Ms. Earth 2011: Two Pageants in a Row

It was a typical busy pageant day for Ms Earth the day before mother's day. I managed to squeeze in two pageants in one day. I started out in Ontario at the California Kisses pageant where I was not only a judge and the tabulator but my Daughter was royalty and helped out at crowning. At 2 years old she is becoming a pro at giving out awards because she has worked at so many pageants with mommy. This was a free pageant, no one paid entry or sponsors fee's to compete. California Kisses is Semi-Glitz and gave away toys, candy, beautiful crowns and gift cards to their winners. Helping out judging was Tiffany Knight Miss Orange County US International and the MC was Jessica Aguirre California Hi Point Champion for Dream Girls U.S.A. Congrats to all the contestants and royalty, you all did a great job!

My next stop was back home in San Bernardino at the Mr Cardinal City Pageant. When I decided to go to this pageant I had no clue what I was in store for and had never heard of this pageant before. Well it turns out that this pageant is for the students at San Bernardino High School. There is a pageant for the boys and the girls and this just happened to be the night for the young men. The winner and his court represent their high school as the face of San Bernardino High. They also represent the city at various events and do community service, while serving as role models. The winners even now receive a cash scholarship. Well let me tell you that this is the first time I have been to pageant of this kind ever (all men only) and I was very impressed. Being that I work as a juvenile probation officer I come into contact with many young men on the opposite side of the "achievement" spectrum so it is a pleasure to see so many with very respectable goals and aspirations, with the GPA's to back them up. The guys competed on stage in sportswear (bravo to the contestant that wore his marching band uniform, it is very much a sport in my book), formal wear and onstage question. Also their activities, accomplishments and GPA's were highlighted as well. There was also a ton of pageant queens and kings in attendance.

My favorite contestant was 1st runner-up Pierre Morris. He wore a football uniform for sportswear, wants to be a surgeon and has a 4.4 GPA. He blew me away with his onstage question answer where he discussed his career ambitions and opening a pro bono medical clinic so he can provide medical services for those who cant afford to pay for them, and how the less fortunate are people too and they have needs. But ultimately the title went to Gustavo Alvarez who was asked about president Obama and how he is doing with his presidency. Gus went on to discuss several relevant issues including immigration. WOW I forgot for a minute that these guys are just teenagers.

I think the best part of the evening was the opening number. These guys practiced everyday at school for 12 weeks and they looked great on stage with their men in black routine. I think they did a better job than I have seen some of the ladies do at pageants past. They even entered the theater from the back with some handing out flowers and some fake money to all the ladies. It was a riot and all the young ladies in the room were screaming as if they were pre-teen's at a Justin Bieber concert.

My hat is definitely off to you Jamie Rios not only for putting on a great pageant but also for all you do with the young men. I know what pageants can do for young girls to boost their self esteem, poise, goals, careers and more and I saw this difference at your pageant. Some of the young men beamed with pride and confidence and were excited about doing community service. With all the hard work that goes into putting on a pageant and being able to achieve all of these things with young men is not easy but I saw it first hand! Congratulations!