The Miss Oregon royalty recently met at the North Portland Ronald McDonald House, bringing and making lunch and dessert for the families that are staying there. After lunch, the girls hosted bingo, and then even got a tour of the amazing facility afterwards. The families were very appreciative and enjoyed eating lunch and chatting with the queens. One family in particular, from Alaska, was so thankful and asked us to take a picture of the queens with their family. Their 13 year old son was rushed to Portland all the way from Alaska for open heart surgery. He had the surgery 3 days before we came and was getting to go home that day! They really enjoyed getting to have a great meal and conversation with some amazing girls. Attached is the picture we took of them, along with a couple others from the day. Pictured are Kelli McBee (Teen Queen), Alexandra Perry (Preteen Queen), Madeline Monlux (Jr Preteen Queen), and Gabriella Torkornoo (Princess Queen). The girls had a great time spending time together and making plans for future projects, as well as meeting up at nationals.
This past weekend I got a couple of emails from families who have been in our pageant about a new charity that has been started by a contestant from the National American Miss Pageants. Olivia Wright, age 10, has numerous pageant accolades and titles including state photogenic, casual wear modeling and actress winner along with being a national ambassador. But even cooler than that is that Olivia has started a charity call H.U.G.S. (Help Us Give Shoes). Here is an excerpt from her website (
Jackson, National American Miss Pageants Jr. Pre-Teen Cover Girl from Oregon was recently honor by her home city of Redmond, Oregon for a month long volunteering campaign she did with the local fire department. In a letter of appreciation sent to Jurnee, the Redmond Fire Marshal wrote:
while working.” “You are a bright young lady and it is easy to see why you were crowned.”