Miss Missouri 2005 Stacie Cooley

November 29, 2005

Stacie was a featured guest on KSHB 41’s morning show, Kansas City LIVE. She spoke about her platform, the upcoming Miss America Pageant, and led a Kansas City trivia competition between the hosts, Brett & Meredith. Brett won and was crowned “Mr. Kansas City LIVE” – here’s Stacie with the hosts and the official “NBC” crown. To visit the show’s site click HERE. The actual clip from the show will be posted here for your viewing entertainment later this week!!

November 27, 2005

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

I was very thankful to be grounded at home for a few days, although my preparations for Miss America have only gotten busier! Let the countdown begin…I leave for Miss America in just 43 days J Tickets are now on sale to the general public – for more information click HERE! It has also been announced that James Denton from Desperate Housewives (yes, that’s the cute plumber!) will be the official host during the live telecast of the pageant. Click HERE to view the press release.

For those of you in the viewing area of KSHB Channel 41 (KC’s NBC affiliate), I will be a guest on Kansas City LIVE from 10-11 a.m. I will also be at Miss Columbia this weekend serving as a co-emcee and dancing with the Missouri Girls. Hope to see you all there!

Congratulations to all who participated in and completed the Shape-Up Missouri Challenge this year! If you ever have a question feel free to email me at Stacie@missmissouri.org. I’ll post some more fun photos later this week -

With Love,

Stacie

November 21, 2005

Between two schools, Stacie shared her platform with over 700 students on Monday! She began the day by exercising with Sunny Pointe Elementary's before-school Fitness Club, where they walked outside. She then held all-school assemblies for both Sunny Pointe Elementary and St. John LaLande Catholic School, where she shared her fitness message and danced with the students.

November 20, 2005

As Miss Missouri, Stacie rode in the Columbia Holiday Parade. Though the temperature was cold, she had fun riding in a Susan’s (Miss MO Executive Director) cute Mercedes convertible! Pictured with Stacie are Jim & Judy Dye - her host family - as well as Miss Teen Columbia, Catherine Couper and Miss Boone County Fair, Erin Bagby. Happy Holidays! Thanks to Lili for the Ronald McD photo!!

November 18-19, 2005

It was a busy weekend at the Miss Metro St. Louis & Miss River City local pageants, held in Florissant! Stacie served as emcee for the afternoon Outstanding Teen Pageant and performed with the Missouri Girls and appeared as Miss Missouri that evening. Congratulations to their new titleholders, Jamie Moran and Erin Bell, as well as all the other Outstanding Teen, Pre-Teen, Little Miss, and Tiny Miss winners! A special Thank You to Tami’s Trousseau, in Clayton, for providing Stacie’s wardrobe.

November 17, 2005

Royals Charities is partnering with the YMCA of Greater Kansas City and William Jewell College to bring a field for the Challenger Division of Little League Baseball to Kansas City – an organization that lets children with physical and mental disabilities experience the joy of playing baseball. Stacie was a special guest at the Kick-Off event, held at Kauffman Stadium’s Crown Club, speaking in support of the project and advocating for the fitness needs of children with disabilities. The field will be custom-designed using a synthetic turf to accommodate wheelchairs and other assistive devices in order to remove the barriers that normally keep special needs children off the baseball field. To see the official press release and/or to get involved in this project Click Here!

November 16, 2005

Hi again!

Just wanted to let you all know that it’s official…the 2006 Miss America Pageant will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Aladdin Casino! For the official announcement visit: http://missamerica.com/news/press-releases.asp?press=160.

I am thrilled with the news, and my family and friends are so excited to finally be able to make concrete travel plans. Although it is an honor to take part in Miss America regardless, I feel particularly privileged and excited to be the first Miss Missouri to experience this new “era” of the national pageant.

In other news, I am busy, busy, busy! Last week, I attended the fall Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness & Health meeting in Jefferson City. As always, it was a great means of networking and platform development. Shape-Up Missouri is nearing an end…visit http://www.mofitness.org/results.htm to see the challenge results for the Miss Missouri Board’s own fitness team!

I had a lot of fun last weekend at the Miss Gateway Pageant and would like to congratulate the 2006 titleholders – Jennifer Rose & Staci Holland – as well as all of the contestants for a great weekend! To those attending the Miss Metro/River City pageant, I’ll see you there!

Love,

Stacie

November 15, 2005

The Grand Opening of Schnucks, in Bridgeton, was a success despite the rain! Stacie was on hand for the celebration - cutting the ribbon, promoting the 5-A-Day Program, and signing autographs. Here she is pictured with Mr. Scott Schnuck – President & C.O.O. For more information visit http://www.schnucks.com/.

November 11-12, 2005

Stacie had the opportunity to appear onstage and perform as a guest at the Miss Gateway St. Louis/Gateway to the West pageants in St. Louis. For more information visit http://www.geocities.com/missgatewaystlouis/. Congratulations to the 2006 titleholders, Jennifer Rose & Staci Holland!

November 4-7, 2005

Stacie spent the weekend in Paducah, Kentucky at Beverly Rogers Academy of Dance. She traveled with two of her dance instructors and was their assistant for their master classes and the 4 groups they choreographed. This was the second year Stacie visited the studio as an assistant, and she says “Hi!” to all the students!

November 9, 2005

Hi everyone!

I’m just writing to share with you the results of tonight’s contestant lottery. It was held this evening online, and the final results can be viewed at http://onlineselection.missamerica.org/. For those of you unfamiliar with how it works, basically all 52 contestants log on to a website and, at random, state names begin to appear 3 at a time. This determines the order in which contestants get to choose their competition slot. I waited an hour and a half, through 48 contestants, for “Missouri” to pop up on to the screen. So, I had a total of 4 slots to choose from! Those of you at the Miss Missouri lottery this past spring know it’s only my luck that I should be stuck in this situation. I was one of the very last contestants to pick at state as well, and by default was #1. Tonight history repeated itself and hopefully this placement will bring me the same luck it did at Miss Missouri! I am officially:

Alpha Group: Contestant #1

Tuesday: Talent (Yes, the first of all 52 talents)

Wednesday: On Stage Question

Thursday: Swimwear/Evening Wear

Friday (AM): Interview

The Miss Missouri Board organized a very nice get-together in Mexico this evening during the lottery, and I appreciate all of their support! Thanks again for all of your continued support and enthusiasm –

Love,

Stacie

November 3, 2005

Stacie brought along her mom to Thursday night’s Liberty Kiwanis Club meeting where she was the guest speaker following dinner. When speaking to civic organizations such as Kiwanis she focuses on her platform and marketing the Miss Missouri & Miss America Organization. Here Stacie is pictured with Wilma, her late grandmother’s good friend. For more information visit www.kiwanis.org

November 1, 2005

I hope everyone had a Happy (and Scary) Halloween!

After a very busy October, I welcome this month and the information and preparation it brings for the upcoming Miss America pageant. I’ll rewind back a couple weeks to my short trip to Nashville. Carolyn, my traveling companion, and I had such a fabulous time visiting the city and the CMT Studios. I’m sure by now you all know I probably have at least one funny story to share with you… The flight we took to Nashville had 7 rows on it – 7!! It was like flying in a large conversion van. To our surprise the flight there was actually very smooth… and then we ended up on the same flight going home to St. Louis, complete with a raging thunderstorm. Carolyn almost got motion sickness, my flight anxiety took a turn for the worse, and the lightening outside looked close enough to touch! I don’t remember the last time I was so happy to feel my feet hit the ground safely. Despite the tiny transportation, everyone at CMT was so nice and truly enthusiastic about the opportunity to televise this year’s pageant. If they put as much time, energy, and resources in to the live telecast as they do promoting the show it will not be one to miss! Promotions should start airing on CMT around December 1^st, so tune in to see me talking about our Show-Me State.

You can see from my schedule that I will know my competition placement for Miss America after next week’s lottery. We have also rescheduled my wardrobe showing and send-off party for late December. Preparations for the pageant are in full swing, and I have kept myself especially busy (when not doing appearances) with a girl’s favorite hobby – shopping! As always, a big thank you to Kim for her continued help and support with my wardrobe endeavors. I have sent in all my official paperwork for Miss America, and in the midst of all this my parents are moving for the first time since I was a baby. I guess the heavy lifting will be a good workout for the swimsuit competition J

I’m sharing some fun pictures from Halloween. That’s my personally-carved “Miss Pumpkin,” our family dog – Truman – all dressed up, and my next door neighbor, Mr. Long. Each year he dresses up, sits on the porch pretending he’s sleeping, and then hands out quarters to the trick-or-treaters after he scares them. As we continue to get more information about Miss America I will keep you all up-to-date!

With Love,

Stac

Friday, October 28

Stacie was warmly welcomed back to her elementary school in Liberty - Manor Hill! She started the afternoon assisting with the 5^th graders’ CHAMPS program – a character building program that Stacie also participated in when she was in 5^th grade. She then held an all-school assembly in honor of Red Ribbon Week, in which she spoke about making positive, healthy choices. The day ended with an interview for the Manor Hill Broadcasting Club, which was given by the two girls pictured with Stacie.

October 27, 2005

As this week’s special guest at the Liberty Sertoma Club’s noon meeting, Stacie was treated to great food, great people, and some good laughs! She served as this week’s speaker and also signed autographs afterwards. Sertoma stands for “SERvice TO MAnkind,” and the Liberty chapter is one of the largest internationally. Please visit www.libertysertoma.org for more information.

October 26, 2005

Stacie was the special guest of MVP Supply Co. at the Gateway Builders Show, located in the new St. Charles Convention Center. She spent the day signing autographs and making new friends, and she even had the opportunity to meet Whitey Herzog, former St. Louis Cardinals manager. Here she is picture with Mr. Herzog as he signed an official ball for her.

October 21-22, 2005

Truman State University welcomed Stacie, a May 2005 honors graduate, back to Kirksville for Homecoming Weekend. She was honored at events on Friday and Saturday including the Alumni Banquet, parade, and football game. Visit www.truman.edu for more information!

October 19-20, 2005

Stacie traveled all the way to Nashville, Tennessee - home of the CMT Studios! She and Miss Connecticut, Miss Maine, Miss South Dakota, and Miss Wisconsin were treated to a fantastic dinner at The Palm with entertainment columnist Brad Schmitt, from The Tennessean. Thursday was spent at the CMT Studios filming TV, print, and radio ads to promote the 2006 Miss America Pageant! Thanks to Carolyn for accompanying Stacie to Nashville.

October 17, 2005

I bring with this update very, very exciting news….the 2006 Miss America Pageant will be televised live on CMT Saturday, January 21^st at 7:00 p.m. central time. Be sure to put it on your calendars and tune in! There has been no official announcement on the location, so stay tuned for information regarding that.

In other news, I had a very fun and exciting weekend with Kim Brinegar. She was so kind to volunteer her entire weekend to travel with me. A special thanks to Sandy Black for opening her lovely home for us Thursday night. After our trip to Poplar Bluff we headed on to Oxford, Mississippi where we met and stayed with Tricia Copelin of Glamour Suits for a fitting. Many thanks also go out to Tricia for having us as her guests at her vacation home. Kim and I hit the boutiques on Oxford’s historic square before heading “on the road again.” Here’s where the story gets dramatic… We’re making great time when, all of a sudden, we hear a terrible noise! Yes, Stacie got her first flat tire in Arkansas. I’m sure you can all imagine two Miss Missouri’s stranded on the side of the road with a flat…high drama! In spite of our bad luck a very thoughtful truck driver offered his help, and within minutes my spare was in place and we were on the lookout for a new tire. After finding out Wal-Mart’s wait was 3-4 hours, we got lucky when some very generous employees at a closed Texaco opened up their garage to give us a used tire to get us back to St. Louis.

And the story gets better… After more shopping in St. Louis on Sunday I hit the road for Kansas City. Forty-five minutes into my travels I realized I had left my suitcase and all my belongings at Kim’s house! I had nothing with me but my new clothes and make-up. At least I didn’t have much to unload that night after making it home, right? J

It’s off to Nashville Wednesday for CMT filming and then on to Kirksville this weekend for my alma mater’s Homecoming - Go Bulldogs! Don’t forget to tune in to CMT January 21^st!

October 14, 2005

Stacie started her morning at Poplar Bluff’s 5^th and 6^th Grade Center where she was a special guest for Career Day. She visited 3 classrooms and is pictured here with counselors from the school. She then traveled to Three Rivers Community College where a Career Fair was being held for high school sophomores in southeastern Missouri. As the keynote speaker, Stacie spoke to over 600 sophomores on the importance of staying in school and pursuing higher education! A quick autograph session followed.

October 10, 2005

The beautiful weather Monday morning was perfect for the Maple Woods Community College Baseball Team’s Golf Classic. Held in Kansas City, Stacie spent the day on the 18^th hole taking pictures with teams and signing autographs. An interesting fact: Albert Pujols played for Maple Woods before making it big with the St. Louis Cardinals!

October 6, 2005

Stacie went back to school today…high school that is. Liberty High School’s broadcasting department, KLHS, interviewed Stacie for a feature story. Stacie, a 2002 Liberty graduate, is pictured here with Ryan and Scott, both students who helped with the interview.

October 5, 2005

Hi!

With October here and the temperatures beginning to cool I thought I would give everyone a quick update! I spent the afternoon with Kim Massaro Brinegar, Miss Missouri 1996, and her lovely daughters shopping for my Miss America wardrobe. I would like to say a special thank you to them for volunteering their afternoon to travel all over St. Louis in search of “the perfect outfit.” J

As noted in my Travelogue, yesterday I attended one of the largest blood drives in the world! Mizzou’s 2-day Homecoming Blood Drive kicked off at noon, and I was honored to be a part of such an amazing, well-organized event. Their goal was to collect 4,000 units in the two days! It was an afternoon full of media interviews, juice and cookies, and…you guessed it…blood. Thank you to Courtney Waller for making this fun and fulfilling opportunity possible for me.

I know that all of you are very anxious to know more information about when and where Miss America 2006 will be held. In mid-October I will be traveling to Nashville with my traveling companion, Carolyn, to film individual promos for the show! We are all very excited about CMT”s dedication to promoting the show, and I promise to continue sharing information with you as it becomes available.

Thank you all for your continued support! After almost four months on the job the fun and excitement continues to grow and the opportunities just get better and better!

With Love,

Stacie

October 4, 2005

“Good Times Giving 2005” – The University of Missouri-Columbia kicked off their annual Homecoming Blood Drive Tuesday afternoon at the Hearnes Center. Stacie was the keynote speaker of the opening ceremonies, cut the ribbon to start the Drive, and stuck around for the afternoon to give encouragement and sign autographs. Mizzou, in partnership with the Red Cross, has one of the largest blood drives in the world!!! For more information visit www.donateblood.com.

September 28, 2005

Stacie was this week’s guest speaker at the Liberty Rotary Club. After her

presentation she was surprised and honored to be presented with a $200 donation from the Rotary Club in her name to The Miracle League, which will assist in the construction of a baseball field for disabled children in Liberty. To learn more about The Miracle League, visit http://www.miracleleague.com.

News Article about my visit to Rotary CLICK HERE

September 26, 2005

What an exciting fall this is turning out to be, as expected! I had a blast last week on my first official school visit of the 2006 academic year. Both Skyline and Wheatland were wonderful and enthusiastic audiences, and I hope they enjoyed my visit as much as I enjoyed sharing my message with them. I have so much fun with my program, which includes a short video, an interactive talk about fitness, a dance demonstration, and a dance party, all in 30 minutes! This week I put a fitness spin on “The Chicken Dance,” and we broke a sweat and had some laughs putting that fun physical activity in to our day. I get such a kick out of hearing the questions kids like to ask…

“Is your crown real?”

“Do you like snakes?”

“What kind of perfume do you wear?”

“What are you going to name the first kid you have?” (I got that one for the first time last week!)

This weekend was Missouri Girls Rehearsal – Hey girls, I had a great time Saturday! Thank you so much to all those who volunteered their time and talents to making the Troupe and this weekend possible for us. I am so honored to be a part of such a prestigious group of talented and beautiful women, and I can’t wait to show off our new show! I’ve also begun the hunt for my Miss America wardrobe, which will be shown at my Wardrobe Preview/Send-Off Party, tentatively scheduled for Sunday, December 4^th in Mexico.

For those of you who have checked out the link, Shape-Up Missouri kicked off this Monday! If you are participating, keep up the great work! I hope everyone is loving this fall weather – it is my favorite season for sure! Until next time…

Love,
Stacie

September 22, 2005

Wheatland’s R-II school was excited to host Stacie for the afternoon where she presented her program to K-8th graders. A special thank you to Misty and her daughter, Daisy, for being Miss Missouri’s hostess for the day.

photos coming soon

September 22, 2005

Stacie spent the morning at Skyline Elementary in Urbana. She devoted her all-school assembly to fitness education and encouraging all the students to participate in this year’s Shape-Up Missouri program.

September 17, 2005

After the style show that morning, Stacie traveled to Boonville for the Missouri Trappers Association’s 2005 Fall Rendezvous. For the first time in years Miss Missouri was able to attend this event due to the rescheduling of Miss America. Stacie spent the afternoon meeting members and then spoke at the general meeting, giving her thanks and appreciation for their continued support of the Miss Missouri Scholarship Organization as well as for the lovely custom made fur coat they present to Miss Missouri each year. Here she is pictured with Kevin Whitworth, the MTA’s Miss Missouri Pageant committee chair.

September 17, 2005

“Fashion is what you wear, style is how you live.” - Ralph Lauren

Stacie was delighted to be a special guest at this year’s 2005 Harvest Ball Style Show. After mingling with the attendees and signing autographs, Stacie hit the runway and modeled six beautiful fashions. The Harvest Ball is one of the premier fundraising organizations in the Northland, and this event raises thousands of dollars annually for over 30 Northland agencies that are designed to enrich the lives of those in need.

Thursday, September 8

Stacie was in Kirksville Thursday morning to help kick off the United Way of Adair County’s 2006 Fundraising Campaign. As the keynote speaker of the breakfast event, Stacie motivated over 100 attendees to invest in their community through supporting the United Way. To view the news story and see clips of Stacie, visit http://www.ktvotv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=3825708&nav=1LFseJsG and click at the top of the story on “Watch Video Here.”

Thanks to Al Maglio of Nemophotography for the images. www.nemophotography.com