Here, there, and everywhere!

That is exactly how I’ve felt as of late. These past four weeks have kept me super busy and on the road! Which is fine by me because I want to make the most out of this entire experience.

Since I last blogged, I returned to Immaculate Conception of Dardenne School in Dardenne Prairie where I read Abby’s Asthma and the Big Race to the second grade classes. I was back by popular demand after reading this book to the second graders last year at this school as Miss Gateway St. Louis. I chose this book to help educate elementary students more about my platform of Asthma Awareness Education.

Then I spent a few days in Hermitage, MO for the Miss Hickory County Pageant. This was the first year the pageant had taken place in a few years and was open to Junior and Senior students from the three high schools in Hickory County. Congratulations to Tiarra Wrightnour, the first runner-up and Katy Lovell the new Miss Hickory County! Not only did I get the opportunity to crown the winner of this pageant, but I also had the chance to visit Lucas Oil Speedway in nearby Wheatland, MO for their first race of the season! I had never been to race track, let alone a dirt race track, but I had a blast in the ninety degree heat! I even got to present the winner of the feature race his trophy!

Then I was off to Washburn, MO where I met up with Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen, Allie Black, for the Southwest Little Theater for the 2011 Angel Awards. While there Allie and I met the junior high and high school students of the Southwest R-V School District drama department, led by Mr. Wyatt Hester. I believe I was the eleventh Miss Missouri to host the awards ceremony and I had a wonderful time. The students performed monologues that were anonymously written by their classmates to collectively tell “Their Story.” In addition Allie performed her showstopping rendition of “I am Changing” and I performed a jazz dance to “Hit Me With a Hot Note.” Congratulations to all the members of the Southwest Little Theater group for a heartfelt show and for their hard work all year, and to Mr. Hester and the SLT patrons for inviting Allie and I to be a part of the event!

I then headed northeast to Branson to do a dance photo shoot and impromptu photo shoot with Allie courtesy of Marshall Meadows from Meadows Images. We were lucky enough to shoot at the Tri-Lakes Theater and all I have to say is wow! Marshall’s photography and lighting skills created some amazing and artistic images! They are absolutely phenomenal and really capture the beauty of dance.

I continued traveling through Southern Missouri, making a stop in West Plains where I spent the day at West Plains Elementary and High School. I began the day bright and early talking about my platform, Asthma Awareness Education, and reading Abby’s Asthma and the Big Race (a total of nine times) for all of the students and teachers in Kindergarten through second grade. I was so amazed at the level of discipline and respect they showed me and my tour guide, Kelby Czerwonka, who just happens to be Miss Osage River’s Outstanding Teen! We then headed over to West Plains High School where I spoke with the Gifted Education students about reaching your full potential and achieving your goals. For lunch, we headed over to a small cafe named Window on the Square. Thank you to the owners for providing Kelby and I with a yummy lunch! We visited with several people in the cafe, and took tons of photos. Then it was back to West Plains Elementary where I spoke assembly style to the 3rd and then 4th grade classes about my platform since May is Asthma Awareness Month and took questions from each class and the questions they come up with are impressive. After ending the school day with the fourth grade, I made the 40 minute drive north to Mountain View, MO where I would be speaking at the Liberty High School Senior Girls Send-Off Banquet put on by the Woman’s Chamber. The theme for the evening was “How will you wear your crown in life?” and I was the surprise guest speaker. I was there early mingling with the girls, but was not allowed to reveal my secret identity. It was not until I was introduced (or until the girls read their program) that they realized I was Miss Missouri. I spoke to them about the importance of following your dreams and making goals along the way and how making healthy and good decisions each and every day will allow you to achieve these goals. I also spoke to them about what I do as Miss Missouri and wearing their crown as a role-model and with confidence. I told them that the greatest piece of advice I could possibly give them, would be to surround yourself with positivity and encouragement on their journey through life. I really enjoyed this event. It is definitely a night that touched my heart and I can’t wait to see what some of these young ladies go on to accomplish! Good luck!

After a night at the Honeysuckle Inn, I met with the ladies of the Chamber for breakfast before heading off to Mountain View Middle School where I spoke at an assembly to all of the students that weren’t MAP Testing about my platform and also similar topics that I spoke on the previous night. Before I left town I stopped by a boutique in town, Rosie Tish. I need to back up in my story and tell you a little about Tish. I had the privilege of sitting next to Tish at dinner. I heard she worked with Britney (yes Britney Spears) and me being the performer I am asked if she was a singer. To my surprise she was not the one singing behind Britney, she was the one dressing Britney. So as I sat there at dinner hearing her stories about Adele and Alicia, all I could think about was how I had to go visit her boutique before I left. And fastforward…so there I am at the boutique and a grab a few things to try on and head into the dressing room. Where this killer silver beaded dress catches my eye. I look at the tag and it says “For Rent.” As I begin trying on clothes, Tish asks “What do you think about the silver dress in there?” and I replied about how it caught my attention and thought it was super cute. She said “Well try it on.” Naturally, I was not going to refuse. When I walked out she said do you think you would have use for it and I thought of the upcoming Miss Missouri Pageant and knew that it would be stellar on stage and she said well you are more than welcome to have it. I couldn’t believe the generosity! What an amazing dress and she was going to let me walk away with it? Come to find out, she used it in one of Alicia Key’s music videos on five dancers and she would rather see someone use one than have it sit on a hanger. I’m still shocked, but cannot wait to rock it sometime during Miss Missouri week and now you know the neat story behind the dress! Thanks Tish! I had a phenomenal time in Mountain View and made quite a few new friends while I was there!

Then I was off to Mexico, where I planning to record my farewell speech with the fabulous David Pickering and stay with the Yagers before heading to Rolla, but at dinner that night the smoke from the restaurant caused me to have an asthma attack which I was not able to get under control for several days. It was a rough Easter Weekend, but I was back up and running with the help of a few doctors, respiratory therapists, and nurses at Audrain Medical Center.

I was happy to be feeling better because St. Louis celebrated National Dance Week the last week of April and I was able to use my talents as a dancer to share with students across the area. I spent the week at studios across the area holding master classes in jazz, musical theater, and contemporary. I had a blast celebrating! Thanks to Julie Stewart of Troy Performing Arts Center for inviting me to teach and sparking the idea for several other appearances.

Just a few days ago I was back at the Missouri Military Academy in Mexico filming a commercial with the crew from Media Com, which will air the 2011 Miss Missouri Pageant! I was worried since I hadn’t seen the script until I got there, but thankfully I was able to memorize the parts I needed to quickly and we wrapped up the shoot in about two hours. Thank you to Linda and everyone who was a part of the filming process. I can’t wait to see the finished product!

I officially have less than a month left as Miss Missouri and it is definitely bittersweet. I feel like I have had so many opportunities to make an impact throughout the state. It has by far been a highlight if not the best year of my young life. Time really does fly when you are having fun…I’m just hoping these next few weeks don’t fly by too fast!

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Much love,

Erika Hebron

Miss Missouri 2010

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