The Miss Florida USA & Miss Florida Teen USA

Magazine of August 7, 2008

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 great time we had this past Sunday as we said “Bon Voyage” to our Miss Florida Teen USA 2008 Jillian Wunderlich. In just a few days she heads south to Nassau to compete for our national championship of pageantry at Miss Teen USA. Of course we will have daily reports beginning on August 12^th only at your favorite site on the internet.

In World Pageant News we head to Ghana for their national pageant. In Florida USA News we have all you need to know about this weekends Boca Raton USA Seminar Day and the upcoming Cypress Gardens USA. This week our Faces & Places takes you to Jillian’s Going Away Soiree and Anastagia’s weekend with The Seminole Tribe of Florida. GenArt keeps us hip while our Movie of The Week keeps up the Soiree’ theme! All the pageant news that fits to print on Thursdays and Fridays only at YOUR Miss Florida USA Ezine, the only Ezine in the pageant world!

Grant H. Gravitt, Jr.

Executive Producer

Miss Florida USA & Teen

» 9 Days until Miss Teen USA 2009!

» 16 Days until Miss Cypress Gardens USA 2010!

PAGEANT NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

» Miss Ghana Pageant

Twenty-two year old Ms Mawuse Appea, a student of the University of Ghana, Legon emerged winner for this year’s Miss Ghana competition which was held on Friday at the National Theatre in Accra.

Competing alongside 21 other contestants, the Bachelor of Arts students justified winning the title with her elegance and poise to leave Ms Huberta Naa Quartey and Shirley Nwangere in the second and third positions respectively.

For her prize, Ms Appea took home a brand new Hyundai Accent saloon car worth $17,000 which was donated by Sparrow Productions Limited, organisers of the event, home appliances from Somovision, cash prize of GH¢2,500, wardrobe from Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL), a one-year free make-up and skin therapy from FC Skin and Beauty Klinik and an opportunity to participate in the Miss World 2009 Pageant.

In a statement, the Deputy Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, Mr Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, said the pageant which “began many decades ago has helped to shape the future of many young ladies who have contested in the pageant from the regional level to the national level and to the world stage.”

He said the high patronage of the beauty pageant, especially at the world stage, was an opportunity to promote Ghana in the world through the participation of Miss Ghana.

According to the Minister, participating in the Miss World would throw the searchlight on Ghana and as a result, people would be curious to visit the country in order to sample our culture and hospitality.

“It is therefore, gratifying to note that for two successive years, Ghana has made it to the top five in the Miss World Pageant. They were Ms Lamisi Mbillah, 2005 and Ms Irene Dwomoh, 2006,” he said.

Mr Osei-Ameyaw indicated that the trend was significant and pointed to the fact that if the appropriate steps were taken in the search for a Miss Ghana, the country could one day win the Miss World crown.

Ms Shirely Frimpong Manso, Managing Director of Sparrow Productions, organisers of the event, said the aim of the event was to give all young women in Ghana, the opportunity to harness their potential and open doors for them.

Miss Frances Tekyi -Mensah, Miss Ghana @ 50, crowning Miss Mawuse Appea, a Bachelor of Arts student at the University of Ghana, after winning this year’s, Miss Ghana pageant at the Grand Finale held at the National Theatre in Accra on Friday.

» Miss Belize 2008 –2009

On August 2, 2008, Miss Charmaine Chinapen captured the coveted Miss Belize title, beating out 5 others in the pageant, who were picked from the 11 who applied. Keep in mind that Belize has a total population of only around 250,000, and much of it is fairly rural, so those low numbers aren’t quite so shocking. Nevertheless, the winner turns out to be really gorgeous, so the pageant met its objective.

Chinapen will now be eligible to compete in the Miss World pageant on October 4 in Kiev, Ukraine, so let’s keep our fingers crossed for her in that one. She was born in Curacao and later moved to Belize and has become a naturalized citizen. She currently is majoring in chemistry at St. John’s University in New York, and says she wants to be a neurosurgeon working in war zones with Doctors Without Borders. In addition to winning academic competitions in high school in Belize, the 21-year-old also works part-time as a print model for Pantene Pro-V among other clients, so I’ll bet she’s really popular among the other girls her age.

» 'Miss Nepal' pageant scrapped after Maoists object

KATHMANDU (AFP) — A contest to choose the next "Miss Nepal" slated for Thursday was cancelled after Maoist female lawmakers denounced the beauty pageant. The former rebels emerged as the single largest party in the country's newly elected assembly and are poised to form the next government.

"We won't let the event take place. We don't need such a thing in the new federal democratic republic of Nepal where women are treated as objects of entertainment," Maoist lawmaker Amrita Thapa told AFP Wednesday. She said the Maoists would not allow an "anti-women" event inspired by "capitalist" elements.

"Such contests send the wrong message to society as they emphasise physical beauty rather than intellectual ability," said another female Maoist leader. Girendra Man Rajbanshi, the contest organiser, said: "We had to cancel our programme at the last minute." He said they would try to change the activists' minds and stage the contest later.

The winner of the pageant gets the chance to represent Nepal at the annual Miss World contest, the organiser said.

Miss Nepal 2007 Sitasma Chand

» Miss Korea 2008

The summer night was hot but so was the stage for the 2008 Miss Korea Pageant Wednesday. A total of 51 contestants participated in the race toward the crown and among them, Na Re, who entered the beauty contest as Miss Seoul, was crowned Miss Korea at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Seoul.

The 22-year-old looked surprised when the host announced her name, and she received the diamond studded crown from former Miss Korea Sun Lee in tears.
``I did my best and I am honored to have seen the best result. I will continue to make every effort to become a person fit for the title Miss Korea,'' Na said.

A junior majoring in applied statistics at Yonsei University, Na is an expert at playing the violin, Pilates and also enjoys reading and watching movies. The beauty queen dreams of becoming a writer someday.

Two first runners-up were Choi Bo-in (21, Ewha Womans University) and Kim Min-jung (19, Daegu University). Choi will go to Miss World 2008 in Kiev, Ukraine; and Min-jung will go to Miss International in Japan and Macau.

There were four second runners-up ― Seo Seol-hee (19, Taekyeung University) also crowned as Miss Korea-Natural F&P; Lee Yu-na (20, Chosun University); Chang Yun-hee (21, Yonsei University) also crowned as Miss Korea-Jin Air; and Kim Hee-kyeong (23, Hanzhong University) who was also named Miss Korea-Hankook Ilbo.

MISS FL USA NEWS!

» Cypress Gardens to host Pageant on Aug. 23

Cypress Gardens is proud to announce the return of an old tradition: The Miss Cypress Gardens Beauty Pageant. In conjunction with the Miss Universe System we are holding an official Miss Florida USA Preliminary on August 23, 2008. At the end of the evening, two winners will be crowned: Miss Cypress Gardens USA 2010 and Miss Winter Haven USA 2010. Both winners will advance to the Miss Florida USA 2010 competition and receive a long list of prizes, including a $700 college scholarship.

Although Cypress Gardens has over 50 years of pageant history, this is the first one held here in several years. Some of our sponsors include: Pageantry Magazine, The Jess Anderson Modeling Agency, Regalia Magnificent Apparel, and Pageant Physiques. For more information please visit www.cypressgardens.com/MissCGUSA. For contestant applications contact the pageant coordinator at (863) 595 2360 or email misscgusa@cypressgardens.com

People who have questions about tickets, contestant applications or sponsorship opportunities can call the pageant coordinator at Cypress Gardens at 863-595-2360 or e-mail misscgusa@cypressgardens.com.

» Miss Boca Raton USA & Teen USA Pageant Seminar Day!

We are very pleased to announced that LaCasa Hermosa in Wellington will sponsor our first ever Boca Raton USA Seminar Day. This upcoming Sunday August 10^th from 2:00pm to 4:00pm where you can meet our reigning titleholders, learn pageant secrets from our directors and pageant experts!

To reserve your space during this special day simply email us at telair@aol.com or call our pageant office (954 924-4949) and ask for Mary Lou, Jenna or Grant Jr.

La Casa Hermosa
3445 Santa Barbara Drive
Wellington, Florida 33414

DIRECTIONS
Take Florida Turnpike to Lake Worth Exit travel WEST until a dead end at South Shore Boulevard. Turn RIGHT (traveling North) on South Shore and travel 1/4 mile to Santa Barbara Drive on right. Take a right onto Santa Barbara and the Showroom is located on the immediate left, just beyond the circular driveway.

Pageantry returns to South Palm Beach County

» MISS FLORIDA USA & MISS FLORIDA TEEN USA ON MYSPACE:

Be our MySpace friend at either www.myspace.com/missfloridateenusa or www.myspace.com/theofficialmissfloridausa as we feature the Miss Marion County USA 10 Minute Pageant at our Miss Florida USA site and the Miss Marion County Teen USA 10 Minute Pageant at our Miss Florida Teen USA site.

This week’s Miss Florida USA Channel Movie of The Week takes us back to

Sunday’s Soiree’ for Miss Wunderlich. It was a great afternoon and I think

the video reflects that. So show some love for our Miss Florida Teen USA

by watching her “Going Away To Miss Teen USA Soiree!”

Click here for more YouTube Movies!

Rainy Day Woman

Somewhere Rihanna is smiling and doesn't know why...

Because Gen Art recently decided to go green in 2009 by reducing our printed materials, I've been paying more attention to all things eco-friendly. Thus, meet Melanie McClintock, an emerging designer who is taking sustainable fashion farther than I ever imagined possible. As the owner of Ai Ai Gasa, a small boutique in Park Slope, she offered Brooklynites a carefully-edited roster of independent local designers—including a house label of recycled umbrella clothing and jewelry.

"The Recycled Umbrella Project came to be because I entered Treehugger's Ethical Fashion Show contest two years ago," McClintock expains. "I designed a wedding dress for a rainy day which didn't win, but in preparation I spent weeks picking through trash cans with the help of friends, collecting over 100 umbrellas. In the face of necessity (I now had a pile of broken umbrellas taking up space in my shop and studio apartment), I decided to create something fun, hip and wearable out of them—the Recycled Umbrella Bomber."

McClintock sold the piece to a friend, who as luck would have it, was stopped in the street by a fashion stylist who wanted to shoot it for a magazine. From there, things started to take off. "I focus primarily on recycled umbrella wear because it allows me to have a vision and purpose in design. It feels bigger than just making trendy, disposable clothing. Walk ten blocks in New York City on a rainy day and count the umbrellas in trash cans and gutters or just littering the sidewalks. I'd be willing to bet my Metrocard you'll find a dozen. That's two Bombers!"

And now McClintock is taking her mission on the road with a cross-country mobile pop-up shop that will journey over 10,000 miles. "I decided I no longer wanted to be at the whim of property owners, faced with high rent and shackled to a concrete location," she explains. "We'll host an umbrella recycling drive in every city we stop in and turn them into clothing, jewelry and art to sell along the way!" To keep travel both eco-friendly and affordable, the converted bus will run on recycled cooking oil from local restaurants. How hot is that?

Help out by donating 25 dollars toward the cause and you'll have your name and city plastered on the ceiling of their bus and perhaps earn enough brownie points to cancel out the fact that you've been cranking your A/C at full blast all summer long.

For more information or to follow their progress please visit www.handdrawnheart.blogspot.com.

- Caroline Stanley

Updated 8/8!

The MISS FL USA

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