More Fun as Miss Baxter!

What a fun week it has been! After sitting down tonight with my directors and my parents for a great Perkins breakfast for dinner, it feels so nice to know that I have such a great support system and that everyone is on board with my plan for the year!

July 21^st was a busy day for me; as soon as I got done with my shift at the local lakes area candy store where I work, my mom and I hustled down to Morris Minnesota for the Miss Midwest and Miss Morris Area Pageant! We were barely able to make the three hour drive, but luckily we made it just in time. I’m so glad that I was able to be in attendance that night, and I have to thank the community of Morris for making me feel so welcome! One thing that really struck me was the dedication of Sonia Meyer; a Miss Morris/Miss Midwest committee member who for nearly 25 years has been able to raise the program up and draw funding from the community…she reminded me of my directors Bill and Vicki, who like Sonia dedicate countless hours of time and effort towards helping young women become better versions of themselves through this program! Thanks again Bill and Vicki for all you do (you’re the best!!), and best wishes to Sonia Meyer in her retirement. The pageant was a blast, and I was so excited to be there to welcome the new Miss Midwest Rachel Latuff, and the new Miss Morris Area Laura Kuhn to the Miss Minnesota class of 2013! Both of these girls were so lovely and genuine (not to mention talented!) and I am so excited to get to know them as well as all of the other titleholders as we journey towards Miss Minnesota next summer!

Miss Midwest 2012 Rachel Latuff!

Miss Morris Area 2012 Laura Kuhn!

Miss Minnesota Siri Freeh! She's Awesome!

The very next day I headed to Bailey Wachholz’s send off party to Miss America’s Outstanding Teen! Bailey is the reigning Miss Minnesota’s Outstanding Teen who will be representing our state at the national pageant in Orlando Florida starting August 14^th! Bailey is such an awesome girl, and the Brainerd Lakes area and the whole state of Minnesota is so lucky to have her as our representative. I know that she is going to rock the house in Orlando! Good luck Bailey Show ‘em what your made of… put that “Minnesota nice” to good use!

Yesterday, July 26^th was Dairy Queen’s Miracle Treat Day! One dollar or more of every Blizzard purchased was donated to the Children’s Miracle Network which is the national platform of the Miss America Organization.  CMN is an organization of 170 hospitals who are dedicated to treating, improving and saving the lives of all children across North America.  I was able to team up with one of my fabulous sister queens Savannah Cole Miss Baxter’s Outstanding Teen; together we were able to raise funds dollar by dollar for the Children’s Miracle Network, while having tons of fun at the same time! We were first put to work at the Dairy Queen in Brainerd’s Westgate Mall, where we were asking for dollar donations. Next we zipped over Brainerd’s walk up Dairy Queen where we did a little roadside advertising…aka waving at cars and holding the Blizzard treat sign! We finished off the day by purchasing Blizzards of our own; I had double fudge cookie dough, Yum! Thanks to everyone who participated in Miracle Treat Day!

Thanks for reading!

Until Next time,

Maren Goff

Miss Baxter 2012

Pageants, Picnics, Public Speaking!

I’ve held my title now for 20 days; and though I’m still learning the best strategy for putting on my crown (the first time I wore it I think I used about 40 bobby pins), I truly am loving every second that I get to represent the city of Baxter!

On Friday July 13^th I traveled to the city of Detroit Lakes with my directors Bill and Vicki, my sister queen Heather and the awesome Jamie Whitehead to watch the Miss Northwest Pageant! This event was especially exciting for me because it was the very first “Miss” pageant that I’ve ever been able to watch; it also gave me the opportunity to meet so many other title holders from all over the state! I want to congratulate the newly crowned Miss Northwest 2012 Rebecca Yeh, I’m so glad to have her as a friend and mentor and I can’t wait to spend a week with her at next year’s Miss Minnesota pageant. Each and every Miss Northwest and Northwest Teen contestant was talented and poised on stage; Detroit Lakes was well represented that night!

Sister Queens!

On July 17^th I attended the Baxter City Council meeting, and was on the agenda as a speaker! Since being crowned I have been working hard to promote the Miss Brainerd Lakes/Miss Baxter program to my community and its leaders. As I am only the second ever Miss Baxter the city is still developing new ideas on how they can utilize the representation. By speaking at the city council meeting I was able to introduce myself to the Mayor, Council Members, and other city officials, while also speaking about my platform and the program and organization that I represent. I was well received by the council and we have plans for an active year of service to the city. I even made the paper!

http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2012-07-17/baxter-welcomes-royalty-council-session

Outside of City Hall

The very next day I was at it again, when Heather and I attended the 4^th annual Country Sampler Picnic at the Northland Arboretum in Brainerd Minnesota. The event was a day of food, games, hayrides, entertainment and family fun, where all proceeds went to benefit the Arboretum. During the afternoon Heather and I were busy filling and handing out balloons to the many eager kids. We were even able to go on a wild hayride (I almost lost my crown…and my head on a tree branch!), sample some food from local vendors, listen to some live music and speak for the crowd! The Country Sampler was a great taste of Minnesota and a very fun day!

After the wild hayride!

Each day brings new opportunity and fun! Up next is the Miss Morris/Miss Midwest pageant, and Miracle Treat Day!

See you soon,

Maren

Miss Baxter 2012

Miss Baxter 2012!

After months of hard work and preparation I am so honored to be able to call myself your Miss Baxter 2012! For me it all still feels a little unreal, but now as the dust (and glitter) settles I am excited and ready to begin my year of service to my community!

Allow me to introduce myself; my name is Maren Goff and I am 2012 honor graduate with distinction and a fine arts scholar of Brainerd High School, where I served as Senior Class President. Over the years I have been involved with Class Cabinet, Student Council, National Honors Society, Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, A Cappella Choir, and Mock Trial. I have held many leadership positions and in 2010 was given the honor of representing Brainerd High School at the Minnesota Mile Youth Leadership Conference. In the fall I will attend Minnesota State University Moorhead where I will pursue a degree in Mass Communications. In my spare time I enjoy biking, rock climbing, scrapbooking and most of all; reading! It was my love of reading that inspired my platform “Reading Rocks: Promoting Children’s Literacy while Making Reading Fun”. As a child some of my fondest memories revolve around books and reading. Through countless library visits and bedtime stories with my parents I was able to develop a positive association with reading that I attribute to my success today. It is my goal to inspire, educate and advocate on the importance to literacy within my community.  

My involvement with the Miss Brainerd Lakes/Miss Baxter scholarship program has lead me on quite a whirlwind journey, and I would like to share a little bit of my pageant experience with you! In March I attended my first informational meeting about the pageant and the program; everything that I heard was brand new to me but I immediately new that this was a program that I could learn from, and enjoy. Before I knew it summer was fast approaching and I was already working hard on improving my interview skills, and practicing my talent.  All of the other contestants and I were beginning to bond through our service work at the senior center and Ruby’s Pantry, as well as our fun interview clinic, Makeup clinic, Queen’s sleepover, The Leader Area Pig Races, and the Brainerd Lakes Cake-Off!  Soon enough it was pageant week and the hard work and late night rehearsals had begun. On the day of the pageant I was surprisingly calm; I think I had finally begun to realize that I was as prepared as I could be for that night. During the pageant I was so focused that everything now seems like a blur to me. My anticipation gave me a rush of energy that I was truly able to have fun on that stage! As we lined up on stage waiting for crowning my heart nearly stopped when Bill called my name as the interview winner! Of all the awards that I received and tied for that night the interview award is the one that I am most proud of, I am so happy that my hard work paid off! I owe a huge thank you to Bill, Vicki, Miss Brainerd lakes 2011 Rebecca Yeh, and Miss Baxter’s Outstanding Teen 2012 Savannah Cole for all of their help during the many long mock interview sessions we had. That night I also tied my sister queen Heather Erickson for the talent award, and we had a three way tie for the evening gown award between the wonderful Jackie Thurlow, Heather Erickson, and myself.  When my name was called as Miss Baxter 2012 I was so overwhelmed with happiness, it feels so wonderful to know that with all of my hard work and dedication I was able to achieve my goal!

Talent

Talent

Interview Award

Tie for Talent

Since that pageant I have been busy with appearances, my first was the very next day at Arts in the Park held in Brainerd’s Gregory Park. Here my sister queen Miss Brainerd Lakes Heather Erickson and I were able to meet many local residents and artisans from the Brainerd/Baxter area.  On July 3^rd and 4^th I participated in a few local Fourth of July celebrations. Heather, Savannah and I were able to beat the heat and still have a blast at the Nisswa and Baxter parades, and Heather and I were also able to speak alongside Miss Minnesota’s Outstanding Teen Bailey Wachhloz during a fabulous Elvis performance before the fireworks! On July 8^th Heather, Savannah and I were able to attend and present awards at the Area 5 Special Olympic Equestrian competition at Spirit Horse Center in Brainerd. This was such a fun event and it was so awesome to see these athletes perform so well in all areas of horsemanship!  

Arts in the Park

Nisswa Freedom Days Parade

Baxter Parade, the queens with Little Miss Fourth of July

Elvis

I am so excited for the year of service I have ahead of me, and I can’t wait to see where this journey takes me!

Until Next Time,

Maren

Miss Baxter 2012

Sister Queens!