Cheddar Nuggets (7/24/08)

One of the most glorious aspects of a summer County Fair is the greasy, sugary, overproduced and fried carnival food. Driving in to the Kane County Fair Grand Opening with Jason Pawlowski, Miss Illinois Business Manager, Laura Durante, Director of the Princess Program, and my princess, Jessica Durante, we experienced one such epicurean delight – the cheddar nugget. While its origins are unknown, the cheddar nugget is a beautiful blob of cheddar cheese enveloped in batter and deep-fried to crispy perfection. They are plopped sizzling hot onto your paper container and served with your preferred condiment – our car chose ranch. Each bite was ooey and gooey and bursting with artery clogging cheesy goodness – needless to say, I highly recommend them.

Jessica and I had a great time at the Kane County Fair Ribbon cutting and rubbed shoulders (figuratively and literally) with some of the area’s most influential dignitaries and community members. Floyd and Betty Brown were so kind to host us and we enjoyed walking around the brand new (and air conditioned) exhibition space. Jessica did an amazing job speaking about the Princess program and I was so impressed with her media interviews – she’ll be ready to take my job in no time!

Shortly after the fair, we were whisked away to a photo shoot at Clique Photography. Sasha did a great job with my makeup and I had a great time with Mark & Kathy Shangraw taking the pictures. I felt so comfortable in their studio and am totally in love with my Miss America photos. Please check out their website for your photography needs at www.cliquephotography.com

The next day, I visited Banner Day Camp in Lake Forest. Up until that point, I had thought that the camps they show you on TV were just Hollywood fabrications. I had no idea that a place so magical actually existed in real life. Banner’s property sits in the midst of a beautiful forest and includes a pool, stage and even bumper boats! After a quick interview on stage during “Banner-rama”, Mike Mason let me stay to sign some autographs and be a “Celebrity Server” at lunch time! Every single person I met was excited and passionate to be working with the 1,000 or so campers and their hard work showed in the pure delight on the kids’ faces. I had such a wonderful time at Banner and am so appreciative of their hospitality!

The next day, I drove out to Wheaton for the Rockin’ for the Troops concert featuring the Lieutenant Dan Band with none other than Gary Sinise (the Lt. Dan from Forrest Gump) on guitar. Don Haines was my chaperone and we met up with Operation Support Our Troops to encourage the over 10,000 concertgoers to send a note of thanks to our Troops overseas. Later in the day, I led the Pledge of Allegiance at the opening ceremonies and, despite tauntings from 1Lt. Dan Rickert that I would forget the words, I remembered every verse (there is no second verse). The emotions were absolutely overwhelming at this event and I have never felt such true and honest gratitude as when I looked into the eyes of a soldier or their parents and told them, thank you for your service and sacrifice. It’s easy to distance ourselves from the reality of war when many of us only see it in our living rooms and can change the channel. For these families, they can never change the channel on the ways military involvement has changed their lives and that’s one of the reasons why events like this and volunteers and organizers like Deborah Rickert are so important for the well being and morale of our troops. I was honored to be a part of this event and pray that you, too, will take the time to thank the people who protect our freedoms everyday.

All the best,

Katie
Miss Illinois 2008