Miss Ohio Community Service Day and Bowl-a-Thon!

[Above, 2005 Miss Ohio contestants help residents of the Raintree facility decorate flower pots. L-R: me, Carissa Cook, Melanie Murphy, Elizabeth Davis and Carla McKenzy.]

This weekend is the Miss Ohio Community Service day! I believe it was my second or third year at Miss Ohio when the organization began Community Service Day. This allows contestants to both get to know one another prior to the competition as well as offering our service to several organizations in the Mansfield area. My first year I was with the group which visited the county assisted living community and sang to the residents. Last year I was at Raintree, a facility with mentally and physically challenged residents.

This weekend I’ll be helping with Mansfield’s Habitat for Humanity. This is great, because earlier this spring I began working with the Maumee Valley Habitat office. This is one of many things that I simply didn’t have the time to blog about during my final, busy semester of school. They are truly a wonderful organization. One of the greatest misconceptions is that they give something for nothing, but that is not the case. The families which receive homes must work and pay for them. Also, I always heard of people traveling elsewhere to build homes, but Habitat helps local communities. Maumee Valley’s office will be building seven homes in seven days right here in Holland! Check out their website by clicking HERE.

The community service is not the only event this weekend- when contestants arrive Friday night we will have a girls night, hanging out and getting to know one another and having a Q & A with our current Miss Ohio, Marlia as well as which ever former Miss Ohio’s can make it. The weekend will conclude with a Bowl-a-Thon to benefit the Miss Ohio Scholarship Organization. I had hoped to make t-shirts saying “Team BOWLenbacher” but it doesn’t look like that will work out. I’m sure it will be fun nonetheless. Like last year, my team consist of my parents and boyfriend.

CLICK HERE to see more photos from last year.

CLICK HERE to see Roberta's photos from last year and read her perspective.