I hosted an appreciation dinner to thank those who worked closely with me, by helping with my pageant, fundraising, providing feedback on my platform, and even giving me a place to stay during my preparations for the NAD Miss Deaf America Pageant.
Thank you to all of those who came to this appreciation party. I apologize that this event was overdue, I just came home 21 days ago from the pageant. So much happened over 21 days with my grandmother passing away soon after I was crowned NAD Miss Deaf America. So, for the past three weeks, I was trying to get used to the idea of being NAD Miss Deaf America and adjusting to the changes in my life.
This is solely for those who worked closely with me and Janet Eisfeld (my beloved chaperone for the pageant!) to get ready for the NAD Miss Deaf America pageant.
To start in the beginning of the preparation, I stayed with Roger and Christine Kraft and their children for over a month. I appreciate their patience and willingness to take me in for that long! Janet joined me for ten days before we flew to California for the NAD Miss Deaf America retreat.
During the stay, I met with a group of ladies who grilled me with the possible interview questions from Christine Kraft, Heidi Branch, Egina Beldon, Arlene Gunderson, and Dana Miles who asked questions such as, “who is your role model and why?” and “How do you think the Deaf community will change in the future?”
(The most memorable interview question from the actual private interview was, “What is your favorite color and why?”)
Within few weeks shy of the pageant, Janet made it possible for me to schedule a meeting with Cherie Cartledge and Paula Sohurada, former Miss Deaf South Dakotas, through Jessica Phillips, to give me advice and tips for the pageant. Paula even took the time to show me how to stand and walk like a poised woman. To this day, I still struggle to do this properly!
You can take a farmer’s daughter out of farm, but you can’t take the farm out of her.
For my platform, I met with Jimmy Beldon and Scot Atkins at coffee shops to see if my platform even made sense. At the end, Jimmy decided to time my platform. Thank goodness that he did, because it was initially too long. So, my platform was changed in every aspect, and the end result was very different than the creation. We also met with Melissa Hawk for feedback on the platform and she also helped with a Tuesday night performance before I left for California that weekend. I appreciate her contribution with her time. However, during all the time spent at coffee shops, Janet realized that I shouldn’t drink coffee before my performances, as I went through my performances with lighting speed.
My experience would not have been possible in the beginning if it wasn’t for Pamela Meinhardt who got everything started as my state director. During the preparations, we stayed up late in the night while she taught me how to walk and act like a cat. Throughout nights like that, I kept asking Christine and Janet if they were even remotely tired…as it often approached 3:00 AM. Pam just looked at me with a sly smile of hers, and said, “nope… keep going. Start from the top!”
I learned to hate the sign, “start from the top.”
Everything would not have been financially possible if it wasn’t for the fundraising committee which consisted of Jenna Ezis-King, Rayni Kaika, Erin Kane, Dee Bailey, Jessica Phillips, Topsy Johnson, Maria Alvarez, Deb Skjeveland, Renee Postl, Angela Rasmussen, Annette Nitko, Tanya Miller, June Park, and Rachel Burton. All of this took place under the leadership of our SDAD president, Tom Kober.
This is the South Dakota team, who made everything possible for me. Thank you for coming tonight, I appreciate everything that you have done for me…words can’t express how grateful I am.
