FEBRUARY 7, 2018 The Crown Chronicle Miss Kentucky Pageant A Note From The Executive Director Happy Wednesday Everyone! Can you believe that it s already February?! I m surely having a hard time figuring out where the month of January went, but I am thankful to be one month closer to spring! The last two weeks have been very busy from a Board perspective! We re nearing the last few local pageants of the season while working tirelessly to prepare for Miss America s National Day of Service, Miss Kentucky and MKYOT Orientation weekend and of course state pageant weeks! It s an exciting time, but oh so much to do! In this issue of The Crown Chronicle, we catch up with two amazing women. First, we highlight another one of our Forever MKYOT s, Alex Francke! Alex, who recently won the Miss Lexington preliminary title, has been busy since her year of service as Miss Kentucky s Outstanding Teen. Check out her segment! We also have a special feature in this issue...we re highlighting Maria Montgomery! Maria, a former Miss Kentucky USA and runner up to Miss USA, does a tremendous amount of work as a professional model. She was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to work with the Crowning Moment Workshop participants this past weekend on walking and posing. The girls loved it! Thank you so much Maria! We greatly appreciate you and welcome you into the MKO family! Molly and Abby have had extremely busy weeks and continue to represent us well! I really don t know how they do it! Don t miss their segments here, but make sure you keep up with them on social media as well! As always, I wish you a fantastic rest of the week and hope to see you at the final local pageants of the season! Yours in Service, MKYOT May 25-27th, 2018 Miss Kentucky June 28th - 30th, 2018 Dr. Ashley D. Anderson 1
Forever MKYOT: Alex Francke Miss Kentucky's Outstanding Teen 2014 What have you been up to since you ve given up the MKYOT title? After crowing Kennedy in 2015, I went to college at the University of Kentucky to study Business Management and International Business. I was a member of the Global Scholars Honors Pathway through the Lewis Honors College and am now pursuing the Social Enterprise Scholars Pathway focused on entrepreneurship for good. I ve had the opportunity to be super involved with DanceBlue, UK s dance marathon, my sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, and I dabbled in Student Government. I ve continued to run my 501(c)3 organization, Adopt an Art, and involve UK students in it as well! I ve done quite a bit of traveling- most recently Cape Town, South Africa. In 2016, I was the 3rd Runner-Up to Miss Kentucky and I ll be going back to Miss Kentucky this year as Miss Lexington! Looking back on your year of service, what was your most memorable moment? Ramsey Carpenter, who was my Miss Kentucky 2014, and I got to go to the Kentucky Derby together and we had an absolute blast. We were meeting people from all over the world who were coming up to us and so excited to be in our home for this huge event and it was a huge honor to be a representative at that time! We were running around together the entire day talking and taking photos and even though we were exhausted, our hearts felt so full at the end of the day. Funniest moment? I emceed a youth talent show and afterwards, the moms of these boys who performed in their own band (they were probably in 4th or 5th grade) asked if she could get pictures of me with all of them. Weeks passed and one day I get a text from a friend of mine who was a student teacher- one of the boys had used our photo together to make a campaign poster for Class President! It read What would Miss Kentucky s Outstanding Teen do? Vote for Cam! It still makes me laugh to this day! What is something you miss? I really miss getting to travel around the state for different events and appearances to meet all different kinds of people! I made a lot of relationships with people and families throughout my year that have lasted to this day- and I am so, so grateful. One of my favorite little girls was a patient in the DanceBlue clinic when we met, and not only did I get to watch her beat cancer and start her life in remission, I get to see her live as a rockstar who makes the school soccer team, dances in ballet recitals, and runs around with her siblings. If it hadn t been for MKOT, I may have never even met their family, who I absolutely adore! What was the most difficult thing about being MKYOT? Time management was definitely a hassle for me! I ve always been someone who has a bunch of stuff to juggle, but being MKOT during my senior year of high school was pretty stressful at times. I was trying to be in school as much as I could while balancing appearances, volunteering, and college visits. I wasn t sure where I wanted to go to college or what I wanted to major in so applying to colleges was a very time consuming process! However, I think every titleholder, regardless of their circumstances, can agree that time management is one of the hardest parts of their year! After doing the job for a year, what advice do you have for girls interested in becoming Miss Kentucky? I say go for it! It does take a certain level of tenacity and gumption, but I feel that if any woman is passionate about the pursuit of the Miss Kentucky title, she should look into. Reach out through social media sources to the current Miss Kentucky, or to previous titleholders. Research what the job entails and feel confident in asking questions to learn more and be prepared for one of the greatest opportunities! Even 2
if you do not walk away with a crown your first, second, last try, you do walk away with valuable contacts and with 30+ new friends who will be some of the most inspiring and compassionate people you will ever meet. What advice do you have for teens interested in competing? Stay true to who you are, and don t worry about what others are doing. The moment you stop competing with the other girls and only worry about competing with yourself is when you re going to be the most successful in this organization. You ll be so confident in the person you were created to be and your unique talents and abilities, it won t phase you at all who else is vying for a title. Everyone brings something different to the table and that's a beautiful thing to appreciate. What did you learn about yourself while you were MKYOT? The role of Miss Kentucky s Outstanding Teen is truly one of a public servant- and I learned this is a role I thrive in and cherish. I have been so fortunate in my life to be built up and poured into by so many people, and I want to take every opportunity I can to do that for someone else. Being a source of love and encouragement for the commonwealth was a tremendous blessing and even though it was exhausting at times, it was so rewarding to know that your actions could ve made a positive difference in someone else s life. How has your participation in this program impacted your life? I have built incredible relationships with the members of this organization from the competitors to the volunteers at the local and national level. Some of my closest friends came into my life because of the Miss America organization and those relationships are invaluable to me. When you re surrounded by like-minded people who share your values and motivations, it s so easy to make friends and feel comfortable in any setting- and this was especially true for MKOT and the MAOTeen competition. I don t know where I d be today if it weren t for all of the incredible men and women in this organization who have encouraged me and been wonderful friends to me throughout my time in this organization. What has college life been like? I have loved college and the ability to study a subject I m passionate about while being involved in student organizations and getting to really be a part of the campus community. I ve enjoyed cheering on the Wildcats at sporting events and going on service trips over break with my friends and sorority sisters. Getting involved has definitely enriched my experience and helped me to develop some amazing friendships in the process. UK has truly become my home and the people there are like my family. Tell us about your recent study abroad! I got to study abroad in Cape Town, South Africa for the fall semester and had the adventure of a lifetime! I took business classes at the University of Cape Town and lived with other American students who were on exchange as well. During my time there, I also got really involved in the community as an English tutor for 3rd graders in a township, a member of Common Ground christian church, and a social impact enterprise consultant for a business called Stromboli s Catering. Getting to live ten minutes from the beach and the mountains was really a dream come true and I can t wait to go back some day! 3
Chronicle Spotlight: Maria Montgomery Record Miss Kentucky USA 2009 We all know you were Miss Kentucky USA 2009! What have you been up to since giving up your title? That year was a true life changer! Competing in Miss USA opened my eyes to the rest of the world (I hadn t ever traveled by myself before then!). Additionally, placing at Miss USA gave me confidence I didn t have before I entered the pageant world. So after my year, I knew I wanted to stay involved in this industry in some way. So I searched out modeling agencies and found one in Nashville who took me to a convention called AMTC Actors Models and Talent for Christ. Ford Models scouted me there, and after really studying the business and industry, I finally made modeling a full time job! So I m currently still working through Ford Models and other modeling agencies across the country. Some of my favorite shoots have been for Remington hair supplies, Maybelline, Pantene, Jockey, Nike, working the CMAs and a music video for Tim McGraw! Locally, I shoot commercials for various companies and also am the on-court entertainment host for UK basketball games in Rupp Arena. I can honestly say I wouldn t be doing any of these things without that year as Miss Kentucky USA because it helped me learn to push myself outside of my comfort zone. You recently spoke about stage presentation and taught modeling to some of our teen contestants. What advice did you give them? I LOVE working with pageant girls on the side! I have met with several girls for years at Miss Priss in Lexington, but what an honor to be invited to speak at the Crowning Moment convention. Although I love focusing on interview, walking on stage is one of the most fun parts of pageantry! So I simply taught the girls that the goal is to be natural and never appear robotic. I think some girls train to be so perfect that they forget that on stage is really just a body-language interview. You re there to show your personality and to connect with the judges. Judges aren t going to take off 5 points if you step out with the wrong foot! Although little tricks about how to walk are important to learn how to move more gracefully, walking is not about getting from point A to point B in pageants. It s more of a performance like a dancer on stage! Stage presence is really more about energy and showing your true self on stage. When you re true to who you are, you re irresistible to judges. Who doesn t love to watch someone having a blast on stage? When you were competing, how did you prepare for your upcoming pageants? I was CLUELESS when competing! I was just there to have fun! You re talking to the girl who went to Miss USA without fake eyelashes, hair extensions, or any idea of what I was getting into! Although I did work with someone on interview and walk, I truly didn t feel that I mastered it until after Miss USA. Also, before Miss USA, I was guilty too of thinking I had to be so perfect and pageant patty in interview. But in one pageant, I dropped lipstick all down my interview dress RIGHT before going in. So after that, my perfectionist attitude was shot in the best way. I just laughed at myself and interviewed like I was talking to friends. That s when I realized being natural is always the best. And sure enough, that was the year when won 3 state titles in one year. So once I realized I simply had to be myself, and not try to act older (since I was 4
the youngest contestant at Miss USA), it just all clicked together. I just gave it to God and had a blast. But since then, I ve been trying to apply the interview and walking tips I ve learned from competing and judging pageants to real life scenarios. I ve also taken what I ve learned from various Miss USAs and Miss Americas I ve met on my journey. That s how I ve come up with the pageant tips I have today. What was your favorite thing about representing Kentucky? Goodness where do I start? I am stubbornly in love with Kentucky. I have lived in Miami and Chicago to be local for various modeling agencies off and on for the past several years. However, as much as I loved living there, I just knew it wasn t where I wanted to end up. There is nothing like the south. Representing the southern, friendly, classy, and stylish attitude of the ladies of Kentucky is always an incredible honor. I love proving that Kentucky is really full of kind people. I also love representing the Univeristy of Kentucky basketball by wearing my KY gear out of state! This has sparked conversations with people across the nation in airports and other cities who also love the cats! (Sorry Ashley but it s true! Go cats!) What have you gained from participating in pageants? It took me two years to enter in my first pageant when I was 15 after watching my sister compete. I just had too low self-esteem and didn t think I could do it. But then I tried one and got pageant fever! I was first runner up girl in several pageants back to back to back which was great but frustrating. It taught me resilience and helped me discover my tenacious and independent personality. I learned that if I really focus on anything I can achieve it. I had to raise funds 100% to enter into Miss Kentucky USA because it was the same week as Christmas and my sister s wedding that year! And once I did that, and won, I just knew if I buckled down, worked hard, and really prayed about it that I actually could achieve my dreams of being Miss KY and eventually model for a living (which I had pretended to do since I was a toddler!). What advice do you have for a young woman considering participating in a pageant? For girls who are considering entering a pageant, I say. Do IT! It can be scary to put yourself out there, but it truly is like a sport in the way you can study it, learn it, practice it, and get better! For those already competing in pageants, I can t stress enough the importance of staying true to who you are. I know that sounds cliché but I had to learn this the hard way. While at Miss USA, I was trying so hard to act older. I knew I was the youngest contestant and everyone kept telling me they wished I would have waited until I was older. So at prelims, I tried to not be very smiley or energy filled because the previous Miss USA was so serene and regal on stage. However, she was 27 and ran her own business. I was 19 and just started college. Thankfully my director sat me down and asked me where did the girl next door maria go? She said that s what got you this far, and that s what you need to stick to. If I hadn t heard that and snapped back into being myself, there is no way I could have placed in the top five. So that s when it hit me that being yourself truly is best. You ll be less nervous, have more fun, and have less regrets when you re just yourself. Don t obsess over every tiny move you make because as I ve began judging state pageants outside of KY I ve 5
learned that it s more about how the girls connect with the judges. And you do that by just putting yourself out there and being you. I still have to remind myself of that when I m at photoshoots and filming jobs today because it s SO easy to compare yourself to other girls. But then I just remember God made me this way for a reason and that s the purpose I need to fulfill. MESSAGE FROM MISS KENTUCKY 2017 MOLLY MATNEY "I have had so many fun moments this winter as Miss Kentucky! Speaking at the Kentucky Partnership for Farm Family Health and Safety was a blast not only because of the awesome people who attended, but I also got to hold my second country ham that was being auctioned off! If you know me, you know that's my dream. I was so excited to go to Memorial School on the Mobile Science Acitiviy Center with KDA, and I even got a free piece of pie at Devore's Restaurant in Hart County "just for being Miss Kentucky!" The sash and crown get you several perks, but I have to say that pie might be the best one yet. I'm looking forward to warmer weather this spring, but I'm not looking forward to these months flying by!" Congratulations to these Young Women heading to Miss Kentucky & MKYOT! Miss Heart of Central Kentucky: Cynthia Thomas Miss Danville: Shelby Morgan 6
Miss Heart of Central Kentucky's Outstanding Teen: Audrey Young Miss Danville's Outstanding Teen: Ally Alred ANECDOTE FROM MISS KENTUCKY'S OUTSTANDING TEEN ABBY QUAMMEN "This past week has been so much fun! A few days ago I had my photoshoot at the Old Governors Mansion for the MKYOT program book and it was so much fun! I had a whole wardrobe from Miss Priss, a crazy creative team (a.k.a Ashley and Destiny), Delaney Henry slayed my hair and makeup, and Ryan Kendall captured some amazing shots! After that, I headed to Crest Ridge Elementary School in Paris, Kentucky and got to hang with some super cool kids for a couple of hours. The third and fifth graders were so attentive and interested in everything I had to say and read, and it was just a treat to be in their presence. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy week, Abby" Want to book Miss Kentucky or Miss Kentucky's Outstanding Teen? For Miss Kentucky, email: bookmissky@gmail.com For Miss Kentucky's Outstanding Teen, email: misskyoteen@gmail.com 7
Upcoming Events: Miss Richmond/EKU February 24, 2018 Miss Grayson February 25, 2018 Miss UofL/Cardinal Country March 3, 2018 End of Season Sweeps Pageant March 11, 2018 Miss America Serves Day April 7, 2018 Miss Kentucky & MKYOT Orientation April 7 & 8, 2018 Have something you would like to see in the Crown Chronicle? Contact us! Sydney DeLong Phone: (859) 509-3561 Email: sydney.a.delong@gmail.com 8
9