Miss Florida USA Faces

The pageant doubleheader weekend started in the heart of horse country in Ocala at the absolutely beautiful Appleton Art Museum’s Cultural Auditorium. It was so much fun going to this first pageant ever for Miss Florida USA in Marion County. Pageant Director and Miss Florida USA alumni Chelsee Atkins and her volunteers and staff from Chelsee Productions put on a great pageant.

It was also great to reconnect with our Miss Florida Teen USA 2002 Ashley Cuza who was gracious to judge the afternoon event. She is doing great things as the lead news anchor of the 5:30pm nightly news at The University of Florida’s Television Station in Gainesville. That position is a well-respected stepping-stone towards a career in broadcasting. But instead of heading directly to Los Angeles she has been accepted to Law School at DePaul University in Chicago. Look for big things from this young lady, we are very proud of Ms. Cuza.

Ms. Johnson and Ms. Goodwin were outstanding as the afternoon's hostesses (left)

Hosted by Miss Citrus USA 2007 Noelle Johnson and Miss Nature Coast USA 2007 Shilah Goodwin the eleven contestants proved that this is one future hotbed of pageantry. Congratulations to former Miss Florida Teen USA Alumni and Amity winner Rikki Klaus on her double win of North Central Florida’s two special awards of Miss Amity and Miss Photogenic! Enjoy the pictures from Day One on The Road to Hollywood!

Day number two found us driving to the southern end of The Florida (USA!) Turnpike to the pageant crazy city of Homestead and The World Famous Homestead Motor Speedway in the VIP suites for the second annual Miss Homestead/Florida Keys USA and Teen USA Pageants. It’s always fun to attend a South Florida pageant as there will always be plenty of bling!

Fourteen former or current members of The Florida USA family were in the house as a very enthusiastic audience supported the eight delegates. It was also a chance to catch up with Miss Florida USA 2004 Kristen Berset who is in her last South Florida modeling season as she has Los Angeles in her sights. Complete with a great television hosting reel that includes her hosting Miss Florida USA 2005 she is about to tackle the television industry in the other Hollywood!

Miss Callahan; Ms. Korka; Miss Hasty and Miss Pedrique had ringside seats for the afternoon.

Congratulations to the Halavin family for pulling off three pageants in the span of five months and for sending eight beautiful women to state! As always enjoy the pictures from the audience. Next week The Road to Hollywood has it’s second to last weekend as we will be reporting from Miss Miami USA and Teen USA in next weeks Faces and Places!

Ms. Berset with Ms. Shockey and very Little Miss Vero Beach (left) & team Homestead/Florida Keys (right)

Congratulations to Miss Hollywood Teen USA 2006 Diana Crawford on her runner up award in the speech category of this year’s Miami Herald Broward Silver Knight Awards held last Tuesday night at The Signature Grand. The Silver Knight Awards honor the best of the regions High School seniors in various disciplines and categories. For the past two years I have been honored as a judge in the Drama discipline and can vouch that these are amazing young people!

Officially Miss Crawford was First Runner Up Honorable Mention for the Speech category. She had 21 people in my category who were all very qualified and was so close to winning. For the honor she will receive a $500 scholarship and plaque. The awards ceremony was like a mini Academy Awards show and was taped for broadcast on WLRN-TV in South Florida in the next few weeks. Such an honor for this Miss Florida Teen USA alumni! Look for her next appearing and doing great things at The University of Florida this September. Here is what The Miami Herald Wrote:

Diana created Classical Queens, which provides a day of pampering for elderly residents of local nursing homes. An All-American cheerleader, Diana has been named Miss Hollywood Teen USA 2006, Miss Teen South Florida U.S. Continental and is a delegate to the Miss Florida Teen USA 2006 pageant. Her academic excellence has garnered her numerous honors, including the President's Award for Educational Excellence, the Straight-A Honor Roll since 2003, National Honor Roll, Western High School's Hall of Fame and was the only student at her school to score a perfect 5 on the AP English Language and Composition exam.

Miami, FL — Casa Casuarina (The former Versace Mansion on Ocean Drive) provided a breathtaking backdrop to Queen for a Day’s (QFAD) inaugural Royal Indulgence Gala to benefit pediatric cancer patients. Local philanthropists, athletes, socialites and beauty pageant titleholders joined Jenna Edwards, QFAD’s founder and Miss North Miami USA 2007, for the fashion show fundraiser featuring celebrity designer Juan Carlos Piñera.

More than 100 guests enjoyed an assortment of hors d’oeuvres and exotic fruits fantasies catered by Barton G as they sipped complimentary Grey Goose cocktails fit for a queen. Notable guests in attendance included Mike McMahon of the Minnesota Vikings, Michael Capponi, Carrie Mewha, Miss Florida USA 2003 and gala committee member, Victoria Bechtold-Kush, Miss Pennsylvania 2004, David and Maria Schwedel, Sarah Triton and Kari Stenholm.

The $150 tickets to the Royal Indulgence Gala raised $32,000 for QFAD, a non-profit organization that offers hospitalized, pediatric cancer patients a chance to escape, be pampered, and feel like a kid again within their care centers. “Queen for a Day provides a fun, relaxing vacation from the daily stress of cancer treatments by giving little girls manicures and makeovers, said Edwards. In addition, each child receives a bouquet of roses and a real tiara donated by beauty queens from across the nation.”

Since its inception in June 2000, QFAD has developed 33 chapters in the United States and eight in South Africa. The organization has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and in People magazine. QFAD is supported by Oprah's Angel Network, Nsync's Foundation Challenge for the Children, Ford Motor Company, Miss America Organization, Tony & Tina Cosmetics and Clinique Cosmetics. For more information, please visit www.qfad.org.

- Kudos to our dynamic Northern Florida duo of Miss Pensacola USA 2007 Krystal McKown and Miss Escambia County 2007 Sarah Zurell who assisted recently with Art of Fashion A Luncheon, Fashion Show, Live Auction & Art Experience To Benefit Covenant Hospice at New World Landings in Pensacola. The ladies assisted with the silent auction as well as raffle tickets as all benefits went to the hospice. Way to help those in need Krysal and Sarah!

- Kudos to Carissa Grazel, Miss Orange County USA 2007 who performed this past weekend at the annual Give Kids The World Black and White Gala at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando. The silent auction and dinner raised over $600,000 for Give Kids the World. The money will go towards building new villas at the Give Kids the World Village in Orlando. Great job Carissa!

- Kudos to Miss Tampa USA2007 Heather Johnson who recently hosted the Miss Wesley Chapel Pageant that was held at the Wesley Chapel High Performing Arts Center on Saturday, May 6th. Not only was she the Mistress of Ceremonies and also did a vocal performance of "Stuff Like That There." Ms. Johnson then shared a photo opportunity with Miss Wesley Chapel 2005 Laci Boyette and her mother Debbie Boyette. The second photo has Ms. Johnson, Ms. Boyette and the new Miss Wesley Chapel 2006 Lisa Noury. Nice job helping our pageant friends in Wesley Chapel, Heather!

» 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!

PICTURE OF THE WEEK!

This week's selection touches on the human condition that is pageantry. We like to call this artistic snapshot of life “Selection” as it captures what the old ABC Wide World of Sports used to call “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat!”. Contestant Fawzeya Mohamed (R) reacts after winning the Pantene Miss Egypt 2006 pageant while runner-up Reem Helal reacts in disappointment in Cairo but the feeling is universal. Here’s our highbrow Picture of The Week.