It was my honor to return to the Miss South Central and Miss Waseca County Sleigh & Cutter stage for my 5th year in a row! In 2008, I won the title of Miss South Central; I then went on to compete for Miss Minnesota at age 19, where I was named second runner up and a Quality of Life Award finalist for my service work with the Autism Spectrum Disorder community. In 2009, I crowned my successor, Aja Majkrzak. Then in 2010, 2011, and now, 2012, I returned to host the pageant!
I love coming back to Waseca each year! It is like another home for me! I have had such a wonderful experience with the Waseca Pageants committee. Even though I was no longer the current Miss South Central, they supported me all the way to winning Miss Minnesota and competing at Miss America. I am eternally grateful for their support and friendship over the years.
I love coming back to Waseca each year! It is like another home for me! I have had such a wonderful experience with the Waseca Pageants committee. Even though I was no longer the current Miss South Central, they supported me all the way to winning Miss Minnesota and competing at Miss America. I am eternally grateful for their support and friendship over the years.
Congratulations to Kalli Randall for her year of service as Miss South Central. Her service platform is The Lengths of Caring: Locks of Love and she collected over 1800 inches of donated hair this year, an incredible feat! Kalli has a heart of gold. She has been a wonderful role model and mentor to many young women who have desired to get involved in pageants, particularly in the Brainerd Lakes area where she grew up. At the Miss Minnesota pageant the past two years (she competed there twice!), she selflessly took the time to help other contestants with their hair before finishing her own. She even teased mine! This year, she wowed everyone as usual with her tap dance performance to the song "Hit Me Up" from the movie Happy Feet and accomplished her goal of making the Top Ten at Miss Minnesota. I am so excited for her to start a new journey as a college student pursuing a career as a veterinary technician. I have enjoyed getting to know Kalli over the past two years and I am proud to call her my Miss South Central sister!
Congratulations to Rachel Hoverstad for her year of service as Miss Waseca County Sleigh & Cutter. Admittedly, it was so special for me to announce her name as the winner that year. Her older brother Nick and I went to St. Olaf College together and he has taken over as the new leader for Awesome Club, the social skills program for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder that I founded in 2008. Like her brother, Rachel is also passionate about working with kids with disabilities. In fact, she has a condition called Erb's Palsy and has been a patient at Gillette Children's Hospital, which is partnered with the Miss America Organization. She has worked hard this year to spread her message of hope for children with disabilities; their disability, though a small hindrance, can't keep them from pursuing their dreams. Rachel was recognized as a Quality of Life Award finalist at the 2012 Miss Minnesota pageant for her dedication to this cause. Rachel will join the Ole club with her brother and me this fall as she heads to St. Olaf College! She hopes to pursue a career that incorporates her passion for helping children with disabilities. I have loved getting to know Rachel this year. She pushed the program to new heights, helping skyrocket the number of contestants and spread the Waseca Pageant program's message of service and scholarship to the community, ALL THE WHILE staying highly involved in her school and community activities! I can't wait to see what is next for this young woman!
I also have to give a quick shout out to the Hoverstad family for giving me a place to stay in Waseca this weekend! Thank you for taking me in!
Congratulations to the new....
Miss Waseca County Sleigh & Cutter: Drew Trahms (below left)
Miss South Central: Tiffany Buszta (below right)
Drew and Tiffany will compete for the title of Miss Minnesota this June!
Miss Waseca County Sleigh & Cutter: Drew Trahms (below left)
Miss South Central: Tiffany Buszta (below right)
Drew and Tiffany will compete for the title of Miss Minnesota this June!
Photo by Jennifer Burt
Waseca Pageants crowned two additional titles this year!
Congratulations to...
Miss Waseca County Sleigh & Cutter Outstanding Teen: Anna Burns (below left)
Miss South Central Outstanding Teen: Corrina Swiggum (below right)
Anna and Corrina will compete for the title of Miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen this June! The national Miss America's Outstanding Teen program was organized under the umbrella of the Miss America Organization to encourage positive achievement by helping to nurture and build scholastic achievement, creative accomplishment, healthy living and community involvement in our nation's youth. The Outstanding Teen titleholders are essentially the "little sisters" to their Miss counterparts, who will serve as mentors and role models for them during their year of service.
Photo by Jennifer Burt
I had a blast in Waseca this weekend! It was like one giant sleepover with 20 girls!
Rachel, Tiffany, Elizabeth, and I downed a plate of brownies. Swimsuit shwimsuit. Oh wait. What's that? I'm a former. Never again.
Rachel, Tiffany, Elizabeth, and I downed a plate of brownies. Swimsuit shwimsuit. Oh wait. What's that? I'm a former. Never again.
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The Waseca Pageants committee struggled to dress the stage in such a way that it hid our giant, faux Oscar trophy's suggestive anatomy.
Kalli, Rachel, Bailey, and I devoured our chips and salsa...and the next table's chips and salsa at the judge's dinner held at El Molino!
The teen contestants ate an entire bag of Swedish Fish, a box of Chicken Biscuit crackers and a whole bottle of squeeze cheese. Yuck!
And apparently Grinch and Jenna Marbles impersonations were quite popular this weekend!
Onstage, these young women appear beautiful, poised, graceful and elegant (and they are offstage too!), but a lot of fun goes down backstage! This was a fabulous group of girls and I hope they will consider competing again in the future!
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