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November 2011 Edition Of"The Excellence"
The Kronicles of Kirby "Ladies and gentlemen, rise to your feet and
greet your new Miss Gay America ... Kirby Kolby." It seems like I had waited a lifetime to hear
those words, and at times I doubted if I ever would. Yet
on October 16, 2011, those words rang through The Riffe Center in Let me be the first to say that my journey to
the crown has not been an easy one. I competed five times from 1995
- 2000 with moderate success, always making the Top 10, and or placing in the
Top 5. Even though many think I left the system, I must
correct them and say that is not the case. Even though I was not competing,
I still held The Miss Gay America system in the highest regards, as it was
something that was very dear to me. I contributed as a judge, a dresser,
a mentor, and an advisor to many contestants who competed in city, state,
regional, and the national pageants. After 11 long years, I returned
to the Miss Gay America stage for a sixth time, as a different person in
hopes of capturing my most sought after dream. "Different how?", you may ask. Well,
as I told the judges in my interview, I lost a part of myself during those 11
years. I found myself going thru life and performing with no real
motivation, drive, or purpose. Something was missing and I didn't really
feel like I was a part of anything. So I did a lot of soul searching
and asked myself what I really wanted, and the answer was to be Miss Gay
America. Not only for myself, but for the system as a whole ...the
owners, the formers, the promoters, the contestants who hope to one day
wear the crown, and the fans who support the system. So, this year I wear the coveted crown of Miss
Gay America for all of us. I represent everyone who has invested time,
money, sweat, and tears into the betterment of the system. I hope
to inspire and encourage individuals during my travels, to not only
believe in themselves, but to be a part of, and believe in, something bigger
and greater in this life. I realize that we are in this journey
together, and I hope that we can lean on and trust in each other throughout
this year. On that note, I must thank the many people who stood
by me and helped me during my years of competition. Not only to the
wonderful group who assisted me this year, but to everyone who has been a part
of the Kolby Krew, even in years gone by. I could not have achieved this
on my own, and I am forever grateful to you all for believing in me and
being a part of my life. Each of you helps my crown to shine a little
brighter. In closing, I would like to leave you all with a
quote from one of my favorite songs. "A fool will lose tomorrow,
reaching back for yesterday." With that being said, I ask that you all join with
me and not dwell on the past, but to move forward and look to the
positive. Hand in hand, we can continue the great and prestigious
legacy of the Miss Gay America system, as the most renowned competition for
female impersonators. From My Heart! My Life On The "E" List
Last but certainly not least I would like to
thank Larry and Terry. You prove it every day in your passion for the art. I
will forever be indebted to you. May you both find happiness and never lose
sight on what is important...changing people’s lives.... I love you
both... Love and Respect, From the desk of Larry & Terry
What
An Amazing Week! Wow… for as much time and energy that we inserted into the production
of the Miss Gay America 2012 pageant, it is hard to believe that the pageant
arrived and then ended so quickly. As anyone vaguely familiar with production
can attest, countless hours go into a successful event and what a successful
event it was. All of the contestants were incredible and the audience was
certainly entertained. Granted there were ups and downs and hurdles to tackle
during the week, but all things considered the week was a very smooth week. In
fact, in our 7 years of production, the Miss Gay America 2012 pageant was by
far, the smoothest… it seemed to take much more effort than in prior years to
get things started as there were many off stage issues for which to contend, but
according to most, this was the best year of pageantry for any national
competition. The Top 10 was incredible. Our heartbreaking moment was to see a
few not make the Top 10… as we all tend to do, many emotions accompany support
of contestants, and when individuals do not score as well as they hope, we are
disappointed as well. We congratulate Miss Gay America 2011 Coti Collins on an
incredible week. Her relinquishment of the title was as classy and glamorous as
her reign and it was great to see her have such an amazing week.
Coti has had an incredible reign and was a prime example of “being it
before you become it”… as we always say, you must exemplify THE qualities
and characteristics, long before you
become it. Then, when you compete,
you are not attempting to be something you are not. And, when you embrace the
values of the Miss Gay America pageant system, you will have a much easier week
of competition. We are very anxious to continue the schooling process for Miss
Gay America 2012 Kirby Kolby. As can clearly be seen, Kirby possesses many of
the qualities that each of us think that a Miss Gay America should have
therefore, the foundation is already strong and this year has the ingredients of
being yet another exceptional year. Each Miss Gay America is unique, but one
thing they have in common is that each of them have had the same opportunity to
continue and to enhance the legacy that is before them. Some who were crowned
Miss Gay America did not make the most of their year, while others excelled
during their reign and were placed into that group of being “one of the very
best”. But one thing for certain
was that all had the same opportunity to have an incredible year. We make every
effort to provide the reigning Miss Gay America with all of the tools needed to
have a great year…but we can only do so much… the rest is up to them. We are
excited to watch Miss Gay America
2012 Kirby Kolby have nothing short of an amazing year and we look forward to
the education process. Now is a yet another humbling part, which is to observe
the formers, as they embrace and aide in the schooling of their new sister, as
they (the formers) want to preserve their legacy just as much as we do. There were so many people who helped make the Miss Gay America 2012
pageant such a success. Below is just a few who made the year so amazing. If we
have omitted someone, please forgive us in our recognition as it was not
intentional. ·
To Miss Gay America 2011 Coti Collins- thank you for an
amazing year. You made our difficult year a much easier one and we so much
appreciate you. ·
To Aron Harvey a/k/a as Miss Gay America 2000 Catia Lee
Love, your direction of the pageant is second to none and we thank you for your
dedication to this pageant system ·
To Lezli Droke and Renee Oliver- your willingness to aid on
the admission desk is exceptional and we so enjoy the relationship we have with
you. Thank you for wanting to be part of the Miss G ay ·
To Scott Peters a/k/a as Miss Gay America 2005 Raquel
Chevallier- you were amazing to work with and we thank you for your efforts to
be nothing short of an incredible Pageant Administrator. Thank you for a job
well done. ·
To Bruce Lamensdorf-thank you for your offsite update to
the web site during the Miss Gay America pageant system ·
To Reba Lamkey Knabe and Chris Wilderman-thank you for your
assistance with advance ticket sales ·
Joe Bradley-for the timing of preliminary night gown, Solo
Talent and Talent set-up ·
Miss Gay America 2006 Nicole DuBois-for the collection of
the music during preliminary competition ·
To the former Miss Gay America’s in attendance-for an
incredible Revue Show (Jennifer Foxx, Vicki Vincent, Tiffany Bonet’, Kerri
Nichols, Catia Lee Love, Charity Case, Sabrina White, Dominique Sanchez, Raquel
Chevallier, Nicole DuBois, Luscious, Victoria DePaula, Coco Montrese and Coti
Collins… what an amazing show! ·
Robert York, Ryan Henry, Christopher Blair-for your
monitoring of the Male Interview competition ·
Robert York for your sponsorship of the sash, crown box and
mini-scepter ·
To the many sponsors of the Miss Gay ·
Chris Wilderman for your willingness to help in any
capacity ·
The incredible judges panel
(you were among the best panel we have worked with) ·
The Sheraton Hotel staff… you were amazing to work with ·
The staff of the ·
The promoters who were there to take care of their girls
during the pageant ·
Sam Schisler-for your willingness to do whatever necessary
to see this year’s pageant as such a huge success ·
Union Café’ for the VERY generous gift cards ·
Club Axis for your sponsorship of the Revue Show ·
My Bling Diva-for the very generous gift certificates ·
Lucinda Holliday for your continued support and jewelry
collection ·
Las Vegas Costume Supply for your amazing sponsorship and
support ·
BRAVO Organization for your assistance in any way needed · Believe Entertainment staff for the help in any place we needed ·
Aron
Aranda and the Ohio Krewe for your continued and amazing support for this event
to be better than before ·
Brian Menegy-what can we say, just you being there made us
feel better, then for your to work your magic backstage, made for an amazingly
smooth contest. We appreciate you but Catia appreciates you even more ·
Miss Gay Texas America 2010 Gizelle Bevon Ashton
for your assistance with stage set up and timing of the critique session · Ben Menges a/k/a Truly Fabu for providing a copy of the many photographs of the week's competition. As once can see, there are many who have assisted us in
making this pageant, such a success and clearly, we could not produce such a
pageant, by ourselves. Again, if we overlooked anyone, please know that it was
not intentional. And if you think the Miss Gay America 2012 pageant was
great, just wait until you see what the Miss Gay America 2013 pageant season has
in store. We are busily preparing Kirby Kolby to be everything and more that you
expect. We will soon have promotional photographs available and anxiously await
the photo shoot. Granted, the work
is just beginning but the expectations remain high and the rewards can be
plentiful, if the heart, mind and soul is in the right place. Until next time, please take time to embrace the blessing
and enjoy the holiday season.
A Note From The Editor
The Excellence strives to be an informative newsletter delivered to the promoters,
contestants, audience and other supporters of the Miss Gay America Pageant System throughout the year. Should there be any issue or topic of discussion a promoter would like to see addressed (or to write an article to be published) in a future newsletter, please contact the editor via
Email.
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