The title itself, expresses exactly what this pageant is...Amazing. Twenty seven wonderful girls and women with disabilities competed in talent, interview, personal introduction and evening gown this weekend, and I had the honor to judge them. This was my first experience judging and I don't think that it could have been any better. Congratulations to Jordan Somer, the director and founder of the Miss Amazing Pageant. This was the fourth annual pageant for Jordan and she was nationally recognized by TeenNick in receiving the Halo Award. TeenNick was in Omaha filming all day Saturday during rehearsals and the show. Jordan, along with three other teens across the nation, were chosen for the Halo Award and are being recognized for the service they are doing in their communities. Jordan shared with us that, because of the award, the Miss Amazing Pageant has received $25,000! This will open up so many doors for Jordan and the pageant and I know she is eager to use the proceeds to build the program and possibly spread it to other states with the hopes of a national level pageant someday!
On a personal level, the difficulty judging this pageant was overwhelming. I have been surrounded with "typical" pageants for years and have now been exposed to this experience, watching girls, some of whom can't even speak, get on stage in front of an audience, with a smile on their faces. There were times when holding back my tears was almost unbearable.
We had a scale of 1-7 to score off of, 7 being the highest. In judging the girls, we had to be conscience of each individual and the disability they had. Some of the girls waltzed onto the stage with a huge smile and won the crowd over with their singing, while others struggled making eye contact. This became a judging of the heart. On Friday night, there was an optional talent showcase where we saw talents in singing, dancing, verbal presentations, and violin. As judges, we had many difficult decisions to make. One of my favorite talents was by the lovely Stephanie Mitten.
Stephanie won the overall talent award in her division, signing to "Amazing Grace." It was the moment the music started playing on Friday, that goosebumps starting creeping up my arms and legs. What beautiful words, being signed by such a beautiful girl. The restraint it took to hold my tears back was unbelievable. The great thing though, was after this moving talent from Stephanie, we got to hear Joan Jett, and Miley Cyrus and see dances of all kinds. Miss Kelsey Marten came onto the stage with her hands in the air and her hips shaking. My heart was filled with warmth because of the courage and happiness I saw beaming from all the contestants.
Saturday afternoon we began the interviews. This process was difficult because we were again challenged with the differences in disabilities; where we had many with great answers and some who wouldn't talk at all. One girl I specifically want to talk about was Miss Jessica Shanno. In our one minute interview, she didn't have anything to say nor did she make eye contact with me once. But when we were beckoned to wrap up the interviews, I asked her if I could shake her hand. She reached her hand out to me, raised her head to look me in the eyes, and smiled. It simply melted my heart. Brittany Uriel was unable to speak for herself but had her sister with her to answer my questions. When she heard her sister tell me that her evening gown for the night was purple her grin grew; when I asked Brittany if the sister who was with her was her favorite, her smile grew even more and then turned into laughter. These responses where the ones I needed. Those smiles make all the difference. Those girls were competing for the experience, to learn, to meet new people, and to have a chance at something that they wouldn't normally get; to be a princess. To have a crown placed on their head and a sash across their chest.
Saturday evening brought all the girls to the stage to compete in evening gown and to present a personal introduction. Each girl got the chance to introduce themselves with the microphone and during the evening gown competition were escorted by family and friends. After judging those areas and hearing some special entertainment, the girls were brought back on stage to receive their awards. Each girl was awarded a medal and trophy for the talent competition and each with a tiara and trophy for the runner's up and the winner received a sash as well.
Seeing the looks on their faces as they received them, (as you can tell) was such a reward in itself. It was such a successful pageant and such a humbling experience. I am so very thankful to have gotten the opportunity to participate in this event and look forward to being involved in the future!
The beautiful Baylor Mulick with her monkey :)
Fellow judge and new friend Nicole Pannenton, Mrs. Nebraksa.
I have to add in a little side note here: Between interviews and the evening performance I had a few hours of free time. Being in Omaha by myself I choose to take advantage of the shopping (duh) and headed out to Village Point. A minor detail. I was dressed in interview attire and had managed to forget any sort of normal clothing so I walked around the mall in 4 inch heels, a pencil skirt and top. You'd think by the stares and gockey looks I got that people never would have seen a woman dressed up before! After my little shopping spree, I still had an hour to burn and the growl in my tummy was screaming at me to feed it. ("Feed me Semore!" Little Shop of Horrors-love that quote!) Not knowing the Omaha area completely, I just started driving around the area the pageant was held. I eventually found a little park and saw a sign for JuiceStop. JuiceStop being one of my favorite snacks, I thought I'd just grab one to take with me to the pageant, when I noticed a sign for Jones Bros. Cupcakes and Deli.
I have to include this in my blog because I had a wonderful experience at the deli! I had the four cheese grilled cheese sandwich with tomato basil soup. The employees were wonderful and made sure that I was enjoying my meal. After I had eaten and cleaned up my mess, I headed to the restrooms. The decor was beautiful and they were clean (a great asset in itself) but even better than that...softest toilet paper I've ever experienced in a public restroom! I know that sounds crazy and you may wonder why its included in my blog but it is SO uncommon I just had too! And I know there are women and maybe even men out there who would appreciate the higher quality toilet paper. :) I even made a point to thank that owner of the store and compliment him on his toilet paper choosing, which he told me was his mothers idea! Those mom's sure know what they are talking about! I shared with he and some other employees why I was in the area and they sent with me a box of 6 cupcakes to share with the other judges! If you are ever in the area, stop into Jones Bros. Cupcakes and tell them you heard from Miss Omaha, that they have great food, delicious cupcakes, and AMAZING toilet paper!
:) successful weekend...I'd say its been one of my favorites!
Sincerely, Kayla
Miss Omaha :)
