Judging Miss New England

This weekend I judged my first pageant! As a past contestant in the Couto Pageant system, I was excited to give back and go and judge the baby and little divisions. I had a great time watching all of the adorable little girls grace the stage. I was amazed at how confident they were! It was definitely a good experience to judge and be on the other side of the judges table. I came away with a lot of knowledge that will help me along the way as I continue to compete. I hope I will be able to judge again sometime soon, and would recommend it to anyone because I had a great time!

Slam For Sudan

Last Thursday I went to Burlington to support an event called Slam For Sudan. This was a fundraiser for Sudanese refugees that was centered around basketball contests. I had a great time emceeing the contests, and was happy to judge a slam dunk contest with Nydelis! The athletes that participated were Vermont high school students who had excelled during their seasons, so the court was full of some incredible players!

When I got to the fundraiser I had no idea I was supposed to be hosting. I was really nervous when the coordinators told me, but it ended up being really fun! I am always amazed at the opportunities that come my way as a result of being a titleholder, and am thankful to be able to support events like this!

Queen Brunch

Today I went to a brunch with the Barre Heritage Festival Queens. One of my best friends, Brittany Perdue, hosted a small local pageant last year and I was invited to be a special guest at her brunch with the queens that she hosted. We spent hours talking about pageants and I was excited to see little girls excited about them! They were so into it, that we ended up watching almost the entire Miss Vermont/ Teen USA pageant from last year where I was crowned! It was incredible to know that even though I knew the outcome of the pageant, my heart began to race every time top 10 or top 5 was called!

All of the girls were so happy to have me at their special brunch and were ecstatic when I offered them my sash and crown to wear around all morning. We had a ton of fun, and took a lot of pictures. Hopefully some of these little ladies will be gracing the Vermont stage in the years to come! : )

Special Olympics Event in Massachusetts

Last weekend Nydelis and I made a trip to Massachusetts to attend a Special Olympics event with Mass Teen, Brooke Bibeault. We spent the weekend at Brooke's house, and got ready Saturday night for a dance with some of Massachusetts finest athletes. When we got to the event we had time to walk around and speak with everyone. I LOVED hearing stories from the athletes because they were

so endearing. I met a lot of basketball players, and since basketball is my favorite sport, I had a lot of fun conversations about the game. Nydelis and I signed autographs and took tons of pictures with the players. Although this event was a great time, it humbled me in a way I hadn't expected. I met kids and young adults who have faced so much adversity in their lives and here they were, thrilled to see me and meet me. I realized that night that people truly do look up to me and I am so grateful that I had the chance to participate.

I am truly thankful for the life that I live, and am

so blessed to have the chance to go out into communities and try to make a difference. I met a lot of great people at this event, and had such a fun time! I look forward to working more with the Special Olympics in the future!

Freezing Fun For Families Winter Softball Tournament

Every year the Bresette family puts on a winter softball tournament to support a family in my area who has a child battling cancer. As I said in a previous post, this years recipient was 8 year old Katie Grant who has a form of leukemia, and is need of a bone marrow transplant. In order to help her family get into a new home so she can receive her transplant, Freezing Fun For Families needed to raise $30,000.00. In order to do this, they hosted their annual winter softball tournament. When I heard that this was coming up, I decided to put a team together to help support the cause. I had never played softball before, so getting a team together proved to be a daunting task. I had family, friends, and past and present queens join my team and we were all excited to be helping Katie and her family. Many of us were inexperienced, but we decided to show up and just have fun! I was so excited to have one of my very best friends, Brooke Bibeault Miss Massachusetts Teen USA, come for the weekend to support this cause. She made a long trip with her mom, and we were thankful they did!

We lost our first two games and were out of the tournament, but we were all fine with that because the purpose of the tournament wasn't to win, but to help a little girl who needed it. We all had a great time and came away from the weekend with a lot of stories and laughs, and to me, that's what it was all about. When all was said and done, the tournament raised the rest of the funds needed, and Katie should be in her new home within a few months! I will remember that weekend for a long time, and can't wait until next year!

Special thanks to Layne Gregoire at Vermont Country Campers, and Roger Bibeault at Uxbridge Cabinet Center in Massachusetts for sponsoring our team!

Katie Boyd's Launch Party at Bond!

As many of you know, the trainer that I have worked with for years is Katie Boyd out of Massachusetts. She recently opened her own gym, and it was cause for us to celebrate! To launch the new gym, called The Miss Fit Club, a fashion show and party was hosted for Katie at the Bond Hotel in Boston. Lululemon Athletica provided clothes for the show and Neil and all of the amazing stylists at La Tete Salon provided us with some funky 80's hair! This show was a blast and went off without a hitch. I was nervous at first because this was my first "real" fashion show, but I had so much fun! I may not be America's Next Top Model, but I was so proud that I pulled it off and was there to support Katie. She is an amazing trainer, and I am so honored to be working with her. She has done so much for me, and I was happy to have an opportunity to repay her by showing her my support. This was a great experience for me that never would have been possible without my title of Miss Vermont Teen USA, and I am so grateful for the opportunities that it had brought my way. I am trying to take advantage of all of the good things that are happening to me, and can't wait to see what is going to happen next!

If anyone is looking for a killer trainer...contact Miss Katie Boyd! : )

Love and luck,

Shelby

Freezing Fun For Families Dinner

At the end of February Nydelis and I went to a dinner for Freezing Fun For Families. This was a benefit for a little girl named Katie who is suffering from leukemia, and is in desperate need for a bone marrow transplant. Luckily, her mother is a match, however their current living situation has prevented the transplant from happening. Along with the Freezing Fun For Families Winter Softball Tournament, the goal for the dinner and tournament was to raise $30,000.00 to get Katie and her family into a new home! The dinner went very well and I had a great time mingling with the guests, selling raffle tickets, and even serving dessert! I loved the fact that the Bresette's (the amazing people who put this all on), weren't afraid to put Nydelis and I to work. We may be beauty queens, but we can help too! The dinner raised its goal of about $10,000.00, and I am glad to have been a part of it. Katie lives in my community, so I was more than happy to help in any way possible. She is a strong little girl who has great opportunities ahead of her, and I am blessed to have had even the slightest part in her success. I wish the Grant family the best of luck, and will never forget the good times I had that night!