Miss Utah Week

Miss Utah week was AMAZING and FUN! Monday was "Show Me Your Shoes" at Gardner's Village. Bridget portrayed the theme of "Family Fun Night" and won FIRST PRIZE! Way to go Bridget!! At the Miss Utah Pageant she also won the "People's Choice Award" and the "Glen Harmon Instrumentalist Scholarship Award." Bridget did a phenominal job and looked poised and beautiful every night. She did Orem proud!
Team Bridget was STRONG every night.

Christina Lowe was an AMAZING Miss Utah.

Tiare Keeno is Miss Utah's Outstanding Teen 2010. I think she is going to do well at the Miss America's Outstanding Teen Scholarship Pageant in Florida this August.

Danica Olsen, Miss UVU, won the Miss Utah title. I got this picture just minutes after she won the crown.

One of Miss Utah's prizes is the use of a brand new car for her year of service.

It was a busy but fun and educational week. We also had our 4th Parade on Saturday - the Lehi Parade. The Orem Royalty ROCKS!

Love, Miss Orem 2011

Hannah Harkness

P.S. Teresa Scanlain, Miss American 2011, was at the Miss Utah Scholarship Pageant. I was really impressed with her and was glad I had the chance to meet her and have a conversation. She is the youngest Miss American EVER being crowned at the age of seventeen and she is the only Miss American from the state of Nebraska. She is the middle of seven children and her winning talent was PIANO although she sang for us on the final evening of competition.

Parades!

I LOVE PARADES! I have been going to parades my whole life. I find them exciting, fun and entertaining. I like parades even more now! (From left to right is Brittany, Sydney, Hannah, Monique and Sheri).
This was our first parade - the Springville Parade last Saturday. Our float won the Grand Prize!

Little Miss Orem, McKyla Strong, is five-years old and is the daughter of Kirk and Karen Strong. She is an amazing princess who loves to dance and smile.

We make a great team.

Look at all the details of the Orem City float. It is amazing. Our theme this year is "The World is our Stage"

Before the parades begin we have time to hang out, laugh and meet the other city Royalty's. That's one of my favorite parts.

Our second parade was also last Saturday - the Orem Summerfest Parade. It was great having so many friends and neighbors calling out to us. Yeah Orem! By the way - our float won the Grand Prize in this parade too.

Today was the Pleasant Grove Strawberry Day's parade. FUN!

Next week is the Miss Utah Pageant. I'll be there cheering Bridget on.

Love, Miss Orem 2011

Hannah Harkness

Orem City Summerfest 2011

Orem City Summerfest was AMAZING! Here I am with my Royalty getting ready to perform in the new Pavilion.
Here I am playing the piano (keyboard).
Sydney Flanigan, 1st Attendant, performed a lyrical dance.
Monique Shurtz, 2nd Attendant, performed a theatrical voice number.

Brittany Harris, 3rd Attendant, did her tumbling routine.

Sheri Millard, 4th Attendant, also played the piano.

Thanks to friends and neighbors for supporting us! Here is Little Miss Orem!!

Dawson - You are such a loyal supporter.

This is my piano teacher of 8 years - the amazing Amanda Nixon - former Miss Orem and Miss Utah.

Then we were off to look at all the booths in the Park. I never realized we had a Utah County Multi-Agency Command Center. Cool! Thanks for keeping us safe!

Arts in the Park was a BLAST!

My new friend Abu.

The day wouldn't be complete without a caricature. Thanks Grant! You are very talented!!

Lots of yummy food!

I love these Tornado fries!

It was such a nice warm day we had to have a tasty Texas twister and delicious ice cream cone.

I have lived in Orem my whole life and have gone to Summerfest every June. I love Summerfest - but this was my favorite one of all!

Love, Miss Orem 2011

Hannah Harkness

Summerfest Appreciation Dinner

The Summerfest Appreciation Dinner pays tribute to the committees and volunteers who organize and execute Summerfest. It also honors the Summerfest Grand Marshal and Student Marshals. The Appreciation Dinner is the official kick-off to the Orem Summerfest Celebration. Here we are with Orem's Mayor, Jerry Washburn and City Council Member, Mark Seastrand.
Here I am with Sydney Flanigan, 1st Attendant and Monique Shurtz, 2nd Attendant. We were part of the entertainment portion of the evening.
We had the opportunity to help congratulate the 8 Student Marshals who stand out as role models in their Junior High schools.

Monique and her parents sat with the Mayor and his wife, along with the Seastrand family during the Appreciation Dinner.

The Appreciation Dinner was awesome! Thanks for inviting us!!

Love, Miss Orem 2011
Hannah Harkness

Freezing Hot!

Come and see Bridget and me perform this duet live tomorrow in the Orem City Park at 1:15 as part of the Orem City Summerfest celebration.

Love, Miss Orem 2011
Hannah Harkness

P.S. Bridget is such a good sport, I caught her on her way to work out.

Memorial Day

On Monday I attended my first official function as Miss Orem - the Memorial Day Service at the Orem Cemetery. The rain and cold weather did not deter the faithful veterans as they set up and prepared for the event. My family has a tradition of visiting the graves of our ancestors every year but attending Orem's Memorial Day Program with the gun salute and all made me feel very patriotic and proud to be an American. I was especially moved by Major Wilbur Drake who told stories of his missions as a pilot during the 2nd World War. It was an amazing morning! Thank you veterans and service men and women for your sacrifices and for keeping American free.

Love Miss Orem 2011

Hannah Harkness

Miss Orem Pageant 2011

Wow! What an incredible experience! Being a part of the Miss Orem Scholarship Pageant was a blast. I have to say I have never experienced anything like it and every minute was such a thrill. I wish I could experience it all over again. I am so excited and look forward to the coming year. I can't wait to learn and grow from all the new opportunities and experiences.

So let me tell you a little about pageant night. The actual pageant goes by so quickly it's insane. In-between changes backstage clothes are flying, hairspray is everywhere, and before you know it you are back on stage. Being on stage is such a delight. My favorite part of the night was the opening dance number. Our theme this year was "Unveil Your Potential." So for the dance each one of us had our own face mask that we decorated to fit our personalities and at certain points during the dance we pulled the mask away from our face for a dramatic effect. The music we danced to was, "Phantom of the Opera" - the techno version. I dare you to look up the song on You Tube. Then you will see how fun and exciting it was. Kudos to our awesome choreographer Liz - you did a great job Liz!

Over all, my favorite part of the pageant was getting to know and love each one of the girls. We have been getting to know each other since March. Through all the preparation and work preparing for the pageant we have become one big family. It's incredible!

In the first week of being Miss Orem it has been a blast meeting with Bridget and learning about the different responsibilities of Miss Orem. Bridget is so remarkable and I have already learned so many marvelous things from her. As a fun side comment, I have known Bridget since I was 14. We took piano lessons from the same teacher. We actually competed as duet partners once. Bridget is a phenomenal girl and I look up to her in so many ways. Love you Bridget! You'll do great at the Miss Utah Scholarship Pageant. I will be there with your cheering section rooting you on.

Love, Miss Orem 2011

Hannah Harkness