Summer of 10′ (As Miss Pulaski County OT)

Of course I have been busy with all of my school things as well as improving my talent, which is Color Guard, by rigorously practicing with my high school band every morning and two nights a week, arriving at school at 6:30 AM and staying outside until 11:30 AM has been taking a tole on me. I am currently finding that my previous knee surgery has been acting up again, the last two weeks I have been forced to wear my brace. I hope this doesn’t effect my evening gown heels! haha I am planning to compete next year in either Miss Lake of the Ozarks or at Kansas City. I have a very conflicting schedule with marching festivals almost every weekend! Wish my school luck!

Miss Metro has crowned their winners for the 2011 season! Congratulations to all the winners. The Outstanding Teens were Shelby Steingraeber and Hannah Eastin! I am so proud of both of these lovely girls, they will be amazing representatives for the Metro board I am sure!

And without further delay I would like to talk about my week at Miss Missouri. It was an amazing experience that I believe every girl needs to have a taste of! I have returned with more confidence and feel prepared to tackle the world as well as the 2011 pageant season! I have made so many friends with girls who share common interests across the state and cannot believe how much fun I had! It went by so fast I am so excited to go back next year and see all my friends as well as compete! Allie Black (Miss Missouri OT 2010) was amazing! She represented the state so well at Miss America, and I must say on a personal note, her pink dress was one of my absolute favorites! Go Allie!

Recently as Miss Pulaski County OT I have attended and helped MC the Pulaski County Gun Show! It was so interesting! There was even a pink gun that matched my dress! haha I was so happy to get to represent Pulaski county again! Congratulations to the recipients of the raffle prizes and everyone who attended on making the day a fantastic and fun time!

Saturday I will be riding in the Dixon Cow Days parade! Be sure to come out and have a good time! Also I will be there cheering on my Lebanon High School band!!!!! I cannot wait, it is going to be such a fun day! I will be sure to post photos!

Good luck to my amazing Sister Queen Miss Tri-Coutnies OT Hailey Dodson as she competes for the title of Miss Texas County OT 2011!!!

Last Minute Prep! :D

Yesterday I had the opportunity to practice walking and interview with the amazing and skilled Miss Branson, Jeni Dixon! and her friend Selena, who has helped her since the beginning of her pageants! I learned so much and am so much more prepared for interview now I can’t believe the difference! I am ready to take the Miss Missouri OT stage by storm!

Everything is packed up, sorted, and ready to be loaded into the car! Only one more full day! Please pray for me and all the wonderful contestants this coming week as we compete!

Love,
Kelsey DeVasure

Wrapping Things Up! <3

Well, as it is coming down to the wire now as the time before Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen passes by I am truly amazed at how fast it all happened! It seems like yesterday I was getting crowned and going off to attend orientation! I am so pumped for the pageant! Today I had my last practice with my fabulous and talented color guard coach! I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful and kind lady helping me prepare for state and there is no one better I could have found! I would not be here without her advice, choreography perfection, and skill. Thanks to her so much!

I also have had my last mock interview with the Pulaski County board, and I know I’ve said it before, but I would like to thank them so much! I would not be half as prepared to compete next week without their expertise, they are truly amazing people and completely know what they’re doing! ;) The lovely director Layla, her wonderful husband and exercise extraordinaire Allen, and the knowledgable Corbetts(Paul & Lelar)! Plus everyone else who has been with me on this journey, who maybe can’t be at the mock interviews but, has still durastically impacted my life and I will never forget them!

While I’m saying my last thank you’s I would also like to add my family, for supporting me. My parents for toting me around and getting me my dress etc! My friends, for being there as a support system, and the Miss America Organization for hosting this wonderful pageant(including the Missouri Board)! And last but definately not least, my Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ for giving me strength and endurance on this journey to state, I know I would not be here if not for him and am eternally grateful!

Thank you everyone I love you so much!

<3 Kelsey

My Causes!

Of course you know that literacy is something very important to me and I care about it deeply, but what you didn’t know is that the link’s both above my page, in my sidebar, and the picture at the bottom of the page will take you my Literacy group on Facebook! Please join and help me raise awareness! To read my story on Literacy please click the About Moi tab!

As well as that, the Miss America Organization’s national platform is Children’s Miracle Network. All the candidates as well as myself have been raising great deals of money to support this incredibley worthwhile charity! No, I’m not going to ask you for your money, unless you want to give it to me for CMN ;), but I do ask that you take a minute to click the Children’s Miracle Network sign over to the right and play some fun activities! The more balloons my readers raise, the more money will be donated to help children suffering! Please do take a minute of your time to help!

God Bless,
Kelsey DeVasure
Miss Pulaski County Outstanding Teen 2010

Luncheon with Miss Missouri and Commanding General- Fort Leonard Wood, MO.

Today Tippe, Hailey, and myself were fortunate enough to enjoy a lunch with Tara Osseck, Miss Missouri, the newly crowned Miss Texas County, Jennifer Terry, and the Commanding General of Ft. Leonard Wood. It was moving to see all the young men and women serving our country and I am incredibley grateful to them for all that they do. I was likewise honored and excited when I learned of the lunch. This morning my grandmother and I drove up to Waynesville to meet Tippe, her mother, and the Corbetts as we went on base. I was so excited when we passed through the gates!

When we got to where we were eating lunch it was much nicer than I had ever dreamed! It is the best military resturaunt in the country and everyone wants to eat there! We waited on Hailey, her mother, and Jennifer to join us and not far behind them was Miss Missouri! I was so estatic when she came in, thinking how close my own Outstanding Teen pageant was getting! I cannot wait to compete!

We all went to go get our food and I was suprised to learn that the man in front of me in line, who I had been casually talking to, was the Commanding General of Ft. Leonard Wood! He was exceptionally nice and I could not have asked for a more enjoyable lunch! It was filled with the best people, the best place, and was generally just the best!

In addition to that, last weekend we finished our last interview preparation with the Pulaski County Board! I am so excited, yet also sad I will not see all these wonderful people on almost a weekly basis! Thank you to everyone on the Pulaski County Board for providing me the opportunity to become Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen 2010, my amazing director Layla, and of course our mock interview team: Allen, Layla, Lelar, and Paul. Even if it was tough at times I am truly ready to compete and it is all thanks to you! Thanks for the tips, the laughs, the lessons, the confidence, and most importantly the memories!

Love Always,

Kelsey DeVasure

Miss Pulaski County Oustanding Teen 2010

Little Miss Pulaski County- Dixon, MO.

This weekend we crowned Tiny, Little, and Pre-Teen Miss Pulaksi and Miss Mid-MO queens and sweethearts! I was delighted to be a part of this pageant where all the little girls had crowns in their eyes! It was truly a delight to get to not only be a part backstage, but also lead the little girls on stage, write and ask the on stage questions, and even get to do a filler talent! It was one of the best weekends I have had as Miss Pulaski County OT as I watched the girls vie for the title!

Of course, being me I have a story! While I was backstage early getting ready, there was a little girl there, who decided she would read me a book about dogs out loud. She got it from the High School library we were in and while it took some time, we got almost through the first chapter before we had to go for the opening number. She was such a little jokster and I loved reading with her, I will never forget that moment! Reading is truly touching the lives of young children in tremendous ways! I love it!

Not only did I have some fun this weekend though, I also was honored to do a mock interview with the judges, who all are/have been Miss contestants! A big thanks to Kari Gai, Me’Lisa Enyard, Malorie Howe, Katy Reed, and Melanie Schneider! Also of course Abbey Grimmett(auditor), Chelsey Jones(MC), and Tippe Emmott who were helping as well! It could not have been such a fantastic day without you! And the Pulaski board for getting the Little Miss pageant back up! I know it will be a joy for many years to come and plan on attending again and again!

Love,

Kelsey DeVasure

Miss Pulaski County OT 2010

Lion’s Club Pancake Breakfast- Waynesville, MO.

This morning I headed out to Waynesville in anticipation of a delicious breakfast, and a bunch of happy people! We arrived at the church and were greeted by the lovely Lions Club members and their helpers, I was set to serving sausage, it smelt amazing! Of course the kitchen wouldn’t be the same without the magnificent Paul, and yes even Layla was there adorned with her Mrs. Northstar crown helping make pancakes! For this event Lelar and Layla combined their pageants, the Miss Merrie Christmas/Miss Northstar, and Miss Pulaski County to help create the meal. Having both titles I was there representing Pulaski county of course, but I did get to catch up with some old pageant friends right before! This event was lovely, even if I did clumsily get burned by the syrup!

Hailey and I worked as waitresses, servers, and conversationalist throughout the morning as tons of people arrived to enjoy the pancake breakfast. There was even Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes for the kids! This is a great benefit for the Lions Club and I was honored to be a part of the event this year!

God Bless,

Kelsey DeVasure

Miss Pulaski County Oustanding Teen 2010

Elementary Schools Visit! -Lebanon, MO.

Today I had a chance to visit all of the Elementary schools in the Lebanon School District, I even had a suprise visit to the Jr. High. As I made my way around to the lower elementary schools I read my favorite book, “Pinkalicious” and spoke with them about how reading was fun! They were so enthusiastic as I spoke and as I read it really made me realize the complete truth in the quote, “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” – Margaret Fuller

They are so innocent at the elementary school age and what better way to inspire young minds to dream big and be all they can be than through literacy. I even gained a fresh respect for my platform and now feel a new motivation for it, this is the key to all of life. Readers are athletes of the mind, where would we be if we had no great thinkers, leaders, inventors, and dreamers? Idea’s like these are truly what has made us what we are today and it is all due to Literacy. I saw it written on the students faces as they listened as it has been written on young children’s faces throughout history.

As I went and visited my old classrooms not only did I have an enjoyable time with my old teachers and take a stroll down memory lane, but I remembered where I was then, and how Literacy and these role models (teachers) have shaped me as I metriculated. Truly, if someone were to ask me why I wanted with all my heart to be Miss Missouri’s/America’s Outstanding Teen I would have to answer, “So that I might become a role model to young children and teens and shape the future of not only Missouri, but also America.” This is truly so important. That is why I chose to promote my platform today in my community.

Not only did i visit lower elementary, but as I worked my way up to the higher grades I realized they didn’t want to listen to a children’s storybook. I spoke with the teachers and it was agreed that I would read my published book, I had written in third grade, and then challenge the students to write their own for extra credit. I cannot wait to see what they write! I am going to take the books back to the lower grades with my Jr. High english teachers and their classes and read them with the older students. Also, while I was at the Jr. High I had the opportunity to promote Children’s Miracle Network in talking to the principal about fundraising at the school as I am already doing at the High School.

I cannot believe how eye-opening and amazing this day has been and I feel truly blessed now to share its events with you, in hopes it moves you the same way it moved me. I am ready, now more than ever to serve as Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen and am literally bouncing up and down to compete in June!

Love,

Kelsey DeVasure

Miss Pulaski County Oustanding Teen 2010

Plethora of Princesses! -Lebanon, MO.

Alright, so I borrowed that headline from the Lebanon Daily Record, but it was just such a catchy alliteration I had to share it! This morning bright and early I woke up and donned my crown and sash to go to my local library, there I was met by my lovely director, Layla, and the best sister queen I could have, Hailey! We helped make sure everything was in place for the little princesses with the amazing children’s’ librarian Vannessa!

As soon as the girls started arriving it was time to meet them all and help them make their very own princess crown with jewels, foam cut-outs, and Sharpies! I had so much fun getting to know the girls and playing in their imaginary worlds, we went from being in a the grasslands of Africa watching Zebra’s to playing in the sea-side cottage! It was truly remarkable what their minds could come up with and I was in awe.

After an acceptable amount of time of play it was time for the main event! I read “Pinkalicious”, one of my favorite children’s books! The kids were so captivated by my voice as I read the story I couldn’t help but smile the whole way through. After that Hailey and Vannessa read books as well and we moved on to the “snack room”.

We entered the room to find pink punch and crown shaped cookies decorated everywhere with crowns and princess decor! The princesses kept telling me how much their cookies were like Pinkalicious and I was delighted! Vannessa and I both had some extra books lying around, so we passed them out to each child, I was so grateful I was able to give them their own book to take home and encourage their love of reading! After that we gave each an autographed picture and everyone went home! It was an amazing day!

God Bless,

Kelsey

Oh, BTW! I got my evening gown today! It’s gorgeous, I’m SO excited and just had to share!

Animal Shelter Gala! -Houston, MO.

The Grand Prize!

Wow! How sweet is that? It was one of the many fantastic prizes the Houston Animal Shelter gave away at their Gala! There were so many people there I got the pleasure to see and talk to many of them while we waited for the event to begin. It was truly a “Missouri feel” in the room when everyone knew the other persons name! I could not ask to live in a better state!

The Animal Shelter held the Gala in order to raise money through their raffle. They even brought out two dogs, who had been in such bad condition when they arrived, no one thought they would survive. Of course I’m happy to report they are alive, well, the mascots of the Shelter, and looking for a happy new home! They were doing so great that they even came up to our table and wanted us to play!

After the delicious dinner, a dinner that was prepared by a boys youth program, and some good talk it was time for the prizes! My sister queens, Tippe, Hailey, and I helped pass out the prizes! Hardly anyone left empty handed it was great and throughout the night there was a jazz band playing, they were absolutely perfect! I couldn’t have asked for a better night!

Love,

Kelsey