New pictures of Oliver Thomas and others in the Maria Olliges photo gallery on the site. Enjoy!!! 

Friend of the show and ruler of the known Galaxy, Kristin Howsley, had this picture taken at a German festival and was thoughtful enough to pass it along to us. See her second new album up on the site!! 

Here's friend of the show, Tracy Gest, in all her beauty at the Miss St. Francis pageant. 

Congratulations to friend of the show, Angela Zanon, crowned last night the new Miss Southern Wisconsin 2005. You can see the photo gallery of the event at our Webshots gallery. 

Here's a picture of friend of the show, Miss Wisconsin 2005 Melissa Ann Young, when she won Miss Congeniality on the Miss USA pageant contest! 

Another photo of Miss Wisconsin USA at the Miss USA pageant. 

Here's another great picture of Melissa. 

More Melissa Ann Young at Miss USA. No wonder she won Miss Congeniality--she went to everything!!! 

There's Melissa again! See her? 

Melissa with Miss Texas USA. 

Post-Crescent - Miss Wisconsin wins Miss Congeniality award: "Miss Wisconsin wins Miss Congeniality award"

Miss North Carolina crowned Miss USA as Menasha’s Melissa Ann Young earns her own title


The Associated Press

BALTIMORE — Miss North Carolina, a 21-year-old brunette who says she sees a lot of herself in Oprah Winfrey, was crowned Miss USA at the 54th annual pageant Monday night.

Chelsea Cooley was crowned by last year’s Miss USA, Shandi Finnessey of Missouri. The new titleholder will compete May 30 in the Miss Universe competition in Bangkok, Thailand.

Miss California, Brittany Hogan, 20, was first runner-up. Rounding out the top five were Miss Kentucky, Kristen Lynn Johnson, 23; Miss Illinois, Jill Gulsteth, 21; and Miss Florida, Melissa Witek, 24.

Menasha resident Melissa Ann Young, 25, representing the state as Miss Wisconsin, won the Miss Congeniality award. Young is the first Wisconsin entrant in the history of the event to win that honor.

The 51 contestants were trimmed to 15, then 10 semifinalists and finally five finalists for Monday’s evening gown and swimsuit competitions.

The five finalists were asked questions written by their fellow contestants.

Judges evaluated contestants in swimsuit, evening gown and interview competitions.

Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps, model and actor Molly Sims (“Las Vegas”), boxer Sugar Ray Leonard (“The Contender”) and beauty expert Frederic Fekkai headlined the celebrity judging panel.

The panel was rounded out by fashion designer Pamela Dennis, Raj Bhakta (“The Apprentice”), model Ksenia Masimova and actor Brody Hutzler (“Days of Our Lives”).

FORMER WMA WORLDWIDE TV HEAD SAM HASKELL, III
AND PREMIERE VP / PUBLISHER PAUL J. TURCOTTE TO JOIN
THE MISS AMERICA ORGANIZATION’S BOARD

Atlantic City, NJ (April 15, 2005) – The Miss America Organization Board Chair Stephen Fuhs announced today that the organization has appointed two new members to its Board of Directors: Sam Haskell, III, former Worldwide Head of Television for the William Morris Agency, and Premiere Magazine Vice President and Publisher Paul J. Turcotte.

“It is very important to maintain a diverse array of talented, enthusiastic and influential professionals on the Miss America Board of Directors,” said Fuhs. “The Board is a crucial component to the continued success of this organization, as it provides counsel and direction for one of the nation’s leading achievement programs. I am confident that Sam and Paul will add to the Board’s overall strength and unity. They share our vision for an exciting, contemporary and first-class Miss America telecast, as well as the need for change.”

He continued, “The Board has been largely reconstituted in the past two years with the addition of several new influential members, such as Ron Burkhardt, a New York City branding and creative expert, and Robin Hernreich, co-owner of the Sacramento Kings.”

Other recent additions within the past two years to the Miss America Board of Directors include two former Miss Americas for the first time in its 84-year history: renowned television broadcaster Phyllis George, and respected humanitarian Donna Axum Whitworth; as well as Gary Lax, a banking lawyer with Luse Gorman Pomerenk & Schick, P.C., a Washington, DC-based law firm that represents financial institutions in mergers and acquisitions, securities, corporate and regulatory matters.

Following are biographies on the new board members:

Sam Haskell, III – Los Angeles
Sam Haskell, III is a seasoned television veteran. Originally from Amory, MS, Haskell is a 1977 graduate of the University of Mississippi where he majored in Theatre, Radio & Television. After moving to Los Angeles in the fall of 1978, he joined the William Morris Agency (WMA), where he held various positions of increasing responsibility until his retirement in December 2004. As Worldwide Head of Television and a member of the agency’s Board of Directors, Haskell represented such stars as Bill Cosby, Ray Romano, Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin, Sean Hayes, Delta Burke, Don Johnson, Tony Danza, Kirstie Alley, Kathy Ireland, Martin Short, Sela Ward, and His Royal Highness, The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. Series packaged by Haskell and WMA include: “The Cosby Show,”

--more--
“Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” “Mad About You,” “Suddenly Susan,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Murphy Brown,” “Live with Regis & Kathie Lee,” “Diagnosis Murder,” “King of Queens,” “Las Vegas” and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” His charitable activities outside the agency include his work as a Board member of the Alliance for Children’s Rights, the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, the Museum of Television and Radio, The Duke of Edinburgh World Fellowship, and Sela Ward’s Hope Village in Meridian. He is the former President of the Hollywood Radio and Television Society, he is Chairman of the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame, he was named a Top Ten Significant Sig by the Sigma Chi International Fraternity, and he was inducted into the 2001 University of Mississippi Alumni Hall of Fame. Though he has spent the last 27 years pursuing his career in Los Angeles, California, he has not forgotten about his Mississippi roots. He and hundreds of volunteers in his hometown of Amory, Mississippi, have raised over 4 million dollars through the Mary Kirkpatrick Haskell Scholarship Foundation and the Stars Over Mississippi Concerts, to send deserving Mississippi children to college. To date, the Haskell foundation has over 190 scholars in college. Haskell is married to his college sweetheart, Mary Donnelly Haskell, a former Miss Mississippi, and a successful recording artist. Her latest album, “Mary Haskell – Inspired”, was just released in March.

Paul J. Turcotte – New York
Paul J. Turcotte is a senior media executive with a comprehensive publishing operations background. Currently, Turcotte is the Vice President and Publisher of Premiere Magazine where he effectively repositioned the magazine and increased both sales and profits for the first time in five years. He also launched the Premiere Radio Network, negotiated a television special called “Women in Hollywood” and successfully launched the Premiere Film & Music Lounge. Prior to that, Turcotte was the President & CEO of Tri-Bound Communications where he developed the Magazine Acquisition Company. He has also held positions such as Vice President, Publisher of Men’s Health Properties, Rodale Press Inc.; Vice President, Publisher of Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine, Ziff Davis Inc.; Associate Publisher Vanity Fair, Conde Nast Inc.; Associate Publisher Field & Stream and Outdoor Life Magazines, Times Mirror Inc.; and National Sales Director for Playboy Magazine, Playboy Enterprises. Turcotte earned his BA at Michigan State University in 1982 where he was Captain of the AAF National Advertising Team and President of the Student Advertising Agency.

###

The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Last year, the Miss America Organization and its state and local organizations made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance. For more information, go to www.MissAmerica.org.

Remember to listen to Molly McGrath, Miss Wisconsin 2004, tomorrow on the Stimmung Stunde from 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. 

Miss North Carolina USA, Chelsea Cooley CROWNED MISS USA® 2005
DURING LIVE NBC TELECAST on APRIL 11th

Baltimore, MD April 11, 2005 –This evening, during one of the year’s most exciting live television events, a star-studded panel of judges chose Miss North Carolina USA, Chelsea Cooley as MISS USA® 2005.

Ms. Cooley is a 21 year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina who is currently studying fashion marketing at the Art Institute of Charlotte.

Access Hollywood co-hosts Nancy O’Dell and Billy Bush, hosted the live telecast from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland. Celebrity Judges for the Pageant included: CoverGirl supermodel and star of NBC’s Las Vegas Molly Sims, Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer Michael Phelps, world-renowned beauty expert and style guru Frédéric Fekkai, famed fashion designer Pamela Dennis, legendary boxer and host of NBC’s The Contender, Sugar Ray Leonard, notorious ladies-man Raj Bhakta from Season Two of the The Apprentice, Model Nicola Breytenbach, Brody Hutzler from NBC’s Days of Our Lives, President of Trump Model Management Jon Tutolo and Robin Himmler, Executive Assistant to Mr. Donald Trump.

Throughout the two-hour event, the contestants competed in three categories: swimsuit, evening gown and interview. During these competitions the “Top Five” finalists were selected before the crowning. Shandi Finnessey, Miss USA 2004, crowned her successor at the conclusion of the two-hour primetime telecast, before an estimated worldwide viewing audience of more than 250 million.

Final Results:

First Runner Up: Miss California USA, Brittany Hogan, will assume the duties of Miss USA 2005 if the titleholder is named Miss UNIVERSE 2005, or for some reason cannot fulfill her responsibilities.

Second Runner Up: Miss Kentucky USA, Kristen Lynn Johnson.

Rest of Top Five: Miss Florida USA, Melissa Witek and Miss Illinois USA, Jill Gulseth.

Rest of Top Ten: Miss Maryland USA, Marina Harrison; Miss Mississippi USA, Jennifer Adcock; Miss New York USA, Meaghan Jarensky; Miss Oklahoma USA, Laci Scott; Miss Pennsylvania USA, Brenda K. Brabham.

Miss Photogenic Award: Miss Texas USA, Tyler Willis. The general public voted on www.nbc.com for the delegate who exemplifies beauty through the lens of a camera.

Congeniality Award: Miss Wisconsin USA, Melissa Young. The award reflects the respect and admiration of the delegate’s peers, who voted for her as the most congenial, charismatic and inspirational participant.

Sponsors of MISS USA ® 2005 include: CoverGirl Cosmetics, “Official Cosmetics” sponsor; The School for Film and Television; Preciosa Crystal, “Official Crystal Award;” Tadashi Fashions, “Official Fashion” sponsor; Mikimoto, “Official Jewelry” sponsor; American Airlines; Steve Madden, “Official Fashion Footwear;” Suzuki, “Official Automobile” sponsor; and Farouk Systems, “Official Haircare” sponsor and Mystic Tan.

The Miss Universe Organization, producers of the MISS UNIVERSEâ, MISS USAâ and MISS TEEN USAâ Pageants, is a Donald J. Trump and National Broadcasting Company, Inc. (NBC) partnership. Utilizing its nationwide grass roots infrastructure, the Miss Universe Organization is committed to increasing awareness of breast and ovarian cancers by forging relationships with organizations committed to research and education, such as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the National Breast Cancer Coalition, Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, and Gilda’s Club.

Remember to tune in Saturday and listen to our interview with the current Miss Wisconsin, Molly McGrath. 

USATODAY.com - Miss North Carolina crowned Miss USA

Miss North Carolina crowned Miss USA

BALTIMORE
(AP) — Miss North Carolina, a 21-year-old brunette who says she sees a lot of herself in Oprah Winfrey, was crowned Miss USA at the 54th annual pageant Monday night.

Miss North Carolina, Chelsea Cooley, goes on to compete in the Miss Universe pageant on May 30.

Chelsea Cooley was crowned by last year's Miss USA, Shandi Finnessey of Missouri. The new titleholder will compete May 30 in the Miss Universe competition in Bangkok, Thailand.

Miss California, Brittany Hogan, 20, was first runner-up. Rounding out the top five were Miss Kentucky, Kristen Lynn Johnson, 23; Miss Illinois, Jill Gulsteth, 21; and Miss Florida, Melissa Witek, 24.

The 51 contestants were trimmed to 15, then 10 semifinalists and finally five finalists for Monday's evening gown and swimsuit competitions.

The five finalists were asked questions written by their fellow contestants.

The query for Cooley, of Charlotte, N.C., was: "What famous person does your personality most parallel?"

She replied, "I guess it would be Oprah. She has a passion for life. She loves what she does, and she works so hard to try to achieve everything in her life, and even if she doesn't necessarily succeed at a goal, it's the journey that's most important. And I try to emulate myself after that."

Judges evaluated contestants in swimsuit, evening gown and interview competitions. Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps, model and actor Molly Sims (Las Vegas ), boxer Sugar Ray Leonard (The Contender ) and beauty expert Frederic Fekkai headlined the celebrity judging panel. The panel was rounded out by fashion designer Pamela Dennis, Raj Bhakta (The Apprentice ), model Ksenia Masimova and actor Brody Hutzler (Days of Our Lives ).

Billy Bush and Nancy O'Dell (Access Hollywood ) returned as pageant co-hosts.

The pageant is co-owned by Donald Trump and NBC, which aired the competition.

Wish Melissa luck tonight in her bid for Miss USA! Good luck, Melissa! 

Article about our interview with Caitlin Morrall, Miss Southern Wisconsin 2004, and her recent interview on the Stimmung Stunde now availabe on the home page. Photo gallery also updated. 

JS Online: Miller Brewing to bring in Bon Jovi to mark its 150th year

Free concert at ballpark is among events planned to celebrate anniversary
By TOM DAYKIN
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Posted: March 24, 2005

Miller Brewing Co. will celebrate its 150th anniversary with a free concert at Miller Park in August, featuring rock group Bon Jovi, the company announced Thursday.
Advertisement

But don't worry about getting crowded out of this bash. Unlike Harley-Davidson Inc.'s 100th anniversary celebration in 2003, which drew 200,000 visitors to Milwaukee, the Miller party is for the local community.

"This event is a great way to honor, recognize and celebrate our employees, our business partners and the Milwaukee community where this fascinating 150-year story all began," Miller President and Chief Executive Officer Norman Adami said in a statement.

Known officially as "The Big Brew-Ha," the Aug. 20 event will begin with a tailgate party surrounding Miller Park.

It will continue inside the stadium with food, Miller beer and music from Bon Jovi. The New Jersey pop-metal act, led by singer Jon Bon Jovi, is known for such '80s hits as "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Wanted Dead or Alive."

"Like Miller, Bon Jovi has stood the test of time, and we are thrilled that they will be celebrating this milestone with us," Adami said.

Miller expects more than 30,000 people to attend the party. Event details, including additional entertainment, concert times and ticket distribution, will be released later.

Miller made the initial announcement Thursday because it was 150 days before the main 150th anniversary celebration.

In addition to "The Big Brew-Ha," Miller has several additional events and special programs planned to celebrate its anniversary. As an extension of its employee fund, Miller is creating the "150 Ways We Care" program, to award $150 a day to the charity of choice of its employees. A new employee-designated charity will be selected daily during the 150 days between today and Aug. 20.

Also, Miller's 150th anniversary celebration includes a $2.5 million gift for a renovation of the Summerfest Miller Lite Oasis.

Other anniversary elements will be announced over the course of the year.

German immigrant Frederick Miller founded the company in 1855, when he bought the closed Plank Road Brewery. The name later changed to Miller Brewing, and the company remained within the Miller family until 1966, when a controlling interest was sold to industrial conglomerate W.R. Grace & Co.

Grace sold its interest in Miller in 1969 to cigarette-maker Philip Morris Cos. Philip Morris greatly expanded Miller by building new breweries in the 1970s and by launching Miller Lite, now the company's largest brand. Philip Morris sold Miller in 2002 to London-based global brewer South African Breweries Plc, which has since been renamed SABMiller Plc.

Time for a makeover: Pageants try to improve their image

Read the article on JS Online at http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/apr05/317021.asp


By MEGAN TWOHEY
mtwohey@journalsentinel.com
Posted: April 9, 2005

On a recent Saturday night, eight young women clad in brightly colored bikinis, high heels and broad, stiff smiles stepped onto the stage at Thomas More High School.

Each paraded toward the front, thrusting her hips side to side, then paused as an announcer read her name.

"Woo-woo!" whooped the crowded auditorium. "Oh yeah!"

It was a typical year for the Miss St. Francis competition, one of the more popular beauty pageants in the state.

But St. Francis isn't typical. In Wisconsin, many girls are turned off by tiaras. They say pageants are snooty. Superficial. A waste of time.

"It's all hair and make-up," said Rebecca Gerardo, 17, of Racine.

It's an attitude the major beauty pageant organizations want to change. This year, leaders of the Miss Teen USA, Miss America and Miss Jr. Miss pageants are launching new efforts targeting Wisconsin teens.

Their goal: To convince girls here that pageants are about more than beauty and that everyone, even the Midwestern set, can compete.

"We want to clarify for them that this is down-to-earth," said Jim Clingman, Wisconsin director of the Miss Teen USA organization. "That the girl-next-door can do it."

It's not as if Wisconsin pageants aren't on the verge of extinction.

Miss Wisconsin, the state level of Miss America; Miss Teen USA, a branch of Miss USA; and Miss Jr. Miss have drawn a steady stream of participants in recent years.

Miss Jr. Miss emphasizes academics. Miss Wisconsin focuses on talent and community service (although, as the Miss St. Francis competition illustrates, it still embraces the swimsuit competition). Miss Teen USA proudly maintains an emphasis on looks.

Hundreds of teens and young women from across the state enter the competitions. Some are lured by the possibility of capturing prizes and scholarships. Others love the spotlight.

"I like being on stage," said Stephanie Freimuth, 13, of Franklin, who won was crowned Miss Milwaukee Jr. in a local competitions last year.

"I like to go up and show off," admitted McKenna Marek, 17, of Grantsburg, who competed in Wisconsin's Miss Teen USA in October.

Still, beauty pageants aren't as popular as they once were. That's partly a result of feminism, said Sue Captain, co-executive director of the Miss Wisconsin organization.

"The women's movement was against everything," she said. It turned people off to Miss America and other competitions. So did the 1997 murder of Jon Benet Ramsey, a child pageant star in Colorado whose story has been tabloid fodder ever since.

In Wisconsin, another factor is at play. Pageant participation here pales in comparison to what it is in Alabama and other Southern states.

Participants and other girls attribute that to Midwestern values.

"We like to look good, but we don't care to be in pageants," said Savi Marie Amaya, 17, of Racine, who says she would never enter one. "I think we see them as being for the people who are stuck-up, for the preppy people."

In the South, it's not uncommon for mothers to start grooming their daughters for pageants at the moment they start to walk. In Wisconsin, many girls who compete have to overcome the objections of their parents and the scorn of their friends.

Jayme Dawicki recalls what it was like when, as a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she told her parents in New Berlin that she wanted to compete in the Miss Wisconsin pageant.

"My mom was shocked," said Dawicki, 25, who was crowned Miss Wisconsin in 2002.

But Clingman, of the Miss Teen USA organization, said: "Young women here are afraid to admit that they like participating in pageants."

Clingman and other organizers are also convinced that a major reason Wisconsin girls aren't hip to pageants is a lack of exposure to them.
Widening the field

Until now, official Miss America pageants, whether at the national, state or local levels, have been open only to women between the ages of 18 and 24. This year, the organization is launching Miss Outstanding Teen for girls 13 to 17. It's being designed as a type of Little League, one that will get girls interested in pageants and comfortable with them at a younger age.

Unofficial pageants of this type have been popular in the South for decades. The real target of Miss Outstanding Teen are states such as Wisconsin, where only a handful of communities run such pageants, said Captain, of the Miss Wisconsin organization.

Meanwhile, the Wisconsin directors of the Miss Teen USA pageant, which is open to girls 15 through 18, is working to boost its participation. It has begun raising money for scholarships, which they hope will entice more girls to enter.

At the same time, the Miss Jr. Miss pageant, which is open to high school juniors, is soliciting the help of former participants' parents in Wisconsin to help spread the word that the pageant isn't just about looks.

"We're trying to get the word out that this is about more than beauty," said Sue Herman, Wisconsin chairman of the Jr. Miss program. "That they don't have to wear a swimsuit. That they're judged on community involvement and scholastics."

The organizations can draw hope from girls such as Andree Djergou, 18, of Madison. Within the last year, she has participated in Wisconsin's Miss Teen USA competition and a local preliminary for Miss Wisconsin, even though her mother was against it at first.

"I think Wisconsin girls are boxed in by stereotypes about pageants," Djergou said. "But that's because there's not a lot of publicity. If we grow and get some awareness, that will change."

Before Melissa Young went to Baltimore to compete in Miss USA, the city of Menasha unveiled this sign to show their support. Go Melissa! 

Here's a picture from our latest gallery: Tracy Gest, Miss New Berlin 2005. This photo was taken at Miss St. Francis, but almost all the other photos didn't turn out AT ALL! You can see this gallery at: http://community.webshots.com/album/312484626nqjLsp

...here's the after picture. A beautiful new stainless steel sink and lovely new counters. My Dad did great job--but you can't use him. We have plenty of other projects lined up for him.  

Some of you had heard I was changing my kitchen counters. Well, look at it. Can you blame me? My father did all the work (I mainly watched and took pictures--I love his retirement as much as he does!!) Say bye-bye to this ugly monstrosity.