Friday, October 14, 2011

October 14, 2011

The closer January and the Miss America competition get, the faster time seems to fly. It was a very busy month and lucky for me I will not be getting bored any time soon. I want to start out by thanking everyone who has helped me in raising money for Children’s Miracle Network. I want to especially thank the Ocean City Exchange Club for their generous donation.
There have also been quite a few girls crowned recently: Nychole Hunt, Breanne Ray, Olivia Jennings, Courtney Fairfield, Ellen Chu, Cierra Kaler-Jones, Carissa Palumbo, Venessa Baez, and Lindsey Petrosh. Congratulations to those girls, and I wish them the best of luck during their year and this coming June’s competition.
This past weekend was Columbus Day. I got the chance to participate in three different parades and see many Italian-Americans honored for their service to the community. I also had a chance to practice my Italian when I met some Polizati di Stato in East Hanover. It was a great weekend in which to celebrate the strong Italian culture that permeates New Jersey.
The last bit of warm weather is about to leave us, but I was able to make use of it at a golf tournament for the USO at Balla Golf Club in Philadelphia. With every golf team we had a little competition of who could take the goofiest picture on the course. I am not sure who won because there were a lot of funny ones, but the pictures served as good entertainment while they played on a slide show during dinner that night.
 I am so fortunate to have so many sponsors that are helping me prepare for Miss America. One of them is Brandon Bonnet. He has been helping me train in fitness and conditioning. The Crowning Touch located in New Bedford, MA is providing a competition gown for me and Ideal Fashions which has locations in Washington Township, Hammonton, and Margate is providing an alternate gown for me to wear at Miss America. Cosmetics are being provided to me by both Bobbi Brown and LancĂ´me, and La Bottine Boutique in Ocean City gave me shoes and jewelry. Watch for me in November on the Michael Antonia website showing off shoes that they have also generously given me.
I have been taking a Dale Carnegie class and one of my many favorite things about the class is reading quotes from Dale Carnegie himself. He has compiled a lot of wisdom which he has been sharing with others throughout most of the last century. In closing I want to share some of what Dale Carnegie said, “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” This is one of my goals for the upcoming few months. I want to always be striving for fun while I am Miss New Jersey.
Till next time,
Katharyn Nicolle
Miss New Jersey 2011