appearance1

Sunday, May 6, 2001
What an exciting day - my first appearance ever as Ms. Alaska American States!
I arrived at the Cottonwood Creek Mall earlier than I'd planned on, which was good, because it took me twenty minutes to get the tiny buckles on my shoes fastened - guess I was more nervous than I'd thought!
After I finally got the straps on my shoes fastened, I gathered up my "stuff" and headed into the mall. It wasn't hard to find the stage and registration table, which were located in the center of the mall beneath a skylight. (The skylight gave the rather neat effect of a natural spotlight.) I introduced myself to a woman standing nearby, and she replied that her name was Deb, and that she too would be judging the pageant that day. I also met Lori, the third judge, and Teresa, the daughter of the woman in charge of the pageant. Lori and Deb were both Mary Kay consultants, and were thoughtful enough to bring two gift baskets to give away in a drawing during the pageant. I entered, but didn't win. Darn! :)
While we waited for Sandy, who runs the local Sunburst pageants, to return from a jaunt in Gottschalks, Teresa pointed out a box absolutely overflowing with crown pins and sparkly pageant pins, and said we could choose one we liked to keep, as a thank you for volunteering our time. It was so hard to choose! I just like things that sparkle too much!
Soon, Sandy returned from shopping, and it was good to finally put a face to the voice on the telephone. Teresa escorted Deb, Lori, and I to the judging table, where she explained the judging procedure, and what sort of "look" they wanted us to look for.
After Teresa finished explaining the scoresheets to us, I had just enough time to retreive my water bottle from my bag before returning to my seat for the first age division.
That first group was a nervewracking one - I still wasn't certain what (or where!) I was supposed to write down, and how could I possibly choose from all the adorable babies lined up before me? But as we waited for the next group to assemble, none of the ladies tallying the scores gave me any strange looks, so I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed as the next group of children trooped (or were trooped by their parents :D ) onstage.
Between divisions, I chatted with my fellow judges and was pleased to find that Lori was a regular substitute teacher, like me, at a local private school. Teresa gave us money for lunch, and we enjoyed hot pretzels from the coffee stand. (I hadn't had a really good hot pretzel in a long time... boy was I happy! :) )
Throughout the pageant, Elizabeth, the emcee, had been introducing the three judges to the audience. The last time she did this, imagine my surprise when she said my name and a huge cheer arose from the back of the crowd! I knew that my family wouldn't be able to come because of other obligations - who on earth was this mysterious cheering section?
After the pageant, just as I finished some pictures with the reigning All-State Sunburst queen (a very grownup six year old girl in a beautiful gold dress), a very pretty woman with blonde hair came towards me and introduced herself. It was Michelle Nielson, the director of the brand-new Miss Alaska Sweetheart pageant, who I'd been corresponding with for several weeks via email. She and her daughters were my mysterious cheering section! :) It was a wonderful surprise to finally meet Michelle and the girls! I'm looking forward even more now than I was before to judging the Miss Alaska Sweetheart pageant this summer.
All in all, it was a great day. The children in the pageant were adorable, and the older girls were all quite elegant, many of them possessing a great deal more poise than I had at their age! It was a good first judging experience for me, and I really enjoyed myself.
I can hardly wait for my next appearance!
-Summer