Lighting Up Wishes!

For all of you on the West side of Michigan, this one's for you! Brad Boyink has created a fabulous Christmas Light Display of over 20,000 lights synchronized to six different Christmas carols that can be heard on FM 88.1. He plans to add a new song each week until Christmas.
He asks that those who come make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. His goal is to raise $4,000 by Christmas - and he is well on his way! Already, hundreds of guests have visited his display!

The music and lights show runs from 6-10 p.m. nightly and 6-11 p.m. Saturdays. Boyink needs seven computers and extra electricity to power it. Boyink's Christmas Lights display is at 16204 Heather Court, Spring Lake, Michigan (click the link for a map).

If you are in the Grand Haven area, please make some time this weekend to visit the Boyink's lights and share some Holiday spirit with the Make-A-Wish Foundation!

Cards That Count Update!

Thank you so much to all of you that have sent cards! The response has been wonderful. I just wanted to let you know that the Make-A-Wish Foundation is in the lead with 38% of the cards! The campaign is not over yet, so keep 'em coming . . .

Again, if you send 5 Bounty e-cards on behalf of the Make-A-Wish Foundaiton, then send me one with a list of the 5 emails. I'll double your efforts and send each of those people my own Bounty e-card! My email is miss2006@missmichigan.org.

Holiday Magic

Tis' the Season for Holiday Magic!

One of my favorite Make-A-Wish Foundation programs is here - Holiday Magic! Each year, I look forward to seeing the new cards and reading the featured wish-stories. My favorite cards always seem to be those featuring the art of some of our wish-kids :) This year, I am privy to Gielle's creation - you met her just a few weeks ago in my post about Dishin' Up Wishes?

Now is the time to send your holiday greetings to friends and family - and wouldn't it be great if your card sent some magic as well? Then these are perfect! Cards feature art by our wish-kids, professional designs and photography. Each also carries with it a special story and notifies the recipient of the gift that was made to the Make-A-Wish Foundation through the purchase of the card. There are also gift inserts and new this year, a 2007 Make-A-Wish Calendar! Special imprinting is also available.

Click here to purcahse your Holiday Magic today!

Already sent your cards? Well, you can't possibly be finished with your Holiday shopping! Stores across the state are teaming up with the Make-A-Wish Foundation this Holiday Season to make their own Holiday Magic! Visit these fine retailers and give the gift of a wish this Christmas!

• Bath & Body Works - One dollar from the sale of "The Perfect Christmas" 2-CD set will benefit Make-A-Wish! www.bathandbodyworks.com
• Discover Card - When you purchase a Cocoa Gift Card, Discover will donate 5% of the value to the Foundation! Click Here to purchase your Cocoa Gift Card.
• Claire's Boutique and Icing by Clarie's - Handbag of Hope, designed by a teenager Ali Spizman and inspired by wish child, Hope, who wanted to help grant the wishes of other children in her area. A minimum of 10% from each bag sold will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. www.claires.com
• Macy's - Macy's cardholders have the opportunity to give to charities including the Make-A-Wish Foundation while earning 10% rewards back on their holiday purchases! www.macys.com
• Things Remembered - Offering four gift options and a new gift bag, all benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Each can be engraved with a personal message. www.thingsremembered.com.
• Zales - Limited-Edition Zales Holiday Bear is available for $14.99 with a purchase of $99 or more. A $5 donation will be made to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for each bear sold. www.zales.com.

Upgrade

As you may have already noticed, En Pointe looks a little bit different today. I have upgraded to the new Blogger Beta program over the weekend, and lost a little bit of the beautiful formatting that you may have been used to. As I figure out this new program you will continue to see more changes. For instance check out the information bar to the right. You will notice some new additions to that space like information about myself and this blog, links to some important and frequently discussed websites, and archives. Although En Pointe may look a little more bland - it is much more functional! I promise, to make it prettier as I get better :) Thank you for reading!

America's Thanksgiving Day Parade

November 23, 2006 -

What an incredible honor to be a part of the 80th Annual America's Thanksgiving Day Parade! This event is more than just a parade, it is a time-honored tradition for families all over Michigan and a celebration of the Detroit spirit. Some of the highlights include . . .

• A new, "old" route! This year, the parade followed a route modeled after the original in 1924 along Woodward Avenue beginning at Mack Ave. and ending in the beautifully restored Campus Martius Park. This new route highlighted so many of Detroit's precious jewels such as Fox Theater and spotlighted the newest additions such as Merchant's Row and Compuware.
• Sunshine! Last year the bitter Michigan cold forced many spectators to watch on their televisions. This year, the sunshine helped to pack the streets!
• Glove warmers :) It may have been sunny outside, but in the shade of my float those glove warmers were a blessing!
• Shoes! My float just happened to be adorned with giant shoes and dancing princesses - my two favorite things :)
• Starbucks Coffee. The Starbucks station just happened to be set up directly across the street from my float's parking spot. Something else to be Thankful for . . .
• Volunteers - putting on such a spectacular event does not happen overnight! Volunteers donate more than 17,000 hours to painting floats, production, and of course marching in the parade! The volunteers are truly at the heart of this Thanksgiving tradition. I spoke to one such woman who has walked as a clown for more than 20 years. Her now grown son was in line at Hockeytown Cafe at 6 A.M. to get a window table to watch the parade!
• The Detroit Police Department. Work so hard on Thanksgiving morning to ensure the security and safety of the thousands of folks who come downtown. They may occasionally give a ride to a lost, cold Miss Michigan - Thank you to Detroit's finest!
• Holiday's on Parade - this year at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. With rides, games, entertainment, Parade floats and of course Santa Claus! Great family fun all weekend long!

Lighting up Northville

November 17, 2006 -

The Northville Lights Parade was one of the highlights of my year so far! This unique parade winds through downtown Northville at dusk - each float lighting the street and the MANY cold faces of the spectators. Riding in one of the coolest parade entries I've ever seen was just one thing that made this event so much fun. Our entry included 4 classic convertible VW bugs (3 decked out as reindeer!) and the junior workshop and senior chours girls from Miss Harriet's Dance Studio (my Alma mater)! Although I was not in a reindeer, my VW bug was adorned with custom lit signs that read "Miss Michigan and the Snowflakes!", and three 'snowflakes' and I kept each other warm on the parade route while singing along to Clay Akin's "Sleigh Ride" as the dancers performed around us!

What really made this event so special for me was that it was a true return home. Having grown up at Miss Harriet's Dance Studio, it was an honor to be welcomed back by the faculty, students and parents. After the parade, we went to Genitti's to warm up and celebrate. There I had the chance to speak to everyone and thank them for having me back. I also had the chance to talk to the students about my journey to become Miss Michigan and about how persistence truly does pay. Looking them in the eye and talking about how I got my start right where they are today and that they could get anywhere from here was one of those moments that make me truly grateful for this job.

Thank you to Miss Denise and Dr. Demary for having me back home at the Northville Lights Parade and rolling out the red carpet.

It's a very small world . . .

November 12, 2006

This photograph was taken Sundayat the WalMart Holiday Kick Off event in Troy. I am pictured here with Detroit Sports Legends Lem Barney and Rick Leach. Other celebrity sightings included Kim Adams, Rick Mahorn, Mitch Ryder and Santa Claus himself!

Ironically, this was the second time that week that Mr. Barney and I ran into each other! He was also on hand at the Dishin' Up Wishes event. No one was more happy than my traveling companion, Laura Hempton. She was so excited to meet him at Ford Field that she forgot to get a picture with him. Fortunately he was happy to pose with us just 3 days later:) I also heard rumors that he was also in America's Thanksgiving Day Parade today, although we didn't run in to one another. Either way Mr. Barney thank you for all that you do for our communities!

Dishin' Up Wishes 2007!

November 8, 2006

Gielle (blue dress) was one of the guests of honor at the first ever Dishin' Up Wishes at Ford Field. The Make-A-Wish Foundation granted her wish to have her own harp earlier this year - and it was truly a gift to all of us to hear her play. Gielle and her family spent a magical night at Ford Field! Thank you for joining us and sharing your incredible story!







I know, I know. . . I've never looked taller! Barry Stokes of the Detroit Lions is a huge supporter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He joined us at Ford Field to pose for pictures, meet the attendees and paint a ceramic piece that will become a gift for a very lucky wish-kid! He is quite the artist when it comes to painting puppy paws . . . I mean Lions claws :)

Busy Busy . . .

So Busy in fact that I havn't had a chance to share with you all what I've been up to in the last few weeks! I've been to Ford Field to Dish Up Wishes, Kalkaska to crown Miss Heart 2007, Troy to thank the hard working folks at Wal Mart, Muskegon to thank the creative and generous people at Krautheim's, Kalamazoo to take part in the Grand Opening of Rave Cineplex, Northville to ride with some 'Reindeer Bugs' in the annual Lights Parade, Sparrow Hospital in Lansing to paint orniments, Middleville for the first Miss West Michigan Pageant, back to Lansing to hang out with Jennifer Berry and take part in our Fall Forum, and just today Detroit for the 80th annual America's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Whew!

Enjoy some of the pictures. . .

I Challenge you . . .

To send me an e-card!

Really, it's that easy!

Bounty Paper Towels, a Procter & Gamble company, is supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation with a program called "Cards That Count". Bounty's contribution to us will depend in large part on how many electronic "Cards That Count" are sent in support of the Foundation.
We're already doing well as one of the top three, only trailing the other charities by a few percentage points. Let's kick off November with a strong start! Bounty is donating $500,000 to three worthy charities, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation® is thrilled to have been selected as one of the beneficiaries. Each organization will receive $100,000, and the remaining $200,000 will be allocated based on the percentage of e-cards sent in support of each charity. You can help!!!

My challenge to you?
- Send 5 Bounty e-cards to your friends and family.
- Send me a Bounty e-card at miss2006@missmichigan.org and include the names and emails of the people you sent a card to.
- In return, I'll personally send my own Bounty e-card to each of the names you submit and of course to you!

Who wouldn't want to get an e-card from Miss Michigan? (come on, it's for a good cause!)

Please visit www.quickerpickerupper.com to send your cards and help the Foundation “wipe up” the competition!


Need a reason to send a card? Try one of these:
* Thanks for the ride home yesterday * I'm sorry you're having a bad hair day * I like your new shirt * Thanks for taking care of my pet * Why didn't you tell me I had something in my teeth? * Have a wonderful week*