Veterans Day

For part one of my commemoration for Veterans Day, I got to attend and perform at the Scera Veterans Day Show. It was very moving and inspirational. I performed a classical piano piece as well as spoke to the audience about why it is important to show patriotism and celebrate Veterans Day in our society. I was so grateful to be in the presence of such inspiration people that day.

"America will only remain the land of the free as long as it is the land of the brave."

Shawn Mortensen is the greatest. Not only does he run this Veterans Day show and numerous other Scera shows, he is going to be the Miss Orem Master of Ceremonies this year! He is such a great friend and I'm so glad he had me come make an appearance at this event.

These men are so inspiring. Since I see them at numerous events, I have made friends with a couple of them and it is such a pleasure to interact with them on these special occasions! (Let's not mention how much taller I am than all of them...I did not know where to stand for this picture. haha)

Gotta warm up, ya know!

BYU Jazz voices sang the National Anthem and rocked it!

Mayor Brunst does such a great job supporting the City in its various endeavors. It has been a pleasure working with him and will continue to be for the next few months!

These two men are stellar! Adam, on the right, is the Scera MASTER! I don't know where they would be without him.

I promise, that's me. I suppose the bright lights just made me look extra radiant that day!

GO BRUINS! This is Mountain View's Man Choir, they performed beautifully!

It was wonderful being able to perform the same song that I will be performing for my Miss Utah talent in a few months! Playing this piece for an audience gave me a lot of confidence and excitement to improve the song and do my best when I compete with it!



Outside the theater were these incredible cars and machines! I couldn't help but take some pictures with them. I really appreciated those who brought these artifacts so that others could get a taste of various wars and time periods.

Let me just say, the Orem City historic museum is incredible! The man in this picture (on the right) was telling my mom and I some very moving stories from his past. The uniform that I am standing next to belongs to him! I felt so honored to hear about his strengths and triumphs among the great tragedy of war. 

The Cemetary Program was a great pleasure to attend! I could not help but feel inspired and touched by the families and veterans in attendance. I definitely shed a tear or two after hearing the speaker and the music.

I hope I didn't kill the mood with my rainbow gloves. It was a bit chilly that day, but not enough for a full on coat, so I found a compromise.



We love our Mayor!

We also love City Council member, Mark Seastrand (might I add that he is my neighbor!)

On my way to the cemetery that morning, I saw a man in uniform walking towards the cemetery, I thought he may want a ride to the same program I was headed to! So I pulled over and began to offer a ride, then I quickly realized that he was just wandering around and directing traffic or something. However, he did ask me if I would be seeing any war veterans that day, and I told him I was heading to see a bunch of them! He then held out a can opener made out of a machine gun bullet. He told me to give that to a veteran for him, then he went on his way. I secretly wanted to keep it because it was totally awesome, but when I met this wonderful veteran, I gave it to him instead. 

Our beautiful teens!

This man is incredible. His name is Don Norton and he runs an internship and BYU where students get to transcribe stories of veterans. This job instantly caught my attention and interest. I asked him a few more of the details and he talked me into it! My winter semester of classes now includes his class where I get to transcribe and edit recorded stories of war veterans. Yet another wonderful opportunity that came from this title, they just keep on coming!

My mommy is so supportive and loving. What ever would I do without my photographer, phone-holder, jacket-holder, and best friend? I am so grateful that she has helped me throughout this journey. She has a special way of keeping me motivated and for that I am incredibly grateful, especially with Miss Utah coming up! I have a lot to do and I know that she will be by me every step of the way to keep my chin up! I LOVE YOU,  MOM!



Love, Maddi Millard
Miss Orem 2014-2015

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