Time is just flying by far too quickly. Its hard to imagine that I will only be Miss Pennsylvania for 10 more months. August has been a very exciting and very productive month. I made some wonderful platform related connections right here in the Lehigh Valley as well as on the road during appearances. In fact I tend to meet someone who has been personally affected by autism at nearly every stop I make.  

    While at a banquet for the Pennsylvania Fur Trappers, I met a lovely young couple who told me that they would like to bring their son to events like this, but they could not because he had autism. I of course shared with them that my platform was autism awareness largely due to my brother’s diagnosis. I wish I had a Polaroid of the expression on this father’s face at that moment. Without uttering a word he communicated a sense of relief in finding someone who truly understood what he and his wife had been through. Over the next half hour or so, he shared their struggles with their son’s potty training, language loss and educational difficulties. One story they shared truly shocked me. One day when this mother took their son to the grocery store, she told the clerk that their son had autism in order to explain his behavior while they stood in line. The clerk jumped back “like she had been told he had the plague” this couple described. The mother politely explained to the clerk what autism was, and reassured her that it was not contagious. Their story reminded me that while we have done an excellent job of increasing awareness concerning autism, our work is far from complete. 

    One of the highlights of this month came with the opportunity to tape a public service announcement for Big Brother’s Big Sisters. Nicole Brewer worked with this organization during her year of service and was kind enough to give them my name (Thanks Nicole!!!!). This was the first time I had ever taped a television commercial and it was a lot of fun. I met two very sweet and very pretty little girls. Tahvae and Tahvane are two sisters that participate in the BBBS program. For the commercial I am pretending to give them a golf lesson out on the green. I truly had to reach back and channel my acting skills from my high school theatre days for this one since I had never set foot on a golf course before in my life. 

    At the end of the month I had yet another opportunity for some on-camera exposure while taping an episode of “Mom’s on the Move”. This television show tapes at QVC studios and the show will air on the ION network. For one segment the Host, Linda Swain, interviewed Mary Dougherty,  owner of Nicole Miller Boutiques in Philadelphia. I had the opportunity to model a very pretty Nicole Miller cocktail dress for this segment on prom attire. It was an absolute blast to work with them both! 

    While all of the events in August were memorable, by far the highlight of this month was watching my pageant little sister Elena LaQuatra place 2^nd runner up at Miss America’s Outstanding Teen pageant in sunny Orlando Florida. She looked, danced, and spoke wonderfully throughout every phase of competition. I know I speak for the entire state organization when I say that I could not have been more proud of her performance. 

    Since I wasn’t going to be competing while in Orlando I assumed this was going would be a relaxing vacation of sorts. On the contrary, I returned to Pennsylvania more exhausted than when I left. It was well worth it since I had the privilege of meeting nearly 30 of the other Miss America contestants from across the country. The MAO staff planned a variety of activities for us while we were in town for the teen pageant. Some of the events included a trip to Disney World, dinner at Maggiano's and a visit to the Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital. Staff from the Children’s Miracle Network gave us a tour of several areas of the hospital which were funded by CMN. 

    The most touching portion of the tour for me was the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. At the beginning of the tour we saw newborn premature infants no bigger than the size of my palm. As we moved throughout the unit we observed babies who were in different stages of development. Our tour guide was careful to point out and explain the technology available to aid these little ones in their development, most of which was purchased by the Children’s Miracle Network. The last stop on our tour of the NIC U was with a family preparing to go home with their baby for the first time. The mother and child appeared healthy and happy. After my tour of Arnold Palmer I hope that every contestant at every level of the Miss America Program gets the opportunity to witness first hand the amazing work been accomplished by the Children’s Miracle Network. This experience breathed new life into my commitment to fundraise for CMN. I am now more excited then ever about the MAO – CMN partnership. 

    On our final day in Orlando Miss America announced that the 2008 pageant would be held in Las Vegas at the Planet Hollywood Casino Hotel. That afternoon all of us contestants were invited to a fabulous lunch at Planet Hollywood restaurant in Orlando… coincidence? The announcement made for an exciting conclusion to a marvelous trip. Vegas, here we come!!!!! 

Sincerely,
Rachel Marie Brooks
Miss Pennsylvania 2007