The Miss Florida USA & Miss Florida Teen USA

Magazine of October 31st, 2005

Dear Miss Florida USA Family:

Welcome to another edition of YOUR Miss Florida USA & Miss Florida Teen USA Magazine YOUR information source for everything pageantry in the Sunshine State. What a crazy week it has been! Hurricane Wilma paid us a visit in South Florida last Monday and knocked out basic civilization. More then half of South Florida is still without electricity and it seems that it won’t improve until the end of November. To all of our South Florida and Treasure Coast friends we hope you weathered the storm fine and are on a fast track towards recovery. For the first time Tel-Air’s phones have been on (Monday Oct. 31) but it looks like December before electricity will be restored. We are working via email and limited phone service so please be patient, but the show must go on!

This week's Ezine begins with results from Manila and the Miss Earth Pageant. Next we meet our new Miss Wisconsin USA on the Road to Miss USA. Keep up to date with everything pageant related at Miss Florida USA News. Gen Art keeps it hip and Faces & Places debuts Monday. All the pageant news that fits to print updated on Thursdays and Mondays only at YOUR Miss Florida USA Ezine, the only Ezine in the pageant world!

Grant H. Gravitt, Jr.

Executive Producer

Miss Florida USA & Miss Florida Teen USA

24 Days until Miss Oakland Park / Miss Boward USA & Teen USA!

PAGEANT NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

» Miss Venezuela Is Miss Earth 2005

Vanessa Bago www.abs-cbnnews.com

Miss Venezuela Alexandra Braun, 22, was crowned Miss Earth 2005, an environmentally-oriented beauty pageant held in Manila. The three-hour coronation night was held at the University of the Philippine Theater in Quezon City Sunday evening. Miss Dominican Republic Amell Santana,19, was crowned Miss Earth-Air while Miss Serbia and Montenegro Jovana Marjanovic,18, was Miss Earth-Fire and Miss Poland Katarina Borowicz, 20, was Miss Earth-Water. All four finalists were asked the question: "If you are to save only one of the two elements of Mother Nature, water or air, which would you choose to save and why? Braun said she would choose air because it enables creatures to breathe and it gives life although she was quick to add that water was crucial for living too.

Miss Venezuela Alexandra Braun during the crowning sequence

as she is named Miss Earth 2005 in Manila Saturday night.

Miss Dominican Republic did not choose between air and water, saying the earth cannot have one without the other. "For this earth to survive, we need both," she said. Like Santana, Miss Poland could not also choose from the two elements and said both of them are needed for living things to survive. Miss Serbia and Montenegro chose water and said every being survives on water.

Miss Malaysia (right) and Miss Hong Kong (left) competing

in the National Costume Competition October 5^th.

Press Photo Day at The Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manilla.

Miss Earth 2004 Priscilla Mereilles was first to congratulate the newly crowned Miss Earth 2005. Delegations from different countries supporting the beauties filled the theater. They were entertained not only by the 80 contestants but by many scenic spots in the Philippines shown on video. In one part of the pageant, the beauty queens sashayed on stage with their Filipino-inspired costumes and were serenaded by a Filipino youth choir in the evening gown portion.

All of the elements are represented as Miss Air;

Miss Water and Miss Fire embrace Miss Earth!

A few candidates mustered enough confidence to say a few words, usually greetings, in Filipino much to the delight of Filipinos in the audience. They also wowed the crowd with their shapely bodies in the swimsuit round. The four were chosen from among eight finalists including: Miss USA Amanda Kimmel, Miss Paraguay Tania Maria Domaniczsky Vargas, Miss Puerto Rico Vanessa De Roide and Miss Chile Natalie Chilet Bustamante. Miss Venezuela took home a cash prize of US$20,000 from Carousel Productions, Inc. Miss Earth- Air; Water & Fire will each receive US$2,000.

» Georgia Pageant Queen Missing:

Tara Grinstead was last seen on

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Thirty-year-old Tara Grinstead, former contestant in the Miss Georgia Pageant, has been the subject of a massive search in the rural town of Ocilla, Georgia. More than 100 people gathered Wednesday, October 26, 2005 in the small town south of Macon to search for any trace of Tara. Police say that Tara was last heard from on Saturday, October 22 after she attended a beauty pageant in Fitzgerald. Ocilla Police Chief Billy Hancock said she went home after the pageant but hasn't been seen or heard from since. Tara taught the 11th grade at Irwin County High School. Friends and family say they tried unsuccessfully to contact Grinstead on Sunday. Then her co-workers say she didn't show up at her teaching job at Irwin County High School the following Monday. Her co-workers contacted police and reported her missing.

MISS FL USA NEWS!

» MISS SUNSET PLACE USA POSTPONED:

Due to the devastation in South Florida created by Hurricane Wilma the Miss Sunset Place USA Pageant has been postponed to the first quarter of 2006. We apologize for any inconveniences that this may create. Look for more information in the upcoming editions of Miss Florida USA News.

» MISS OAKLAND PARK USA/MISS BROWARD USA PAGEANTS:

The latest news from Halavin Productions is that they are scrambling to keep the pageant dates and location the same. For more information email Angie or Mandi at misspembrokepinesusa@yahoo.com .

» MISS FLORIDA USA’S COMMITTED TO KATRINA TELETHON:

Due to severe damage to both Hollywood and all of Broward County in Hurricane Wilma the Katrina Telethon has been postponed. Check here next week for more information on the make up time and date.

» HANDS ON MIAMI DAY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:

Hi everyone! I'm participating in an event in Miami in a couple of weeks, and I thought I'd see if anyone else would like to join in the fun. The event is called Hands On Miami Day, and it's November 5th from 7:30 to 12:30. You can read all the details at www.handsonmiami.com, but it's basically a huge (3000 + people) community revitalization project all around Miami. Our "team" will be assigned a project (examples include painting, planting, etc.), and we'll meet at Bayside (downtown Miami) to be bused to our location. I know it's an early start, but it only takes a few hours, and I thought we could all do lunch and/or the beach afterward. I've already received responses from a couple of other "old" pageant girls, so it should be a really fun group. If anyone from Broward or farther would like to come, there is plenty of room at my condo for Friday night (it's literally 10 minutes from the event).

If you'd like to join "Team Diva," please let me know ASAP so I can get all the registrations completed. I'll need your name, address, phone, and T-shirt size. Hope to see you there!

Carrie Mewha
305-672-0384
UFKDCarrie@aol.com

» 2007 Miss Florida USA Preliminary Season Schedule

Nov. 20: Miss Oakland Park USA & Teen USA Pageants
Dec 3: Miss Sunset Place USA & Teen USA Pageants
Dec 11 & 18: Miss Weston USA & Teen USA Pageants
Jan 6-7: Miss Nature Coast USA & Teen USA Pageants
Jan 13-15: Miss Daytona Beach USA & Teen USA Pageants
Jan 27-29 Miss Sarasota/Manatee County USA & Teen USA Pageants
Jan 29: Miss Hollywood USA & Teen USA Pageants
Feb 18-19: Miss First Coast USA & Teen USA Pageants
April 2: Miss West Broward USA & Teen USA Pageants
April 8: Miss Gold Coast USA & Miss Palm Beach County USA & Teen Pageants
April 23: Miss Treasure Coast USA & Teen USA Pageants
May 6: Miss Boca Raton USA & Teen USA Pageants
May 7: Miss Homestead USA & Teen USA Pageants

MISS FLORIDA USA AIRINGS THIS WEEKEND

PENSACOLA/MOBILE

WFGX-WB Channel35

TBD

» Hartland native chosen Miss Wisconsin USA

By JEFF HARRISON - GM Today Staff

Anna Piscitello

HARTLAND - Anna Piscitello’s dream of winning a beauty pageant has become reality. "I remember watching the Miss USA and Miss America pageant and I would always look at those girls and think, ‘I could never be that kind of person,’ but as soon as I had the opportunity I took it," said Piscitello, a Hartland native who was recently crowned Miss Wisconsin-USA 2006.

The 20-year-old Arrowhead High School graduate beat out about 35 other women from across the state at the pageant, which was held in Richland Center on Oct. 15. She moves on to compete in the Miss USA pageant with hopes of becoming the first Wisconsin native to capture the title. The time and date of the Miss USA event have yet to be set. The winner of that competition advances to the Miss Universe pageant.

Piscitello succeeds Melissa Ann Young, 26, of Menasha, who was the first Wisconsin contestant to win the Miss Congeniality award at the 2005 Miss USA contest in April in Baltimore. "Anna is as beautiful inside as she is out," said Judy Clingman, who, along with her husband, Jim, is the state director of the Miss Wisconsin and Miss Iowa pageants. "We are really excited to have her join our pageant family."

Piscitello has been a natural entertainer her whole life, her mother, Catherine Bonaparte, said. In high school, Piscitello took part in music and theater. She also spent a summer at New York University, where she studied drama. Following graduation she attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and later Concordia University in Montreal, where she studied theater.

Currently, Piscitello works as a personal exercise trainer at Bally Total Fitness in Brookfield. She recently moved to Franklin.The Miss Wisconsin-USA pageant was the second competition for Piscitello. She finished in the top 10 of the 2004 Miss Wisconsin Teen-USA contest. "I had a great weekend that first time I did it and two years later I decided to do it again," Piscitello said.

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