Miss Utah, and Platform

It's been a while since I've updated!

Lately, I've just been trying to get ready for the Miss Utah pageant! It's coming up quite soon, so obviously it's been on my mind constantly! Preparation has been going well, despite the hectic schedule I have this summer! I am getting more and more excited to represent the Basin at Miss Utah!

Anyway, I should update on a few things I've been doing in the community as Miss Uintah Basin. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go to the last two health fairs in the area, and that bummed me out SO much! The first health and safety fair was in Vernal on May 2nd, which was the day I was moving home from school, and taking my last finals. I was very upset that I had to miss it because I love to be involved in the car seat checks! The second health and safety fair just HAD to fall on the day of the Little Miss Tea! Yet another sad conflict that kept me from helping out. However, I am trying to set up a night when I can hold a workshop for parents. I want to teach them about why it's so important to buckle their kids up and to get their car seats checked. I'm still waiting to hear back from the Health Department to see if I can get it all worked out. I'm hoping to have that this month, possibly the week after Miss Utah.

Some other things I've been working on is recruiting for this year's pageant. This year is the 40th anniversary for the Miss Uintah Basin pageant. I think that's awesome! I got to write and produce entirely a commercial for it that is currently playing on KXRQ 3 times a day. I have had other PSAs playing on that station, and hopefully I can record some new ones to keep getting the word out about my platform!

I really am passionate about my platform. I love kids. It breaks my heart when I see them standing up in cars, not wearing seat belts, or not using car seats. One simple step of buckling up could save hundreds of lives! I hope to keep this message going throughout the community and help more people in our area understand the importance of car seat and booster seat safety.

A new law was put into place May of 2008. It's called Boost 'Til 8! It states that children are required to ride in the proper car seat or booster seat until they are at least 8 years old. The only exception is if they are 4' 9". It's a common misconception that if a child is 8 years old, they should never have to ride in a booster seat again. To be the most safe, a child should stay in a booster seat until they are 4' 9", because a seat belt in a car is made to fit adults, not children!
Another issue I really want to push with my platform is to make sure kids are buckled up for those short little trips to Grandma and Grandpa's house, or the trip that's just around the block. Most accidents happen within 1 mile of your home, so remembering to buckle your children up even for the short little trips around town is crucial. My hope for my last two months as Miss Uintah Basin is that I can help our community truly understand this, and get more people using car seats and booster seats.

Here's where you can learn more about car seat and booster seat safety!

http://intermountainhealthcare.org/hospitals/primarychildrens/childhealth/parenting/Pages/CarBoosterSeats.aspx

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an e-mail, and I'll be more than happy to answer it! missubic08@gmail.com

Remember, the simple step of buckling up your child could save them if an accident happens!

I have a blog!

Here it is, my first blog post!

After the Miss Utah workshop at the end of March, I decided keeping a blog would be awesome for my platform as well as the pageant.

With my platform, I'm working toward increasing the amount of car seat users in the Uintah Basin. This is a huge problem in our area, and it doesn't need to be!

I don't have much time to post right now because I'm working on homework, but I will try to post something weekly about my platform and what I'm doing with it in the Uintah Basin.

In the meantime, check out KXRQ and listen for my PSA about car seat safety!