Kevin E. Schmidt/QUAD-CITY TIMES Kay Pauszek of Bettendorf celebrates her final days as Miss Iowa 2005. She will pass the crown Saturday to one of 16 contestants vying for Miss Iowa 2006.
On Saturday, Miss Iowa 2005 Kay Pauszek will pass the tiara to one of 16 contestants vying for Miss Iowa 2006.
For Pauszek, 23, of Bettendorf it has been a busy year of work, appearances and teaching her talent, Ceili, or Irish step dancing.
When asked to sit back and take stock of her year as Miss Iowa, the first word out of her mouth is a “whew,” followed by a deep breath.“It’s been a rewarding year,” Pauszek said during one of her last interviews as Miss Iowa.“It was a lot of hard work, but I put so much into it because I wanted to get so much back,” she added. “There are a lot of obligations.”At one point, she visited 40 schools in three months.In her description of the past year is a warning for all future Miss Iowas.“You are the one recruiting appearances,” Pauszek said. “Nobody is doing it for you. You are the one bargaining with the people to cover some of your costs.“This is a business. You have to be able to multi-task, maintain your schedule and document everything from your e-mails to your phone calls to your mileage.”During her year, she got to drive a Chrysler Sebring convertible from Kimberly Chrysler.“After 6,000 miles, it was traded in for another one,” she said. “But it isn’t free. You have to pay your own insurance and gasoline.”And there are a lot of miles put on the road, she said.The highlight, of course, was the Miss America Pageant in January in Las Vegas.She was glad the pageant has been picked up by the Country Music Channel, or CMT, after going off network TV and moving from Atlantic City, N.J.“If they keep it in January, that’s great,” Pauszek said. “You really get to change and rehearse your routine.”In her Miss America appearance, she was able to perform her Irish step dance routine in an authentic Riverdance costume presented to her by Riverdance.“They were just so supportive,” she said of Riverdance. “There’s never been an Irish step dance in the Miss America pageant.CMT did a great job of bringing the pageant back to life, she added. “They promoted it so well,” she said.The contestants all went to Nashville, Tenn., in the fall to start their video packages for the pageant.While Kay did much of the work, her mother, Mari, got involved, too.“I get lists from her for errands,” Mari Pauszek said. One minute she’s at Kinko’s for copying, while the next she runs to the Gentry Shop to pick up a suit for her daughter that needed altering.Mari Pauszek wondered if her daughter would have a shot at Miss America.“For a while, we didn’t know if there was even going to be a pageant,” she said. “It would have been sad had it not been picked up.”As hard as the year has been, Kay Pauszek said she would do it all over again.“Being Miss Iowa has opened a lot of doors, and I earned thousands in scholarships for school,” she said.On top of that, she said she got the chance to develop new skills and hone old skills, all of which are required to succeed in professional life. Near the end of her reign, she began working in the advertising department of the Quad-City Times to start her professional career.And she has grown in ways she would not have expected at age 23.The responsibilities of the pageant job, she said, force a person to cast off any semblance of self-doubt, and any vestiges of laziness.“The key is to take the initiative, to be active,” Pauszek said.“I’m also glad it’s over. It’s time for me to move on with my life and make way for Miss Iowa 2006.”This last week as Miss Iowa will not be an easy for Pauszek. She is a big part of the Miss Iowa Pageant, a week of appearances, coupled with rehearsals, and then performances during the three days of the pageant Thursday, Friday and Saturday at North Scott High School, Eldridge.And to the new Miss Iowa, Pauszek says, “Get ready for a wonderful ride.”
TKPN
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