Miss Missouri 2007 Lindsay Casmaer

Miss Missouri 2007 Lindsay Casmaer		Travelogue
Back to Current Other Months October - Jan

This weekend I traveled to Chicago with Kim Brinegar to secure some of my wardrobe for Miss America. We had a great weekend and accomplished a lot! Here I am pictured with Tony Bowls, who will be making both my evening gown and talent costume this year. Thank you to Tony for taking the time to meet with me! Also - thank you to my wardrobe sponsors this year, Clark's Bridal, in Jonesboro - and Venue, in Little Rock. Having things finalized makes Miss America seem like it is just around the corner!

This morning I spent some time in a conference at Washington University in St. Louis. Many of you may know, I am still working part-time at WashU investigating Alzheimer's disease and aging. I attended the Leonard Berg Symposium and had a wonderful time listening to so many great presenters in the field.

This evening it was time for fun! I was a guest at the Hazelwood "Mingle at the Mills" event. I signed autographs and was also a contestant in the Go-Kart races. I won my first heat and advanced to the finals against the mayors of surrounding cities! I would like to personally congratulate Mayor Carr of Hazelwood, for winning the race this year! Here I am practicing my scream since it was terrifying racing around the corners for fifteen laps! Also, I am pictured with my race car, which was speedy and a blast to drive!

The University of Missouri Children's Hospital hosted a radiothon for the Children's Miracle Network today. I helped staff the phones for a few hours and also on-air interviews to encourage individuals to pledge during the radiothon! Thanks to everyone who called in to donate to such a worthy cause. I'm excited about the new partnership between the Miss Missouri Organization and Children's Hospital!

Today was definitely a whirlwind! This morning I went to Limelight Studios in St. Charles to do a photo shoot for Miss Missouri. I had a fantastic time working with Lance and Tamara - they made me feel right at home and we were able to get some great shots - look for more on the website soon. Photo Credit - Lance Tilford/Limelight Studios.

After the shoot I made the drive to Mexico for the official Miss America lottery - talk about nerve-wracking! I have sure had a lot of anxious moments in my life, but sitting and waiting for "Missouri" to appear on the screen felt like forever! Jim Dye hosted a great reception for me at his office to help keep my nerves at bay. Luckily, I appeared as state #37 to choose my placement, and I selected Alpha group, position #6. I will do my interview Monday afternoon, talent Tuesday, on-stage question Wednesday, and swimsuit/evening gown Thursday. Thanks to everyone who came to support me during the lottery! I'm working hard as we approach Miss America!

I hope everyone is having a relaxing extended weekend! I enjoyed the afternoon with my family and took some time to relax from a busy week! Things are gearing up as September gets started - so stay tuned to the travelogue, I promise to update it more regularly!

Well, summer is unofficially over! With September here it feels like fall is around the corner, and with that, a new season of Miss Missouri preliminaries! I was a special guest at the Miss Spirit of St. Louis program on Saturday night, and had a blast cheering on the contestants. Stacie Coolie, Miss Missouri 2005, hosted the show, and it was great to chat with a former Miss Missouri! Congratulations to Katie Smart, the new Miss Spirit of St. Louis!

This afternoon I spent some time with the girls at Epworth Home here in St. Louis. We did a cyber-bullying/internet safety seminar, and everyone had a lot to share about their experiences when online. I am consistently surprised by the stories I hear and it definitely motivates me to continue educating others and working on my personal platform. Thanks to everyone with the Girl Scouts and Epworth for letting me visit!

Kim and I drove down to Jonesboro, Arkansas, to visit with Shelley Kelly of Clark's Bridal. Shelley is providing me a number of gowns for appearances throughout the year and I can't thank her enough for her generosity! If you need a wedding gown, pageant gown, or just a fabulous dress for any event, I highly recommend Shelley! http://www.clarksbridal.com/

Today I was reminded what makes the Miss Missouri program great - the girls! I spent all day with the Missouri Girls rehearsing for the upcoming year. We had such a blast, and learned quite a bit of choreography in one day! It was a dance-filled weekend, as I had been in Dallas just the day before, but it was fun regardless! Thanks to everyone in the troupe for welcoming me with open arms, I can't wait to get started on a fabulous year. http://www.missmissouri.org/mogirls/mogirls.htm

Today I flew to Dallas to learn my choreography for Miss America! I love my new ballet dance and can't wait to start rehearsing! I will be using the same music, just different choreography. Hopefully I will get to perform it onstage soon!

	September 29-30 This weekend I traveled to Chicago with Kim Brinegar to secure some of my wardrobe for Miss America. We had a great weekend and accomplished a lot! Here I am pictured with Tony Bowls, who will be making both my evening gown and talent costume this year. Thank you to Tony for taking the time to meet with me! Also - thank you to my wardrobe sponsors this year, Clark's Bridal, in Jonesboro - and Venue, in Little Rock. Having things finalized makes Miss America seem like it is just around the corner!
	September 29 This morning I spent some time in a conference at Washington University in St. Louis. Many of you may know, I am still working part-time at WashU investigating Alzheimer's disease and aging. I attended the Leonard Berg Symposium and had a wonderful time listening to so many great presenters in the field. This evening it was time for fun! I was a guest at the Hazelwood "Mingle at the Mills" event. I signed autographs and was also a contestant in the Go-Kart races. I won my first heat and advanced to the finals against the mayors of surrounding cities! I would like to personally congratulate Mayor Carr of Hazelwood, for winning the race this year! Here I am practicing my scream since it was terrifying racing around the corners for fifteen laps! Also, I am pictured with my race car, which was speedy and a blast to drive!
	September 26 The University of Missouri Children's Hospital hosted a radiothon for the Children's Miracle Network today. I helped staff the phones for a few hours and also on-air interviews to encourage individuals to pledge during the radiothon! Thanks to everyone who called in to donate to such a worthy cause. I'm excited about the new partnership between the Miss Missouri Organization and Children's Hospital!
	September 24 Today was definitely a whirlwind! This morning I went to Limelight Studios in St. Charles to do a photo shoot for Miss Missouri. I had a fantastic time working with Lance and Tamara - they made me feel right at home and we were able to get some great shots - look for more on the website soon. Photo Credit - Lance Tilford/Limelight Studios. After the shoot I made the drive to Mexico for the official Miss America lottery - talk about nerve-wracking! I have sure had a lot of anxious moments in my life, but sitting and waiting for "Missouri" to appear on the screen felt like forever! Jim Dye hosted a great reception for me at his office to help keep my nerves at bay. Luckily, I appeared as state #37 to choose my placement, and I selected Alpha group, position #6. I will do my interview Monday afternoon, talent Tuesday, on-stage question Wednesday, and swimsuit/evening gown Thursday. Thanks to everyone who came to support me during the lottery! I'm working hard as we approach Miss America!
	September 21-22 My local title, Miss River City, had their program this weekend! Friday night I attended orientation for the Miss River City/Miss Metro St. Louis competition. Saturday the competition began! The Teens had their competition earlier in the day, with the Miss program that evening at the James Eagan Civic Center in Florissant. Though it was hectic, we had a wonderful time crowning our new winners! Congratulations are in order for our teen titleholders, Jessica Arl and Emily Wicks, as well as Daniel McKiernan and Erin Bell - who are the new Miss River City and Miss Metro St. Louis titleholders. John Brown, the emcee from Miss Missouri, was kind enough to also emcee our pageant. Here I am pictured with John and the new titleholders!
September 20 Parkway South High School welcomed me this evening for an "Internet Safety Night" for parents of children in the school district. We had a wonderful seminar on ways parents can become more actively engaged in their child's online behavior, as well as an in-depth discussion on cyber bullying and new threats youth face when online. Thanks to everyone who came to the program and asked some great questions! Overall, I was very excited with the seminar and hope we can have many more throughout the year!
	September 17 Wow - what a day! This afternoon I met with Kurt Mungenast and his team at North County Hyundai. They are generously donating a Hyundai Sante Fe to use during my year as Miss Missouri! Look for me on the road this year. I am pictured here with Kurt, Tom, and Dick of North County Hyundai. http://www.mungenasthyundai.com/
	September 15 The Missouri Trappers had the perfect fall weekend for their conference in Cuba today. I attended the conference and signed autographs during the day. Thanks to MTA for the lovely coat and support of the Miss Missouri program. I am pictured here with members of the Missouri Trappers Association as well as Miss Pre-Teen Missouri Outdoors.
	September 11 David Pickering, our fabulous webmaster and my travelogue guru, was kind enough to invite me to the Kiwanis meeting today. I had lunch with the members and spoke about my experiences thus far as Miss Missouri. It was great to see so many smiling and familiar faces!
	September 10 Truth be told, I am a golfer, but not a very good one! Thankfully, that wasn't a requirement for the Remax Children's Hospital Golf Tournament in Columbia today. 18 teams played to benefit the Children's Miracle Network. Thanks to the Club at Old Hawthorne for hosting the event! Also, an enormous thanks to my Miss Missouri team - Lou, Alan, and Bruce. They welcomed me and were so kind to help me improve my golf game!
September 9 Today was interview day, mock interviews, that is. Anne Williams organized a fabulous mock interview panel for me this afternoon. We had a great time working through so many current event topics. Thanks to all of my "judges" for taking the time to help me prepare!
	September 8 The Harvestfest celebrations continued this morning with a parade through the city of Hazelwood. Thanks to Valley Ford for donating my white Mustang convertible (I know my dad enjoyed being my driver!) Luckily, the weather held out - we had some sprinkles, but no heavy rain! Each Miss Hazelwood contestant had a car, and the crowning ceremony followed the parade. Congratulations to Emily Daniels, the new Miss Hazelwood!
September 7 Time to break (another) sweat! Thanks for Van today for a great training session. Since it was Friday I needed an interesting workout so thanks to Van I had a great time getting ready for the Miss America stage and my swimsuit competition! www.wellbridgeac.com/clayton
	September 6 Tonight I spent some time getting to know the Miss Hazelwood candidates at a dinner with the Hazelwood City Council. The Miss Hazelwood program is a part of the Harvestfest celebration hosted annually by the city of Hazelwood. As a former Miss Hazelwood, it was fun to see the girls getting ready for the competition and learning more about themselves as they prepare to represent the city. Who knows, maybe we have a future Miss Missouri contestant in this group! I am pictured here with the contestants, the current Miss Hazelwood Casey Robinson, Mayor T.R. Carr, and his wife, Lucy.
September 3 I hope everyone is having a relaxing extended weekend! I enjoyed the afternoon with my family and took some time to relax from a busy week! Things are gearing up as September gets started - so stay tuned to the travelogue, I promise to update it more regularly!
	September 1 Well, summer is unofficially over! With September here it feels like fall is around the corner, and with that, a new season of Miss Missouri preliminaries! I was a special guest at the Miss Spirit of St. Louis program on Saturday night, and had a blast cheering on the contestants. Stacie Coolie, Miss Missouri 2005, hosted the show, and it was great to chat with a former Miss Missouri! Congratulations to Katie Smart, the new Miss Spirit of St. Louis!
	August 30 Continuing my busy week, I had a meeting with the Mayor of Florissant, the Honorable Robert Lowery. We did a short interview for the Florissant cable channel as well as discussed the upcoming Miss River City/Miss Metro St. Louis program on September 22. Mayor Lowery kindly donates the James Eagan Center for the pageant, and I wanted to thank him personally for being a part of the program! I was also awarded the key to the city of Florissant, which was a fun and unexpected honor! www.missmetrostlouis.org
August 29 This afternoon I spent some time with the girls at Epworth Home here in St. Louis. We did a cyber-bullying/internet safety seminar, and everyone had a lot to share about their experiences when online. I am consistently surprised by the stories I hear and it definitely motivates me to continue educating others and working on my personal platform. Thanks to everyone with the Girl Scouts and Epworth for letting me visit!
August 28 Kim and I drove down to Jonesboro, Arkansas, to visit with Shelley Kelly of Clark's Bridal. Shelley is providing me a number of gowns for appearances throughout the year and I can't thank her enough for her generosity! If you need a wedding gown, pageant gown, or just a fabulous dress for any event, I highly recommend Shelley! http://www.clarksbridal.com/
	August 25 Today I was reminded what makes the Miss Missouri program great - the girls! I spent all day with the Missouri Girls rehearsing for the upcoming year. We had such a blast, and learned quite a bit of choreography in one day! It was a dance-filled weekend, as I had been in Dallas just the day before, but it was fun regardless! Thanks to everyone in the troupe for welcoming me with open arms, I can't wait to get started on a fabulous year. http://www.missmissouri.org/mogirls/mogirls.htm
August 24 Today I flew to Dallas to learn my choreography for Miss America! I love my new ballet dance and can't wait to start rehearsing! I will be using the same music, just different choreography. Hopefully I will get to perform it onstage soon!
August 22 Today I met with my trainer, Van Becker, at Wellbridge Athletic Club in Clayton. The Club is generously donating a year of membership as well as a trainer for my Miss America preparations. Thanks to everyone at Wellbridge, specifically Rebecca and John for your generosity and help getting me set up! www.wellbridgeac.com/clayton
August 20 I am back in the state of Missouri! After my trip to Orlando and some personal vacation, I am well rested and ready to continue on with my Miss Missouri duties and preparing for Miss America! I hope everyone heard the great news - we have a date for Miss America! January 26 I will be waving to everyone back home as I compete in Las Vegas for Miss America during the finals on TLC (The Learning Channel). I am so excited for what the months ahead hold. We have been told we are heading to LA in October for some filming, but that is all I know for now. I'll keep everyone posted as I hear more news!
	August 9-11 Here I am, in Orlando! I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be here cheering on Mary as she competes for the title of Miss America's Outstanding Teen! I was able to attend the last night of preliminary competition Thursday, as well as attend a Miss America Gala at a beautiful art gallery last night. One of the installments in the gallery was a Chihuly exhibit, by Dale Chihuly. I took quite a few photos next to his pieces - they are amazing! At visitation following preliminaries, I ran into Larry Nakano, one of my judges from Miss Missouri! I am also pictured with Miss Jackson's Outstanding Teen, Julie Mothershead.
August 7 The women of Mexico's P.E.O Chapter held a meeting tonight, and I was the program speaker for the evening. P.E.O. stands for Philanthropic Educational Organization, and the sisterhood serves to promote educational opportunities for women. We had a wonderful dinner and I was able to speak about the Miss America Organization and my life as Miss Missouri thus far!
	August 6 and 8 Today I ventured to camp with the Girl Scout Council of Greater St. Louis P.A.V.E program. PAVE stands for Project Anti-Violence Education, and is a program that I have worked with back in St. Louis on numerous occasions. We held six very successful cyber-bullying sessions and the girls were fantastic! Everyone took a picture trying my crown on and then I signed autographs. Even though the weather was just a bit warm, I still had a blast!
July 26th I spent the day with Pat Gruber thanking everyone who donated food during the week of Miss Missouri. It was great to personally thank each person who helped provide such yummy food during the hectic week!
	July 20th Tonight, the Show-Me State Games kicked off in Columbia. I hosted the VIP reception and administered the "Oath of Athletes" during the opening ceremonies. The Show-Me State Games is a non-profit organization of the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Health, and is currently on ESPN's "101 Things All Sports Fans Must Experience Before They Die" The keynote speaker was Paralympian John Register, who holds the silver medal in the long jump. John's personal story is inspiring, to say the least, and he made the evening an event to remember. I am pictured here with the radio personalities from Hot 97 in Columbia, and John Register (holding his silver medal from the Sydney games!) For more information on how to get involved with the Games, visit www.smsg.org
	July 19th Once again, I find myself thanking our generous Miss Missouri sponsors! This program truly does have some amazing individuals who certainly make Miss Missouri feel welcome! This afternoon I spent some time with Saiid Fayad of Charm's Hallmark in Mexico choosing my Miss Missouri stationary. Thanks so much Saiid! Also, I went by Melody's in Mexico to pick up my pearl necklace. I am pictured here wearing the necklace, which is beautiful - thanks Melody!
	July 17 This afternoon I was a program speaker at the INOBTR press conference in Kansas City with Governor Matt Blunt. Governor Blunt signed House Bill No. 8, allocating funds for Internet safety training and education with the INOBTR Program. INOBTR (I Know Better) is a targeted effort to keep Missouri's children and teens safe online. I am working to become one of the first INOBTR certified instructors as well as a member of the INOBTR Speakers Bureau. This is certainly a memorable day for me, as I formally met our Governor as Miss Missouri 2007, and I was able to be a part of a critical effort towards promoting Internet Safety within the state of Missouri! I am pictured with INOBTR Founder Steve Shankman, as well as some teen leaders from the Kansas City area. For more information please visit www.inobtr.org and http://go.missouri.gov/press/InternetSafety071707.htm
July 13 and 14, I certainly have had a relaxing weekend! Friday I spent the afternoon at the Philip Johnson Salon and Spa! Thanks to Phil for the fabulous hair care - you always make me feel so welcome in your salon! Saturday afternoon I spent some time at Scandals Day Spa getting a massage. Thanks to everyone at Scandals for helping me relax in between travels! For more information on these great Miss Missouri Program sponsors visit www.philipjohnsonsalon.com and www.scandalsdayspa.com
	July 5 This morning was spent in Columbia shooting a commercial for White Knight Limousine. White Knight provided a beautiful coach for the contestants to travel on between Mexico and Columbia during the week of the pageant. Thanks again to everyone at White Knight!
	July 4 This morning I was a guest in the 2007 Veiled Prophet Parade in downtown St. Louis. The Parade is a St. Louis tradition dating back over 130 years! It was a great start to my 4th of July and a wonderful way to celebrate Independence Day. Thankfully the rain held off and it was sunny and 90 degrees! I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July!
	June 29 I started my Friday off in the 550 KTRS studios with McGraw Milhaven for an on-air interview. In the afternoon, I was a guest on the Dave Glover Show (97.1FM). Both McGraw and Dave asked some great questions and it was a wonderful way to end the week, thanks guys!
	June 25 Today was definitely a day to remember as we traveled around St. Louis shooting "home town video" for Miss America. Busch Stadium certainly has an impressive view from the field! Go Cards! Anheuser-Busch was kind enough to have a private showing of the Clydesdales in the stable - take a look at the picture of Chris the Clydesdale, who is 18 hands high! Thanks to everyone for truly showing me what makes St. Louis great!
	June 22 Today I was able to spend all day in Mexico thanking the many sponsors of the Miss Missouri program! I am continually reminded of just how many people put their hearts and souls into this program, and that is indeed why the Miss Missouri program thrives! Melody's Jewelry donates a beautiful pearl necklace to Miss Missouri, and I was able to spend some time in the store with Melody choosing my necklace. An enormous thank you to Melody and everyone at the store for your donation, I am sure I will get plenty of use out of my necklace! I also visited U.S. Cellular and had my phone set up for the coming year. Jeff and Mike at US Cellular set up everything on my phone - including a St. Louis Cardinals cover! Thanks to everyone at US Cellular! In the afternoon I made a visit to Commerce Bank and First National Bank in order to thank them both for their donations to the program. It seems there isn't a business in Mexico who isn't dedicated to program, and I am very thankful to have such support as your new Miss Missouri!
	June 22 This evening I was a guest at the Audrain County Relay for Life. Relay For Life is an overnight event focused on celebrating cancer survivors while raising money for research and programs through the American Cancer Society. Cancer survivors were honored during the opening ceremony, and it was truly incredible to see so many survivors on the track celebrating their lives and battles with cancer. I walked in honor of my grandfather, James F. McColl, who passed away due to lung cancer. I also signed autographs for donations to the American Cancer Society. Thanks to everyone who came by for an autograph and donated to such a worthy cause! For more information on how to hold your own Relay for Life visit http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/
	June 20, 2007 This evening I attended the Hazelwood City Council meeting. As part of the ceremonies, I received an offical Proclamation from the City of Hazelwood! It was so nice to visit with Mayor T.R. Carr and the City Council to catch up on what is going on in Hazelwood. Thank you to all of the citizens of Hazelwood that attended the Council meeting to offer congratulations - it made the night truly special! http://www.ci.hazelwood.mo.us/
	June 13th-14th Today Phil Kimmi, Anne Williams, and I ventured to Tulsa, Oklahoma to meet with Jim Grillot. Jim is the official photographer for both my Miss America photos and my publicity photos for the year. We spent about 4 hours with Jim in the studio and took some great shots! I am very excited to unveil the photos throughout the year and I am sure it will be fun to have an updated photo on the website! www.jimgrillot.com Jennifer Hover White, Miss Missouri 2001, and her husband Brad, hosted us overnight in Tulsa. An enormous thank you to Jennifer and Brad for the Tulsa hospitality!