This weekend I traveled to the town of Van, which is a town east of Dallas in between Canton and Tyler, Texas. The pageant started at 9:00 am with little babies and progressed into the afternoon with the teens. Since Van is such a small town, this event is the largest fundraiser for the Van Chamber of Commerce. Here I am with the pageant coordinator Andrea Walker, and the chamber president John Barker. Once I got there I was excited to see Shannon McAnally (America's Perfect Miss) and the director Miss Shirley. I have competed with her before and was so happy when I found out she won the national title. It is so exciting to see all of the cute little children, it was so hard to be a judge! Not only are these little girls beautiful, but they all had poise and did exciting talents as well. The winner did a ballet dance, while the talent winner sang with an amazing voice. Here I am with a future "Pop Star"- her career ambition just might come true. She sure has the moves! I got to converse with many different people all day. In the Miss Division- the Oil Queen is the one who will be recognized all through Van and get to appear in the town's festival and parade October 25th. Here I am with last year's Oil Queen Brittany Cotton. For lunch Andrea took us to a delicious Mexican restaurant Patron's. We had a good time getting to learn all about each other and our different stories. I met alot of people and that is what being a pageant titleholder is really about!
This weekend was Dallas Family Day Out at Dallas City Hall. This event is in part with the National Night Out campaign, which reinforces safety and crime prevention in Dallas. I served as the host for the day, and had the opportunity to meet several wonderful individuals. The day started out with a fashion show put on by Skyline High School's Fashion Marketing class. All the clothes were sponsored by Target. Since I am in the fashion industry, I love being able to see younger fashion students pursuing their dreams. I had a chance to talk to them and some of their parents- I love making new fashion friends!! Another big sponsor was State Farm- both sponsors were giving away items such as IPods, cameras, and $250 gas cards each hour which was exciting. All throughout the day their was an array of talented musicians from the DFW area. Here I am with the band Phoenix Heart. Another wonderful and accomplished woman that I had the opportunity to meet was Dr. Elba Garcia who is the Mayor Pro Tem and also Dallas City Council Woman over District 1. She was so well spoken and an inspiration as a successful community leader. I had a very exciting day, and the costumed characters added to the enjoyment!
