| Friday and Saturday June 15 and 16, 2001 Miss Alaska Sweetheart Pageant |
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| Summer, Lacey, and Chelle Miss Alaska Sweetheart judging panel |
| My pageant weekend started on Friday afternoon, when I met Michelle Nielson and the rest of the gang (her kids and a couple of friends) in Wasilla, so that we could ride to Anchorage together. On the way in, Michelle told me about her boys' original plan for the opening of the pageant - something about glitter, fog, a descent from the cieling on ropes, and a faked terrorist attack on the judges! Ack! :) Good thing Michelle told them no to that... and to the Silly String, too! When we arrived at the Holiday Inn, we unpacked the truck, checked into our rooms, and began setting up the banquet hall for the Pizza Party. While we girls set out paper plates and decorated with hearts and vanilla candles, the boys got busy making the lemonade. Before long, it was time to head back to the room I was sharing with Bridgette and Jessica and get ready for the party! The party was neat. It was fun to meet many of the contestants who would be competing the following day, and I got to meet Lacey Greeley, who I knew of through Chelle Greeley (her mom), with whom I've been talking to quite a bit through email and the MAA messageboard. Everyone at the pizza party played an icebreaker game, which really helped to get people to mingle. After the party, I headed back to the room to get ready for bed while the rest of the gang that was staying at the hotel headed towards the pool. When Jessica and Bridgette returned, we talked and giggled for a long time (those two are a blast to hang out with!), and some of the other girls came to visit too. We worked until 2:30am on the background music tapes for some of the events, then everyone collapsed into bed. We were exhausted! The next morning we woke up early to get ready. A little after 8am, we went down to the hotel lounge, where we had breakfast with some of the other "pageant people". :) A little before 9am, I made my way back to the banquet hall to get ready for the first event of the day - interviews! A few girls were already there, waiting in the hallway, and inside Michelle was talking to Lacey and Chelle, who had already arrived. It was so good to finally meet Chelle! She gave me such a warm hug, it was like we were old friends. :) After Michelle had explained the scoring sheets to us, it was time to get started. I was so nervous! It had suddenly dawned on me that I had no idea of how to conduct an interview! I was saved, though, by the fact sheets that Michelle had asked the girls to fill out... they gave me something to start a conversation off with, and before long I wasn't nervous at all. I had so much fun during the interviews, getting to know more about the girls in the pageant. It was so neat, especially with some of the younger ones, seeing them start the interview nervous and a little closed-up, and opening up and chatting with me very comfortably by the end of the three minutes! I was also very impressed with the poise and presence that so many of the girls possessed. It was just a lot of fun. During lulls in the interviews, we three judges completed scoring for the portfolio and photogenic competitions. I happen to be a person who absolutely loves photos and scrapbooks, so this was a treat for me. And what a bunch of beautiful young women! My favorites were the candids, where you could really see their personalities shining through in a grin or a funny face. |
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