Author:
 Tommy ()
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 09:18:30 10/07/08 Tue
October 05, 2008
April Robinson
The Record
Oktoberfest Expo, a warmup to the Oktoberfest itself, was helped along by a $261,000 provincial grant. Miss Oktoberfest, Natalie MacNeil 22 of Kitchener taps a keg along with Kevin Schmitt.
KITCHENER - Natalie MacNeil is using a 40-year-old platform to push a modern message.
The 22-year-old Kitchener native and University of Waterloo graduate was crowned Miss Oktoberfest on Friday.
The ambassador contest was treated as a beauty pageant until 2003. But MacNeil wants young girls to know it's beauty on the inside that matters.
"I think it's really hard for little girls growing up," said MacNeil, an Internet entrepreneur who wants to start a Miss Oktoberfest blog.
"When you stay true to yourself, that's when you're really a beautiful person."
MacNeil is familiar with the pageant circuit. She has represented Canada as Miss Global in China, Miss Tourism in Tanzania, and International Model of the Year in South Korea.
In all she's been to 50 countries.
But none of those experiences will compare to being Miss Oktoberfest, she said.
She remembers sitting along the parade route as a child, waiting to wave at Miss Oktoberfest.
"It's really been a part of my life for as long as I can remember," she said of the Bavarian festival that begins Friday.
MacNeil, who was having a photo shoot Saturday after getting fitted for a traditional dirndl, will attend more than 130 events over the next two weeks. She was chosen from 16 applicants who live within an 80-kilometre radius of Kitchener and Waterloo.
Organizers used to invite applicants from across North America to compete in a pageant that included a swimsuit competition. Now, local women must show they have a range of experience and confidence to be a suitable festival ambassador and role model for young women.
Since graduating from UW in June, MacNeil has launched a website for Internet entrepreneurs and keeps a blog, "Taking on the World in Four-Inch Heels."
She hopes to bring some of her innovative ideas to the festival, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
"Whenever you have an anniversary, you can see how far we've come," she said.
"Going into the next decade, we need to modernize the message."
http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/BreakingNews/article/388525
Last edited by author: Tue October 07, 2008 11:29:16
Edited 2 times.
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
|
Feedback: 