Mrs California United States Pageant

And the new Mrs California United States 2011 is......Christy Van Der Westhuizen!  OH MY GOODNESS were the first words out of my mouth followed by a very loud screaming sessions.  I am so elated that my pageant buddy Christy just won this coveted title and a chance to go to Las Vegas to compete for the Mrs Untied States title.  Now Christy and I go way back to a time before marriage and kids, a time long ago before I aged out of the Miss America system.  We were even roommates some years back in Mazatlan, Mexico where we both competed in the Reina Del Pacifico Pageant.  Over the years we have kept in touch, both continued to compete and to cheer each other on.  I couldn't be more proud that night when they called my old rommie's name.  I have no doubt she will do very well at the National Pageant and maybe even fall in the footsteps of two of my dear friends and role models, Andrea Preuess and Janice McQueen-Ward whom have won the National Mrs Unite States Pageant.  Christy truly did shine on stage but she also had some tough competition and a tough judging panel to impress including another pageant buddy of mine from back in the day Toay Foster-Ortiz, a former Miss California USA and Local MAO title holder.  But I must not only send congratulations to Christy and all the contestants for a job well done but also to the pageant director Janice McQueen Ward.  This was a classy, well organized, model pageant for any director to aspire to recreate, so bravo to Janice for a job well done!