Mrs. Illinois International 2009

In McLeansboro, Illinois, Rotary meets at 7am at a local family owned restaurant named Farris Restaurant. Talk about getting to business first thing in the morning! I so much appreciate the time that they gave me to inform about the need in our communities for Relationship Education. It was a great opportunity to also let them know about the International Pageant System and service goals. A gracious thank you to Donald Mitchell who invited me to speak and kudos to those in attendance for your attention.

Congratulations to the new Enfield Mule Day Queen, Tiffany Horn. Thank you to the Mule Day Committee for inviting me to judge along with two past Mule Day queens, Jayme Cowling (my good friend) and Melissa Browning (a former student of mine at NCOE).

Thank you to the Eldorado Women's Club for inviting me to judge their annual Town & Country Days Pageant. It was a great evening and I was able to catch up with some old friends and make some new ones too!

Meet our newly crowned 2010 Mrs. Illinois International, Jennifer Naida. She will have a wonderful year and represent Illinois very well. Also pictured with me backstage is Terri Karch, Mrs. Mt. Vernon who is our 1st Runner Up. What a fabulous job ladies!

Find out more about our new winner at www.jennifernaida.weebly.com

Rehearsals began bright and early Sunday morning at 9am. Everyone was ready to learn walking patterns and opening number dance moves! The day went very smoothly, but of course anxieties couldn't help but rise as the hours dwindled before the show. I am so proud of the hard work the contestants put in to make the show a success.

Saturday, September 5, 2009 marked the beginning of the Illinois International 2010 pageant. The contestants gathered for orientatiion at noon in the Wheaton, Illinois Holiday Inn. Introductions were made and an excited group of ladies got their contestant numbers, pageant gifts, and interview times. 

At orientation with my friend and sister queen, Christine Boll and before interviews with our director -- the best state director in the International System -- Donna Beering, Mrs. Illinois International 2002! 

Pictured below are the Mrs. contestants followiing orientation and a group photo before interviews began.

Mrs. Contestants:   Terri Karch, Dena Porter, Jennifer Naida, Me, Holly Torbeck, Danielle Devito, and Kari Balck

This picture, taken by photographer Sean McCabe, is a perfect reflection of the year I have had as Mrs. Illinois International. The time is drawing very near to crown the 2010 Mrs. Illinois, and I have nothing but joy to pass on to that next lucky Mrs! This past year has given me more confidence in myself and my abilities and taken me to places that I would have never dreamed possible just a few years ago. My advice for life is -- look up, smile, and follow your dreams to reality!

It's time to look to the future of Mrs. Illinois! August 9th was the workshop for contestants entering the 2010 pageant to be held on Labor Day weekend. Pictured below are the Mrs. contestants that were present for the workshop. I am so excited to see who will be the next one crowned!

Saturday, July 25th, was the finals night for the Miss & Teen divisions of International. I was there cheering on my 2009 sister queens -- Christine Boll and Meghan O'Donnell. The two of them are such wonderful young ladies through and through. I am so proud of their work through the year and representation for Illinois.

Saturday night, July 18th, marked the end of our week together. I was so honored to be named in the Top 10 finalists. There were so many beautiful and accomplished women there for the week and they all deserved a spot! After competing in on-stage interview, fitness wear, and evening gown for the final time, we all returned to the stage to hear the final decision of the judges. Mrs. Middle East, Armaiti Shihadi Fitzgerald was crowned the 2009 Mrs. International. She is a fantastic woman with such a heart for her platform. I am so proud to be First Runner Up to her. I feel very, very blessed to have placed -- what an accomplishment. I am so very excited for Bonnie - Mrs. Texas, Karen - Mrs. Southeast, and Randa - Mrs. Midwest, who were 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Runners Up. 

Top 10 Finalists pictured left to right: Tammi Krause - Mrs. Minnesota; Melanie Demure - Mrs. Idaho; Randa Allen - Mrs. Midwest; Bonnie Hubert - Mrs. Texas; Armaiti Shihadi Fitzgerald - Mrs. Middle East & Mrs. International; Kristin Melton - Mrs. Illinois; Karen Bartosh - Mrs. Southeast; Adrienne Watson Carver - Mrs. Maryland; Michele Weeks - Mrs. Utah; and Melisa Zwilling - Mrs. Southern States.

On Thursday night a new event was added to the Mrs. Week, a Meet & Greet party with the Skokie Chamber of Commerce Members. Being Mrs. Illinois drew lotsof well wishes from the Chamber members! Following the party, we had a group photo outside of the theater and then a wonderful dinner together.

During the week, we had several different rehearsal sessions, Wednesday evening, Thursday afternoon, and ALL day on Friday and Saturday. The best part was learning the openning number dance which was to "Strut" by The Cheetah Girls. We had lots of time to practice the fitness wear walking pattern and the evening gown walking pattern. Husbands even got to "enjoy" rehearsals on Friday afternoon as they had to practice how to escourt us on stage for evening gown. Paul was a natural! I thank him so much for being so supportive of me!

In the theater lobby Thursday before rehearsals began. Sandra, Eileen, Theresa, and Brooklyn are sweethearts!

Rehearsals on Friday had many visitors including the young Illinois queens pictured above.

Early on  Wednesday, July 15th, we headed to downtown Chicago for a double decker bus tour of the architectual sites. It was our first chance to really start getting to know the other contestants and it was very enjoyable. The tour ended at Water Tower Place where we were able to do some shopping, have lunch, and sign some autographs -- a pageant girl's dream!

The Double Tree Hotel in Skokie, Illinois was the home for 48 Mrs. International contestants during the week of July 14th-19th. After check-in, Orientation began at 6:00pm and it was the beginning of a fantastic week. At Orientation, we received information about the week, introduced ourselves, and got a look at the program book for the preliminary and finals night. Our soon to be requiring queen, Laine Berry, Mrs. International 2008, inspired us to make the most of the week and cherish the new friendships we would make.

Pictured with Eileen Townsend, Mrs. Kentucky and Randa Allen, Mrs. Midwest.

90.9 "The Vine" went live on air just one week ago! I feel so very priviledged to be one of the first few morning show guests. Thanks to Brian and Chrystal, I had the opportunity to tell listeners more about SMART Education, Go Red, and the International Pageant System.

One of the best things about today was being interviewed by Chrystal --whom I have known for almost 15 years -- she was in my very first 8thgrade class that began my teaching career.

It was "Girls Night Out" theme at the Marion Miners game tonight. What an honor to be able to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the game! I was able to share information about Go Red and Relationship Education from my Mrs. Illinois table during the game. It gave many women the opportunity to sign up for Go Red information. I was also invited to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" up in the press booth during the 7th inning stretch. Thanks to some great ladies from Estee Lauder, I didn't have to sing alone!

A big thanks to the TV3 Morning Show and Kevin Hunsperger for allowing me to be on the show and tell about the International System, Go Red, and my Relationship Education platform. Everyone was very welcoming and helpful. It was great!

The Celebrate Life Festival in Mt. Vernon, Illinois was sponsored by supporters of Angel's Cove Maternity & Adoption Center, a ministry of the Baptist Children's Home & Family Services. The day was filled with the presence of so many volunteers from community agencies, businesses, and churches -- all for the benefit of raising funds for Angels Cove. There were so many activities for the children to enjoy including airplane rides by the EAA Young Eagles Program volunteers. Pictured below is Don Griffin, a pilot volunteering his time to introduce flight to children.

I was honored to be in the presence of so many great people today working toward improving lives. Pictured below are members of The Red Cross, The Air  Evac LifeTeam, and just for fun... Fredbird and McGruff the Crime Dog!

The freshman class at Norris City-Omaha-Enfield High School participated in the SMART Education program this year. Making good relationship decisions has become a priority for our future generations, and these young people don't want to get left behind. And gratefully, they have wonderful teachers (Mrs. Melton & Mr. Buchta) who were willing to give up class time to show their support of the program too. Thanks everyone!

Today marked the ending of the second group this year from Wayne City, Illinois to participate in SMART Education. Pictured below are students from the first semester class, second semester, and even a few students from the 2 classes last school year. Their participation is much appreciated!

So how do Wayne City students feel about SMART Education?

I love what I do in promoting relationships! What fun. I found out today that I am referred to as "the SMART lady". I think I like that title for a couple of reasons!