» Hollywood Beach Clambake Hurricane Relief Concert

With “Hollywood Helps Katrina’s Kids” as the official charity of the evening it was a night of New Orleans music for our Miss Florida Teen USA Victoria Ratliff and some of our dedicated South Florida titleholders. Meeting on the Broadwalk and raising over $1,000.00 for charity were Miss Gold Coast Teen USA Alysa Spirato; Miss Pembroke Pines Teen USA Christian Erickson; Miss West Broward USA Jennifer Olkinitsky and Miss Weston USA Rebecca Linnemon.

Rachel Rose signing autographs (left) & Miss Ratliff with Hollywood Mayor Mara Giulianti

The Mayor onstage with our Miss Florida USA family

Hollywood Beach was packed as the first day of the three day Clambake was the buzz event of the weekend. Grammy Award winning Terrence Simmeon and The Zydeco Experience were the headlining act along with Rocking Jake from Southwest Louisiana who still has 5 feet of water in his house in New Orleans. The ladies had a chance to hang out backstage and meet the bands before their onstage appearance.

Miss Ratliff with Terrance Simieon and Rocking Jake ? Grammy Award winners from New Orleans (left)

Miss Ratliff with the Zydeco Experience washboard player (right)

Sara Callahan with her very proud mother at Sunset Place

Assigned the duties of official “Ambassador” for the evening our Miss Ratliff, with the assistance of Hollywood Mayor Mara Giulianti, greeted the audience with information about our host cities relief efforts. After a thunderous applause of approval it was time to bring on our hard working titleholders who were thanked for their fundraising efforts. Miss Ratliff then introduced The Zydeco Experience and it was then time to enjoy the beautiful evening. Thank you ladies for your volunteering on Friday Night and enjoy the pictures!

Miss Coleman receives a donation at Dadeland Mall

Backstage at The Hollywood Beach Clamfest (left) & Pageant Director Angie Halavin and Volunteer Coordinator Jamie Converse Estrada

(Miss Florida USA 1998) with their volunteers at Dadeland Mall (right)

» Miss Florida USA Cares – Simon Mall Fundraisers

Once again our South Florida USA titleholders really stepped up to the plate and donated their weekend afternoons in efforts to assist those on The Gulf Coast. The Simon Malls & Miss Florida USA teamed up for the second of three weekends to raise funds at their Dadeland, International and Sunset Place Malls.

Titleholders Rachel Rose, Miss Miami USA & Annile Hasty, Miss Citrus Teen USA were at International Mall. Miss Pembroke Pines Teen USA Christian Erickson, Brittany Smith Miss Homestead/Florida Keys Teen USA and Angel Coleman Miss Homestead/Florida Keys USA were at Dadeland Mall. While Miss West Broward USA Jennifer Olkinitsky and sister queen Miss West Broward Teen USA Sara Callahan were at Sunset Place.

Sunday was a special day as Governor Jeb Bush stopped by unexpectedly and donated to the cause at Dadeland Mall. Up and out very early, Governor Bush thanked Miss Erickson while both he and his secret service shoppers donated to the cause. Unfortunately he arrived before our cameras did. However we did get some great pictures of our hard working volunteers. Look for us out for our final weekend this Saturday and Sunday. Stop by and say hello and donate to the cause!

» Festival Unbottles Jeannies

Show set in Cocoa Beach marks 40 years of magic

BY KIMBERLY C. MOORE / FLORIDA TODAY

PORT CANAVERAL - Dozens of blonde girls wearing a sea of pink and magenta chiffon nodded and blinked to an endless loop of the "I Dream of Jeannie" theme song Friday night as they vied for the Jeannie look-alike crown. In the end, 12-year-old Jessica Stavrakas and 24-year-old Crystal Louthan, both of Merritt Island, won in the Teenie Jeannie and Jeannie categories of Friday's We Dream of Jeannie Festival.

Sunday marks the 40th anniversary of the still-popular 1960s TV show, the story of astronaut Maj. Tony Nelson and the genie-in-a-bottle he picked up when he crash-landed on an Arabian island. She works her magic on her "master," which made for many misadventures. "I just saw it last night" for the first time, said Stavrakas. "My mom taped it and we watched it."

But Louthan is an honest-to-goodness fan of the show, which made the show's star, Barbara Eden, and her once-covered-up navel an icon in American households. "I love the show," said Louthan, who is a mortgage broker. "I like the one where she puts (Maj. Nelson) in jail because he wants to go on a date with someone else."

Nearly three dozen girls and women, ranging in age from the pre-kindergarten set to those old enough to remember the show's first run, pranced in their Jeannie outfits in front of four judges. Real-life astronaut Bruce Melnick, now vice president of Boeing's Florida operations, Cocoa Beach Mayor Skip Beeler, Miss Space Coast Teen USA Madelyn Lareau and Lauren Barley, a Realtor and co-owner of La La Models, judged the contestants.

Anticipation. Lauren Boss, lower right, waits with fellow competitors to take the stage Friday

before the "Teenie Jeannie" look-alike contest at the We Dream of Jeannie Festival in Port Canaveral.

Jessica Stavrakes won the event. Kathleen Hinkel, FLORIDA TODAY

"I'm so confused!" Melnick joked at one point. When asked if he ever had a fantasy about crashing onto a remote island and finding a Jeannie, Melnick blushed. "I always wondered what it would have been like back in those early days" of the space program.

Despite its setting in Cocoa Beach, the show, however, never was filmed in Florida. And its creators would have been more accurate by setting it in Houston, where astronauts actually trained and lived. "They probably thought that that was the (astronauts') headquarters," joked actor Larry Hagman, who played Nelson, in a telephone interview with the Associated Press from California.

Cocoa Beach restaurant owner Rusty Fischer said show creator Sidney Sheldon once asked permission to use the name of his restaurant, Bernard's Surf Restaurant."They did and every now and then you would hear, 'Well let's make a reservation at the Surf,' " Fischer said.

» Pageant News Wanted!

Are you a titleholder or at large delegate who is making appearances or doing good things in the community? We would love to tell all of the Miss Florida USA Family your story. Send pictures and updates to telair@aol.com as we feature everything Miss Florida USA on Friday’s at Faces & Places.

» Alumni News Wanted!

If you know of any Miss Florida USA alumni in the news please drop us an email to feature them in future articles. Email all info to info@missfloridausa.com! Until next week here to good pageantry!

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