Miss Teen of Pennsylvania Pageant

As of this past weekend, a new summer pageant season is now upon us!

The first of this summer’s Miss Teen of America pageants was the Miss Teen of Pennsylvania Pageant, held at Bloomsburg University from Friday, July 23rd to Sunday, July 25th.

It takes quite a bit of time and a lot of work to have everything set up for when candidates check-in Friday night, so I made my way down to Pennsylvania with my dad and my best friend Eileen Hayes Thursday morning. Eileen has been mentioned quite a few times on this blog because she was the one who initially convinced me to go out for Miss Teen of New York. She also competed for Miss Teen of New York in 2008, and due to an extra Outstanding Achievement plaque that weekend, was chosen by our director Korie as “Miss Congeniality”. Anyone who met Eileen in Pennsylvania can figure out why she was given that award.

We got to Bloomsburg by about 2 o’clock, and immediately set out to find our contact at the college who had our keys and boxes shipped down from headquarters for us. Once everything was in our possession, we began to set up headquarters in Columbia Hall, our home away from home for the weekend. As we began to unpack, I was reunited with the one and only Miss Teen of Oklahoma…Kim Tuttle! I hadn’t seen Kim since Thanksgiving, which was just too, too long. We were all starving, so we stopped at Applebees for dinner, where we got a chance to catch up, before heading to the required Wal-Mart Adventure to get food, lots of Coke Zero, poster board, and the lovely flower wrapping paper we used to cover the glass doors to headquarters. (No peeking allowed into headquarters!)

We got back to Columbia and really got busy setting things up. Once gifts were wrapped, programs were stuffed, windows were covered, and so forth, we killed time until Sunny, that weekend’s pageant director, drove in from the airport. Kim decided to be productive and do homework. Eileen and I watched “A Very Potter Sequel” on YouTube. Sunny finally got in at about 12:30, and we quickly caught up and watched our favorite YouTube video, for the first of many times that weekend. At about 2 am, we decided to finally pack it in and head to bed. Being the gracious girls we are, Eileen, Kim, and I showed Sunny where her room was. Unbeknownst to Sunny, we had a little surprise waiting for her. Once the guy at the front desk had left at 11 pm, the three of us had snuck a model skeleton (that we named Freddie) that we found in a study cubicle inside headquarters up the elevator to Sunny’s room. There, we positioned it, complete with my Miss Teen of America banner. You should have heard Sunny’s scream when she opened her door!

In the morning, we prepared a few more things, stopping at Bloomin’ Bagel for breakfast and then Wal-Mart once again for a few odds and ends. (Did you know that we were really in the hills?) As the 2 pm staff meeting approached, more and more of the staff started to appear. I got to meet Sam Walter, our Miss Teen of Indiana, and her mother Kathy for the first time. Then there was Evalyn Kennedy, the current Miss Teen of Pennsylvania and her friend, Kelly McCauley. Finally there was Ari Salla, a former Miss Teen of Pennsylvania candidate who promised to help out that weekend.

Staff meeting went well, and we headed to Panera Bread for a quick bite to eat, complete with our banners. Before we knew it, our 95 candidates and their families began to show up for check-in. I manned the Optional Events table with Ari, and I can easily say that we had some very talented girls! After check-in, we made our way to the briefing session. Something Pennsylvania candidates may not have caught during the briefing session was my little crying spurt. No, Sunny’s words didn’t move me to tears. The spotlights were so bright right above Sunny’s head that whenever I would look at her, my contacts would start to dry out! Soon, my eyes were welling up with tears, and I attempted to hold them back, but they spilled out, just as Sunny was warning girls about “No boys and no alcohol”. I swear, I wasn’t crying over the lack of boys and liquor!

Sunny stayed with the parents while the rest of staff and I lead the girls to the Get Acquainted Party. After introducing the candidates to “Dancin’ in the Aisles”, each girl on staff took 13 girls and started playing name games, so we could get to know each other. I have to say it worked, because throughout the weekend, I felt so close to the girls in my “Team Awesome” group. There was Olivia who liked oranges, Claire who liked cats, Jessica who could juggle, Brittany who was going to start bow hunting, and many more. A game of Two Truths and A Lie revealed my over the top Brooklyn accent to the girls, based on the accent of my boss at Geoffano’s. We then got all staff and 95 girls to join in on one huge game of “Have You Ever”, which caused a few injuries, but you can’t say that the girls weren’t excited! We added some new rules to the game, namely, that if you got in the middle three times, you had to sing “I’m a Little Teapot”. Guess who was tricked into being in the middle three times? Yep, me. I got requests for “I’m a Little Teapot” all weekend long after that. From there, we cranked the music, signed t-shirts, and danced the night away. Or, if you’re Kim Tuttle, you did all three at once.

As girls ordered pizzas until late in the night, Jenna, a student worker on campus, proved to be a godsend, helping coordinate. We love Jenna! She played Hagrid for the weekend, as she was keeper of the master key. She also showed us the secret projection screen in headquarters, which proved super helpful during that night’s YouTube viewing.

Saturday morning we were up early for breakfast in Scranton Commons and dance rehearsal. The girls really seemed the pick up the dance, under direction of Kim Tuttle, very quickly. Kim and I started interview mini sessions, and I got to show off my comedic skills. I hate taping things, so we waited for Sunny to start poise mini sessions, where more hilarity ensued.

We had a quick lunch in the very congested commons, and then the girls began to line up for interviews. Four girls entered at a time, and each talked with two judges at a table. Among the judges was Kristin Konski, Miss Teen of Pennsylvania 2002-2003. It went very smoothly, with my comforting high-fives, and Eileen entertaining the judges with her dance skills. No one cried, which is always a good thing, and girls actually left the room of judging horror saying that it was fun, and they wished that it could have lasted longer than three minutes.

From there, everyone threw on their dress for poise and headed back to the Haas Center. We had such a variety of dresses, and all of our girls just looked so proud and happy. I emceed first, then Kim, then Sam. Poor Evalyn had to walk back and forth for all 95 girls. Blisters were abounding! I’m known to be pretty good in heels, but even I had to take a heel hiatus after standing through my 32 poise emcees.


Next was dinner in commons. I always really enjoy mealtimes, since I get a chance to really socialize with the girls and get to talk to them about their lives outside of immediate pageant concerns. That night, I found myself scooping ice cream cones for the girls!

With 23 entries, everyone was really excited for that night’s talent show. Until it actually started, that is. The Haas Center is a state-of-the-art theater, but the girl’s Cds were not. This proved to be a problem, when we sent girls out on stage, only for no music to play. Allie and Randall from the college were so great though, checking the Cds over and over, and finding alternative ways to play them. Dad got quite a few rounds of applause for moving chairs off and on stage. There were a few breaks and goof-ups, and I think the audience grew a little tired of the technical difficulties, but the show went on! In the end, we had some amazing singers, dancers, break dancers, instrumentalists, color guard routines, and tumblers. Another thing the girls may not have caught that weekend was when I was trying to do my impromptu “stand-up” at the microphone during one of the breaks, I thought they were shouting out for me to perform some “Tupac”, rather than “Teapot”. Ahh, the hilarity.

There was dance rehearsal following the talent show, and from there we were supposed to head back to the dorms. However, a tornado warning and torrential rains kept us stuck in Haas for a few additional hours. It was like some pageant version of Survivor.

Once we were safe, we met in the Fireside Room for an important announcement. It was Olivia JINGEREWSKI’s birthday, so her mom had dropped off cupcakes for everyone. It was a great way to end a crazy day.

We slept in a bit on Sunday. We were exhausted, after all. Our staff meeting that morning went over everything for the final show that afternoon. After stowing my finals dress in the green room, and subsequently getting a little lost, I made my way to my final meal with my girls. During brunch, girls and I discussed the weekend, and about finals.

We had our final rehearsal, brought our Fake Top Ten out on stage, and sent the girls off to go get ready for finals. Staff and I chilled backstage in the green room, getting ready and going over what was to be done during finals.

Before we knew it, it was 3 pm, and the music was cued for “Dancin’ in the Aisles”. The girls did an amazing job. I went out and explained about the program, judging criteria, and the judges’ bios. Basically, I was killing time until the candidates could make it back for Parade of Candidates. I’m very proud of how much better I’ve gotten at improv time killer jargon in front of large groups of people. I used to get so nervous! I was at the mic a little longer than expected due to a zipper snafu in the dressing room. But all was fixed, and the show went on its way.

There were awards, and spirit letters, and Evalyn’s goodbye. Before we knew it, we had the top five in the secret booth with Sam, rolling on the walls like mental patients, gooing, gaahing, rolling their tongues, and singing nursery rhymes. It was really a sight to see! As silly as it is, it fulfilled its purpose, and the girls did not prematurely hear the question pertaining to social networking sites.

In the end, it was decided. Hayley Fisher is the new Miss Teen of Pennsylvania! Congratulations!

After lots of pictures, we headed to headquarters for new titleholder briefing. Judging by our talk with Hayley and her parents (and her adorable grandmother), we can expect some really great things from our new Miss Teen of Pennsylvania!

It was time for our favorite part of the weekend…staff dinner! (Just kidding, candidates! We love spending time with you!) We went to this delicious Italian restaurant in town, La Fontana, where Hayley’s family also ended up. We took staff pictures, with Hayley, in front of a beautiful fountain in the town square.

Dad, Eileen, and I packed up, and headed home. (That is, after Eileen mistook her reflection in a mirror packed in back of the Jeep for someone hiding in the back of the Jeep.) It was so sad to say goodbye…but we’re even more excited for Miss Teen of New York in a few weeks!