My Week at Miss Nebraska!

Hello everyone!

Although I have posted updates and photos from the Miss Nebraska Pageant on Facebook, I wanted to write a full blog about my experience this year! I had such a wonderful time in North Platte!

Sunday June 3rd was the beginning! All 13 Miss Nebraska contestants arrived in North Platte for the opening ceremonies of the pageant! We introduced ourselves at the North Platte mall and also had an autograph signing! :)

Here I am introducing myself and my little sisters!

Here are all 13 contestants!

Sunday evening we had talent rehearsals at the high school and they went very well! Everyone was so talented this year, it was so much fun to see what everyone had been working on!

Monday June 4th and Tuesday June 5th were rehearsal days! We were such a fun group this year and had a blast learning the production numbers!

Wednesday June 6th was a big day, interview day! Interview is worth a big part of our score for the pageant, so there is a lot of anticipating leading up to this event! I am so happy to say that every single contestant came out of their interview smiling and saying "it went great!" I was so happy with my interview went as well, I felt like the judges got a good feel for who I was, which is the goal!

Here is a photo of some of the contestants before interview!

Here I am with my new friend Meghan Thalkan! Meghan and I grew very close during the week!

After the interviews, the contestants attended the Rotary Luncheon at the Quality Inn and Suites, and also headed to the North Platte Daycare to spend some time with the local children!

The contestants at the Rotary Luncheon with our special guest for the week, Patrick Thomas!

With some fans at the Rotary Luncheon!

 I got interviewed by the local news station while at the Day Care!

With some of the kids.. :)

Thursday was the first night of preliminary competition! I competed in talent and evening gown and ended up winning the Preliminary Talent Award! Everyone was very strong in talent this night, so I was incredibly honored to be chosen as the talent winner!

Here I am in my final pose for talent!

Here I am in evening gown, thank you Winning Crown Boutique for helping me find this amazing dress! :)

Accepting the Preliminary Talent Award

Signing some autographs!

Another TV interview :)

It is always so nice to get to visit with my family after the pageant, I miss them all during the week!

Friday night was another night of preliminaries! Swimsuit and onstage question for me! I worked very hard all year staying in shape, and leading up to the pageant I took up running almost every day! I am glad to say that I will continue to run daily, it is addicting! I felt confident in my swimsuit and also answered both of my onstage questions to the best of my ability, so I was happy!

Here I am in swimsuit, thank you to my trainer Trent Coufal for helping me achieve this!

Some more friends and family time after the pageant! :)

My adorable nephew Kellen..

Aunt Marcy and Uncle Eric

With Tom, he has been so wonderful and supportive! :)

Saturday was the big day! We began the day with a parade, then attended the Miss Nebraska Outstanding Teen pageant in the afternoon, and at night it was the final night for the Miss Nebraska Pageant!

Meghan and I before the parade!

All of the contestants wishing Makenna, a local girl in North Platte, a speedy recovery for her heart transplant!

Here I am with Miss Nebraska 1942!

The final night of the pageant began with the announcement of the top 7..

From left to right: Katrina Poppert, Mindy Schreiber, Meghan Thalkan, Rachel Foehlinger, Kaylee Carlberg, Chrissy Townsend, and Mariah Cook!

The top 7 competed in each area of competition once again. This includes swimsuit, talent, and evening gown! From there, the top 5 move on to answer two final onstage questions. Before the announcement of Miss Nebraska and her court, there are several overall awards presented. I was so excited and honored to receive the Overall Talent Award! I had worked very hard all year on my talent routine and I was so glad that the audience and judges enjoyed my performance!!

Here are the top 5! From left to right: Rachel Foehlinger, Meghan Thalkan, Mariah Cook, Mindy Schreiber, and Katrina Poppert!

Before the final awards, here I am receiving the Overall Talent Award!

While I came to the pageant with my goals set high (with hopes of possibly becoming Miss Nebraska), I was so incredibly honored to receive 2nd runner up! I performed to the best of my ability, and with such an amazing group of women to compete against, I was so happy to get as far as I did!

And the winner is....MARIAH COOK!

Mariah is one of the most wonderful people I have ever met. She is beautiful inside and out!! This having been Mariah's third year competing, she had mentioned that it would be her last year! I am so happy that Mariah won and will have the opportunity to represent our state all year long and also at the Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas! I am hoping to go out to Vegas to support her in the pageant! She will make a wonderful Miss Nebraska!

All in all, I had an amazing experience at the Miss Nebraska Pageant this year! I performed to the best of my ability in all areas, made new friends (AWESOME new friends!!), got to hear an astronaut share his story, had the pleasure of meeting Patrick Thomas, a finalist from the Voice, and had the opportunity to share a week with 13 of the most beautiful and accomplished women in the state of Nebraska!

SO WHAT IS NEXT??

I do plan to continue competing for at least another year. I will begin that process in the fall by competing for another local title! I hope to be back at the Miss Nebraska Pageant in a year from now! In the mean time...I will be performing at the College World Series Opening Ceremonies this Thursday with my baton group, I will be traveling to Notre Dame University with the same group to compete at the Baton Twirling National Championships, and in the fall I will continue to do my favorite thing...twirling baton for the Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band (the Pride of All Nebraska!!) I will continue my studies in Advertising and Public Relations and Dance, and plan to become more involved with my sorority Gamma Phi Beta, as I only have one year left as an active member!! I'm sure there will be many more exciting things to happen, but this is all I have to share for now!

Hope you had fun reading!

Until next time,

Rachel Foehlinger

Miss Lincoln

Children's Miracle Network Golf Tournament

Hello everyone!

This morning I had the opportunity to volunteer for the Children's Miracle Network once again! It was the annual Children's Miracle Network Golf Tournament at the Player's Club in Omaha. I was there to greet the golfers as well as sell raffle tickets! I had such a fun time talking with the golfers and getting to know more of the volunteers for CMN! I helped at this event last year as well, and both times it was a huge success!!

Selling raffle tickets!

Love these stickers!

Hanging out with some of the golfers!

It is so wonderful to see so many people coming out to golf in support of the Children's Miracle Network! It is such an inspiring organization and I love being able to volunteer at all of the events they have each year. 

That's all for now!

Rachel

Miss Lincoln

KETV Hang Up and Drive Interview

Hello everyone!

As you may have seen on my Facebook page, I was interviewed on KETV (Channel 7) about my platform and how I came to choose it. For those who may not know, my brother Bobby was killed by a drunk driver when he was 21 years old, I was 12 at the time. He was a world champion baton twirler, a motivational speaker, a National DECA Officer, and a fierce friend and loving family member. Bobby was my mentor and my coach. At the age of 12, I had to deal with a devastating loss and was also forced to grow up and learn sooner than many kids my age, that any day can be your last. His motto was "Live, Love, Learn, Leave a Legacy," and I have worked every day since he passed to keep his legacy alive. I do so by speaking to audiences of all ages about the dangers of distracted driving (with a focus on texting and talking on the phone behind the wheel).

My platform is called "Hang Up and Drive." Even though Bobby was not killed by a person on their cell phone, I know what it is like to lose a family member due to the carelessness of another driver. It has become my mission to do my part to prevent such accidents from happening. I have talked to many groups including high schools, DECA students, and college fraternities and sororities about the dangers of texting and driving. I have created a pledge for people to sign after my presentations, and have gotten over 1,500 signatures on that pledge. I will never know if I have saved lives by doing this, but all I can do is do my best to inform others of the risks they face if they choose to use their phone while they drive.

KETV took an interest in my platform and my story, and asked me to come in and share my message. I have attached the link to the news cast at the bottom of this blog post. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Alexandra Hoffman for interviewing me and writing such a wonderful story in memory of my brother Bobby.

Getting the mic on for the interview

Alexandra and I during the interview

Alexandra was Miss South Dakota 2008, so after the interview we got to chat about pageants!

Thank you for having me KETV!

Future anchorwoman? 

I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to share my story on KETV Channel 7, thanks again to Alexandra for having me in for an interview!

Here is a link to the newscast!

http://www.ketv.com/news/local-news/Miss-Lincoln-speaks-out-against-distracted-driving/-/9674510/13479718/-/4xsw2tz/-/index.html

There are two weeks left until I leave for the Miss Nebraska pageant, and there is still much to do! I have many appearances set up for the next two weeks, not to mention the shopping and the rest of my pageant preparation that needs to be completed. All in all though, I am so ready for the pageant this year and cannot wait to get out to North Platte to spend a week with 13 of the most amazing girls in the state!! 

Until next time,

Rachel

Miss Lincoln

Another Visit to the Children's Hospital!

 

Hello everyone!

This morning I visited the Children's Hospital once again, it is always such an amazing experience! I worked with two little girls today, Chloe and Elly. We made paper bag animals and had a ton of fun! Chloe made FIVE animals, she made three dogs and two cats! Elly (who has eight chickens at home) made two chickens and named them after two of the chickens she has at home! We had a blast coloring, gluing, and chatting!

Visiting the Children's Hospital is one of my favorite things to do as Miss Lincoln, it reminds me of how awesome it is that the Miss America Organization has partnered with the Children's Miracle Network. The partnership has given titleholders like myself experiences that we would have never had otherwise. It also allows the kids a chance to meet and create memories with Miss America contestants!

My craft basket!

All set up and ready for the craft hour!

The paper bag owl that I made!

Such an amazing place to visit.

I always have such a great time at the hospital, I am looking forward to visiting again very soon! I still have more events and appearances coming up, so stay tuned!

Rachel

Miss Lincoln

Hang Up and Drive Presentation at Ralston High School

Hello everyone!

Recently, I have been very busy on the community service side of things. I have had a blast attending walks, fundraisers, and children's hospitals. This morning, I had the opportunity to talk about something that is very near and dear to my heart, my platform. My platform is called Hang Up and Drive, and it focuses on the dangers of texting and talking on the phone behind the wheel. Having lost my brother to the carelessness of another driver, this platform is very important to me.

I spoke to two groups that total around 100 students at Ralston High School this morning (my high school) and I was very impressed by the respect I received from the kids! The presentation I gave was about 15 minutes long, and hit on all of the major points when it comes to driving safety and the dangers of distracted driving. I hope that the students will remember these points before they ever pick up their phone while driving again!

 Speaking to the Ralston High School Concert Choir..

The students..

Taking a quick survey

I had a great time at Ralston this morning catching up with my favorite teacher, as well as talking to a group of students that I care deeply about, about a topic that I find so important. I hope that those students that raised their hands when I asked who had texted behind the wheel before, learned something today that will stay in their minds before they ever do it again. For those of them who do not drive yet, I hope they will keep what I said in mind and never even start the dangerous habit of texting and driving. This is a topic that everyone needs to hear about, because so many of us have the "it won't happen to me" mindset. I plan to continue promoting this platform for a long time and hopefully saving some lives in the meantime!

I still have events coming up in the near future, so stay tuned for more blog posts!

That is all for now!

Rachel

Miss Lincoln