The Morning Blend
Welcome
Complete Media Kit
SIERRA VISTA — It was the peek-a-boo television crew from Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions that had Sierra Vista schools in a tizzy on Friday.
In town to film a segment of Winfrey’s new primetime reality show, “The Big Give,” first they were going to be at Village Meadows Elementary School. Then they were going to be at Pueblo del Sol Elementary School.
Whoops. Nevermind. They’ll be at Buena High at noon.
Sorry, that’s not it. We’re back to Village Meadows.
|
|
And so it went, as Brandi Milloy, former Miss Sierra Vista and a graduate of Buena High and the University of Arizona, scrambled to make a dream come true for little Alysianna Nelson, an 11-year-old who suffers from a brain tumor and is currently home-schooled.
“I’m very, very, very excited,” said Erin Nurss, the current Miss Sierra Vista. “I hope I don’t choke up. This is by far the best experience of my year. When Brandi called, I said ‘absolutely,’ right away.”
The dream to be made real was for Alysianna to become the honorary Miss Sierra Vista, with all the trappings of a real pageant, including a parade. And Milloy had to pull it off while the Harpo crew trailed along.
As a contestant on “The Big Give,” Milloy is pitted against others in the eight-episode show to perform good works in what is essentially a “philanthropy contest,” with different challenges and parameters in each installment.
Harpo Productions held open auditions in four cities earlier this year, asking for “people who make things happen … with a big personality … and lots of charisma.”
Milloy made the cut — and is not permitted to talk to the media. The last contestant standing has his or her own “wildest dream” fulfilled by Oprah.
People in Sierra Vista who know her say Brandi’s dream is to work for Winfrey’s company in Chicago.
Whether Alysianna will receive any other compensation through the television show is unknown. Her family attends St. Andrews Church, and a barbecue fund-raiser for the 11-year-old raised $2,500 and a dance tonight ($10) is scheduled at the Knights of Columbus to benefit the child.
At about 1:30 p.m. on Friday, the parking lot at Village Meadows began to liven up as invited friends and family began to show up, uncertain what was going to happen, but reassured that it would be good.
They paid scant attention to the vans that arrived and the equipment being unloaded.
Microphones and cameras and lights.
Oh my.
A black Lincoln Town Car, with orange cones positioned near it to keep lesser vehicles away, idled in tinted window splendor, adding fuel to the speculative fire that maybe Oprah herself would make an appearance.
But with camera crew in position and via a cell phone “cue,” out from the back seat popped Brandi with balloons, running from air conditioned comfort into the hot afternoon toward the camera lens, her hair and the bouquet bobbing prettily.
Waiting on stage was Erin Nurss, sitting on the floor were the several hundred Village Meadows kids, ready with signs they had made proclaiming Alysianna the new Miss Sierra Vista.
The shy Alyssianna was escorted on stage, unsure how to react to her new-found fame. Presented with a trophy, draped with a sash, handed an armful of flowers, and neatly tiaraed by Nurss, the youngest Miss Sierra Vista greeted her subjects to thunderous applause.
A parade around the school, with Alysianna and her little sister sitting up in the back of a classic Karmann Ghia convertible, brought the younger girl to say, “Look, Allie. They’re all cheering for you.”
It will play well on the small screen.
Said Village Meadows principal Scot Roppe, wiping his forehead in the heat, “It’s been a crazy two days.”
That’s showbiz.
HERALD/REVIEW reporter Cindy Skalsky can be reached at 515-4611 or by e-mail at cindy.skalsky@svherald.com.
Alyssianna wrote on Apr 13, 2008 5:54 PM: