Miss Florida USA Faces

A festive evening of pageantry and fun was on the cultural calendar Wednesday night as it was the official kickoff celebration of this year’s Hispanic Heritage Festival. The evening was a celebration of everything Hispanic; wonderful music, great food and several of our Miss Florida USA alumni as well as the new Miss Hispanidad USA Merylin Gonzalez .

Held at the historic Douglas Entrance Plaza it was dinning and dancing alfresco. While a salsa band played in the background we sampled the local delicacies and caught up with so many pageant friends. Amongst those who were in attendance included this years court which featured: Melisa Hernandez (1^st RU) who attended with her mom; Nathalie Pozo (3^rd RU) with mom as well along with new friends and 2008 Miss Florida USA qualifiers Maria Pia Sanz (2^nd RU) and Susan Martinez (4^th RU).

The Cue girls were in attendance (left) & Mr. Mendoza (Hispanic Festival Director)

We also caught up with the Miss Hispanidad Alumni that included such Miss Florida USA Family as Ivis Guerra and Claudia Santiano. We also caught up with Catherine Cue (4^th RU ’03 FTUSA) and her mother Carmen who are considering a Miss Hialeah USA Pageant for this season. If this sounds like a good idea email us at telair@aol.com and we will pass on the encouragement! It was also great seeing Cindy Kohn-Cybulkiewicz Miss Hispanidad 2005 as well as her family who are great.

A big round of applause goes to the Hispanic Heritage Festival Director Eduardo Mendoza who always puts together a wonderful event that is so representative of this vibrant community. Their volunteers and staff put so much effort into both the festival and their Miss Hispanidad USA Pageant. Congratulations on a grand kickoff and we wish you a great festival season. Enjoy the pictures!

Cindy Kohn-Cybulkiewicz, Miss Hispanidad 2005, with Miss Hispanidad USA 2006, Merylin Gonzalez (left)

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Zuleyka Rivera, Miss Universe 2006, will make a special appearance at Nuestro Ritmo in Orlando on Sunday, October 1. Zuleyka Rivera, who hails from Salinas, Puerto Rico, was crowned Miss Universe 2006 in July.

Nuestro Ritmo is part of the year-long fifth anniversary celebration of El Sentinel and part of Hispanic Heritage month. In addition to an appearance by Miss Universe 2006, the day-long celebration will feature performances by Milly Quezada, Ismael Miranda, N'Klabe, Sonora Carruseles, Tony Vega, Eddie Santiago, Payasitas Nifu-Nifa, Mariachi Fiesta Grande, folkloric groups and more. For complete information about the artists scheduled to perform, tickets and parking, visit ElSentinel.com and click on Nuestro Ritmo.

Tickets are $15.00 each for adults; children under 12 years old admitted free of charge. Tickets are available at the gate. For more information, click on the Nuestro Ritmo link on ElSentinel.com. Tinker Field is located at 287 S. Tampa Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801, near the Citrus Bowl.

- Did You Know our Miss Melbourne Teen USA Brandi Wines is producing a March of Dimes fundraiser this upcoming Friday October 6th entitled “Dancing for The Babies”. The performance starts at 7:00pm at the Brevard Community College Cocoa Campus Performing Arts Auditorium. For tickets ($10.00) or how you can contribute contact The Brevard March of Dimes at 321 633-3047. Way to help others and take a leadership role Brandi!

- Condolences go to the family of pageant alumni Sherrie Helms (3^rd RU ’00 FUSA) as her mother Carol Helms passed away on Sunday. The services were Thursday afternoon and in attendance were Miss Florida USA family members Marjorie Gelbwaks (T15 ’00 FUSA) and former pageant assistant director Yiselk Enriquez. May your prayers be with the Helms family.

The weekend started with Friday night Greater Pembroke Pines Kiwanis where the our Title Holders were guest of honor. Among the attending guest was the Art & Culture Committee Chair Ruben and Member Marcia Samuels. There was excellent food but the best was the dessert table.

Next (Saturday) we had the Pembroke Pines Chamber Business Expo at Pembroke Lakes Mall. Here we met several community business owners. Our weekend ended with a trip to the shopping mall looking for new outfits for state. The young ladies had a blast.

Our new week starts with the mock interviews for the HPI Title Holders. Our panel consisted of 5 judges. The mock interview panel. Kevin Brody, Owner of Designeage Studios; Brad Koogler, Marketing Director Fierte Cosmetics; Lindsay Shokey, Miss Pembroke Pines USA 2007; Benilea Nya, Image consultant and Fashion Designer and Ray Eyler, Talent Scout for Carnival Cruse Line.

Alicia Castellano, Miss Pembroke Pines Teen USA, Danyel Crecelius, Miss Homestead/Florida Keys Teen USA were interviewed. Barbara Cosme, Miss Gold Coast Teen USA Joined in on the mock interview opportunity.

With several state pageants last weekend we thought we would offer you some photos of the pageants we did not feature Thursday. With all apologies to the below photographers whose names we do not have, thank you for keeping our Florida pageant fans up to date as the national championship of pageantry starts to fill up the field for Miss USA & Miss Teen USA.

» PICTURES & STORIES WANTED!

If you enjoy reading the stories of our Miss Florida USA Family and want us to know what great things are happening either during or after you reign please email us at telair@aol.com. We love touting our sorority of outstanding Florida women. Please send us a paragraph (or two) on your appearances, awards or community service and include pictures. We want you to have all of the support of this great lifestyle we call Miss Florida USA!

» 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!

The POTW Committee was heading in a more international direction until this last minute entry off the AP wire took the honors. Why? Because we are suckers for cute little girls in gowns and crowns! Beauty pageant contestant Madison Neill, 8, poses for a portrait in her Glendale, Calif., home with some of the trophies she has won in the last four years in beauty pageant competitions. The editor thinks it’s adorable and we proclaim it the Picture of The Week.