Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua Holiday Party 2009

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua Holiday Party

On December 11th from 6:00pm till 8:00pm, the BBBS hosted their Christmas Party for their Big and Littles. There was a large turnout and I was thrilled to see the children and their fabulous mentors. They all had dinner and then went into a room that had a huge pirate ship with Santa waiting to greet them on board and then they went and got their presents! The presents are donated through toys for tots, the board members donations and other local organizations. The kids were so excited and I spent a lot of time sitting and talking, signing many autograph cards and taking pictures! The best is that many of the children had name tags but I knew the names without looking, which is special of how much I have become close to this organization. Sometimes its hard because I live and work in Massachusetts during the winter and I'm only in New Hampshire part of the year, but I still make as many events as possible because I love and believe in the BBBS of Nashua! Joy let me know that when my reign end this spring that I'am always a member of their family, this truly means a lot to me! My directors have promised that our pageant organization will continue to support BBBS and that is so important. I will continue my work always for BBBS I have been a Big Sister and sponsor since 1989, whew going on 20 years! So anyway check out my pictures,,,yes that is the Budweiser horse chip and he was in the lobby!
Happy Holidays and Happy New Years Everyone!
A shout out to all my pageant sisters...love you!

Winter Wonderland

WINTER WONDERLAND

On Wednesday December 10th we hosted our annual winter wonderland celebration!
We had four stations set up for the children, one was for a fun craft project, one was to make place mats for the residence of the local nursing home, one was for holiday tattoo's and the last one was decorating a holiday cookie :) We also had Santa there to meet and listen to all the children Christmas wishes! We had over 150 people come to the event and it was a lot of fun and a great success!!!

Thanksgiving Annual Appeal

Thanksgiving Annual Appeal

Each year during the Thanksgiving season, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua asks our family of supporters to make a difference in the lives of children in our community by making a financial gift to our organization.

Please consider making a contribution to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua. You will be helping change the way our children are growing in America. A future filled with hope, promise and achievement!

Donate to Big Brother Big Sisters of Greater Nashua»

Mrs. United America Pageant 2008

On October 17th I traveled out to Austin Texas to compete in the Mrs. United America Pageant. As every one knows I'm taking a break from pageants for the next year or two to focus on starting my own family! So I decided to have one last hurrah and compete in Texas! I had such a great time all the ladies were so friendly and wonderful! Mrs. Annette is a lovely woman and a caring director and I am so glad that I went to her pageant! I love being involved in pageantry and constantly looking to update and better myself on stage and in interview, its my fun hobby and most importantly it allows me to bring focus to the BBBS organization! I was second runner up and I won the Ms Congeniality Award...how great is that :)
Enjoy the photo's :)

Our newly crowned Mrs. United America 2008 is Dianne Paulkstelis. Dianne proudly represented the state of Kansas at the 4th annual United America pageant held in Austin, Texas on October 19, 2008.

Dianne also won the talent award.

Dianne's court includes:

1st RU - Kelly Burns -Texas

2rd RU - Michele Sharpe - Massachusetts

3nd RU - Arlene Van Asperen -Hawaii

4th RU - Michelle Wegner - New Mexico

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!

Oh yes we did Kim and I attended the NKOB concert at the Boston Garden on September 26th!
We had a blast and after the sleepover at my house we had an awesome breakfast at Carl's dinner...check out the pictures on the site :)
You've got the right stuff baby!
http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/1637898/

Real Stories of BBBS

Big Brother Nolan & Little Brother Corey

Nolan and Corey began their match on November 18th 2000. After being matched for Almost 7 years, the match graduated from our program on July 2nd, 2007, Corey’s 18th birthday. Nolan, who had a Big Brother when he was a child, explained that he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be a Big Brother as well.

Corey and Nolan have become close friends throughout their 7 year stint, spending lots of time together and hanging out as often as they could. After all of the activities this pair has enjoyed together, they still say that their favorite things to do together are going out to lunch or going to a movie. Nolan said the best part of having a little brother is “having an excuse to goof off”. Most recently Corey has decided to join the Army; the decision as Nolan described it has left him very proud.

It’s matches like this that confirm the strong bond and the impact having a big brother or a little brother has on an individual. When asked if Nolan and Corey plan on keeping in touch even though they are no longer officially matched Nolan simply said “Definitely”.

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College Bound Movers Cares Golf Classic

Each September College Bound Movers Cares organizes an annual golf tournament benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua. This year our event was held on September 11, 2008 at Amherst Country Club. It is a fabulous day playing 18 holes of golf, participating in many great contests and enjoying the delicious lunch after the event provided generously by the Outback Steakhouse. A golf event that should not be missed!

This year the CBM Cares Golf Classic raised over $30,000 of which 100% of the proceeds were donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua. Financial support is directly put into action by matching volunteer mentors with children in the Greater Nashua area ages 6 to 17, and supporting those relationships for greater longevity and strength!

For more information about our 2009 event and how to participate as a golfer or a sponsor, please contact Joy at 883-4851.

Real Stories of BBBS

Big Sister Donnalee & Little Sister Brandi

Mayor Donnalee Lozeau became Brandi’s Big Sister January 2006 in our site-based program where Donnalee had lunch with her Little Sister once a week in her elementary school. This paved the way for a great friendship and soon after being matched, both agreed to transition into the community program so that they could spend more quality time together having fun!

Over the 2+ years they have done some great things together. Roller-skating, ice-skating, watching movies, shopping at the mall, getting in the holiday spirit by attending the Symphony Holiday House Tour and eating at Brandi’s favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory, are most memorable. Brandi showed an interest in cheerleading and as Big Sisters often do, Donnalee encouraged Brandi to join PAL’s cheerleading team. To top that off, last fall both attended a National Cheerleading Competition in Boston where they enjoyed the event from front row seats!

Donnalee will tell you she receives as much, if not more, from the friendship with Brandi. As a tradition Donnalee calls Brandi before her first day of school to wish her luck and let her know her Big Sister is thinking of her. Last November, Brandi returned the thoughtful well wishes by calling Donnalee on the eve of the Mayoral election. Brandi excited for her Big Sister called to say “Hey Donnalee good luck tomorrow, I will be thinking of you.” This match is one that will last, for the bonds of friendship are strong!

Bowl for Kids Sake 2009 Event

Bowl for Kids' Sake

Bowl for Kids’ Sake is our largest community-wide fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua. It is a Campaign for Kids to raise fund s and awareness in support of matching vulnerable children with volunteer mentors through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. The campaign is comprised of several separate bowling events, scheduled March through May, bringing individuals and organizations together to have fun while also securing needed pledges of support.

It's fun, it’s easy and so rewarding to know you are helping impact the lives of children.
Call the agency at 883-4851 to participate in 2009 or to request additional information.

My Car Accident....a tough time

I don't want to get into to many details but I was involved in an accident this week.
A young teenage boy in my town came out of his friends driveway without looking and crashed into the side of my car. He was thrown up on my windshield and his bike slide under the car. I saw him at the last moment slammed on my break and threw my wheel over to the other side of the road to try to avoid him. He was talking to me as we called 911 and was airlifted to the hospital. My husband and I went to see him at the hospital and he had surgery on his leg which was broken. He is very fortunate especially since he was not wearing a helmet. I write on this blog to celebrate many happy events and I hesitated to write about this, but it is now a big part of my life. I was not sited or found at fault but I was and continue to be emotionally scarred by this experience. I have suffered from great anxiety and sleepless nights. It took a month before I was comfortable behind the wheel. My whole life has been devoted to children and even though I know I'm not at fault a big piece of me died that day. But the important thing is that he is doing well and I am have started to heal from the experience. Thank you to all of of you for your continual support!
Love,
Michele

I'm back from the national pageant !!!!!

Whew what a crazy last two weeks it has been :) I left on July 19th (Saturday) and just got home late July 29th (Tuesday). On Saturday night my roommate Mrs. Florida, Angela Harwell arrived and from the start I loved her...she is a riot and a beautiful woman! I truly admire what she does for those children at Boggey Creek Camp...she is a dynamo :) The orientation was held on Sunday July 20th and I was nervous to meet all the ladies...kind of like that first day at school feeling...ugh..... First I want to say that I started doing pageants after I got married (weird huh) but anyway I've been to nationals before and have met some awesome ladies and some not so great ladies :( But I swear this group as a whole was a wonderful group! I mean everyone was helping each other out and it was really nice to see....I witnessed no drama and it was awesome!!!!! So a huge shout out to the ladies of 2008 you are the best !!!! Okay I will admit that if I hear the song "its party time" and "Okay one more time!" I will scream bloody murder...those that were there know what I mean :) Also I think it is abnormal for a woman to wear 4 inch heels all week and navigate 8 tiny stairs in a long evening gown and swim suit....though when I made it without falling I wanted to give the "superstar pose." I am proud of what I did out there and I am more proud to represent the state of New Hampshire and to continue my work for the Big Brother and Big Sister of Nashua...by the way Joy you rock! Congrats to the final 12, Angela, Lisa, Rachel, Melisa, Adrianne, Jill, Evelyn, Nicole, Cindy, Christina, Melissa and of course Mrs. United States 2008 Dr. Gariane Phillips Gunter, Mrs. South Carolina ! Beautiful, talented, and educated women!!! No argument from me on the final group or the winner, congrats! Okay cliche time "everyone's a winner" but honestly it is true it takes guts to do this type of event and the platforms that these women champion make them even more admirable in my eyes. So I thank all of you for sharing this experience with me! Special thanks to my husband John for supporting me even if he thinks something is dumb, my Nana who I thank God for everyday, Maria and Jack who don't understand pageants but love me anyway, Joy who believes in me, Bill who is my friend always, Angela who is the bomb, Erica Baker who I love and is special to me, Lois who I can't function without and loves to hang my picture up in the school office, Erika who is the best coach ever and all the children that need hope, inspiration and love you make me want to be a better person and make a difference!
Love,
Michele

Angela Harwell my roomie Mrs. Florida...she's gorgeous!




Beautiful ladies from New England !!!!!!!!!!


Okay shorter hair not common at a pageant 5 ladies with blond bob hair do's amazing !!!
Rocking the bobs are Me (the old fart), Brooke, Emily, Rachel, and Erin !!!!

Yes we dress for the mall all the time like this.....sure...
Fancy girls Rachel, Me, Rosemary, Erica, Joelle and Nicole!
Okay Angela and Christina what are you doing to the Buddha?


Christina and Evelyn after interviews...then Christina and I standing with the future Mrs. United States 2008 Gariane !!!!



Hello these women are smoking....Rachel, Lisa, Jennifer, Tiffany, and Tonya

Erica chillin at the photo shoot



I bet we are up to no good!



Erica and I on finals night !


Top 12 beautiful ladies :)


The Winner South Carolina and the wonderful 2007 queen Stephanie Hunt!

Our Vacation in Vegas!

After the pageant John and I checked out of the Orleans and into the Luxor Hotel :) We had a great time touring sin city and losing all our life savings at the casino's ! I found I'm addicted to the Wizard of Oz slot and the Monopoly slot...so since we are brokewe will either live under a bridge or can we camp out in your back yard?

Sorry we had to rent the cabana come on the Red Sox's were on !