just to catch up...

Long overdue…. Sorry for taking so long; perfect for a stormy weekend.

To begin where I left off… 

OYT Girls with the Amerikick guys
 

On Your Toes Dancewear has been the Island’s number 1 supplier for dance gear! I have been shopping there for as long as I have been dancing and was thrilled when they asked me to join them for their grand re-opening. They moved their location to a bigger and better store on Lincoln Avenue right off of Richmond Road. I was excited to see all the girls and of course Little, Laurens cat who hangs around the store. A portion of the stores profit that day was going towards NEDA. Thank you OYT for your continuing support!! Best of luck xo

An appearance I had been looking forward to since I received the title of Miss Richmond County; the Richmond County Fair!!! On September 3^rd I went to Historic Richmond Town to attend to Richmond County Fair. I had a blast at the fair, there were so many different and interesting vendors there. One point in the day I had to make my way to the hot dog eating contest to present the winners with their prizes. I ended the day by getting my arm tattooed; it was just paint but still very beautiful.

just some hotties with crowns

The following week on September 8^th, A bunch of the girls from the Miss New York Pageant and I had a mini reunion at the TEAL Walk. TEAL or Tell Every Amazing Lady is a non-profit organization bringing awareness to ovarian cancer. The girls and I got to sash the survivors that day. The day was filled with remembering loved ones who had lost their lives to ovarian cancer, celebrating the those who are survivors and telling every amazing lady about ovarian cancer. The day had called for rain and boy did it rain. We all joined together and chanted “Tell Every Amazing lady” to make the rain stop, to everyone’s surprise; it did! The sun came out and everyone was able to enjoy the walk in the sunshine!

 On Facebook one day I came across an event that touches close to home. This event was at Mia Passione Salon and it was in memory of a fallen NYPD Officer, Detective Russel Timoshenko. All money donated that day will help assist families of injured and fallen members of the NYPD. Many of my family are retired or active members of the NYPD, so this meant a lot to me to show my respect and contribute to the event. Jackie was my hair stylist and I LOVED the way my hair came out!!!! I also won a gift basket full of hair products. Thank you Mia Passione Salon, I will be back!!!

The next night September 15^th I joined some of my extended family at the Greek Festival right here on the Island. THE FOOD IS AMAZING!!! I don’t know which is better the dessert or the food!! I was able to watch traditional dances performed by children of the church; such tradition and beauty behind it! Also there was Alexa Moley, Miss RC TEEN. I hadn’t seen Alexa in a while so I was excited to see her!

The Staten Island Heart Association invited me to their third event of the year on September 21. This one was a little different from the rest. This one was a golf classic that took place at the beautiful Silver Lake Golf Club. I got to meet and take pictures with all the teams. I want to thank the SI Heart Association for always having me be a part of their events. They do a great job of getting the community aware of the dangers of heart disease.

Rhythm Central Gang

I hadn’t participated in the Light the Night walk since high school and I was happy to be back. The Light the Night organization is a non-profit that helps hundreds of thousands of Americans battling leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. This year I walked with my dance studio (Rhythm Central.)We walked for one of our own and my student in class, Abigail Rzucidlo who is a survivor of neuroblastoma.It was a bittersweet feeling being at the walk. There were so many survivors who were there walking with their families and friends behind them. But there were also those families and friends walking behind a gold balloon in memory of loved ones lost to cancer. With all the advances we have with technology today there is still so much to be learned about cancer and how it affects us. To find out more information or to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma society please go www.lightthenight.org.

Me and my girl Abby <3

 

 

 



The next day I headed to Brooklyn for their 3^rd Avenue Festival. My brother’s store; Artisan Food Valley is located on 3^rd avenue and 92^nd street. So my brother and I shared the space in front of his store. I was there to raise money for the NEDA WALK. The festival was a lot of fun, I had never been there before and there was so much going on. There was food everywhere; I loved it! Thank you to BK for helping out towards NEDA.

Beryl from the Amvets Hospital
 

After my first visit to the AMVETS Hospital in Brooklyn last December, I felt obligated to help out our Veterans in any way I could. So on October 5^th I joined AMVETS Post 103 and their Ladies Auxiliary for the annual gift auction. This auction helps support our veterans. Even though I didn’t win anything, it was much more rewarding giving back to our Veterans. I will keep you posted in the very near future about more work that I will need your help for regarding our Veterans! 

some of the crowd

Finally the NYC NEDA WALK was here (October 7^th)! I had worked all year towards this day to raise money for the walk; we have raised $3,000 towards NEDA!!! Congratulations and thank you! The walk took place at Foley Square in Manhattan. In all, the NYC NEDA walk raised close to $200,000! I will continue to fight the battle against eating disorders. If you want further information or want to donate please go to www.nationaleatingdisorder.org.

Diana Williams a huge support of NEDA
 

Mrs. Carol Ann Benanti

On October 14^th, the girls, Jamie Macchia Miss SI, Alexa Moley Miss RC Teen and I joined Borough President James Molinaro for the 21^st Annual celebration of Italian Heritage for the borough. The Honoree was advance columnist Carol Ann Benanti. Mrs. Benanti has been great to all of us title holders. She has followed us since we first decided to enter the pageant and has helped reveal our journeys through her column. Congratulations! Xo

This past Saturday (October 27^th) I was invited to join Amerikick Karate for their kidnapping workshop.  AmeriKick has two locations on Staten Island the one I attended is on Lincoln Avenue on the corner of Richmond Road. This workshop was great! This was different from anything I had learned in school. I remember from way back in grade school, a police officer or teacher would sit with us and explain kidnapping. They would talk about the usual no taking to strangers, even if they offer you candy or a puppy. They would tell us that it could be a man or a woman and to yell as loud as we could to cause a scene and someone would come to help.  And that’s pretty much all I remembered from it. This workshop was a little different. It taught the kids how to try and get away from their kidnapper. The Sensei showed different moves to the kids and made them practice on one another, I even got to practice!! The Sensei told me that these moves could work for an adult as well, but another move to try on an attacker would be to poke them in the eyes. The eyes are the only spot on the body that we cannot protect, and since woman are usually weaker than men and it would be difficult to take down a man if he were to attack you.  There will be more in the works coming from the guys of Amerikick and I, New Year’s Resolutions here we come!! Interested in Amerikick and what they have to offer visit www.amerikick.com.

Most recently, I was at the Walk Now for Autism Speaks walk this morning (October 28^th.) I joined my St. Paul’s School of Nursing classmates. We have had bake sales in school and collectively raised $400. Autism is a growing illness with 1 in 88 children diagnosed with Autism on the spectrum. To learn more or to support please go to www.walknowforautismspeaks.org

xOxO,
Steph <3