Bringing Beloit to Oshkosh
Last Sunday, our Miss Beloit 2009 Jessica Johnson left for a week in Oshkosh to prepare for the 2009 Miss Wisconsin Pageant.
And she’s not the only Beloiter making the trip. Miss Beloit 2007 and current Miss Racine 2009 Sha-Nita Rhea is competing in the state pageant for the second time.
And…Miss Beloit 1990 and Miss Wisconsin 1992 Stephanie Klett will emcee the pageant finals Saturday night. She’ll also be performing her trumpet with a couple of musicians from Beloit Memorial High School’s jazz band.
That’s a whole lot of Beloit represented at this year’s Miss Wisconsin Pageant.
Beloiters – you should be proud. No matter what you might think of pageants, the Miss Wisconsin Pageant is a big deal. Miss Wisconsin goes on to compete in the Miss America Pageant.
As a former Miss Beloit, I can certainly attest to the excitement and craziness that is Miss Wisconsin Pageant Week. There’s a lot of early mornings and late nights, complete with rehearsals, community appearances, autograph sessions and parties.
To this day, that week remains one of the best of my life. I have no doubt our Miss Beloit will return with similar sentiments.
In recent years, our Miss Beloits have made quite a name for themselves at Miss Wisconsin. Sha-Nita won the preliminary and non-finalist talent award, along with the Miss Congeniality award. Brittnay Wittnebel, Miss Beloit 2008, won the non-finalist talent award. It’s no doubt we send some great Miss Beloits up to Miss Wisconsin. Even if they don’t crack the top 10 or win the state title, our Miss Beloits are people we should be proud of.
When I won the title in 2006, I made it my mission to make sure Miss Beloit was back in the spotlight and really making a name for herself in the community. I felt Miss Beloit wasn’t someone the community knew very well, but as a representative of Beloit, she has a big job!
I’m happy to see each Miss Beloit after me make the most of her year. This community knows who Miss Beloit is now. My mom is the business manager, so I see exactly how many people want Miss Beloit to appear at their events. It’s wonderful to have that kind of support for the Miss Beloit Organization.
Tonight begins the first night of preliminary competitions for the Miss Wisconsin Pageant. Jessica will compete in swimsuit and evening gown tonight, followed by talent and on-stage question tomorrow night. On Saturday, the top 10 will be announced, and a winner will be chosen.
You can look for articles on Jessica’s Miss Wisconsin experience in Saturday’s and Monday’s papers. And if you can’t make it up to Oshkosh to cheer on Miss Beloit, you can log on to the Oshkosh Northwestern web site to watch live streaming of each competition night. The live streaming is new this year.
Best of luck to both Jessica and Sha-Nita this weekend. You two are both great representatives of Beloit!
