|
Hello Virginia! (10/31/08)
After returning from LA, I was honored to be a guest speaker at the Open Door Resource Center silent auction fundraiser. The ODRC is an incredible organization headed up by my new friend, Linwood Alfred. The organization provides resources for those infected with HIV/AIDS in the Richmond area. I spoke about today’s youth being the “AIDS Generation” since we have never known a world without the disease. Linwood and my other friends at ODRC are working hard to make the next generation the “AIDS-FREE Generation”. Later in the week, I visited the Richmond Children’s Hospital, a Children’s Miracle Network hospital where I toured their facilities and saw the wonderful specialized care they offer. I look forward to going back again soon! Afterwards, I met with Rebecca Worth, a designer from Sylvan Spirit, who will be designing a line of jewlery inspired by me: “strong, yet feminine”. This week I also visited my sponsors at Elizabeth Arden and went on a $500 shopping spree (my Mom will be very excited about this on her birthday in a couple of weeks!), and I was given a surprise, edgy new hairstyle for the fall from the talented stylists at Zee’s!
Next up, I headed to Northern Virginia for the Marine Corps Marathon! The Saturday before the marathon, I lent a hand at the Kids Fun Run. The enthusiasim of the young atheletes was awesome; not even the rain could put a damper on our fun. For those of you who have never dealt with naturally curly hair, the rain and dampness inspire my curls to have a mind of their own… But before the kids run, I was having a good hair day as a guest at the Washington Capitals/ INOVA blood drive. The burning question on the minds of the many CAPS fans donating blood that morning: How do I attach the crown to my goalie helmet. ..The question set my imagination churning…a helmet with a crown on it could face down any slap shot, I’m sure! After the blood drive, I went straight to the kids run where my smile and my hair continued to grow! Rain or shine, good hair day or bad, I am loving every second of my time as Miss Virginia!
On Sunday, the actual Marine Corps Marathon, there were blue skies and sunshine as our backdrop. I met up with our photographer extraordinaire, Julius, and Miss DC 2008, Kate-Marie. Together we cheered on the runners which included my new friend, Andy Baldwin from the Bachelor. (Yes, he is both an Officer and a Gentleman). The determination witnessed at the finish line has inspired me to add “compete in a marathon” to my “bucket list”... I better start hitting the treadmill now!
October ended with a weekend at my alma mater, Penn State University, where I was asked to drop the ceremonial puck at the Penn State Icers hockey game. As many of you know, I was the starting goalie for the Lady Icers while I was in college. After the game, I was invited to take a special role at the Icers/ Lady Icers auction fundraiser. To my surprise, when bidding for “Brunch with Miss Virginia!” opened, I was shocked to see several Icers players dominate. There was a back and forth of bids before the auctioneer’s gavel sounded “SOLD!” I ended up raking in nearly $200 for the Lady Icers! Thank you to my new friend, Jamie Zimmel, #14 on the Icers, and his teammates for supporting women’s hockey! J
In other news this month has been a wondermonth. I am really starting to get into my groove with “Right Decisions, Right Now” presentations. I have already spoken to thousands of children as Miss Virginia and I feel like I’ve given and received nearly as many hugs! I’ve also racked up thousands of miles on the road. I’ve started to map my territory by leaving an autograph and picture at every gas station, rest stop, and restaurant I visit along my many road trips. I think I’ll call it my, “Miss VA Was Here” Campaign. Keep an eye out for them!
One road trip I wish I didn’t have to make was to a hospital in Norfolk to visit Tamika Mills, my good friend and local titleholder who was in a car crash. I was excited when I arrived, though, to see so many other supporters from the MVO community join me at her bedside. I saw the same outpouring of support when I visited Pat Irby, long-time MVO volunteer and friend who is bravely fighting breast cancer. I have been reassured that both Tamika and Pat will be just fine, but please keep them both in your prayers. I am so proud to be a part of such a wonderful and caring organization.
Looking ahead to my schedule, I have some exciting things coming up! I will be the goalie in a charity shoot out with Virginia Tech’s men’s hockey team and fans to raise money for CMN on November 21, and I have another charity shoot out in the works with the Norfolk Admirals (www.norfolkadmirals.com) minor league professional hockey team later that week! I am also looking forward to keeping busy with many more RDRN presentations (three in one day next Monday!). Along with my hectic appearance schedule, I am also working with my amazing Miss Virginia prep team to perfect my song and wardrobe. I’d also like to thank the many groups of volunteers across the state who have formed mock interview panels as preparation for Miss America. We are Team Virginia… See you on the road! All my best, Tara PS: I’m writing this during a rare visit to my parent’s house and I have been told to inform you all that my dad is cool. J
Hello
I know I'm a little bit late on my
newsletter but they kept us pretty busy in LA!! Before I get to LA
though, I'll recap on what happened right before I left: The week before I jet-setted to That week, I also did two appearances
with Miss That night, I was a guest at the
Goodwill Charity Fashion Show at the French Embassy in The next day Kirsten, Leeann, and I
met up again, along with Andrew Baldwin from "The Bachelor" TV
show, for USO Casino Night. We played Vegas Style gambling games with fake
money for prizes for the Wounded Warriors who joined us. The next morning, it was back to the I was off to LA the next
morning but the trip wasn't too smooth. I was supposed to leave Roanoke
at 10am… instead, my flight got cancelled so I drove four hours to Dulles
Airport and finally left close to 10PM and arrived in LA at 12:30am (3:30am
our time!). I'm sure Miss Now, I know you all would love to hear
everything about the reality show… and believe me, I'm dying to spill the
beans… but I can't. L I can tell you about all of the wonderful excursions we went on while
we were in LA between breaks in filming. The first weekend was super fun and
super busy! We started off with a tour of Warner Brother's Studios. We
pranced around the set of "Friends", saw where they filmed
"Annie", "Don't Mess with the Zohan",
and even where the famous upside down kiss happened in "Spider
Man". Then we made our way to the set of "Ghost Whisperer" and
met actor/comedian Jamie Kennedy. After a lunch break, it was time for
the Ellen Show! Ellen had a special assignment for the Miss America
contestants - lure George Clooney to the set! We chanted and sang and
tried our best but George was a no-show. We did, however, snag Mario
Lopez for a few minutes and that was not too shabby! Next up we were guests on the KTLA
morning show then headed to IHOP to promote National Pancake Day to benefit
Children's Miracle Network. After flipping and stacking and eating, I
discovered you can have lots of fun with a pancake! Later in the day we headed to the Los
Angeles Zoo and saw some beautiful and some disturbing things… As best as I
can put this in G-rated MAO terms, one chaperone excitedly called all of the
contestants over to witness "the miracle of life", what she thought
was a kangaroo giving birth… well, this particular kangaroo happened to be a
boy and it was definitely NOT giving birth! Needless to say, she was the joke
of the day! Another fun event was visiting the LA
Angels baseball game. We got to just relax, be casual, and have fun… but the
ball players definitely knew we were there! We spent most of the game
waving "yoo hoos"
at whoever was looking our way. I doubt the coaches were very happy! On our days off, we were guests at
several incredible posh restaurants, including the Balboa Bay Club where
"The OC" TV show was filmed. We also met the Mayor of
Manhattan Beach on the pier. I felt like I was in some crazy movie and
this was supposed to be our days OFF from filming! The rest of the 3 weeks was spent on
location filming "Countdown to the Crown". I'm dying to tell
you something so I'll tell you all as much as I can: the place we were
filming is haunted… and I mean HAUNTED! It's known for being one of the
most haunted places in the world and there have been several
documentaries about it... My roommate, Miss In short, I've determined that reality
TV is a far cry from reality, and the Miss America Class of 2009 sisterhood
is more amazing and more valuable than anything I could have ever
imagined. Sometimes filming the reality show got to be frustrating and
nerve-wrecking and exhausting but I know there are 10,000 girls across the
country that would love to be in our place and I am so grateful for this
opportunity. Who can say they've been on a reality TV show? Now I
can! So, I'm back in good old VA and ready
to get back to work! I just found out last night that tomorrow I am
giving a 20-minute speech on a very unfamiliar topic which just proves that
you're See you on the road!
(Sept.
04) A couple of weeks ago I realized
something that I hope every future Miss Virginia realizes early on in her
reign - Yes, it's my year… but it's not just my year. I received an e-mail from Miss Virginia
1960, Catherine Daniel, telling me how proud she was of me and that I was
doing a great job. She also shared with me some of her most memorable
experiences as Miss So, with that being said, here are some of the highlights from what I've been doing in the last month: At the beginning of August, I had the
honor of visiting the Marines at I will always have a special bond with
those who serve our country. A good friend of mine and former Lady Icers teammate, Lauren Shaw, is
currently in Next up, I made the exciting trip to In On a side note (because I think many
of you will get a kick out of this story), a few days before I went to "Graceful" was my
response. Let's hope I got this out of my system before Miss Now on to more highlights: I am now a
spokesperson for Speaking of the Propeller Club golf tournament, while I was there, I sunk a $1,000 putt for CMN and met a wonderful gentleman, Geoff Clark, whose company, Kitco Fiber Optics, sponsored me at the tournament. Recently, Mr. Clark's family was in Roanoke and invited me to join them for dinner which brings me to now, the end of my second month, where I've seen many things come full circle: I met Mr. Clark, his wife Sandy, and
his granddaughter Madison at the Hotel Roanoke for dinner and it was such a
treat! Mr. Clark and his family are new fans of the Miss America program. They have seen through meeting me, how much this program and it's contestants touch lives. Because of this, Mr. Clark has offered a generous donation to the Miss Virginia program and I hope he knows how very thankful I am for his support! It's impossible to talk about everything I've done this month in one newsletter or it would be WAY too long (as it probably is already!)! I will say that I've been very busy and loving it! In the past 3 days I've spent 20 hours on the road and I'll be honest, I'm getting a little tired of my CD's. If anyone has any suggestions of books on CD or musicians that I need to check out, please send them my way! I'm looking forward to what the next month has in store for me… and it's hard to believe the next newsletter will come from LA!!! All my best, |
|
"To whom much is given, much
is expected." Luke 12:48 A few nights ago, I stopped
at a Sheetz gas station off I-81 around midnight on
my way back to Little did they know, they all had made MY day! Everywhere I go,
people are so excited to see me. They present me with gifts, flowers, and
shower me with compliments to thank me for being there. Thank ME?
Thank YOU! I am living my dream and it's thanks to everyone who is
supporting me and every other participant in this program; everyone who is still
excited about Miss I have been so blessed in the first
month as Miss Even on the days where it looks
like nothing is scheduled, I'm still keeping pretty busy. Caitlin Uze called me one day and left a message saying jokingly,
"I looked on the appearance page and it says you've got nothing so why
aren't you picking up your phone?!" J
Well, I missed her call because I was meeting with
Senator Jill Vogel to to talk about joining the
national "Helping I have also had many meetings with
sponsors and potential partners. I am now working with the Foundation
For A Better Life (www.forbetterlife.org) on
their national campaign, and the rumors are true: Miss I've gotten to do so much already
but I believe that my favorite times so far have been the times that I
touched the life of a child. I was at Children's Which
brings me back to "To whom much is given, much is expected".
Every second of this last month has been great but my greatest times so far
haven't been riding in parades waving to adoring fans, it's been dancing with
the kids at the fair after the parade. It's been the times where
someone at a gas station told me I made their day when really they made mine.
It's inspiring a three year-old cancer patient to feel like a princess
again. I am so blessed to have this title
and the support of so many. I am constantly thinking about what I can
do to give back. It's been a month and I hope I've been making you all
proud. I am so proud to be your Miss |
|
July Newsletter I'm
sitting with my brand-new laptop (thanks Julius!), in my pajamas, wearing my
crown and sash, with a million thoughts running through my head. I'd like to start off by thanking everyone who
has helped me get to where I am today.
My incredible family, friends, Ric, my
directors and committees (both from Blue Ridge and I
want to thank all of the contestants.
YOU Hannah,
you are an inspiration. I have some big shoes to fill and I will work my
hardest to follow your advice and "leave it better than I found
it". I
am grateful, honored, and ready for this job.
I have always believed in striving to foster a servant's heart; for
those who serve the most, grow the fastest.
I will represent this great organization with class and I promise I
will never take one minute for granted that I am Miss We are all a united team working for a common
goal and with passion for this program. All
my best, |
