Melaina Shipwash

Wow, I can’t believe I am writing to you all right now as the newly crowned Miss Colorado 2010!  It is still very surreal but I could not possibly be more excited and anxious to start my year of service.  I feel so blessed and grateful to have this opportunity and am trying to find a slow motion button to press for my year to be able to take it all in!  I would like to start by saying thank you to everyone who supported me in my journey to become Miss Colorado 2010.  Now, I am blessed to have you all, as the road continues as I prepare to compete for the title and the greatly desired job of Miss America 2011, on January 12th-15th at the Planet Hollywood hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.  I am also very excited to tell those of you who have not heard that the Miss America 2011 Pageant will be airing live on January 15th on ABC!  

There are many people to which I would like to express my deepest gratitude, so please bare with me, as this may be a long one!  Thank you so much to my family and dear friends.  I know it wasn’t easy watching me try on every outfit I could possibly combine from each piece of clothing in my closet.  I probably ended up wearing something that didn’t even match because we all got so tired of asking and hearing, “Does this look like something Miss Colorado would wear?”  Mom and Dad, thank you for helping me get and keep everything in order as well as taking the overflow of my preparations and ensuring me that everything would be all right.  You are the most amazing parents in the world and I love you both from the bottom of my heart.  Thank you also for going to what seemed like endless stores looking for the perfect swimsuit, opening number shoes, and interview dresses with me.  It never hurts to have a back up to a back up!  Brittany, thank you for being such a great sister and supporting me no matter what; and you are welcome for giving you an excuse to go to Las Vegas.  James, thank you for your incredible patience with me as I prepared for this competition.  This will be a life changing year and I’m so glad to have you by my side as my best friend.  Thank you to my Producer/Choreographer and Executive Director, Katee and Suzi.  You two are the most magnificent people in the world and I can’t express in words how excited I am to spend the next year working closely with you.  Keely, you made me the best Melaina I could be for this competition and I know I will continue to grow and change as I run with anticipation toward the crown of Miss America 2011.  Because of the resources with which you have provided me, I was able to achieve my dream and now I’m going after the next one!  Lisa, my dance was so much fun this year and I could not have been beaming with a smile through the whole thing without you.  You are an extremely talented choreographer and not to mention a great listener when my life is all over the place.  Thank you for sharing your gift of dance and talent with me.  To everyone in the crowd that was cheering me on, you have no idea how much it means to me to have you with me.  With each cheer, I knew I had people looking up to me and having faith in my ability to wear the crown and do the job of Miss Colorado 2010; and do this job, I will!  To my princesses, the four of you melt my heart every time I think about you.  Having you girls escort me for evening gown was the highlight of my night and you all looked so beautiful in your “aqua” dresses!  I look forward to spending time with each and every one of you throughout my year and for the rest of our lives.  To Katie Layman, having you crown me meant more to me than you will ever know.  I look up to you and have been inspired by your year of service and your performance on the national stage at Miss America 2010.  I will do my absolute best to fill your shoes as the new Miss Colorado.  David and Carry from Regalia, thank you for my gorgeous evening gown!  I felt so beautiful every time I put it on and it was the perfect dress for me!  I’m so glad I get to continue to work with the two of you, just as long as you keep calling me “trouble.” Don Baker, thank you for the highly valuable training sessions and for teaching me how to have a wonderful interview while being “just Melaina.”  To my sponsors, thank you for sticking with me and supporting me with ad pages for the past three years as I’ve competed for this title.  To my new 2010 sisters, Lexie and Kayla, we have such a fun year ahead of us.  I am so glad to be along side the two of you.  You both are so beautiful as well as genuine and deserve the best that this year has to offer.  To the girls I competed with, this title means so much more to me knowing that I have competed with the best.  You are all truly talented women and I hope this organization has done as much for you as it has done for me.  Press on and pursue your dreams as you all have great potential to be the next Miss Colorado.  Lastly, but most certainly not least, thank you to my panel of wonderful judges.  The five of you have changed my life forever and have helped me fulfill one of my life long dreams and goals.  I will represent Colorado proudly and to the best of my ability at Miss America and I will make each of you proud…that is a promise!  Thank you for this job and thank you for believing in me.  I will be keeping everyone posted as my year continues with appearances and community involvement, and as I prepare to compete at nationals in six short months!

Thank you again to you all,
Melaina Shipwash
Miss Colorado 2010