I have been so busy! I can't wait to tell you all about the last few weeks I have had. On July 24th I attended the Miss Frazee and Miss Frazee Outstanding Teen Pageant. Since it was another trip up North, Aja (Miss South Central) and Kaylah (Miss Capitol City) met me in St. Cloud and we all car pooled together up to Frazee. It was an adventure!
As soon as Aja, Kaylah, and I were ready to go, Kaylah realized she had forgotten her bag with everything in it! She had her crown, banner and a couple of outfits, but forgot her overnight bag with the essentials such as tooth brush, make-up, shoes ect... so as we were already running a bit late we had to make a quick stop to Target to pick up some shoes. We were also getting hungry so while we were in the mall we quickly purchased some "Extreme Pitas." Aja was waiting in the car for us and didn't have her phone on so we couldn't ask her what she wanted to eat. Kaylah and I improvised and went off of what we knew about Aja ;-) "She's a vegetarian, OH and she likes spicy things!" I still laugh at the situation and Aja ended up loving her pita! Finally, after getting some shoes and food we got back on the road and made it to the pageant right when the pageant started. Perfect timing! We had to put our crown and sashes on in the car, but after Miss MN week were already pros at that. The pageant was filled with talent. Congratulations to the newly crowned Miss Frazee, Emily Kallis!
The next day I was in the Frazee Turkey Days parade. It was a beautiful day! I got to ride in a red corvette with Kaylah. We felt pretty cool. Kathryn rode in a PT Cruiser convertible and somehow managed to drop her phone inside the vehicle. When I say inside I don't mean on the seat, I mean in between the pieces of metal that holds the car together! People from all over the neighborhood started to come and help all of us pageant queens try and fish out Kathryn's phone. After about a half hour of sticking our arms in, using sticks and lots of tape, Kathryn retrieved her phone! It was quite the adventure in Frazee. We even got photos with the world's largest Turkey and the the world's largest Loon!
The next weekend I attended the Miss Heart of the Lakes and Miss Perham Pageant. Congratulations to the newly crowned Miss Heart of the Lakes, Kalli Randall and the new Miss Perham, Brittany Bachmann!
After the pageant I headed up to Walker, MN where I was competing in my first triathlon the next morning! I was so thrilled that Mackenzie Ross and my sister competed with me. My cousin, Jesse Leblanc is a cop in Walker and organized the entire event. It was called "Chase the Police Triathlon." It started with a 0.25 mile swim, followed by a 17 mile bike ride, and then finished with a 2.5 mile run. I never in a million years would have seen myself competing in triathlon, but I can now check that off my list of things to do in life. I definitely want to do another one :-) Check out
http://www.walkertriathlon.com/ to watch a great clip they put in the LakeLand News about the triathlon.
After a day of relaxing, I was off to Thief River Falls to attend the Miss Thief River Falls Pageant. I have one word to describe this pageant, organized! This pageant was perfect down to the very program books. The theater was incredible and the place was packed! There was so much support that they had to start seating the balcony seats. Congratulations the to newly crowned Miss Thief River Falls, Meghan Kuznia.
I spent the night in Thief River Falls and was Kathryn's "little helper" for her first Inspiring America Concert as Miss Minnesota. It was a grand success! Kathryn recognized some incredible individuals and families that I can only define as truly inspiring. I wore Kathryn's "WHIY" t-shirt to try and get people to buy them at the concert, symbolizing "Who Has Inspired You." Kathryn plans to organize many more Inspiring America Concerts throughout her year as Miss Minnesota and I strongly encourage you to attend one, you will leave feeling uplifted and driven to make a difference.
On August 5th I was at the Moorhead Dairy Queen promoting Miracle Treat Day which is a nation wide fundraiser for the Children's Miracle Network. The owners we so kind and gave me an awesome "Moorhead Dairy Queen" t-shirt. I handed out coupons and of course bought my own blizzard to support the cause.
As my year as Miss Moorhead is shortly coming to an end I still have so much work to do! I'm enjoying every moment and keeping myself very busy. I'm hosting my last two fundraisers for CMN as Miss Moorhead on August 9th and August 16th from 5:00-8:00pm at the Waite Park Pizza Ranch. I hope to see you all there!
Always,
Bethany Beniek
