MGJ 2010 Final Moments

I can't believe that my year as Miss Greater Jonesboro finally came to an end on Saturday! What a phenomenal year it was! I had so much fun spending the day with the Princesses in Training and getting to know the contestants backstage.

Here is the link to my interview with Diana Davis promoting the pageant: http://www.kait8.com/global/Category.asp?c=194386&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5624904

What a joy it was for me to crown Natalie Marcus! Natalie and I met while working at our campus bookstore together, and I encouraged her to enter her first preliminary. Now to be the one to place that crown upon her beautiful head, was an experience I am proud to own. The city of Jonesboro will be represented well at Miss Arkansas this year.

Congratulations, also, to a young girl who has worked so hard to achieve what she did Saturday night, Ranae Clines, the new Miss GJOT. All that hard work and perseverance paid off! You looked stunning.

I'll go ahead and copy some photos from the night below, and then, I am going to post a rather long thank you.

2010 MGJ Family

Sean Pollock, Sarah Hamilton (MGJOT 2010), Me, and Ellen Pollock

Me and Maegan Inzer, Miss Central Arkansas

It was too cute not to include it!

Crowning Moment

Natalie Marcus accepting her crown!

I want to copy my thank you speech/final walk to this blog. At Saturday's pageant it had to be edited for time, but I figure this blog provides me with a captive audience! If I can figure out how to get the video/slide show online, I'll do that, too. Don't get your hopes up, because I'm not the most technically adept. A transcript will have to work for now:

Last year at this time, I had the honor of becoming the first Miss Greater Jonesboro crowned in six years. Little had I anticipated the things in store for me throughout 2010. If I could say just one thing to the young woman I am passing the crown to tonight, it would be that your year as Miss Greater Jonesboro will be what you make it. I hope for you, that you choose the busier, tougher, road filled with little sleep. You won’t regret it!

This is how I strived to spend my reign, and I am so thankful for those who surrounded me with love and support. It is that support that carried me to the finish line at Miss Arkansas last July. There are so many people who were involved with getting me to Miss Arkansas and who are responsible for my being prepared to take on such and endeavor. To Christina Ryan and Brandi Adams for all of your many tips and tricks of the trade that you imparted to me last summer, I want to say thank you for helping me to look fabulous on stage. To the Miss Greater Jonesboro board and volunteers who make it possible for me to hold this title and who haven’t slept at all this week preparing for tonight. Your commitment to this program has changed my life and I am so grateful for you.

For making sure I always looked like I had just stepped off the beach for the onstage competition at Miss Arkansas with his phenomenal spray tans, I want to say thank you to Jerry Russell. See you this summer, Mr. Jerry.

Something you may not know, the Miss Teen Jonesboro Pageant was the first preliminary I ever competed in back in 2003 at the age of 13. That was my first introduction to the Northeast Arkansas Field Director, Marrietta Jerome. You believed in me then, Mrs. Marrietta, and I am forever grateful to you for your encouragement throughout the years.

The beautiful gown I wore at Miss Arkansas came from the Royal We in Conway. Laine Berry, you made a lifetime impression on me when I walked into your store and was greeted with not only your effervescent personality, but also with that peacock blue, liquid beaded, Sherri Hill gown that makes me feel like a million dollars.

To Shelley Kelley with the Royal We and Clark’s Bridal. You have taken care of my gowns for years, but it is your words of encouragement and unfailing support over these years that I thank God for everyday! I am so grateful to know you.

To the Adams family: John, Kim, Olivia, and Maddie! Thank you for letting me borrow both of your beautiful young girls as my Miss Arkansas Diamond State Princesses, and most importantly, for all of the support you have shown to me over the years.

Sarah Hamilton! The most amazing first teen queen that I could have asked for! I love you, dearly, and I am waiting to hear even more great things from you in the future.

To the best executive directors a girl could ask for on her first Miss Arkansas journey, thank you for an amazing year. Sean, I know we’ve had our ups and downs, but thank you for never giving up on me. And Ellen, thank you for keeping him in line! I love you both and to quote you, Sean, “now you’re stuck with me!” And to that I will simply add “for life!”

Finally, I must thank my family. To Lola, Bret, Memaw and Pops, Kim and Ashee, Dad and Mom for being there throughout the week of Miss Arkansas and all my life supporting me. Thank you!

To my biggest fan, and the woman who I hope with every fiber of my being that I will one day be like, Mom I love you and I thank God for you every single day. God blessed me more than I deserved when he made you my mom.

When answering my very first on-stage question as a teen in 2003, I quoted this scripture, “In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” Proverbs 3:6. This was my prayer then, and what I hope to live by forever. Thank you Jonesboro! It has been an honor.