Former Miss Minnesota, Tiffany Ogle establishes legacy award

July 17, 2006    By Ryan Gueningsman  Staff Writer   Herald Journal

It has been almost 10 years since Tiffany Ogle held the title of Waverly princess, but her accomplishments since that time have far outnumbered the years that have gone by.

Ogle was Miss Minnesota 2004, and competed in the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, N.J. Since that time, she has continued to be involved in pageants throughout the state, as well as starting the Tiffany Ogle Legacy Award for Community Service, which is an essay competition for young women who compete for the title of Miss Waverly.

This year’s winner, Amanda Hausladen, was announced by Ogle at the coronation during Waverly Daze recently.

“I started the Legacy Award for Community Service to recognize the girl who exemplifies the spirit of volunteerism through her actions off of the stage,” Ogle said. “Anyone can be presentable on a stage, but it takes a special heart to fulfill the duties of a volunteer in her everyday life when no one is watching.”

Ogle said she sees how the Miss Waverly program gives young women a responsibility to their community to uphold a strong moral character as a role model to her peers and children.

“They are ambassadors who spread the word to help our celebrations, fundraisers and events grow for future generations – that was my inspiration for starting the award,” she said.

Growing up in a small town that values leadership and community giving, Ogle said she has learned that “you are a product of those you surround yourself with.”

“I have always been surrounded by volunteers,” she said. “From growing up working at the Knights of Columbus Special Olympics skating events and KC dinners, to the church bazaars, to the Lions events, Waverly Daze and more . . . I have seen first-hand what an impact helping others has.”

Life since Miss Minnesota

Since her reign as Miss Minnesota, Ogle has not had a problem keeping busy.

For three years, she worked for a talent company, providing actors and models with information on the entertainment industry, career coaching, photography design, and agent connections.

Currently, Ogle works several jobs. Her full-time day job consists of working as a technical recruiter. She finds time to stay active in the entertainment industry, working part-time for Fame Digest, which is a Twin Cities fashion magazine.

She has served as the spokesperson for the magazine on the WCCO Morning Show, hosting runway shows like the “Twin Cities Next Top Model Search,” as well as booking and coordinating models and designers locally. She also writes a column on careers, community, the entertainment industry, and relationships for the magazine.

On screen, Ogle can be seen in local and national commercials for Target, Best Buy, Sargento Cheese, Famous Dave’s, Menards, and Great Clips, as well as in a feature length independent film called “The IceBreaker Movie.”

In her free time, and those moments are few and far between, Ogle enjoys hosting pageants through the Miss Minnesota program. She is also on the board for the Miss Minnesota Outstanding Teen (Miss America/Minnesota’s new sister program), as the producer.

In the near future, she will return to Wright County to host the Wright County Fairest of the Fair coronation – a title Ogle, herself, held in the late 1990s.

Ogle’s first pageant win was Miss Pre-Teen Minneapolis in 1992, where she went on to compete in Florida at nationals.

From there, she was selected as a Waverly princess for 1997-98.

“The Miss Waverly program gave me the opportunity to do more community service, as well as bring the spirit of our town to other cities across the metro,” Ogle said. “I was fortunate to grow up with a mother who was very involved in our church, Legion auxiliary, and community, who instilled the passion of serving others in me.”

Several years following her reign as a Waverly princess, she went on to be Miss Coon Rapids 2002, and Miss Metropolitan 2004, which led to her winning Miss Minnesota that same year and competing for the Miss America title.

Keeping in touch

Ogle said one of the most common questions she gets asked is if she has kept in touch with the other contestants who competed for Miss America with her.

She said the girls from her year, including Diedre Downs, who won Miss America 2005, are all still very close, and keep in contact through phone calls and daily e-mails.

“We have a unique sisterhood from our year as we were the last ‘class’ to compete in the original host city of Atlantic City,” she said, “It was such a monumental moment in all of our lives that we’ve all become very close, actually. It’s awesome having a friend in every state when you travel, too,” she said with a laugh.

Ogle said through her involvement with Miss Minnesota, she has received approximately $15,000 in educational assistance to pay off college loans, and said all of the girls she competed with are still active with their respective causes.

“I’m always amazed at the opportunities the Miss America program gives to women for financial assistance for education, to speak about an important cause, and for their professional aspirations,” she said, adding that anyone who is interested in competing in a local pageant can visit www.missminnesota.org or contact Ogle directly through the Herald Journal.

Amanda Hausladen’s winning essay

With all of us having our busy lives, community service is a hard thing to get done, but the world would be no where without it. It’s amazing how we don’t realize that a couple hours of community service could mean a great deal to someone else in need of our help. In society today, it’s good that people still maintain the hearts they need to participate in community service activities.

I have done various things in the past year that have been for my community. Not too long ago I tutored a girl named Sheri with her geometry homework before school.

I couldn’t remember everything from geometry, but I tried to help her understand the basic things that I did remember. Another thing that I did was work at the elementary school carnival at the fish pond. I put the toys in the bucket when the kids threw the line over. It was fun listening to the ones who would ask what was back there and how the toy got into their buckets.

Our FFA chapter also bought fruit, and I helped make fruit plates for the people at Elim Home and Westwood. I helped to deliver them as well, which was enjoyable because there were only four of us one day, and three the second, so we got to meet a lot of new people.

The most fun thing of all, to me, was when our FFA groups walked to the elementary school the first Thursday of every month and taught the fourth graders about agriculture. I got kind of attached to them, and we had a lot of fun. In addition, we have all had fun doing our community service for the City of Waverly. I’ve helped serve and clean up at a Lions dinner, helped clean up at a fish fry, and marched and helped serve cookies and water at the Memorial Day service so far.

I am also in numerous activities at my school. I start in the fall with the musical. Next is winter with mock trial, FFA, and Business Professionals of America (commonly known as BPA). Then it’s spring with softball. I also got accepted into the National Honor Society this year, and I am a band member. Some accomplishments that I’ve had this year are that I was chosen as the FFA reporter for next year, our successful BPA parliamentary procedures team competed in nationals at Orlando, Florida, last month, and our softball team just finished second in the state.

As a teenager, I could always use some extra cash. Especially me, considering all of the trips I’ve been on or am going on.

If our team makes it to nationals again next year, then the $100 will probably be toward my trip to New York. However, I have been in Spanish since ninth grade, and I will be going to Spain next summer if I can fundraise enough money. If not, there’s always college, which we all know is an expensive place.

Helping out the community can be made fun, and you feel a sense of accomplishment after doing it. I’m maybe not involved with mine as much as I should be, but I’m working on it, and things can only get better with the perspective that I’m looking at it from.

Serving the community gives times that are never forgotten, and people you never knew you would meet. Its achievement is priceless, and I’m glad to be involved with it.

Ogle’s comments about the winning essay

“All of the girls who submitted an essay to me should be commended on their work,”Ogle said. “I chose Amanda Hausladen because I admired her for understanding the importance of connecting directly to people and children in her work. She is involved in so many school activities, excels in academics, being on the National Honor Society and a tutor, as well as teaching fifth and sixth graders agriculture through FFA.

“Her references were so impressed with her character and she proved to be a leader among her peers. Yet, what impressed me the most is that even though she is involved in all these activities, she still admitted she, too, could work harder to give more. She recognizes that true volunteers are never done giving and for that I believe she will continue to be a role model and servant to others throughout her life.

“I was honored to give her the very first Legacy Award for Community Service.”