Roosevelt School Visit

Last week I was able to go to Roosevelt School in Mankato to visit Ms. Nelson's class. The staff was so welcoming and the kids were so excited to see me! I sat in the "reading chair," the students gathered around with their candy canes, and I read part of "A Christmas Pageant," how fitting right? After reading to the kids, we had a Q&A session. I was asked questions such as, "Do you know Miss America?" to "What is your favorite animal?" all the way to "What is 9 + 10?" It is so amazing how the minds of fourth graders work and to see what information they think is important about me! I'm so used to being asked some really difficult questions in an interview setting so it is always nice to go into Elementary schools to be asked more simple questions. I had a blast volunteering for Roosevelt school and I hope to volunteer in the other schools of Mankato as well!
Love Always,
Lauren

MSU Playoff Game

 This Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the MSU playoff game! I was able to help sell tickets and I got to greet people into the Touchdown Club at halftime! This was a great way to get to know some of the MSU athletic department crew in hopes of taking part in some of their future events. I was also able to meet many community members and business owners, and I was able to see some familiar faces as well! I would like to thank Brandon Turgeon for being my chaperone and "bodyguard"! I would also like to congratulate the MSU football team on their win! Go Mavericks!!
Love Always,
Lauren

Kiwanis Holiday Lights and Parade

 I have one word to sum up the Kiwanis Holiday Lights...Wow! I came to the Kiwanis Lights just to simply watch the parade and walk through the park. However, TJ from Radio Mankato spotted me and brought me to their float and I was asked to walk with them. It was great spending time with the Radio Mankato crew and meeting more of their staff! One thing I learned about them, is that they know how to keep a parade interesting! I was also able to see my favorite pirate again, the Minnesota Jack Sparrow! Once the parade was over, we huddled in front of the stage in the park, where Santa plugged in the lights! This was my first time ever seeing the Kiwanis Holiday Lights and they are truly spectacular! I'm planning to visit Sibley Park at least one more time before the lights are taken down and I recommend that everyone visits the Kiwanis Holiday Lights as well!
Happy Holidays,
Lauren

Radio Mankato

 Today I was up bright and early to have my first 3 radio interviews at Radio Mankato!! It was so great to put a face to the voices I have been listening to for years. I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to get to know the staff of Radio Mankato and to share a little bit about myself to the Mankato community. Thank you so much to Radio Mankato for having me, I look forward to spending a lot of time with you all!!

I also met with my fantastic director, Shelly Bartlett, to discuss what I would like to do with my year. I won't reveal some of our ideas until they are set in stone... but what I can tell you is that it is going to be one amazing year and I'm so honored to have Shelly as my director!

Love Always,
Lauren

"Your Miss Mankato 2015 is... Lauren Fellows!!"

I am so extremely honored to have the opportunity to represent the amazing community of Mankato for the next year!! The moment they announced, "Your Miss Mankato 2015 is, contestant #6 Lauren Fellows" my heart stopped and my world stood still. I was so overwhelmed with so much excitement and gratitude that it felt as if it was all a dream. I grew up in the area and spent a lot of time in Mankato while growing up so it only made sense to compete for Miss Mankato, and I'm so glad I did! But for those of you that don't know me I should tell you a little bit about myself so that you can get to know your new Miss Mankato a little bit better, and I should tell you what pageant day was like for me!

First of all, I was born and raised in Montgomery, my family has a cabin in Elysian, and most of my family lives in Janesville which is also where I attend church at Trinity Lutheran Church. As soon as I was 2 1/2 years old, my life started to get busier and busier. I started dancing when I was 2 1/2 which means I have been dancing for 18 years and I have experience in tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, lyrical, modern, hip hop, and African dance. I was also a model for Toys 'R Us when I was a toddler so like I said, I started a busy life early. Throughout school I was involved in many different activities. I have played violin, piano, percussion and French horn and I was in choir for 4 years. I have been in 14 different theatre productions, where I played Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, just to name a couple. I was also involved in Volleyball, Dance Team, Softball, Student Council, Speech, National Honor Society, FFA, People to People Student Ambassadors, and Dance Society at Winona State University. I was also the representative of my hometown for a year and was Miss South Central 2013. I have been skydiving, cliff jumping, and have repelled off of a tower in Italy! I studied American Sign Language for 3 years and I have performed a monologue in the middle of the airport. I have been a lifeguard, worked on a farm, and am now doing landscaping type of work for the City of Burnsville during the summers. I am currently in my third year of college at Winona State University in Rochester, MN where I am earning my Bachelor's degree to be a Registered Nurse.

Now I can tell you how the Miss Mankato pageant day went for me! Pageant day started off great for me. I had a tremendous amount of support pouring in from just about everyone I knew. I even had people that I have only spoken to once sending me good luck messages. I cannot thank everyone enough for all of the support I received that day! Then I had my interview at the Verizon Wireless Center early in the afternoon. To be completely honest, I thought I had the worst interview I have had to date. I walked out of the interview room feeling defeated and I immediately called friends and family to vent my worries to them. I understand that I am my own worst critic but at that point I felt that I ruined the whole pageant for me! However, I decided to shake it off and give it my all on-stage that night! Then, about an hour and a half before the start of the pageant I cut the bottom of my foot open on a broken needle that was stuck in the carpet of the dressing room!! I couldn't believe this was happening to me and I thought maybe it was a sign! Good thing the nurse in me decided to pack a first-aid kit in my pageant supplies! I cleaned it up and put a band-aid on it and hoped it would stop hurting soon. Then came pageant time, and this is when everything got better! I can't express how much joy I have when I am performing on stage but it is where I feel the most comfortable and confident! At the end of it all, came the crowning moment...there were so many nerves and emotions running through me when they were about to call the new Miss Mankato! Then it happened, Jennifer called my name as your new Miss Mankato!! My friends and family started screaming immediately and I felt like I should pinch myself to wake me up from this amazing dream! After tons of pictures and meeting my fellow Miss Minnesota Class of 2015 sisters, I was shipped off to KEYC for a live television interview. It was so cool to see how the news works behind the scenes and I was so excited to have the opportunity to showcase a little bit about myself to the community of Mankato. After the interview I was able to join some of the audience members at Charley's to celebrate! It was great to see Miss Minnesota board members, visiting royalty, my fellow contestants, and my family members there to welcome me into this organization! I ended the night back home were even more family and friends were waiting to congratulate me! I am so grateful for all of the support I have received within the last 2 days. From the pre-pageant "Good Luck" messages to the post-pageant "Congratulations", it has all meant so much to me! Thank you so much for everyone's support and thank you to all of the judges for giving me this amazing opportunity!

I am so excited to get into the Mankato community to promote my platform, "Growing the Distance"- The Importance of Hair Donation, and to do as much community service as possible! My goal is to touch the lives of everyone that lives in Mankato and to make this community proud. I'm excited to work with the outstanding Miss Mankato board and get ready to represent Mankato on the Miss Minnesota stage and hopefully on the Miss America stage as well!!

I really want to incorporate social media into my year as much as possible so everyone can see what I am doing as Miss Mankato! You can follow me on twitter (@LaurenAFellows) and Instagram (MissMankato2015). Please 'like' the Miss Mankato Scholarship Organization on Facebook as well!!

Again, thank you so much for all of the support and thank you to the judges for this opportunity. I promise I won't let you down, and I will do everything in my power to make Mankato proud!

Your New Miss Mankato 2015,
Lauren Fellows