THANK YOU TO ALL!!!
By elaquatra | July 12, 2008
Thank you all for the support you have given me this year as your Miss PA Outstanding Teen! I have grown immensely and had a ball in the process. Last night, I relinquished my title to an outstanding young woman, Julia Schlucter. Julia, I wish you the best of luck at nationals.
It is always bittersweet to us pageant girls to relinquish our titles, but the memories and friends I have gained have made such an impression on my heart, that they will last forever. I am so thankful to have had this amazing opportunity and thank those who came along on this journey with me. I love you all!
Sincerely,
Elena LaQuatra
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MISS AMERICA 2008! AN UNFORGETTABLE WEEK!
By elaquatra | March 4, 2008
Hello to all of you! I promised to get back to you with details of my Miss America week! In addition to being my inaugural Miss America adventure, it was also my first trip to California, including Laguna Beach and Hollywood, and my first trip to Vegas! You see, close family friends of ours (originally from England) moved to Corona Del Mar (a few minutes from Laguna) a few years ago and we used the opportunity to start our trip with a visit to them! Laguna Beach is BEAUTIFUL! After relaxing, shopping, taking in the sites and spending time with the wonderful Very family, we drove to Hollywood to see the “Walk of Stars”. My sister Bella wanted to put her hands in Marilyn Monroe’s handprints, I wanted to see if Tom Welling from Smallville has a star (I never found one) and my mom made me photograph the star of …get this….”Englebert Humperdink”. Is there really such a person? I also had my photo taken at the star of Fabian, a legendary singer who is the husband of the one and only and lovely, Andrea Patrick Forte, of the Patrick Talent Agency, who I will mention again and again in this post! . We then drove through the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas. Wow, as you drive in after miles and miles of nothing but nature and highway and desert (and a food stop at “The Mad Greek”), Las Vegas hits you like a true mirage. All the neon lights reminded me of Toyland…a giant arcade or something! Las Vegas is very interesting to say the least!
I had so many adventures…I really don’t know where to start!
The Miss America Pageant was so surreal. Having watched it year after year on television, I could not believe I was actually watching it “LIVE”! The 52 contestants all shined and I was so blessed to be there to watch them perform and grace the Miss America stage! I also had the pleasure of attending the after visitations, where I got to meet many of them, take pictures and mingle.
I mentioned before that our very own Rachel Brooks was outstanding throughout the competition in every phase! Her talent award was so well deserved and I just loved seeing Rachel glow each evening at the visitation. All of the Pennsylvanians in attendance had so much to be proud of!
So many good things happened to me during Miss America week. First, I received a call from Andrea Patrick (I am officially a Patrick Talent Agency model…one of my prizes for having won MPOT) that she would like ME to present the first ever Miss Photogenic Award at Miss America!!!!! I could not believe I was given this prestigious honor! Andrea chose the Miss Photogenic Award winner and since she could not be there, would I be willing to give a speech and present it on her behalf? Yesssss!!!!!!!! Thank you Andrea! I love you! It was with great pride and honor that I presented the award to Ashley Bickford , Miss Rhode Island, the first ever Miss Photogenic Award, complete with a modeling contract, a New York photo shoot and many other prizes. Ashley is beautiful and talented and so sweet…. a very good choice…CONGRATULATIONS! And to make it even sweeter, Tony Bowls himself lent me a gown….personally…. I actually went to his suite with Ronnie Weaver, of the Bridal Suite of Johnstown, and borrowed a gorgeous never seen before gown, to wear for the presentation! Thank you Tony Bowls…I was thrilled and honored beyond belief! Standing at the podium, having been announced by the Miss America Director of Operations, I couldn’t believe that i was truly having this amazing moment. I was so nervous and excited and it was a thrill!
Another special honor was given to me by Debbie and Ronnie Weaver of the Bridal Suite! I spent several days modeling their amazing gown and pageant wear during the Miss America Trade Show at Planet Hollywood! I had so much fun modeling their gorgeous dresses….and they gifted me one that I especially liked…ZEBRA!!!… I especially want to thank Kayne Gillaspie (Jonathan Kayne designs) for all of his gorgeous designs that I got to wear. I had so much fun meeting and greeting titleholders, designers, pageant magazine editors (loved the girls from Savvy Magazine! and met the team that puts together the remarkable Four Points Magazine!)! What a way to spend my week! It was more than I could have imagined! LOVE YOU RONNIE AND DEBBIE!
Then I received another call from Andrea Patrick, giving me the good news that I had been chosen as one of the 2009 national inspirational calendar models for her “Once Upon a Dream” company and clothing line, which sells inspirational T-shirts (you should see them…they are gorgeous and truly inspirational and I own 3 of them!), calendars, journals, etc. I was going to get a photo shoot in New York and an amazing opportunity to represent her company! I truly think that in another life, Andrea was my older sister of something. We are so much alike (she competed in Miss America and is also a tap dancer) and I feel as though I have known her my whole life. The more I get to know her, the more I believe that she and I have been brought together by fate. The song from Wicked comes to mind…”because I knew you, I have been changed for good”. Thank you Andrea for everything! Here’s to many many good things!!
I was also reunited with many of my Miss America’s Outstanding Teen “sisters”! We had a ball and I love you all! I actually roomed with my roomate from Orlando! Yes, Taylar Swartz (Miss Iowa’s Outstanding Teen) and her director, Becky Hinton, shared our condo south of the strip and I spent a few more precious days with my amazing MAOT roomate! I love you Tay Tay! We also got to share in the excitement Taylar was experiencing for her “Miss” sister, Diana Reed, who won a preliminary talent award and received a standing ovation to her twirling performance. Ironically, Diana twirled to the same music that I tapped to at the national MAOT competition…”Ypu Can’t Stop The Beat” from “Hairspray!”. She was incredible and really did bring the house down!
I also celebrated my 16th birthday with all my Miss America’s Outstanding Teen sisters and family, including Kathryn Kenemuth (I love her and she is amazing) and Zac Grimaldo (the best of the best photographers!). I was also blessed to be joined by so many of my Miss Pennsylvania pageant family…directors, contestants, Board members and parents, pageant photographer Joe Whiteko, and of course my parents and sister, as well as my first cousin, Major Micah Fesler, who is a top gun air force pilot stationed in Las Vegas at Nellis Air force base and his beautiful wife Mila and their baby Peter! We all had such a great time at the HARD ROCK CAFE!!! Check out the photos in the “Pictures” section of my web site…we were literally dancing on the tables (which you ARE allowed to do at the Hard Rock!) They were so accomodating and wonderful and I thank them for a great party venue! Everything was perfect! Our MAOT class is the best. Caitlin…I missed you at my party and I’m sorry you didn’t feel well! But it was so nice seeing you and I am so happy your gown drive was such a success! I want to thank the PA people that pitched in to help me with Caitlin’s gown drive. Thank you to Mary Meister, Janice Bart and Cheryl Cameron for sending gowns!!!
I mentioned my cousin Micah is a top gun air force pilot. Well, another highlight of my trip was a personal guided tour of Nellis Air Force base in Las Vegas! My cousin flies (and teaches other pilots to fly) the F-22 raptor, which is about the most impressive piece of machinery I have ever seen in my whole life! Micah actually let us (one at a time…it is truly a one seater!) climb up to the cockpit! It was the most amazing feeling to be on the Air Force Base with my cousin..to be sitting on the runway of that Air Force base in the F-22 fighter jet! . I was so proud at that moment. Thinking about his dedicated service to our country, the risks he takes each day in his regular course of business, even though according to Micah…who is very humble…a monkey could fly this plane…he is VERY humble…but truly, standing next to this impressive machine (with missiles dangling from the sides), I had a whole new appreciation for all of our servicemen and we are beyond blessed to live in this amazing country! Micah i love you and I am very proud of you ( and believe it or not his brother Peter is also a Top Gun fighter jet pilot as well and stationed in DC). Thank you to everyone on the base for allowing us to take a tour and for your unselfish and dedicated service to our country!
With the best of our country represented in such diverse and differing venues as the Air Force Base and the Miss America pageant, I truly was feeling very humbled, very honored and very proud to be an American! Miss Michigan…now Miss America seems like a doll and all is well!
All in all, my adventure packed week was more than I had ever dreamed possible. I had the most amazing time of my life ! But all good things must come to an end, so on the day of my 16th birthday (January 27th), I boarded a plane back to Pittsburgh and back to my regular life.
“Pinch me please”! Did all of that just happen to me?
Elena LaQuatra
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MISS AMERICA 2008!
By elaquatra | February 17, 2008
Wow! have so much to write about the amazing experience I had at Miss America in Las Vegas! I plan on adding all my photos from all of the events and will be posting a detailed blog entry some time this week! I missed a week of school to go to Miss America and believe it or not, I am still catching up! I guess it was a bad week to miss! Anyways, I am almost caught up with everything, so updating my web site is a priority for me now!
I have lots to write about! Thank you for your patience!
In the mean time, CONGRATULATIONS to Kirsten Haglund, Miss Michigan, who was crowned Miss America 2008. She is beautiful, talented and will be an amazing role model for all!
CONGRATULATIONS also to our very own Rachel Brooks! Rachel was beautiful and amazing in all phases of competition and rocked the house with her vocal performance, bringing home the non-finalist talent award! Rachel, you gave me chills and you were spectacular! Thank you for representing our state so well! You are the epitome of beauty and grace and I am so blessed to be spending this year of service with you as my “sister”!
To any of my readers of this blog, I will be back shortly with all the news of Miss America 2008 and my week in Las Vegas!
With Love,
Elena LaQuatra
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Calling all PA Outstanding Teens!
By elaquatra | February 17, 2008
To all of the 2008 Pennsylvania Outstanding Teen contestants (including titlegholders and at large),
Please send your headshots, titles and type of talent to the MISS PAOT web master, Ryan Rodemoyer, so that he can add them to this site. I sent out an e-mail with his address. Please e-mail me if you need more information!
Also, please mark and save the following dates, as I will have events and appearances that we can all join in together! This is for contestants as well as titleholders and I will send details in upcoming e-mails to all of you.
April 26th…Kites for Kids at the Carnegie Science Center, to benefit Kids Voice…may be a performance opportunity for some of you too!
May 2 and May 3- This is the weekend of the Highmark Blue Cross Community Health Walk…one of the organizations participating is the DePaul School for Hearing and Speech, where I attended school when I was younger. The walk is on May 3rd. Since there is no home Pirate baseball game the night before, I am trying to line up a river cruise on the Gateway Clipper Fleet aboard the Majestic. Still working on that. Many of us…teens and miss contestants participated in this last year and it was special and memorable. I truly hope most of you can make it!
May 18th-Join Jessica Megliss (Miss Three Rivers) and I as we plan a fashion show/ fundraiser for the benefit of Miss Pennsylvania and the Miss Pennsylvania Scholarship Society and the Children’s Miracle Network, in cooperation with Stein Mart and their wonderful agenda consultant, Nicole Widdowson. We are hoping for a great turnout..details to follow.
And Jessica invited all of you to join her in Big Brothers/Big Sisters Bowling For Kids on MARCH 9th in Mt. Lebanon…she is forming teams right now. I am planning on being there! If you need more info, write to Jessica.
To any girls wanting to compete for Miss PA Outstanding Teen as an “AT LARGE” contestant…I understand we are still accepting paperwork but hurry because there is a limit to how many we can take! If you plan on competing at large, please contact Autumn Marisa , Executive Director, ASAP, so that you can be included!
Thank you and as always, do not hesitate to send me an e-mail at misspaoutstandingteen@hotmail.com
With love,
Elena LaQuatra
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Happy New Year …My resolution is to continue my charitable work…please join me!!!
By elaquatra | December 31, 2007
Happy New Year to all! I hope 2008 brings you all the best of health and happiness.
I have forwarded an e-mail to many of you about helping Caitlin Brunell, my friend and Miss America’s Outstanding Teen , promote her platform on a national level. The Miss America Outstanding Teen Organization has sent an e-mail to all state outstanding teens, “challenging” us to bring our unworn and gently used gowns to Las Vegas during the upcoming Miss America pageant, so that Caitlin can give them to needy girls across the country to use as their prom dresses. Caitlin’s platform is “Caitlin’s Closet”. The state teen that collects the most gowns receives a scholarship for herself and for her state organization.
If you have any gowns you will not be wearing and if you are interested in participating, please e-mail me at misspaoutstandingteen@hotmail.com or belel@comcast.net and I will send you information on where to send your dresses and gowns. I am going to Vegas (I am soooo excited and can’t wait!) and I will make sure the gowns get to Caitlin’s drop off location in time for our state to receive credit!
Thank you for your efforts.!!!
I have more exciting events coming up. I will be asking other titleholders in PA to join me as things come up. Thank you for all of your support…
My best in ‘08,
Elena
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Merry Christmas to All and to all a Good Night…..
By elaquatra | December 24, 2007
On the eve of this very holy and magical day, I wanted to wish everyone happy holidays, best of health and happiness in the New Year!!
Elena
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‘Tis The Season of Giving….
By elaquatra | December 22, 2007
This morning, I had the pleasure of wrapping presents at Stein Mart, for the benefit of HEARTH, an organization in the Pittsburgh area that provides housing to homeless mothers and children. Stein Mart, in connection with their charitable arm, “Dignity U Wear” was collecting donations so that these families could also be provided with new clothing for the holidays. I researched HEARTH on line before I left home so that I explain to the customers exactly why I was wrapping presents for donations. This time of year, it really hits me hard that there are people in our own back yards that don’t have the most basic necessities. As I make my Christmas wish list and ask for Dolce and Gabana perfume, jewelry, a new camera, and lots of other things, there are people asking for food, a roof over their heads and basic clothing!!! Thank you to other titleholders…Tiff and Calsie Boyd, Hannah Pratt and any others who gave their time for this good cause! It honestly feels great to help those less fortunate.
Last Sunday, as a true winter blizzard blew into western Pa, I had the honor of attending the National Kidney Foundation’s “Kidney Walk” at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium to help with their fundraiser! It was the premier of their “polar lights” and the zoo was beautiful…snow covered, peaceful and decorated with thousands of Christmas lights! Special thanks to Jessica Megliss and Kelsey Pitini who braved the wintery elements to come out and help with the activities. We had a ball talking to the animals and playing in the snow! Charitable work can be fun!!
I hope many of you will have the opportunity to join me in future as we continue to help others. Thank you for all your support!
Love,
Elena
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Congratulations to All newly crowned Outstanding Teens!
By elaquatra | December 2, 2007
Hello! I have had an amazing month! I hope to add my November photos to my picture gallery soon! In the mean time, I couldn’t wait to tell everyone about all the OUTSTANDING teens that have recently been crowned! Congratulations to Jill Wiley, York County Outstanding Teen (sorry I missed that pageant Jill but I’m sure you shined!) I had the pleasure of watching and participating in the Miss Cambria County and Greater Johnstown Pageants (directors Paul and Ronnie Weaver). There were 3 teen winners there…Hannah Pratt crowned Miss Richland Area Outstanding Teen, Ashley Valentin crowned Miss Cambria County Outstanding Teen and Katy Galimberti , crowned Miss Greater Johnstown Outstanding Teen! The following weekend, November 17th, I gave up my local title, Miss Central PA Outstanding Teen, to Erica Bristor and crowned the first ever Miss Greater Juniata Valley Outstanding Teen, Hannah Timm (sister of Miss Susquehanna Valley Sarah Timm). Congratulations to all of you! You are all amazing and I can’t wait to see you all again! Although I still have my MPOT title until July, it was SO hard giving up my local title. I just loved my local directors, John and Rosie Metzger. They are WonDERFUL! My tribute to John and Rosie (in video format) will soon be on the MEDIA link of this web site. Make sure to catch it for highlights of my year as Miss Cental PA OT! I also had the opportunity to pay tribute to a little girl I met at Kid Connection in Lewistown, who like me, has a severe hearing impairment and cochlear implant. Her name is Tyana Ridley and she is BEAUTIFUL!! After meeting me, her mother moved Tyana to Pittsburgh (from Lewistown) so she could attend my alma mater, the oral deaf school known as DePaul School for Speech and Hearing! It is a place where miracles happen and I know Tyana will be a chatter box very soon! I have been so touched by this little girl and feel her life will be changed as a result of her contact with our program.
In November, I also got to see Kayne Gillespie, an amazing fashion designer with amazing gowns and pageant attire (from Project Runway…I love you Kayne!), I attended a Cambria County Princess Party (wow..that was a blast!), a fundraiser with other titleholders for the National Kidney Foundation, and also attended the Miss PA USA Teen Pageant, where 3 of our former Outstanding Teens did very well (Mackenzie Bart (former Miss Greater Johnstown OT), Calsie Boyd (former Miss Cambria County OT) and Annie Rossellini (MPOT 2005) You all looked beautiful and congratulations on your placement!
Lots of good things in store for December too! This month, when everything sparkles and dreams come true, take a moment to help someone less fortunate. There are so many people that need help and food and presents! There are volunteer opportunities EVERYWHERE!
Please feel free to write to me! I look forward to answering your questions or comments.
Love, Elena
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By elaquatra | November 1, 2007
Good luck to all girls (and especially teens) competing in the Miss Cambria County/Miss Greater Johnstown and Miss Central PA/Miss Greater Juniata Valley Pageants over the next few weeks. I am looking forward to meeting and working with all of you and to renewing my friendships with those of you I already know! I know we are all going to have a great time together and that all of you will be amazing contestants! I am excited for all of you! If I can be of assistance, please feel free to e-mail me at misspaoutstandingteen@hotmail.com
All my Best,
Elena
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Welcome to my blog!
By elaquatra | October 22, 2007
Hey everyone! Welcome to the first post of my official blog! I’m new at this so please bear with me while I work through it! First of all, thank you to all of you for the support and encouragement you have given me as I serve out my year as Pennsylvania’s Outstanding Teen 2007! It is such an honor to have this title and I am humbled and excited to have this opportunity. I want to share the details of my experience at Miss America’s Outstanding Teen (a time I will never forget as long as I live!), as well as keep all of you informed of my appearances, etc. I will be posting a Newsletter shortly that you can access, along with my photo albums and schedule,all of which will be updated monthly (or more often, if necessary). I will also try to update the blog and post new topics.
Right now, locals are in full swing! I encourage all teen age girls ( as well as “Miss” contestants) to consider this amazing program and enter a local! I have grown in so many ways as a result of my involvement with Miss Pennsylvania! Many of my contacts were made at the local level. The friendships I have made across the state and country are precious…many of them will last a lifetime! I am happy to answer any questions you may have about the program or refer you to people who might be able to answer your questions if I can’t. So, please write by posting a comment to this blog or feel free to send an e-mail. I look forward to communicating with you.
With Love,
Elena
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