A few months back, I casually mentioned the idea of a Mr. Waseca pageant to Sadie as a way of fundraising money for our CMN accounts. We both agreed it would be a great idea! We talked it up with our directors and put it in motion right away! They were all so great with helping us along the way because they are the ones who know how to run a pageant! As Sadie and I were crazily running around getting sponsors, contestants, and advertising, Molly, Jen, and Christy were writing scripts, printing programs, and collecting silent auction baskets!
About a month before the event, I was getting pretty nervous about how the turn out was going to be. We only had 3 locked in contestants (one being Joey, so actually 2) and little talk about it. Out of the blue I received an email from the Mankato Free Press asking about the event and if I could be interviewed (WHAT?!). After the Free Press, the Pioneer Press wrote an article and many other newspapers followed. Just a few days after, Jen called me and said the WCCO wanted to interview us (Okay, crazy right?). I was so excited! I set a date for us to meet up with Frank (yes, Frank Vascellaro) and Chris Shaffer! They were a hoot! Sadie and I taught them the fitness routine, witnessed their talents, taught them how to walk, and asked them on-stage questions. If you missed it on WCCO ,you can watch us here! Just a few days before, Molly said she heard about us on the radio! But even with the publicity, I was still nervous (just ask Sadie)! Thankfully, we had 10 contestants in no time!
I don't remember which director said it, but one of them said that with big events, something always goes wrong. Honestly, I was not a fan of that statement. But they were right, we had a contestant drop out last minute…and the night went on :) JUST LIKE THEY SAID!
Our contestants were such good sports (even though they all complained about the fitness routine (: ) They all got pretty creative up on stage whether it was interpretive poem reading, singing, or ripping their shirts off during the fitness routine…
Larry cooked us up a DELICIOUS Italian dish for his talent. #nomnomnom Cooking was a great talent for him to perform! Lauren and I sure enjoyed eating it (:
My lovely sister queen, Miss South Central, Lauren, helped in the deciding factor of who would be crowned! The beautiful Miss Minnesota Outstanding Teen, Corinna Swiggum, helped us judge and impressed the audience with her sweet ka-rah-tay moves. Ken was, of course, such a hoot. I sat right next to him and he was cracking up the entire time which made my night 100x better. Our emcee was HILARIOUS. Shout out to Ann Fitch for being so great. Our event would not have been as successful without you!
Congratulations again to Mr. Waseca 2014, Larry Johnson! Thank you for allowing us to use the American Legion and everything you do for our program!
At the end of the night, we ended up raising $900! It was way past anything that I expected! Sadie and I could not have been more excited about it! It was such a great way to get the community involved in our program!
Thank you to everyone who helped put this event on! Sadie and I are so grateful to all of you!
xoxo,
Katie
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