California Dreaming: Sunday: Nursing Home & Autograph Signing

Sunday:

After a wonderful morning spent at the Hoopeston Community Nursing Home, we headed off to lunch which was in the Nursing Home facility, at the Country Terrace. I had the privilege of meeting Pat Musk, the original lady whom the Pat Musk non-finalist talent award is awarded after. Mrs. Musk was once a wonderful organist, so it was quite an honor to get to meet her in person. I ate lunch with Polly, who actually lived in Hollywood for many years with her family. We had a nice chat about what California used to look like and how it has changed over the years.

I wanted to share a funny story with you- at least I think it is funny! While we were at the nursing home, we were singing songs for the residents. From God Bless America, to Amazing Grace, to America the Beautiful, we quickly began to run out of songs most of the girls knew! We slowly shifted into hymns, which fewer and fewer girls knew the words as time progressed. Eventually, I think most of us were pretty unsure of the tune we were singing and most girls started to lip sync and pretend like they knew the song. We were trying to keep a straight face and be professional because we were in front of a large crowd, but it became harder and harder to hide the fact we had no idea what to sing. Finally, someone spoke up and admitted that obviously we didn’t really know what we were doing, but it was apparent from the residents’ faces that they wanted an encore, so someone said, “well we might not know the names of these songs, but we know Christmas Carols (which happened to also be in the book)! So we proceeded to sing “Joy to the World”, “Oh Come All Ye Faithful,” and several other Christmas Carols! Who would have thought we would have had to depend on Christmas in September! But the residents seemed to really enjoy the music and we had some great laughs singing together!

AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
The autograph session only lasted one hour, but it felt like so much more! People stood in line (some for quite a while) to get our autographs. Some girls brought their own autograph pads to hand out along with signing the program books. Mary McCaman so graciously donated custom "Miss California's 2009 Sweetheart" autograph pads and they most certainly came in handy! My hand definitely started to cramp, but it was worth every signature! I was so glad I had them because people would light up when they saw I had pictures to give them as a souvenier. It made me laugh when people would come up asking for multiple autographs… “Could I get one for my daughter, and my sister, and my mom, and my cousin?”

This autographing session was a reminder of how much of an impact this festival makes on this small town, but also to the families and friends of contestants who traveled so far to support 'their girl'. People were gracious enough to share their stories about how they come to watch every year- some have watched since they had been children and have grown up watching the National Sweetheart Pageant.

I also enjoyed meeting my new friends’ families. It is nice to see how much support is out there for each of us. Best yet, I was able to look out and see all of Team California sitting in the audience smiling back at me. I know it had been a long journey for them, and the nights were long, too; so to glance over every now and then, and notice that their smiles never faded made me feel so loved and so special. Little girls were so excited to ask me questions and reach out and just touch me. My favorite questions of the day?... "Do you live in a castle?" , "What is your favorite ice cream?", "can I touch you?", "Do you know my sister? Her name is Laura. She is 26.", "are you old?" (I think that was supposed to be how old are you perhaps?)

My beautiful new friends; Miss Mississippi Danielle Smith, Miss Georgia Courtney Herndon, Me, and Miss Maryland, Mary King.

Part of the autograph line

Part of Team California: Stephanie, Bob, and Mary...

My new friend Megan, who I met at the school the day before..

Signing a photo for a fan- my mom!

All smiles with my new buddy, Michael Nash, (AKA Miss Canada) board member for the Miss Indiana Pageant.

Long line of Misses signing away!

Meeting new friends

A special thank you to Team California for all of their support and love!

As we stood backstage, the top 5 gathered in a circle and held hands and we had a moment together to reflect back on our amazing week. Shannon, Mary, Devin, and Allison can confirm this next statement; all of our eyes were teary as we watched our fellow contestants switch sashes and give high fives at the end of the runway during the final parade of contestants to conclude the show. In fact, Mary and I were bending over trying not to let our mascara tears drip on our gowns. I couldn’t believe that in just a few short hours I would be heading for the airport and coming back to California. But at that point, all that mattered was that in just one short week, we made some friendships that will last a lifetime. I believe that it is when we least expect it, and we stop looking, that the best friends are made. We often find soul mates in fellow competitors- girls who we can relate to, whom share the same ambitions, similar dreams, and are on the same track as us- unfortunately, who often happen to live thousands of miles away. There are several girls who make me strive to become Miss California even more, so that I could hopefully share my Miss America experience with them next year.

Miss Minnesota Sweetheart Natalie Davis and I