Month: August 2017

It’s quite the title to win “Miss Amazing” and an “amazing” St. Peters woman is competing for the title in Chicago as a representative for Missouri.

Stephanee Corcoran, 36, won Missouri Miss Amazing in November 2016. She is headed to Chicago to participate in the National pageant from August 5-7. The pageant showcases girls and women with disabilities and provides opportunities to build confidence and self-esteem in a supportive environment.

Corcoran’s favorite part of the pageant is the dance.

“I’m doing a country line dance,” said Corcoran.

She’s been practicing her routine to Andy Grammer’s song, “Honey, I’m Good” for her performance in the pageant.

“Kind of like nervous, exciting moments,” Corcoran said.

She never thought she’d win the regional competition, so it’s a dream come true for her to compete nationally.

“My mom will have a flip if I were to win again,” said Corcoran.

Now that she’s competing for a much bigger crown, she picked out a dress to match the prize.

“The pink one is the new one, I just got that out in Festus,” said Corcoran.

Corcoran fundraised all the money to get her to Chicago. She is supported by Bethesda Lutheran Communities, a Christian organization that provides homes and services for people with developmental disabilities. Bethesda staff has been helping her prepare for the pageant.

Sunflowers for Wishes is an annual event at a local farm to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“The perfect place to be on a sunny day. I’m actually a cancer survivor a childhood cancer survivor so it’s really close to my heart,” said Julia Bery of Bethany.

Each year over 14 acres of sunflowers are planted at Buttonwood Farms in Griswold.

Usually, the farm harvests 300,000 blooms every summer.

“It’s going good. A beautiful sunny day today. It’s been a challenging year because of all the wet weather we’ve had. But it’s a beautiful day and a lot of people here. This will be our 15th year for sunflowers for wishes and all these people are here to help support Make A Wish Foundation in Connecticut,” said Dwayne Button, of Buttonwood Farms.

He tows children around the flower patch on what’s called the “Cow Train.”

Bouquets of five sunflowers are sold for $10 to go to Make-A-Wish, and some go far as to get purchase the sunflower shirts.

Over the past 13 seasons, Buttonwood Farms has donated over $1 million to Make-A-Wish Foundation, and people come from near and far to admire and enjoy.

“We came down because when he was a baby, sunflowers were his favorite and it was actually the flower of my husband and I had at my wedding,” said Tovah Stephenson, of Providence, RI.

Sunflower tours will end on Sunday, and the following Sunday, the cows will be let in to eat and clean up the mess.