Office

Happy New Year!

Thanks to supporters like you, 2011 was a very successful year for the Miss Florida Organization. We thrived in part because of your incredible hard work, creativity, and dedication. We wish you a new year filled with abundance, joy, and treasured moments.

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Kristina will be leaving for the Miss America Pageant, January 4, 2012. The Finals of the Miss America Pageant are January 14, 2012 on ABC from 9:00 -11:00 p.m. Kristina is ready to join the class of 2012 in Las Vegas to compete for the title of Miss America!  If you would like to send a card to Kristina, the address is:

Planet Hollywood Resorts & Casino
Kristina Janolo, Miss Florida
(Miss America Contestant)
3667 Las Vegas Blvd South, Las Vegas, NV 89109

Shipping to Planet Hollywood
As a security measure, all gifts for contestants must go through Planet Hollywood’s Business Center. Organic packages of any kind are not accepted, especially flowers, fruit baskets, food, etc. If organic items are delivered, the hotel must receive the package, but it will be rejected and disposed and the attached card will be forwarded. There are no exceptions.
In order for the contestants to receive packages, gifts, cards, before Saturday, January 14, all shipments must be delivered to Planet Hollywood no later than 12:00 pm on Friday, January 13. Due to time constraints, nothing will be given to the contestants on Saturday, January 14, 2012.
PLEASE NOTE: Kristina will not be able to take your telephone calls once she has checked in to the Miss America Pageant. The best way to let her know you are thinking of her is through cards, letters, notes, etc. Just remember that you must allow for a window of at least 2-3 days delivery of any mail.

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Miss Florida Pageant Family News:
I received the very good news that Rachael Todd, Miss Florida 2009, has been accepted to the Graduate Business Program at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. We are very proud of Rachael as she continues to pursue her higher education!

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We look forward to seeing you in 2012!

Christmas gift suggestions:  To your enemy, Forgiveness;  To an opponent, Tolerance;  To a friend, Your Heart:  To your family, Love;  To all, Charity;  To every child, A Good Example;  To yourself, Respect.  There is no time more fitting to say Thank You and to wish you a Happy Holiday Season and a New Year of Health, Happiness, and Prosperity.

We take this opportunity from the Miss Florida Organization to let our pageant family know how much you are appreciated.  During this season of gratitude, we are thankful for your dedication and support of our state’s young women and your commitment to the Miss Florida Pageant. We have many blessings for which we express our thanks.  This year has been the best year ever for our pageant, and we look toward the New Year with the confidence that we can continue to raise our own bar. 

Kristina Janolo has been a trail blazer as a Miss Florida titleholder.  She has reached out to audiences in Washington DC, Tallahassee, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, St. Petersburg, and much more.  She has spoken with government officials, youth groups, school children, adults, her peers, yet she never meets a stranger. She has soaked up every experience along her magical journey as Miss Florida and is honored to be our state’s representative at the 2012 Miss America Pageant.  Kristina’s holiday message to the pageant family is as follows:

My Dearest Miss Florida Family and Friends,

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas filled with love and peace.
May the spirit and promise of the holidays be with you today and every day.
Love,
Kristina Janolo, Miss Florida 2011

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Rachel Strever, Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen, came into our lives and has etched a permanent home.  She has crisscrossed the state making appearances and stealing hearts from all that have met her.  She represented the Miss Florida Pageant in the St. Petersburg and Deland Christmas Parades; served breakfast at the Shriners Pancake Fest; performed at the Miss UCF Pageant; participated in the CMNH Torch Relay in addition to keeping up with her school and extracurricular duties.  Follow along with Rachel’s year through her blog: http://www.missflot2011.blogspot.com/.  Rachel’s holiday message is below:

To my wonderful Miss Florida Family and Friends,

As we reflect upon this joyful holiday season. I'm most thankful to have you all a part of my life.
 I wish everyone a very safe and Merry Christmas and blessed New Year.
Love,
Rachel Strever
Miss Florida's Outstanding Teen 2011

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We wish Elizabeth Fechtel, Miss America’s Outstanding Teen, continued success as she represents our national Teen Program.   Elizabeth is a shining example of today’s teenager and we watch with pride as she leaves footprints on the lives of those she meets.   

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May the spirit of love gently fill your hearts and homes and in this loveliest of seasons, we hope you find many reasons for happiness.  I leave you with a beautiful heartfelt story of our Miss Florida 2005 Mari Wilensky.  She wrote to tell me she was engaged and I asked her to give me the details so that I could share them with each of you.  Please see the story below:

Miss Florida 2005 Mari Wilensky

Travis and I met at the University of Florida in 2005. He was getting his masters in Adaptive Physical Education and I was getting my undergraduate degree in Exercise and Sport Sciences. We officially met while I was interning for a school and he was teaching his physically impaired class at the University of Florida pool. He mistook me for a different girl he saw at a wheelchair tennis event the evening before, which my best friend swears was just a ploy to say "hello". A few months later, we met again while assisting our professor, Dr. Stopka, during a weeklong workshop. Our professor unexpectedly introduced me to the class as "Miss University of Florida", which I had won a few months prior. Of course, Travis gave me a hard time about the whole thing during our long week. Our teacher also made it a point to have Travis and I run errands for the class together. I was in awe during that week of getting to know Travis and wanted to spend all of my time with him. I was extremely busy preparing for Miss Florida though, but Travis was extremely supportive. He would hang out with me while I watched Lou Dobbs on CNN. In September, my journey began after becoming Miss Florida, and I knew how difficult it would be to have a relationship. Knowing the risk, Travis and I took the crazy journey together.

On November 23rd 2011, Travis popped the question. A few months prior, Travis was explaining to me that Dr. Stopka had e-mailed him telling him there was a huge picture of all of the students from the Adaptive Physical Education Program up at the University of Florida Pool (the program had since been discontinued so they put up an "Honor Wall"). I immediately said that we HAD to go there to check it out! Although we had kept in touch with Dr. Stopka, we still really wanted to see her. Once we arrived to the University of Florida, we spent some time with Dr. Stopka and headed to the Florida Pool. We had to rush because the pool was going to be opening to the public in 30 minutes and a lady working on the pool was going to let us in. Once we arrived, Travis and I started walking to the Honor Wall, and I noticed that no one was following behind us. Not thinking anything of it at first, we continued walking. I turned around again and noticed that it was still just me and Travis. At that point, I asked Travis what was going on. He explained that there was no "Honor Wall" and there was no picture. The whole thing was made up. Still confused, we continued walking, and he took a memoir out of his pocket from two years ago at a New Year's Eve party. My sister said that if it landed on a certain side, he would have to ask me to marry him within the next year. He explained how he had kept it, and then we continued walking. He walked me to the "exact spot" where we first "met" or mistook me for someone else. He explained that he had all of these great things to say and how they had just disappeared from his mind. He told me he thought this spot was significant because it was the first time he ever saw me and would feel so lucky to spend the rest of his life with me. He got on one knee, opened the box, and asked the question, which I still don't remember him asking!!! I was in shock, but of course, said YES!  Travis and I are planning to tie the knot in the spring of 2013.

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Don’t forget to watch the Miss America Pageant, January 14, 2012 on

Dear Miss Florida Family and Friends:

During this special season as we reflect on the things for which we are most grateful, it seems appropriate to take time and thank our volunteers, sponsors, friends and supporters for their dedication, generosity and tireless devotion to the Miss Florida Program.  The young women of Florida are materially and positively affected by your mental, physical and financial contributions. We cannot express enough gratitude for your efforts in making a difference in the innumerable young women's lives that compete in the Miss Florida Pageant. Together we can dream grand dreams, embrace great principles, renew our hope, open our hearts and realize that we have much for which we all can be thankful.

The past two months have been busy ones for our pageant family - we have crowned 10 Miss Titleholders and 5 Teen Titleholders for the 2012 Pageant Season. We congratulate both new and returning young women to our program.   Our Board of Directors hosted a Homecoming Celebration for Miss America’s Outstanding Teen Elizabeth Fechtel, and crowned Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen 2011 Rachel Strever. 

Miss Florida 2011 Kristina Janolo continues to blaze a trail in Florida as she promotes her environmental platform.  She made 45 appearances to date in October and November in addition to working on her Miss America preparation.  You can read about Kristina’s appearances at http://missflorida2011.blogspot.com/.  Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen Rachel Strever invites you to view her Blog at http://www.missflot2011.blogspot.com/.  Rachel has been extremely diligent promoting her platform and Florida’s Outstanding Teen Program.  We are truly blessed in Florida to have such exceptional and dedicated representatives for our pageant system.

I am pleased to report that Miss Florida 2007 Kylie Williams has just landed a dream job with General Electric from a highly competitive field of applicants.  Kylie attributes her accomplishments in the Interview process to the training that she received as Miss Florida and as a titleholder in the Miss Florida pageant.  We are very proud of Kylie and wish her not only good luck but many years of success and happiness in her new position.  More exciting news is that she will be moving to the South Florida area!

May your Holidays be filled with Peace, Love, and Harmony!

With warmest wishes,
Mary E. Sullivan, Executive Director/President
Miss Florida Scholarship Pageant, Inc.

Dear Pageant Family & Friends:

It seems just like yesterday (August) that we were congratulating Elizabeth Fechtel on her win as Miss America’s Outstanding Teen, and on October 16th, we celebrated her Homecoming!  We also congratulated Rachel Strever on her crowning as Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen 2011.  It was an exciting day for both young ladies!  The event sponsored by the Miss Florida Board of Directors was held at The Red Rose Inn in Plant City, the perfect venue for the 100 guests that came to enjoy the day’s events.  Present to help us honor our two “outstanding teens” were Donna Bozarth, Kim Parrish, Kristin Black, Michael Hannah & Dianne Sarchet from the MAOTeen Pageant; Miss Florida’s OT 2010 MaryKatherine Fechtel, Samantha Janolo and Savannah Gribbins from the top 5 at the MFOTeen Pageant 2011; Miss Florida 2011 Kristina Janolo; Former Miss Florida titleholders – Jaclyn Raulerson, Allison Kreiger, Dana Judge; David Lang was the event host and provided additional entertainment for all!  Also attending were Miss Florida Pageant sponsors – Carry O’Neal, Regalia; Ann Marie Griffin, of Ann Marie’s; LaVoyce Porter; and pageant photographer Elizabeth Sanchez.  We thank everyone that came to honor Elizabeth and Rachel – they really epitomize the exceptional young ladies that compete in our Florida program!

Pageant season has begun and our first titleholder crowned is Miss Northeast Florida, Rachel Hart.  The Miss Broward County, Gold Coast, and Treasure Coast Pageants will be held October 29th.  Three Miss & Two Teen titles will be awarded.  If you are interested in attending any of our local pageants, please visit our website at www.missflorida.org and click onto Local Pageants for information on upcoming dates.

Miss Florida Kristina Janolo has been busy representing our Miss Florida program throughout the state.  At the end of this month, she will have made 28 October appearances and November is even busier.  Many of the bookings are related to her platform and she is bringing education and awareness about protecting our environment to all ages. In two short months she will be competing for Miss America 2012!   Follow along with Kristina by reading her Blog at ---- http://missflorida2011.blogspot.com.

Former Titleholder Watch!  

Miss Florida 2006 Allison Kreiger is having a girl!  We love new Princesses! 
Miss Florida 2003 Shauna Pender is now Mrs. Douglas Vetrano!  Congratulations Shauna & Doug! 
Miss Florida 2010 Jaclyn Raulerson has returned to school and is attending classes at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Miss Florida 2009 Rachael Todd competed in Miss Tennessee USA and was third runner up. 
More updates next letter…..

The Miss Florida Board of Directors recently welcomed back two former board members - Kitty Potapow and Shannon Rees.  The Miss Florida Board of Directors are: 

Mary Sullivan, Executive Director & President	Keith Williams, CEO & Treasurer
Rob Loy, Vice President	David Gilbert, Vice President
Dana Judge, Secretary	Kitty Potapow, Director
Shannon Rees, Director	Mary Dymtrow, Director
Lynne Dalton, Field Director	Norma Storms, Field Director
Patti Bolding, Field Director	Raymond McLeod, Pageant Attorney
Wayne DeWitt, Pageant CPA Ray & Wayne are non-voting board members.

Mark your calendars:  The 2012 Miss Florida Pageant will be held July 1-7, 2012, at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Halloween is the time of Ghosts, Goblins, Gravestones and Graveyards; of Spooks and Spirits and silly-fun tricks; of Witches and Warlocks and Scary Black Cats; and Candy Corn, Jelly Apples, Pumpkins and Bats.  Enjoy the holiday and be safe!

With many good wishes,

Mary E. Sullivan, Executive Director