Rosenblatt

Rosenblatt Stadium is in its final month of professional baseball. I was asked as one of the 13 "Nebraska Celebrities" to help close down the historic stadium during its final month. I went to the stadium and threw out the first pitch. I was a little nervous to throw this pitch because it had been a good four years since I've thrown a softball or baseball. But to my surprise I made it to the plate!

Throwing out the first pitch.

Where things get real interesting is when the clouds change from a dark grey, to a yellow, and then to a weird dark red color. I had heard the rain was supposed to start around 7PM, but it was 8:30PM so I was thinking that the rain was holding off. And it was, until I went out to the outfield to take the mic and pull off the huge "3" to a "2" for the countdown. At that moment it started to down pour. And I don't mean a light rain; it started to come down in bucket fulls. I pulled off the big number "3" and said a few words and then we took off running. The bad thing was that there was hardly any coverage from the rain and we had to run all the way back around the diamond.

Preparing to tear down the "3" to a "2" in the pouring rain!

Drenched!

This was one of those memories that I will never forget. It was a lot of fun and made the night that much more interesting!

Yours truly,

Belinda Wright

Popcorn Days

I visited my second hometown, North Loup, to help celebrate Popcorn Days. I gave a short speech at the 7PM talent show thanking everyone for their wonderful support. After that I took lots of pictures with everyone. Then it was off to ride rides at the carnival for the evening! On Sunday I judged the floats then rode along and threw out candy! The parade was a blast, but with Nebraska weather I've realized you get either rain, wind, heat or snow. And during the parade I got wind! My candy box flew off during the middle of the parade and my crown nearly flew off! Last time I was in a parade I got rained on, so it was only right I got wind this time! Nebraska has to keep things interesting!

Little girls light up when they try out the crown! :-)

With girls from the talent show.

This guy is from Loup City, NE and has been to 186 consecutive Husker football games.

The dance team that I used to be on!

North Loup Popcorn Days is always a good time. There's free popcorn, since we are the popcorn county and always lots of things going on for the entire family to enjoy!

With my track coach from high school, an amazing woman who taught me so much not only in track but life.

Throwing out candy.

If you ever get a chance to check out Popcorn days, you won't be disappointed!

Belinda

Dancing With the Stars

I was honored to be invited to Youth Emergency Services' fundraising event-- Dance for a Chance. This fundraiser was held at the DC Centre on August 27th at 7:30PM. All profits from the event went to support the efforts to serve homeless youth who live with hunger and abuse issues on a daily basis. Dance for a Chance is a dance event similar to the television show, Dancing with the Stars.

The Dancers!

Ten area stars who included: Kim Armstrong (Foundation Program Coordinator at Mutual of Omaha), Nick Bahe (former Creighton basketball star and host of 1620 the Zone's Schnick & Nick Show), Chad Carr (President of Ticket Express), Kristen Case-Penrod ( Chief Service Officer for the city of Omaha), Anne Hindery (CEO of Non-profit Association of the Midlands), Mary Nelson (KMTV's The Morning Blend), Bo Ruud (Former Husker football star), Adrian Whitsett (KETV news anchor), and me Belinda Wright (Miss Nebraska USA). We all had dance lessons from a professional dancer prior to performing for the fundraiser. After each star performs, judges will score the dancers and the audience has the opportunity to vote as well.

With Mary from the Morning Blend.

Amanda came to watch!

I had four practices prior to the competition and fell in love with Latin dancing. My partner and dance instructor, Zach, decided that the cha cha was the best suited dance to perform. It is one of the most challenging styles of Latin dance so I was instintly excited! We decided on a personal favotire song of mine: Black and White by Michael Jackson. If any of you know me, or watched my web interview from Miss USA you know that I am a MJ fanatic. This way, even if the dance went bad, the song would be awesome! Our dance featured 2 dips and dramatic lift for the ending. I was nervous I would have trouble remembering the complex routine, but come the night of the show I had it down!

I was happy with my scores receiving all 9s. Chad Carr ended up winning the even from online voting that knocked everyone else out of the water! But some of you may be wondering what is YES? YES stands for Youth Emergency Services. For over 35 year Youth Emergency Services has offered a safe place for young people in crisis. Last year along more than 160 homeless and at-risk teens spent at least one night in the Omaha shelter. The Youth Street Outreach Program helped 425 homeless and street dependent young people to find a safe place to stay, something to eat, and supplies to get though a time of crisis. YES workers also guided those who needed special help to the right places. YES also has a maternity group home and a transitional living program. Both programs assist homeless and at-risk youth as they transition to living independently in the community. Check out YES here.

Waiting for the results.

Guerin Austin, a former Miss Nebraska was there!

The evening was completely successful and I was so happy my grandma and mom made the trip to the event. But the night wouldn't have been so special if it wasn't for the volunteering we did with YES. That Wednesday we went in and met the youth who were utilizing YES. We served them food and got to talk one on one with many. They opened up and I left feeling extremely inspired and thankful. YES is an organization that is helping change lives. So dancing in the event to fun YES was simply amazing.

-Belinda Wright