In early December, roughly 150 individuals gathered in a
beautiful conference center in Renton to support one individual: our
beautiful Miss Washington 2012, Mandy Schendel!
This morning, Mandy boarded the plane for Las Vegas, and over the next
two weeks will represent Washington State as she competes for the title of Miss
America 2013!!
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| Mandy (in the middle) at the airport earlier this morning, with former Miss Washingtons Devanni and Brittney. |
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| Modeling my formal gown of choice! |
The Sendoff Party started with six ladies from the Miss
Washington Class of 2012 selling raffle tickets for various Christmas items,
and a beautiful and delicious lunch/appetizer buffet. After
plates were cleared, the program launched into a fun fashion show featuring
various pieces of Mandy’s Miss America competition wardrobe, and was
interspersed (so she could change quickly backstage!) with each of the present
ladies of the Miss Washington Class of 2012 featuring her favorite outfit from
her year of service. Updates were also
read, describing to the audience what each member of the Miss Washington Class
of 2012 is up to today. Toward the end
of the program, Mandy blessed us all with the singing of her Miss America
talent piece. And After Mandy gave a
short speech expressing her gratitude to everyone who has supported her
journey, the Miss Washington Class of 2012 (including yours truly!) came out
with a surprise performance of a fun and witty rap, written by the talented
Miss Whatcom County 2012 Kimball Gainor!
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| Rapping for Mandy (seated on the Left)! |
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| After rapping, in order: Tera Sabo (Miss Auburn), Jordyn Hall (Miss Lewis County), me (Miss Moses Lake), Kenzi Novell (Miss Spokane), and Kimball Gainor (Miss Whatcom County). |
Backstage Shots: Kimball, Tera, Jordyn, and Kenzi's outfits of choice for the fashion show!
Because Mandy’s wardrobe (and talent selection) is top
secret until it is revealed at the time of her wearing it (and performing) on
the Miss America stage, you will not find any pictures here or elsewhere online
of her modeling. However, the amazing
Keith Krueger was there photographing, and his photographs will be released
after Miss America. Additionally, the above pictures of the Miss Washington sendoff party (except the backstage shots, which I took myself) were borrowed from Bellevue Embroidery's Facebook page. To see more pictures of the
party sooner than later, you can "like" Bellevue Embroidery and look through the
pictures yourself! And while I can’t give
specifics away of her wardrobe, I can express that I was blown away by how incredible Mandy looked throughout the
night. We should all be proud to have
such a beautiful and well-spoken representative for our state!
Be sure to stay tuned in online (the Miss America
Organization is posting all kinds of things to keep us updated) throughout the
Miss America competition! Preliminary
competition is next week, and the final night of competition, broadcast widely
across America (it will surely be on your TV!) and concluding with the naming
of Miss America 2013, is Saturday, January 12th!
In the meantime, if you wish to support Mandy, you can vote
for her to receive the People’s Choice Award, which gives its winner automatic
placement in the Top 15 on the final night of competition. (You can also view a short video of her
introducing herself and the State of Washington here…a good way to get familiar
with your Miss Washington in just a couple short minutes!) http://www.missamerica.org/videocontest/contestants/washington.aspx
GOOD LUCK MANDY!!!!!
No matter the outcome, there is no doubt you will have done us proud at
the end of this whirlwind journey!
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| Mandy and I, crowned side-by-side, at Miss Moses Lake 2012. |
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