Miss Winter Park (Weeks 12 and 13)

On Sunday, May 15th, my sister queens and I hosted a breakfast at the Ronald McDonald House in Orlando. I had so much fun spending time with my sister queens. I even made my first Mickey Mouse pancake! Hehe...

The following weekend, May 21st and 22nd, my sister, mom, and I attended the Miss Florida and Miss Florida's Outstanding Teen orientation. I was so excited to see all of my friends and to hear about everything that competition week has in store for us! The night of the 21st, Miss Florida and Miss Florida OT hosted a slumber party where we would have a pajama contest. My sister and I wore matching teddy bear, drop bottom, footie pajamas...that my family and I bedazzled! Haha! We got the chance to parade in our p.j.'s and we were ecstatic to hear that we won an award for best team pajamas! This orientation was one of the best that I had ever been too! I can't wait till Miss Florida week is finally here!!!

Miss Winter Park (Week 11)

On Tuesday May 3rd, my mom and I drove to Tallahassee for a meeting that I had scheduled with the Secretary of the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and the Community of a Lifetime Initiative. Although it was a four hour drive, the time seemed to go by quickly! it's always that way when Mom's in the car...who doesn't love girl talk?! I had never been to Tallahassee so it was extremely exciting for me to be in our capital!

During the meeting I introduced C.A.R.E. Inc. and shared my ideas and hopes for the organization. The secretary and chief of the Department, Charles Corley and Larry Baxter, were present at the meeting. Zsa Zsa Fitzpatrick from the Community of a Lifetime Initiative was also present. They were so pleased to hear about all the work that I have done with my organization and shared many ideas that they had for its growth. I am very excited about the future of C.A.R.E. Inc.!

The ride home was not bad at all...again...thank goodnesss for mom!

The following day I volunteered at the Greater Orlando CMN Offices. I always have a blast when I am there :-)

Friday, May 6th, I went to Trinity Preparatory Middle School to speak with their volunteer organization called The Builder's Club. I was asked to speak about C.A.R.E. Inc. and about the importance of volunteering. When I first arrived, I was overwhelmed by the amount of C.A.R.E. Cozies, that I spotted in the corner of the room. Not only were there much more than I expected, but the colors were so vibrant!

I shared with the kids how I developed C.A.R.E. Inc. and about gave them more information on the C.A.R.E. Cozy project. I also expressed to them how important it is to volunteer and that no matter how young they are...they can ALSO turn a passion into action...like I had done with C.A.R.E. After I spoke with the kids, they presented their C.A.R.E. Cozies to me. Then Lynn Wilbur, the director of the club shared with me that the fleece that was donated by one of the members of the club.

The young lady's mother had passed away several years ago due to cancer and the fleece had belonged to her mother. Her mother's hope was to make blankets for a cause dear to her heart. The young lady and I decided that for every C.A.R.E. Cozy they had made, we would iron on not only, our official C.A.R.E. patch but also a butterfly patch in remembrance of her mom.

Miss Winter Park (Weeks 9 and 10)

Hello Friends!

School is finally done! Weeks 9 and 10 of my reign were filled with some cool appearances and events.

On Wednesday, April 20th, I volunteered at the Children's Miracle Network Trade Booth at the Orlando Marriott Convention Center. I worked at the trade booth with Monica, a representative from the Greater Orlando CMN offices, from 8 AM to 4 PM. The center was hosting an engineer convention for the ABB group (an automation and technologies organization). ABB had partnered with CMN for this event to help raise CMN money. ABB would match whatever amount CMN raised. It was really nice getting know Monica and getting to see CMN in action :-)

That weekend, on Saturday, April 23rd, my sister queens and I made an appearance at the Winter Park Easter Egg Hunt. This is an annual event and it has been going on for over 50 years! My precious sunshine princesses came to the event as well and participated in the egg hunt. They had a blast! Team WPCB (Winter Park City Beautiful) helped hide the eggs and we also helped hand out prizes to children that weren't able to find any eggs. We didn't want any children to go home empty handed! There were about 10,000 eggs! It was so much fun to reconnect with my sister queens! The morning was filled with laughs!

On Friday, April 29th, I made an appearance at the CMN Celebrity Pancake and Bingo Breakfast. This was the first time that the Greater Orlando CMN had put together this event and it was a complete success! My sister also made an appearance. It was a dreary morning and we feared that it would rain but fortunately it did not! My sister and I helped sell tickets and bingo cards. CMN raised $1325 at the breakfast!

The following day I traveled three hours to Ferdinandina Beach to help Miss St. Augustine, Kalen Dennis, at the Down Syndrome Association of Jacksonville's Golf Tournament. I helped Kalen put together gift bags and pass out awards after the tournament.

I cannot wait to share with you the events of week 11!

Stay tuned!

With love,

Kristina

Miss Winter Park (Weeks 7 and 8)

Greetings my friends!

Weeks 7 and 8 of my reign were filled with so many exciting and fun appearances that I am so excited to share with you!

On April 6th, I participated in the Harriet's Favorite Thing's Fashion Show. The Fashion Show featured many of the Miss Florida contestants. It was blast seeing all of the girls and meeting some of the "newbies." Since Winter Park starts with a "W," I was placed second to last in the line up, followed by Miss Florida's Outstanding Teen, MaryKatherine (whom I ABSOLUTELY adore!) All of the girls modeled Harriet's beautiful collection of capes, cloaks, and coats. Each girl got the opportunity to model to different outfits. My first outfit consisted of a red cape accessorized with a giant flower and the most lavish headpiece I have ever seen! My second outfit was a long, beaded, white coat accessorized with a beautiful white mask. I had such a blast walking on the runway!!!

Saturday, April 9th, my sister and I volunteered at the Children's Miracle Network Walk at Baldwin Park where Miss America 2011, Teresa Scanlan, made an appearance! I was so thrilled to meet her and was delighted to know that she is so down-to-earth! It was a very hot day, but luckily my sister and I were assigned to help out with the Vitamin Water tent...where we kept hydrated and out of the sun!

The following week, on Wednesday, April 13th, I volunteered at the Children's Miracle Network offices. I put together all of the envelopes and boxes for the Walmart Campaign, called "A.S.K." The campaign will run for 6 weeks and as you can see form the photos below, there were 6 weeks worth of envelopes to fill and 20 boxes to fill. As always, I worked diligently to get all of the work done, that I was able to complete the task during my visit :-)

This week is my last week of school and then finals are next week! Stay tuned for this week's appearances!

Love,

Kristina

Miss Winter Park (Week 6)

Oh my goodness! I have been busy, busy, busy! The last month of the spring semester has just begun and school is getting really hectic, but nothing stops me from doing my job as Miss Winter Park!

This past Sunday, march 27th, I went to the Scottish Rite, which is located in Winter Park, to partake in the festivities of a World War II Reenactment. I had never been to one before but the entire experience was very cool and it was also very educational.

Wednesday, March 30, I went to Trinity Preparatory School to have a meeting with the director of the Builder's Club, Lynn Wilbur. The Builder's Club is the school's community service club. I spoke with her about C.A.R.E., it's mission, and about hosting a blanket drive at their school. Ms. Wilbur was all about the event and we are currently working through the fine details.

Stay tuned!

Kristina

Miss Winter Park (Weeks 4 and 5)

Weeks four and five of my reign were dedicated strictly to school. I had midterms as soon as school resumed and loads of projects the week after. But this past wednesday I volunteered at the Children's Miracle Network Offices in Orlando. I helped envelope all of the letters that are to be sent to the people who made pledges for the 107.7 radiothon.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary and Middle Schools in St. Cloud who just informed me that they had a blanket drive for C.A.R.E. Cozies. They collected over 100 blankets and sent them to Plantation Bay Nursing Home! Way to go guys! Thank you for your support of C.A.R.E., and most especially for taking the time to remember our elderly!

Miss Winter Park...Week Three (Spring Break!)

Ahhhh...Spring Break had finally come! :-) My friend from New Hampshire, Meghan Lamontagne came to visit me. I met her in 2009 at the Sweetheart Pageant when she was New Hampshire's first runner-up. We had a blast! On the Monday of that week (March 7th) I picked her up from the airport and took her back to my apartment to drop off her things. We then went to get pedicures at a fabulous spa right across the street from my apartment complex. After some serious relaxation we got ready for an appearance. Allison Kreiger Walsh, Miss Florida 2006, hosted H.O.P.E.'s 2nd annual golf tournament. Meghan and I came to support her and he organization. There were a lot of people that I knew at the event and it was great to catch up with them! The following day, I took Meghan for some fun in the sun at New Smyrna Beach. She was able to soak up some serious sun!

Sadly, Meghan's visit was short lived and the following day I dropped her off at the airport after brunch with my mom, brother, and friend, Chino.

The next day, Thursday, March 10th, I drove back to Kissimmee for a busy day. That morning I brought lunch to one of our beloved church members who had just had surgery. I brought her some homemade spaghetti. :-)

After dropping off lunch at her house, I made my way to Plantation Bay Nursing Home to meet with its executive director, Tom Distaffen. I spoke with him about C.A.R.E. and it's mission and about a hopeful sponsorship. Tom was very moved by my program and gave me so much information and contacts to help me. He was so insightful and we were able to come up with a lot of great ideas for C.A.R.E.

After my meeting with Tom, I hopped into my car and drove to Osceola Healthcare Center to visit Mr. Charlie and bring him dinner. Mr. Charlie is the oldest member of our parish...he is 107-years-old!!! How amazing is that? He is still sharp as a tack! I asked him about his life and he was so pleased to share his story! I loved every moment that I was there visiting him. He was so delightful!

The very next day I drove back to Winter Park to attend a Toast Masters meeting at the Mayflower Retirement Community. I had the opportunity to speak about C.A.R.E. and the Miss America Organization. The members of the club were so warm and inviting. After the meeting, I had lunch with the community's activities director and the president and vice president of the Toast Masters Club. The lunch was extremely delicious! During lunch they asked me if I would visit one of the residents, Dave, after lunch and I did. As soon as I met Dave he told me his story. Exactly a year from that Friday, he was in an accident that made him unable to use his legs. He also told me about how he had been a swimming coach and had been inducted into that high school's hall of fame for coaching. It was so humbling to meet this man. Sometimes, we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life and we forget to be thankful for all the things that we have. We never know what's going to happen within the next hour, minute, or even second, that can possibly change our lives forever. After my visit with Dave, I had the opportunity to meet with the CEO of the community. He was such a pleasure to meet.

What a fun and especially rewarding week that was!