Congratulations Laura & Kaylee: 2014 Knox County Distinguished Young Women!

Today was day 2 of the Knox County Distinguished Young Women scholarship [formerly Junior Miss] competition weekend. The 21 girls in the program have been working for six straight weeks on preparing for this; as an alumni of the 2003 program, I know exactly what they were going through today.

Since today was the finale of the show, I rustled up a couple of memoirs from the 2002 show:

2003 Central Knox County Junior Miss Winners:
back: Me! & Chrissy
front: Kate. Kelly [2003 winner]. Dericka 

& this classic shot that will make me laugh forever...
1st runner up & the winner!

The first and pretty much only thing on the early part of today's agenda: Contestant interviews!
... To say that I had immediate flashbacks of doing this 11 years ago [no, I'm not awful at math; the actual competition was fall of 2002 before we graduated the following Spring ;)] is an understatement. As I sat in that room with the other judges, I felt so much empathy for these girls and their obvious nerves. I will spare details for the sake of confidentiality, but I will gladly say that I enjoyed the day and the full glimpse into what happens on the other side of the table.

The DYW board treated the judges to dinner at The Alcove, a classic fixture of downtown Mount Vernon. It's been yeaaars since I set foot in that place, but we all walked away with our appetites satisfied and our minds ready for the final leg of the competition.

Before I knew it, we were back in our balcony seats of the Memorial Theatre, plugged in to the last half of talent, fitness & self expression performances. I was reminded tonight how proud I am to have come out of Knox County; I have spent the past two days watching 21 of the most talented young women in this county showing off what they should be rightfully proud of. We might be a small place, but our talent is far from it!

I borrowed some snippets from the Mt. Vernon News, compliments of Virgil Shipley [aka, MV's legendary news photographer]:

alumni!
[shout out to kelly{2003 central knox junior miss}
 & luisa {2002 central knox junior miss} in the front!]

contestants on stage - beautiful!

left: central knox winner, 1st & 2nd runner up
right: greater knox winner, 1st & 2nd runner up

When it was all said and done, and the numbers had been tallied, a community of people stood to applaud and congratulate the 2014 Distinguished Young Women of Central & Greater Knox County.

So... CONGRATULATIONS to Kaylee (Greater) & Laura (Central)!



2014 distinguished young women of knox county, ohio
laura (central) & kaylee (greater)
{headshot photo cred: nicole leone miller photography}

There is no way I would've been able to judge this competition on my own; there were so many talented girls on that stage [21, to be exact] and I honestly believe they are all on their way to do great things after graduation. Did I mention I'm super proud to be a Knox Co. native?? (:

It's still November, so it's still that month of Thanksgiving & being thankful. On that note...

Day 23: I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this incredible scholarship program when I was a high school senior. I am grateful that my beautiful, small but historic hometown is the center of competition for the local and state program. I am grateful to have been selected as an alumni judge for the 2014 program, thus being reminded of the talent and ambition in the seniors coming out of Knox County. I am grateful for the other four judges [JoEllen, Tina, Kait & Jenn], and for Tim & Leah, our navigators through the process over this weekend. What an incredible group of people, and an honor to be a part of it.

GOOD LUCK at STATE, to Laura & Kaylee!

& on that note, good night (:

xo | cmd