Candids of Karissa in Vegas

I thought Karissa looked really beautiful in this picture and I figured all of you would enjoy it as well.

Karissa and Sarah Hider, Miss Ohio Outstanding Teen 2008

I stole these off of Sarah Hider's facebook, I'm sure she won't mind!

Kirsten Haglund, Thanks for a great year

Kirsten Haglund was only 19 when she took the title of Miss America. Many people thought she couldn't handle the job, but she proved all of those people wrong. Not only was she beautiful but she demonstrated class and humility throughout her reign as well as being a role model to young children everywhere. Kirsten is the epitome of what a Miss America title holder should be, and I think everyone knows that the next Miss America has some big shoes to fill. Kirsten, we will miss you and America thanks you for a great year.

Congratulations Katie Stam, Miss America 2009

MISS AMERICA 2009 - INDIANA

1st Runner-up: Georgia

2nd Runner-up: Iowa

3rd Runner-up: New York

4th Runner-up: Florida

I must start off by saying YAY OPENING DANCE NUMBER IS BACK!!! I love seeing the opening dance number it's so cute and fun to watch and it shows the contestants having a good time. Yes, i understand that all competitors are not dancers, but I just think it's something really cute and entertaining. Secondly I loved Mario as the host. It's literally like second nature for him as a host (well, probably because he hosts just about everything that Ryan Seacrest doesn't host). I wasn't very found of leaving two-three girls behind every time they made a cut. I like when the have 15, announce 10 (5 are gone), announce top 5 (another 5 are gone). I also hate having 4 or 5 girls left when they announce the winner. I was watching the pageant with some non-pageant people and they were confused. I had to explain to them that the remaining two weren't both first runner-up, they didn't even place. I like when they're down to a final 2 and as soon as the 1st RU is announced everyone knows who won. As far as the winner goes, I thought she was the standout from the beginning. Her talent wasn't the best (my vote goes to Iowa), but she was the only girl that could walk! Also her on stage answer was one of the better answers. I am excited to see what Katie will accomplish as the new Miss America, and I look forward to seeing her on Regis and Kelly, Monday!

miss united

my year as Miss Maple City 2008....

The Crowning Moment!

In Loving memory of my Host Home "Dad" Dr. Chuck (who passed on away this past year on Christmas Eve)

Jenna, Dr. Chuck, Nadji and me

(Notice Buff the dog in the background, he wouldn't pose for the picture)

Miss Maple City 2009

Miss Maple City: Ashleigh Lemon

1st RU: Jacki Jerlecki

2nd RU: Hollie Hongosh

3rd RU: Ashley Warholic

Swimsuit: Courtney Monk

Talent: Hollie Hongosh

Spirit: Marisa Bucheit

The crowning Moment!

Ashleigh and I

Dolly and Wil presenting me with a gift

Natalie (MMC 2005) and I as emcees

Sarah Eash; Miss Fallen Timbers OT and I

My Little Sis Ashley! (she's the best little sis in the whole world and I had a great time meeting her friend Maddie)

Roberta Camp, me and Jillian Dansko

Karen Opper and I

I had such a great time tonight and I am so proud of all the ladies that competed. I had a chance to personally talk with each one before their interviews and I must admit that I was truly impressed with each one. Any one of them could have held the title Miss Maple City. I am so happy/excited for Ashleigh. Dolly and Wil are such wonderful people and I know that Ashleigh is going to have the time of her life with them. Good luck at Miss Ohio, Ashleigh! I know you will make everyone proud!

On a side note...I am so tired. I had no idea that giving up your title was such hard work!

Miss America on America's Best Dance Crew Tonight

Miss America 2009 Katie Stam Attends Taping of MTV's America's Best Dance Crew.

Tonight, Feb. 26 at 10 p.m. EST*MTV Miss America 2009 Katie Stam was invited to a taping of America's Best Dance Crew on Tuesday by host, Mario Lopez, who introduced Katie to the TV viewers. Katie sat in the audience during the show, which airs tonight at 10 p.m. EST on MTV, and enjoyed watching the remaining dance crews battle it out. Tune in tonight to catch a glimpse of Miss America in the audience and find out who the final two dance crews will be! *Please check your local listings.

Beat Freaks, my favorite crew! Don't forget to vote so they can be the first all-girl crew to win!!

This is great! I am so happy to see our Miss America out and about and in the spotlight. It seems like Miss America always goes unnoticed during her reign until she crowns the next girl, unless you're a crazy pageant fan, like me, and you're always looking up stuff on current titleholders and what they're up to. But to non-pageant folk, it's easy to forget about Miss America, but not Katie Stam. She is definitely making a name for herself and the organization. Plus my two favorite things are being combined tonight....America's Best Dance Crew and Miss America and I hope to one day be Miss America or on America's Best Dance Crew. Hey, what about both?!

Miss Bay Village tonight

Gus (the cat) with the crown, apparently he thinks he's the new Miss Bay Village

The crown and banner!

I just wanted to send out a quick "good luck" to the Miss Bay Village program and all of the contestants competing. I wish I could be there but I am working with a group of 4-Hers to get them ready for the state speaking contest coming up in March. But I will be there in spirit! Good luck everyone. (results later tonight)

Miss Muskingum Valley

Most of the contestants

What a weekend! I had such a great time at the Miss Muskingum Valley pageant. It was unlike any other local. We arrived Thursday night and had rehearsal until....only God knows when, but nonetheless it was fun. Interviews were Friday morning and afternoon with preliminaries to follow that night. We were divided into two flights the vintage dames and the retro gals (The theme was 'Everything Old is New Again'). I was lucky enough to win preliminary swimsuit!!!

Preliminary swimsuit (yeah, I know it's a butt shot...yay for butt glue!)

Prelim Winners:

Swimsuit (Retro): Alison Salyers
Swimsuit (Vintage): Heather Wells (me!)

Talent (Retro): Alicia Huyghe

Talent (Vintage): Stephanie Rogers

Evening Gown (Retro): Kaley Mitchell

Evening Gown (Vintage): Stephanie Rogers

Prelim winners Alison Salyers, me and Karissa in the background

Preliminary talent winner Alicia Huyghe and I after prelim night awards

The program was run just like Miss Ohio. I actually felt like I was at Miss Ohio sometimes! On finals night the top 10 was announced and those girls competed in swimsuit, evening wear and talent. Out cumulative score from the night before was worth 30%, swimsuit 20%, talent 30% and evening wear 20%.

Top Ten (in order):

Amanda Summers

Krystle Formosa

Danielle Henry

Christina Hagan

Kaley Mitchell

Megan Wombacker

Heather Wells (me!)

Stephanie Rodgers

Alicia Huyghe

Bree Grosshandler

Evening gown on finals night

Talent on finals night

Everyone did so well and I had the best time meeting the new contestants and catching up with the old. The hostesses and stage hands were fantastic and made the weekend so enjoyable! I can't thank them enough, especially Stacy, my host mom and her dog Maggie!

Top 5:

4th RU: Bree Grosshandler

3rd RU: Alicia Huyghe

2nd RU: Kaley Mitchell

1st RU: Heather Wells (me!)

Miss Muskingum Valley: Stephanie Rogers

Stephanie Rogers being crowned as Miss Muskingum Valley!

Top 5: (L to R) Alicia Huyghe 3rd RU, Heather Wells (me) 1st RU, Stephanie Rogers MMV, Kaley Mitchell 2nd RU, and Bree Grosshandler 4th RU

Great job to everyone! I really had a great weekend, plus I won tons of scholarship money thanks to the sponsors that donated to the MMV program I walked away with $1,600!!!!!! Stephanie is a great girl and it was so awesome to get to know her better. I'm so happy for you and I know you will do great on your first trip to Miss Ohio. Good luck we are all rooting for you!

My Host Mom, Stacy and I at the after-party.

My bear, Maddie, and I in our matching talent costumes ;)

Me, Karissa Martin Miss Ohio, and Jenna Wilson Miss Lake Erie.

The wonderful and adorable Sarah Eash (Miss Fallen Timbers OT) and I

Miss Mansfield

Nanciann Strosnider is crowned the new Miss Mansfield

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been super busy. Miss Mansfield was a lot of fun and I loved the Hollywood theme! I had a great time meeting some of the new contestants and catching up with the old. And, the Miss Mansfield program raised over $3,000 in scholarship money! Everyone did a great job and I had a great time. On a side note, if you have the time take a look at the Miss Mansfield website (Missmansfield.com) it's fantastic!

Miss Mansfield: Nanciann Strosnider

1st RU: Kristy Moneysmith

2nd RU: Heather Wells (me!)

3rd RU: Sherry El Sakr

4th RU: Ashley Miller

Swimsuit: Heather Lindsey

Interview: Nanciann Strosnider

Evening Gown: Heather Lindsey

Talent: Nanciann Strosnider

A quick competition recap...

evening gown

Swimsuit

Talent

Keeping Up with Katie.....

Katie meets President Obama.

Katie is a finalist for Time's 100 most influential people!

Katie on the cover of Fourpoints

Miss Greater Butler County

Miss Greater Butler County: Rebekah Zoz

1st RU: Devon Stansbury

2nd RU: Hope Smalls

3rd RU: Emily Valandingham

Talent: Rebekah Zoz

Interview: Hope Smalls

Evening Gown: Rebekah Zoz

Swimsuit: Rebekah Zoz

Outstanding Teen: Veronica Wende

1st RU: Kaitlin Craig

Little Miss: Au'Lauren Million

1st RU: Hannah Simms

Winners: Rebekah Zoz, Au'Lauren Million and Veronica Wende

Guess who's back? Back Again

The new Miss Ohio River!

The crowning moment!

Kristy (Miss Mohican Valley) and I

Titleholders: Amy Allen, Sarah Hider, Me, Kristy Moneysmith, Katie Camp, Emily Phiels and Sarah Eash.

This picture was caught a funny moment but it reminds me of a "caption this" type of thing lol!

Brett finally got to see me in a pageant! I think he's good luck.

Competition Recap:

Evening Gown

Talent, "Baby I'm a Star"

Swimsuit

Sweeps 2

More Titleholders! Sarah Eash, Me, Kristy Moneysmith, Ashley Warholic, Courtney Monk, Emily Pheils, Katie Camp, Courtney Kania and Sarah Hider

The Final Four!

Ashley Warholic, Kristy Moneysmith, Me and Courtney Monk

This past weekend I was crowned Miss Ohio River 2009! I am so honored and excited to have this title. I know a lot of beautiful women in the system worked hard all year and I am very blessed to have been chosen as one of the final four to go to Miss Ohio 2009.

The weekend of sweeps was a hectic one! On Saturday I went to the pageant and rehearsed everything. Although I was number 12, I had to go first in interview because I had to leave early for a dance audition to get into the Kent State dance program so I can declare dance as my minor (still no news yet on if I'm in yet, I should know in a few weeks!). I came back from a great audition only to start running around the dressing room in pre-show panic. By the time I was ready, it was show time. The great thing about sweeps is that the show goes quick and there's not much waiting and anticipating for us contestants. We went through each phase, on stage question, swimsuit, talent and evening gown and I was feeling on top of my "game." I also had some fans in the audience, my boyfriend Brett and our friends Justin and Jaclyn. When I was announced Miss Ohio River I was so relieved. I think I was more relieved than excited! I also want to congratulate Kristy Moneysmith, Miss Mohican Valley, and I look forward to being sister queens with her! I also want to congratulate Ashley Warholic, Miss Heart of Ohio and Courtney Monk, Miss Buckeye State on well deserved wins! I had the chance to meet Courtney's parents and her boyfriend and they were lovely people. And everyone knows Ashley's mom! She's also sweet, supportive and always has a huge smile on her face.

To those that didn't make it to Miss Ohio, I know this is a hard time for you because I've been there too. The very first year I competed I was only 17 and did not get to go to Miss Ohio. However, I did improve....A LOT and when I came back the following year I placed consistently and eventually won Miss Maple City and got to go to Miss Ohio. Please don't feel discouraged. Go back and look at pictures from your very first local and then look at pictures from sweeps and whether you know or not, you've improved...A LOT, and you will say "I went on stage looking like that?!" I've seen each one of improve right before my eyes. Congratulations on a great year!