Last weekend was my first time in Boston! It felt weird to not be in New York where I do all of my volunteer/platform work but it was a very interesting experience. On sunday, my friend Kyle dropped me off so that I could go to an appearance at the street fair held in Albany! The "Timeless Tappers" were performing there but unfortunately I could not make it back in time to see them. The appearance was definitely a highlight to my week though! There were so many amazing volunteers that were there to do the same thing Katelynn and I were. There were some there to educate people on the importance of supporting local farmers and growers. Some were there to support children and extracurricular activities and there were so many animals I could not stop smiling!

This is wooly! He is a young newfoundland who was having a great time just walking around the fair with his owner. :) He was definitely an attention catcher and you could tell he was used to getting loved!

Katelynn and I also were given a quick tutorial on how to play chess and were asked to make an appearance at one of the chess tournaments! I am looking forward to being able to do that!

Tomorrow is the day of the Celebration of the animals and Pumpkin fund pet parade! I have been waiting for sunday to come for weeks now! I held my benefit for the Pumpkin Fund at Walmart in Gloversville. It was such a successful day for me not only because I raised one hundred dollars for the Pumpkin Fund organization, but also because it presented me with so many opportunities to advocate for my platform and to just discuss the important issues involving animal abuse and neglect with the public of my home town. The pumpkin Fund is an organization introduced to me by Chelsea Brumagen who is one of my great sisters in the Miss America Organization. Her and her family founded the organization with a purpose to help families overcome expensive medical bills so that their pets do not have to be euthanized should they become ill or injured. It is an all too common situation for vet bills to become too expensive for families to afford and our pets suffer the consequences. For my benefit I made up a couple posters. One was an explanation about the Pumpkin Fund itself and the other was based on the Miss America Organization and my platform. Because my platform is "Preventing Animal Abuse and Neglect", I really wanted to get involved with this project and offer a hand in ending the suffering that is all too common for animals in today's world. I sold homemade peanut butter and wheat dog biscuits along with my mom's famous chocolate chip cookies, some pet supplies (including dog toothbrushes! :p) and baskets. Here is the cat basket Dianne put together for me!

 

 

 

 

She also put together a dog basket and a movie kit basket! They looked so professional and I was grateful for her and my mom for doing the things I probably would not have done such a great job on LOL. During the day I was visited by Karol Trombly and Heidi Christiano which was really nice because I was there alone. They are such wonderful women with huge hearts! I really enjoyed my conversation with them and it made the time in the sun go by a little faster! I bought adorable crowns and brought a basket of bears so that I had some things to give to little boys and little girls free of charge! One little girl who wanted a crown took a picture with me. She was such a little supermodel! however it was a little difficult to get her to look at the camera because she was mad at mom for not giving her the purple crown instead! LOL!

 

It was such a successful day and it really lifted my mood to be able to get out in my crown and talk to the public about the importance of my platform. I have found that with a crown, people are more likely to listen to what you have to say. They are more likely to take you seriously and it does make it a little easier to be heard. so I use my crown and my pin promoting adoption that I wear on my sash as a conversation piece. As a way to start the conversation about the importance of animal rights and the many issues that need attention in the animal rights world.

 

There were several people who stopped to tell me the stories they had of adoption and finding their best friend. It is never a wasted day when I can make a difference for these animals and the people who share the same passions as I. Tomorrow I will take a lot of pictures at the Pumpkin Fund walk! I am taking my two dogs! It is going to be so much fun! Stay tuned :)