To Debbie

I wanted to take some time to thank my director Debbie St. Hilaire!  I don't even know where to begin.  From the day that I won Miss Manchester Debbie has been so supportive and so exciting to work with.  She is fun and really represents what this program is all about.  I talked with her and texted just about every day since January 2nd.  She has been beyond helpful!  We spent days on my paperwork at her house and shared great conversations and lots of food!  She even introduced Greek Yogurt to me (so good).  She literally poured her heart into me because she wanted me to do well.   She spent hours of her own time searching for the perfect gown, the perfect hair styles, the perfect swim suit and much more.  I was amazed by how much she wanted me to do well!  We had a commitment to each other and that was to do our best, have no regrets, and be FEARLESS.

When it came time to chose my talent it was such a hard decision.  I think we spent over 10 hours on youtube alone looking for a song.  You should have seen her list of potential songs for me......the woman was so into it!!!!  I finally came to the conclusion.  I was sitting in the parking lot after an appearance at Girls Inc and my voice teacher said on the phone to me:  If you do the same thing you did last year you will get the same result, do something different, don't play it safe!  Then he said If you always do what you've always done you'll always be what you've always been.  TRUE so I decided to be fearless and take a chance with Son of a Preacher Man....I had so much fun with the song.

The song was a Bill Wolfe arrangement and Bill Wolfe makes Miss America's!  I had such a fun time working with the song and learning it.  I felt so strong vocally and fearless emotionally.   I sang my little heart out for 2 minutes at Miss NH, worked the stage, worked the crowd and was happy with my performance.  DEBBIE: we picked an amazing song!

So she also spent hours with me at the mall looking for a swimsuit....I can't tell you how much she means to me.  She really went over the commitment of a director and made me a part of her life.  We literally talked every day.  She saw me happy and she saw me sad she saw me from all sides and know's just exactly who I am!

Congratulations to Debbie for being an amazing director and friend and helping me do my best.  The judges didn't like me that day but I was hot and on a different day with different judges I could have been the girl with the sparkly crown in the end.



I also want to thank Debbie's sister Lea Glickman for all her help as well!  She came along to many appointments and helped with many things to help get me ready for Miss NH so thank you to Lea too!