Best of Luck to the Miss Northwestern Ohio Program

Tomorrow night at the Defiance Community Auditorium Heather Waterman will crown a new Miss Northwestern Ohio! The pageant begins at 7:30 p.m.

As Miss Northwestern, this Wright State University grad won a preliminary award at Miss Ohio for her stellar swimsuit presentation. Heather, a vocalist, has already secured her third trip back to Mansfield as Miss Clayland.

Heather was the fourth Mercer County woman in five years to hold the Miss NWO title. Only one contestant has the ability to keep the Mercer County streak alive; however, all the contestants are from the Northwest area, despite this long time "closed" pageant now being open to whole state. They are:

Alyssa Waldman

Education: Defiance College
Talent: vocal
Platform: Encouraging healthy self-esteem among women of all ages
Pageant Past: 2nd RU and Talent winner at this pageant last year.



Lluvia Martinez

Education: Hicksville High School

Talent:
Platform:
Pageant Past: 1st RU at Miss Hicksville (non-MAO)

Macy Weatherhead

Education: Hicksville High School

Talent:
Platform:
Pageant Past: Reigning Miss Hicksville (non-MAO)

Halie Gonwick

Education: University of St. Francis / Nursing

Talent:
Platform:Pageant Past: Competed in this pageant last year.

Haley Piper

No information available.

Christina Drake

Education: Defiance College / Education
Talent:
Platform: Possibly Rock for Autism
Pageant Past: Competed in this pageant last year.

Kelsey Buettner

Education: Delphos St. Johns High School

Talent: likely baton

Platform:
Pageant Past: 1st RU at Delphos Canal Days (non-MAO)

Samantha Hartings

Education: Coldwater High School

Talent: dance

Platform: Child Literacy Awareness

Pageant Past: Recently competed at Miss Clayland and Miss Ohio Teen USA last year.

Jessica Nelson

Education: University of Toledo / Veterinary & Biology

Talent: vocal

Platform: Promoting Pet Health and Safety

Pageant Past: Second year local competitor.

Katie Ulrich unfortunately had to withdrawal because of a funeral.

Alyssa Phillips

Education: Bowling Green State University / Fashion Merchandising
Talent:
Platform:
Pageant Past: None found, but super cute modeling shots!

Emily Pheils

Education: Bowling Green State University /Pop Culture & Marketing

Talent: vocal

Platform: Dove Campaign for Real Beauty

Pageant Past: Recent 1st RU at Miss MV/AAC/FT; competed at Miss Ohio '09 as Bay Village.

CLICK HERE for the competition order.

You know the drill, email me or comment with updated contestant information or headshots. Best of luck to all the ladies!

Carrie Prejean: author, 'film maker,' martyr...

* Update: Click into the comments for more of my opinion and yet another video link. -11.13.09 5 a.m.

***

I can't believe this woman is still milking her 15 minutes of fame! I had hoped not to write of her again, but her latest hi jinks can't be ignored. Conveniently, she dropped her law suit against the pageant, had a "sex tape" leaked and is hawking a book, all at the same time!

Meredith Viera on Today recapped Carrie Prejean's story and interviewed her:

Carrie Prejean on Larry King Live:

Carrie Prejean calling King "inappropriate" and removing her mic (after Anderson Cooper):

My favorite interview is The View, in which Barbra Walters has some fabulously blunt, but dignified one-liners and ill informed Prejean didn't even realized the ladies had initially defended her. CLICK HERE to watch the entire segment.

If you enjoy funny lady and E! talk show host, Chelsea Handler, I highly suggest you google her recent comedic monologue about Ms. Prejean.

Miss Universe President, Paula Shugart on Joy Behar:

Shanna Moekler on Wendy Williams:

My opinion of this woman has not changed since the infamous question; she is absolutely incapable of directly answering and she proved that again in all these interviews. She is certainly entitled to her opinion but I still do not think she has the ability to back any of them up, rather she answers questions with questions in a defensive manner. I found her extremely confrontational in her interviews; if she wasn't prepared or willing to answer the obvious questions, she shouldn't have done a press junket, book or no book!

Have Seth Myers and Amy Poehler done an SNL "Really" skit on this yet? They should. You can't believe we're still talking about you, yet here you sit in the interview chair to sell a book! Really? You say your freedom of speech was punished, but you're whining that the big bad liberal media calling you mean names. REALLY!? You wrote a book about defending conservative values even after your nipples were all over the internet and you admit to a quazi sex tape? Really? REALLY!? Really Carrie Prejean? really.

(If that last paragraph confused you, click here.)

To show both sides, here's an interview Sean Hannity, who appearantly wrote the forward for her book:

Local Lowdown

There are only three pageants and a total of five titles left in 2009; three of which are brand new and at least one is still taking applications!

Miss Northwestern Ohio

This Saturday, November 14th

Defiance Community Auditorium

7:30 p.m.

Pageant Press

Miss Vacationland

Saturday, November 28th

Playmakers Civic Theatre, Port Clinton

7:30 p.m.

APPLICATIONS DUE MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16th

Website * Facebook Fan Page * Twitter

Miss Mansfield, Miss North Central Ohio and Miss Mansfield's Outstanding Teen

Saturday, December 5th

Mansfield Senior High Auditorium

6:30 p.m.

Website * MM Facebook Fan Page * MNCO Facebook Fan Page * MMOT Facebook Fan Page * Flickr account

Pageant Press: Mario Lopez to Host Miss America Again

When Miss America sent out a tune-in alert stating Katie would be on Extra to "make a special announcement," it was safe to assume that meant the shows man-candy of a host, Mario Lopez, would be returning to Miss America. Tis true!
Click here for articles.

I think we should just crown him!

Pageant Pictures: Fab and Fierce Teen, USA & Universe

Trick or Treat?

Miss Universe, Stefania Fernandez, by Fadil.

Miss Teen USA, Stormie Henley, for Aisha Hill.

Miss USA, Kristen Dalton, in Serendipity Prom.

Pageant Update: Miss Bay Village

Unfortunately the Miss Bay Village program has been cancelled for this season.

The outgoing Miss Bay Village would have been Emily Pheils. She is a vocalist and BGSU student who works with the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. She was recently 1st RU at Miss MV/AAV/FT and will compete in Miss Northwestern Ohio.




If you have questions contact the ED directly: jjesensky@aol.com

*Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone*

Miss MV/AAC/FT Judges and more...

Somewhere under the mud on the message boards I found the question, "who were the judges at the recent pageant?" Then more mud was promptly slung on it too...

I forgot, I had this information and meant to post it Saturday morning. The judges at Miss Maumee Valley and accompanying titles were:

Mr. Larry Hancock, father of former Miss Ohio, Robin Hancock.

Brenda Eber, an Indiana native and business owner specializing in interior walls, painting and design. She says she "has died and gone to heaven since fellow Hoosier Katie Stam became Miss America 2009."

Jill Parker, former contestant in Miss Michigan in the 2002.

Carrie Hutchman, former executive director for Miss Ohio.

Angie Rodriguez, a local director from Maryland.

Laura Bloomensaat, a local director from Michigan.

Richard Dean, an award winning choral director from Waterville.

***

As for that mud slinging, it's pretty nasty right now! That always happens when a pageant is large and competitive. Remember the days when that many women fought for one crown? Yikes!

I can not stress enough how critical it is for current contestants and parents to STAY OFF THE MESSAGE BOARD! Especially right now! Trust me, I know how hard that is and that the very mention of it peaks your interest, but please think about it logically! Nothing good comes from reading anonymous negativity.

I know how it is; you'd like to see something wonderful written about you... But even if that happens, someone will say you or your mom wrote it. If there's something bad, you might think you want to know, but the manner in which criticism is presented on message boards is almost always more damaging than constructive. Be honest with yourself; deep down, you probably know the things you need to improve. Remember, curiosity killed the cat!

Message boards are a truly fascinating case study; it is by definition a form of communication, wherein communication almost always fails! It's hilarious. Most of the time a discussion will become a matter of semantics instead of the issue at hand. Either the intent is misunderstood, it becomes an argument over grammar or it's simply someone trying to play a head game. Trying to defend yourself is pointless, so don't waste your time and energy.

If you are a current contestant or parent you need to surround yourself only with positivity. They say it takes ten compliments to counteract the affects of one criticism. If you want to help yourself, make a list of what you were pleased with, then contact a judge from the pageant or someone you trust who was in the audience to pinpoint areas to tweak. I promise you, if it's worth knowing, I will post it here. YOU DON'T NEED TO GO ON THE MESSAGE BOARD!

Oh, and if you're the asshole being so hateful... So sorry for you and your miserable life.

Pageant Pictures: Miss MV/AAC/FT

New titleholders from left to right: All*American City's Teen, Sarah Eash; Miss All*American City, Becky Minger; Miss Maumee Valley, Kristy Moneysmith; Miss Fallen Timbers, Courtney Monk; Maumee Vallye's Teen Sophie Carter

Huge thanks to Timothy Russell for sending me these photos so quickly! Ray Russell Design retains the copyright and they are not for negligent, abusive or for profit use.

Congrats to the Newest Titleholders

It's confirmed! The results are:

Miss Maumee Valley: Kristy Moneysmith

Miss Fallen Timbers: Courtney Monk

Miss All*American City: Becky Minger

1st RU: Emily Pheils

2nd RU: Whitney Fricke

Interview: Becky Minger

Talent: Becky Minger

Best of Luck to the Miss Maumee Valley, All*American City and Fallen Timbers Program!

Tomorrow night at the Maumee High School Performing Arts Center five new titleholders will be crowned, three Miss and two Teens! The Miss Maumee Vally, All*American City and Fallen Timbers Program will begin at 7 p.m.

The lovely 08 - 09 titleholders were,

from left to right in the photo above:

Katie Bowen, Miss All*American City, a Science major at Ohio Northern. Katie plays the flute and has already secured her second local crown; she'll return to Miss Ohio as Miss West Central Ohio.

Shannon O'Neill, Miss Maumee Valley, is once again Katie's sister titleholder, having been crowned Miss Lima Square Fair the same night! Shannon was a Top 10 state finalist as Miss MV and in the Top 11 in 08 at Miss WCO. She is a vocalist who studies Communications at Fordham University.

Becky Minger, Miss Fallen Timbers, will not be giving up her title. Rather, she is competing to be Miss All*American City, having already been the First Runner-up to Miss Ohio as both Miss MV and FT. See her info below with the other contestants.

Miss Contestants:

Nicole Iezzi-Blessing

Education: Wright State / Pre-Med & Psychology

Talent: classical vocal

Platform: American's with Disabilities

Pageant Past: Recently 1st RU at Portsmouth; Ohio Junior Miss runner-up.

Sherry El Sakr

Education: Graduate of Cleveland State University / Biology

Talent: Piano

Platform: Heart 101: Promoting Heart Healthy Lifestyles in Our

Children

Pageant Past: Recently 2nd RU at Clayland.

Ashley Rae Bowman

Education: Kent State University / Political Science

Talent: Vocal

Platform: Celebrate the Character in You

Pageant Past: Competed recently at Portsmouth and Clayland.

Haripriya 'Priya' Sharma

Education: Cleveland State / Pre-Med?

Talent:
Platform:
Pageant Past:

Christina Muha

Education: University of Toledo

Talent:
Platform:
Pageant Past: Competed in a few locals.

Brandi Herceg

Education: Franciscan University / Early Childhood Education

Talent: Dance or vocal

Platform: Healthy Hearts are Happy Hearts

Pageant Past: Competed at Miss Ohio in '08 as Miss Ohio Valley.

Marisa Buchheit

Education: Cleveland Institute of Music / Vocal Performance

Talent: vocal

Platform:
Pageant Past: Nonfinalist Talent award at Miss Illinios '09 as West Cook County and finalist at Miss Illinois Teen USA and Illinois Junior Miss.

Maria Minnick

Education: University of Toledo

Talent: Dance

Platform: Getting Youth Involved within the 4-H

Community
Pageant Past: Third year local contestant.

Melissa Stevens

Education: Owens College / Music & Spanish
Talent:
Platform:
Pageant Past: Possibly competed in Miss Portsmouth/SV in n'07

Kristen Piasecki

Education: Baldwin-Wallace / Education

Talent:

Platform:

Pageant Past: Recently competed in Miss Portsmouth; reigning Miss Teen Cleveland '09 (part of Cities of America National Pageant).

Whitney Fricke

Education: Saint Mary's College / Theatre & Communication

Talent: vocal

Platform: Loving yourself

from the inside out: educating young girls on true beauty

Pageant Past: Competed at Miss Ohio '09 as Cuyahoga County.

Emily Pheils

Education: Bowling Green/Pop Culture & Marketing

Talent: vocal

Platform: Dove Campaign for Real Beauty

Pageant Past: Competed at Miss Ohio '09 as Bay Village.

Jessica Nelson

Education: University of Toledo / Veterinary & Biology
Talent: vocal
Platform: Promoting Pet Health and Safety

Pageant Past: Second year local competitor.

Courtney Monk

Education: Anderson University/ Music Education

Talent: vocal

Platform: Importance of Music in Education

Pageant Past: Recent 3rd RU to West Central Ohio and 2nd RU at GC/CC. Competed at Miss Ohio '09 as Buckeye State.

Katie Ulrich

Education: Rhodes State
Talent: Vocal
Platform: Financial Education for Young Adults
Pageant Past: 2nd RU at Miss West Central Ohio '09.

Becky Minger

Education: Bowling Green/Communications

Talent: vocal

Platform: Building self-esteem through Discovering Y.O.U.

Pageant Past: 1st RU to Miss Ohio in '06 as Greater Dayton, competed in '07 as Northwestern Ohio, 1st RU in '08 as Maumee Valley, 1st RU & SS winner in '09 as Fallen Timbers. Top 10 at National Sweetheart in '08 and '09.

Kristy Moneysmith

Education: Ball State University / Speech pathology & Audiology

Talent: Vocal

Platform: Mentoring Through Leadership and Role Modeling

Pageant Past: 1st RU recently at Lima Square Fair and Clayland. She has competed at Miss Ohio as Mohican Valley 2009 and Chillicothe 2008.

Teen Contestants:

The 08 - 09 Teens were, left to right: All*American City's Teen, Sophie Carter; Fallen Timbers Teen, Sarah Eash and Maumee Valley's Teen, Emily Werling.

Emily, a vocalist and breast cancer awareness advocate, was recently crowned Miss Scioto Valley's Teen. Sarah and Sophie will compete to swap titles.

Bethany McQuillan

No information found.

Chelsi Howman

Education: Crestview High School

Talent: Dance

Platform: Stop Bullying Now

Pageant Past: Competed at both MOOT and Ohio Teen USA

Kristin Fennig

No information available.

Sarah Eash

Education:

Talent: Dance

Platform: Get Up! Get Involved! Give Back to your Community!

Pageant Past: Competed at MOOT 2009 as Fallen Timbers Teen

Sophie Carter

Education: Perrysburg High School
Talent: Vocal
Platform: Cancer Awareness

Pageant Past: 1st RU to Ohio's OT in 2009 as All*American City's Teen

Mackenzie Denner*

Education: Emanuel Christian High School

Talent: Piano

Platform: Feed Your Neighbor: Local Hunger

Pageant Past: 4th RU to Monroe County's 2009 Teen

* A google search found several athletic records for a Mackenzie Denner at Emanuel Christian in Toledo, as well as placement in Michigan's Monroe County pageant. It's possible there are two girls with the same name, but given the fact Toledo and her hometown of Temperance, Michigan are merely five miles apart, I'm betting she crosses the boarder to go to school thus, has the benefit of competing in both states!

***

As always, comment or email with updates and corrections. Best of luck to everyone! Please text me or comment with the results asap! Finally, huge thanks to Wageners for trusting me with their contestant list and giving me time to prepare this blog entry; I hope other EDs will do the same in the future!

bum-Rushed!

I can't begin to image how frustrating and time consuming it must be to moderate a pageant message board. On the rare occasions I post something controversial here, it can be difficult deciding if I should publish some of your comments! Message board moderators have decided to take on that responsibility 24/7! It's a very blurry line between constructive criticism and bashing and between opinion and slander. It's as subjective as a pageant! Intent is lost in the text and anonymity breeds cruelty; wit to one person is damaging to the next. It really is a fascinating study of how quickly communication can regress...! Anyway, I am usually very sympathetic to the moderators of pageant message boards. Usually.

However, yesterday something happened to me that I find so hilarious and obserd, that I'm going to share it! :)

On a popular Miss America chat site known as the Guru Board someone asked if a woman should be allowed to compete if she has a criminal record. Some people immediately said no, other more reasonable individuals noted the difference between misdemeanors and felonies and I noted that it is perfectly fine for one of the national judges to have a criminal record!

Funny, right?! But sadly factual...

My comment was deleted promptly. So I posted it again. It was deleted again and my IP address has been banned from the board. Bum-RUSHED! Oh, the irony!

A friend posted some other undesirable facts about Mr. Limbaugh and has also been booted from the board. We find it hilarious!

I wasn't online much at all when the Lim-bomb went off in pageantland, so I'm not sure if the moderator threw down an edict against inflammatory discussions of this inflammatory man. If that's the case, I can almost understand trying to avoid the debate over him, but I am completely baffled by the banning of people who post facts. Facts!

At this very moment there are tons of negative opinions about contestants written on that board, yet we can't post 100% truths about a media personality and judge? Yes, my IP is banned, but that's easily remedied. In fact, the moderator sent a courtesy message with my "restricted access" notice stating that I could still log in as an AOL user. Hhmm... Then why ban me at all?

Again, I find it all very funny and certainly hypocritical. The healthy laughter and mindless distraction it has brought me is all part of what makes pageants and their message boards such a joyous hobby!

*****

While I'm on the topic, I may as well address another message board MISScommunication. Fans on the Miss Ohio board are clamoring for the Maumee Valley / All*American City / Fallen Timbers contestant list. It is exciting and wonderful that people are so interested! Wageners have entrusted me with the list and asked I post it no sooner than 10 p.m., Ohio time, tomorrow.

Nonetheless, a list has emerged on the message board, based on comments found on Facebook. Again, the interest is awesome! However, it's not completely accurate. At first I thought they had three names wrong, but after a second crosscheck, it's two that someone incorrectly presumed.

I didn't mean to stifle the fun of speculation; in fact, I think figuring out which ones are wrong makes it more interesting! Reactions to my information included "Oh please, whatever Abby does or does not do, would make no difference in people speculating and assuming." and "Listen Abby - all those girls made references to competing on facebook. JENNA for sure. Facebook is an open portal for communication and I am not speculating, I am telling you what I read on facebook."

I said I didn't quite understand the hostility... This is a classic example of message board miscommunication! To me, the words "Oh please, whatever" and "Listen Abby" have some serious attitude behind them. That was my interpretation and I used the word "hostility" as a synonym for attitude, to which someone replied, "I don't see anything written that is to be considered hostile, can't anyone make a comment on here without being viewed as hostile or whatever, assume what you want, but the comment wasn't posted under hostile conditions lol"

Fair enough! Hostility probably wasn't the best word, since it tends to be taken quite literally. I really appreciate the person's "lol" at the end, as opposed to truly having a hostile reaction to my word selection! :) Ah, message boards, gotta love 'em...!

Green Is Gorgeous!

Like many companies and other pageant systems, Miss America is "going green" this year. They've partnered with TV personality Tamara Henry and her website, Green T with Tamara. Miss States (except Alaska and Louisiana) participated in a video shoot in which they gave a green tip; fans can vote for their favorite HERE and moreover, it gives us our first live look at these ladies!

Overall, I have to say I was disappointed in the Miss States this year; many of them seemed so lackluster in their personalities, delivery and styling! The poor camera lighting that was used during that shoot didn't do any of them any favors. That being said, I acknowledge that disappointment is almost always the reaction of most fans when they're first getting to know the new class of contestants, wouldn't you agree? I'm sure they'll grow on us. Even by the time I watched all the videos, I was able to list several women that excelled in various areas:

Whether it's good makeup or good genes, I found the following women to be notably telegenic; the camera loves them:

Idaho * Texas * South Dakota * Nebraska * Minnesota * Arkansas * Kentucky * Tennessee * Ohio *
Pennsylvania * Puerto Rico

****

I got so sick of hearing about recycling and grocery store tote bags that I thought my eyes were going to roll out of my head! So I started noting the women who actually had thoughtful ideas:

First prize for an idea that is highly applicable to pageantland is New Jersey, with her information about recycling MAC makeup containers. Second prize goes to Hawaii, because what pageant fan doesn't think a fashion show is fabulous?!

Wisconsin and Puerto Rico offered great reminders for our techi generation: unplug your gadgets when they're done charging and go paperless by paying bills online.

Illinois, Georgia and New York talked about hybrid vehicles and making smart trips.

Tennessee's tip is just common sense, but it bares repeating: adjust your thermostat while traveling. Similarly, Maryland gave me an "oh, duh!" moment by suggesting you keep your closet doors shut so you don't heat and cool unnecessary spaces. However, given her zeal for water conservation, I wouldn't want to be her roommate!

Vermont's university will be saving water by "going tray-less" in the dining halls. I don't foresee that working, especially for the male athletes on campus, but at least she can say those magic pageant words, "I led an initiative..."

DC's platform is "Let's Talk Trash," so obviously, she has a lot of good ideas.

Finally , I didn't find Arizona, Oklahoma or Mississippi particularly well spoken, but they do get points for talking about conservation efforts specific to their states.

****

The women I did think were well spoken, even if their tip was boring, were:

Idaho * Montana * Hawaii * Nebraska * Minnesota * Iowa * Wisconsin * Indiana * Tennessee * Alabama *

Pennsylvania * Virgin Islands

Ohio and North Dakota can be crowned the Queens of Concise. I don't seem to have any East-coasters in this list, so I'll have to rewatch them .

****

Then there's always that illusive, indefinable "It Factor."

I found Idaho, Nebraska, Tennessee and Pennsylvania to be vibrant, gorgeous and well spoken. Kentucky and Florida were full or life and energy and Puerto Rico oozes "it."

****

What was your impression of our first video look at the contestants? Who did you like? Leave a comment!