Kelseyville Olive Festival

Alice and I Jumped on the chance to work at the children's both at this years Olive Festival. We got to help kids decorate crowns, run a hula hoop contest ( and attempt to hula hoop as well), listen to traditional Cherokee stories, and met a ton of great community members while we shivered together by the heaters.

I wanted to share with you one of the three stories Alice and I learned today. A long time ago there was a turtle who lived in a pool up on the mountain. He had a lot of fun playing with his friends frog and fish, but every once and a while he would look up at the sky and see the geese flying on their migration. Turtle would think to himself, "I wish I could fly." One year during the migration the geese rested at turtles pool, turtle thought to himself, "this is my chance to learn how to fly!"  

When he asked goose to help him goose looked at him strangely and said," But you have no feathers and no wings! You can't fly without those." This made turtle very sad, so he started to get creative. He knew he had a very strong jaw, so he decided if he bit down very hard in the middle of a stick, two geese could bite the ends and carry him through the sky. Before the geese left he told them his idea and they agreed to try it. Turtle found a long stick, bit down extra hard and closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt himself lift up, he opened his eyes and saw fields, mountains, and lakes. He was so happy he began to smile, forgetting that biting down was the only way he could stay in the air. Turtle crashed to the ground and his shell, that used to look like beautiful polished wood, was now shattered into pieces! 

Grandfather Winter looked down at turtle with pity saying, " turtle you have no wings or feathers, the creator did not make you a goose so you can not fly. You were made a turtle, and no goose can be a turtle." Then Grandfather Winter blew his winds and made a small tornado, picking all of turtles pieces up and fastening them back together." All you can do is be the best turtle you can be!" That is why, to this day, turtle shells look  like a lot of small pieces put back together.

This was such a touching story for me and it really got the message through to the kids, it is definitely a story for sharing! You should have seen how big the kids eyes got when the turtle shell in the story broke! Overall it was such a great day and the story made a great take home message.

For more pictures check out their facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/events/326034667428722/

Saint Patrick's Dinner/Dance

Yesterday I had such a blast at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post 2337 in Clearlake! They hosted a big traditional Irish fundraising dinner, and live music, this all went to help make sure our local soldiers who don't make it get the proper burials that they deserve. An all volunteer group travels all over to make sure each soldier gets his twenty one gun salute, and they are such a great group! It was truly touching to see the community come and support a really worthy cause.

The band was comprised of all veterans who had gone on combat tours of duty and were very decorated men, including at least one purple heart. On top of being great soldiers they were also great musicians! Every one of them took turns singing and they were all great!

The food was delicious! It was so fun to help serve, people always joke at these kind of appearances that they feel, "privileged to be served by a queen." It was a great opportunity to give back to some of the men and women who have risked everything for my freedom. Thank you so much to all of our past, current, and future military members!

More pictures should be coming soon!

Miss San Joaquin/Central California/ Delta Valley Pageant

I am so sorry that this is almost a week late, it has been a crazy few days for this busy bee! Last year I had the honor of being crowned Miss Central California Regional, it was such a shock to me that it didn't fully sink in until Miss California last summer. When Tony called my name I just looked at him and didn't move, my sister title holder (and former Miss Lake County) Taylor Butler had to nudge me forward to get crowned. 

Over the next year I learned so much about this organization and what it truly means to be a Miss America local title holder. One very special day for me was when we went to an IHOP in Stockton for National Pancake Day. I was really nervous but luckily I had Taylor there to show me the ropes. We were seating people and chatting with customers, most people were very happy to see us helping out and were asking lots of questions, one patron however did not feel the same way. When I walked by I heard a woman saying, "Look she thinks she's a princess!" For a split second I wasn't sure what to say, but I always find that kindness is the way to go. I turned around and explained to her and her children that I'm a Miss America title holder, spoke about my platform, CMN, and what it is that title holders do. By the end of her meal she was asking where to buy tickets and was telling her daughter that she could grow up to be like me someday! That was when I realized how lucky I am to get to represent an organization that people respect so much, even though they might not know it yet!

The Miss San Joaquin committee were so kind to me, and were the experienced support system I really needed at Miss California. Agnus was great at critiquing styling and helping me with interview. Karren and Rita always had a smile and a hug ready for me and knew exactly what to say when I needed a little extra motivation. My sister title holders Taylor, Joelle, and Savannah had a big hand in making the year a blast! I had such an exciting experience and am so proud of the new title holders!

From left to right : Miss San Joaquin's Outstanding Teen Stephanie Braithwaite, Miss San Joaquin Kathryn Faull, Miss Delta Valley Prisca Shiralian, Miss Delta Valley's Outstanding Teen Morghan Heim, and Miss Central California Regional  Izamar Olaguez 

Congratulations girls! You have a year of wonderful experiences ahead of you and I can't wait to see all of you at Miss California Orientation!

Miss Sonoma!

Congratulations to the new Miss Sonoma 2012 Jessica Greer, and Miss Sonoma's first ever outstanding teen Kaela Wall! Alice and I had such a fun time at your pageant, it was a great show! As always it was a blast to hang out with my fellow title holders too!