's Awesome Club draw to a close, but the high schoolers are already looking ahead to the fall. We will see everyone for the last time before summer next Thursday!


Written by Steph Smith; Edited by Natalie Davis

It's hard to believe it is already the second to last Awesome Club of the year! The middle school has been so much fun - lots of energy and creativity! After catching up on what everyone had been up to in the last week, we began with Red Light, Green Light per unanimous request. Unfortunately it was rainy so we had to play inside, but the hallway makes a great playing space. It's been fun playing the game so consistently and seeing everyone get better at both catching people who are moving and moving without being seen. After that, we played Mafia for the rest of the hour! 


Written by Sara Schaenzer, Edited by Natalie Davis