Enjoy every moment

Congratulations, Angela Perez Baraquio! Such thrill and excitement it must be for you. It's really nice to see our very own Miss Hawai'i crowned Miss America 2001!!! Once again, congratulations, best wishes and enjoy every moment!

Craig and Louise Miyahira


Aloha, Miss America

Just wanted to say, "Way to Go!!!" I've been following up on the prelims and got my family to watch. We watched from Las Vegas, where we have resided now for seven years.

Before the countdown of the runner-ups, we were betting who would place what and, of course, we all ended up with Miss Hawai'i as the winner.

We just want to say, CONGRATULATIONS, Angela, although we don't know one another personally. Good luck in the coming year as Miss America.

Take care and aloha

Matt Martin


She conveyed Hawai'i

First, Brook Mahealani Lee, Miss Hawai`i USA, catapulted to Miss USA, en route to the Miss Universe 1997 crown. Then, most recently, Mrs. Hawai`i, Leslie Lam, became Mrs. America 2000.

Saturday, Angela Perez Baraquio, Miss Hawai`i, attained the singularly stellar achievement of Miss America 2001.

Best of all, her talent presentation was THE HULA! A first ever, that sprung Angela right into top contention. Her talent presentation, as well as her gown appearance and impromptu interview, won over her closest competition (in my humble opinion) Miss California -- a poised, statuesque, lovely Chinese-American, a Stanford graduate with a 3.9+ GPA, now in medical school, with an incredibly polished classical piano talent.

Dancing to "I am Hawai`i" -- a hapa-haole song on the soundtrack of the movie, Hawai`i -- Angela mesmerized the audience.

Not exactly music of the Hawaiian renaissance -- and all in English -- but beautiful nonetheless, and capable of conjuring gorgeous images of Hawai`i. Breathtakingly beautiful, she danced with great feeling and confidence -- not a nervous waver in her hands, conveying her emotions of warm aloha and mahalo. She fully captivated the judges and the audience, included us in TV land.

I've always had a soft spot for Miss America, as its scholarship monies do make educational dreams come true for thousands of young women. Last night, not only did Angela win big $$$ -- $50,000! -- to be used toward her pursuit of her master's degree, but she also displayed her skills as a seasoned educator par excellence. As a graduate of UH Manoa, she had honed her skills by teaching children at a Honolulu school.

On the pre-show video interview filmed in Hawai`i, complete with blue skies and shimmering, palm trees and sandy beach, she educated her vast audience about the hula by speaking of its historical roots, as well as expressing her own intensely personal love of the hula. During her talent performance, she demonstrated that genuine and intense feeling of the hula, introducing a whole new and stunningly beautiful genre to the pageant and its audience.

And she was so herself: very local, warm and alive, expressive, openly affectionate and flashing a "shaka" sign, as she walked down the runway for her triumphant and traditional walk.

She proved herself to be impressively poised and articulate, and touchingly so, when she used the last few moments of the telecast to recognize the behind-the-scenes volunteers, the unsung heroes and heroines, who worked so hard to put the show and the contest together.

Ha'aha'a (humility). She made us proud.

Here's a link with some info on her:
http://www.abc.go.com/primetime/missamerica/contestants/hi.html

Me ke Aloha,
Lei "Aunty D" Fujimoto

Hawai'i fan sends greetings

Hi Angela,

Good luck to you! Have a great year. You are really beautiful. I went to Hawai'i in May 1998. I'm a television reporter and I was covering the Miss Universe Pageant. I love Hawai'i. God illuminate you.

Best regards,
Roberto Macedo
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil


Hawaii's ambassador to America

We deeply appreciate your willingness to serve as the American ambassador from Hawai'i representing the women to the whole world! We heard you on Good Morning America as you gave Katie an aloha goodby wish. Please continue to spread the Hawaiian spirit of good will to all.

It was reported that you're going to focus on character education. May we suggest that you also spread around the expression "Drive with Aloha!" It is featured in our new book, "Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare." We are mailing the book to you and hope you will help reverse the current awful trend of aggressive driving that kills and maims more people every year than all the U.S. wars combined.

And especially, teen-agers are at the greatest risk. Let's help prevent our children from growing up as the next generation of aggressive drivers. As Hawai'i educators, we are especially motivated to bring this information to the public, to empower people with the knowledge of how to modify their driving habits.

Aloha,
Leon James and Diane Nahl
Kailua, Hawaii


"Character education' important in instilling values

Congratulations and an A+ to the beautiful, eloquent, graceful and humble Miss America 2001, Angela Perez Baraquio. She radiantly gleamed, personifying all aspects of her intellect. In particular, I remembered an announcement made during the pageant of Ms. Baraquio wanting to pursue "character education" throughout her reign. I feel that this topic is very crucial in molding young children to gain values/attributes toward morality. Having an ethics curriculum set whether at home or at the pre-school age or even early elementary assists in instilling plain old good values that carries on through life. I'd like to be on Ms. Baraquio's team! We're all very proud to have you represent Hawai'i as well as the nation!

Congratulations and an A+ to the beautiful, eloquent, graceful and humble
Miss America 2001 Angela Perez Baraquio. She radiantly gleamed, personifying
all aspects of her intellect. In particular, I remembered an announcement
made during the pageant, of Ms. Baraquio wanting to pursue "Character
Education" throughout her reign. I feel that this topic is very crucial in
molding young children to gain values/attributes toward morality. Having an
ethics curriculum set whether at home or at the pre school age or even early
elementary, assists in instilling plain old good values that carries on
through life. I'd like to be on Ms. Baraquio's team! We're all very proud to
have you represent Hawaii as well as the nation!

Respectfully,
Sonia Beaver


Educating Americans about our multi-ethnic society

Congratulations on your winning the Miss America contest!  Your calm, poise and dignity will help educate the rest of America on the multi-ethnic society we are all becoming

Aloha,
Edwyna Spiegel Fong
Mother of two adult hapa-haole children! :-)


Heart belongs to Hawai'i

I wanted to extend a personal congrats to Angela Perez Baraquio. Even though I have recently relocated to Columbus, Ga., my heart belongs to Hawai'i.

Aloha to you all and especially to Miss America.

Karen Williams, CRNI
Columbus, Ga.


Beauty beyond the physical

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