So what is our opinion with Ashley becoming the new ED? -- ILLINOIS Pageants Board

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

Subject	Author	Date
ehhhh. Indifferent. Not excited, but at least we know who is running the program and Amalia's reign of terror is in the rear view mirror. (NT)	No name	00:53:28 10/08/15 Thu
I actually think she will do great. What I am certain of is that our next Miss Illinois will have great preparation for Miss America. (NT) -- No name, 08:36:28 10/08/15 Thu Not saying others did not have it but Ashley has grace and style. She will style our girl well. Ashley is polished. Like her or not... she has been to Miss America and knows what to do. (NT) -- No name, 08:38:45 10/08/15 Thu Agreed. (NT) -- No name, 11:34:26 10/08/15 Thu

Seriously? She is old school and dated. Her styling for Miss A was circa 1970's. I for one am not impressed at how she stood silent, kept herself in the spotlight then claimed to be the leader of the formers. Mao fell for it. She has a lot to prove cuz right now she is a hypocrite. (NT)	No name	09:53:30 10/08/15 Thu
I think that Miss Illinois is lucky to have a leader at all. There is going to need to be clean up and what do they pay the ED (if you don't take from the organization) NOTHING! I think everyone should be thrilled that Ashley was selected. I can't even imagine what this organization would hve been in Illinois without a former. Let's all remember she has to rebuild. There are so many of us who just have walked away and who had a bad experience with AS. I wish you the best Ashley. You can make Miss Illinois a fabulous place to compete. Thanks for volunteering to do this! (NT) -- No name, 10:48:13 10/08/15 Thu I share that feeling. So I hope she does a good job and I know that she'll treat people better than the last leader. But I have mixed feelings for all of the reasons you stated. (NT) -- No name, 11:12:33 10/08/15 Thu Where do you keep getting that she claimed to be the leader of the formers? If anything, knowing the way MAO felt about formers, that would not have been something to recommend her in their eyes. She did not stand silent, nor did she keep herself in the "spotlight" by continuing to participate in the program. It's very self-important of you to think that whether or not you are "impressed" matters. It matters as little as why you think she has anything to prove to you. Ashley comports herself professionally and will be an excellent ED. She may not make a lot of friends, but that's mostly because I don't see her participating in all the game-playing that has become commonplace in this organization. (NT) -- No name, 11:33:39 10/08/15 Thu Your opinion is interesting given the wide acclaim and the outcry of support the announcement received on the Pageant Guru, where people not only remembered her, but repeatedly commented how much they loved her when she competed and had her tagged as a forerunner when she went to MA. She won all her preliminaries at the state level. She knows a thing or two about competing and she knows a thing or two about style. She is educated, knowledgeable, professional and fair. Whatever your concerns are, I suspect they're because she hasn't handled things the way YOU would have liked. I also suspect you won't be impressed and there will never be substantial proof for you, no matter what she does. But I appreciate that she isn't easy to bully and has the confidence to handle things in the way that feels right to her. Ashley's going to be a great ED. She is a positive, much-needed change for this program. (NT) -- No name, 11:54:51 10/08/15 Thu I dismiss postings on Guru because it's like listening to Joel Osteen where everything is sugary sweet. The minute someone posts something that's not sugary sweet it's deleted. Ashley certainly had all of the components to be competitive at Miss America, but the truth is she blew it at Miss America. Not sure if she made a bad choice or allowed herself to be misled by Amalia. Regardless, her road to Miss America ended the night she did talent in Las Vegas. It was a subpar performance and took her out of the competition. Hopefully Ashley makes better judgments as a State E.D. In regards to Ashley remaining quiet, I don't have knowledge of what she said or didn't say to MAO, BUT I also know that if paranoid Amalia had any suspicion that Ashley was talking to MAO behind her back, Ashley would have been on the brunt end of a smear campaign. The fact that Ashley continued to come back and be part of the show tells me that she went out of her way to stay on Amalia's good side. (NT) -- No name, 19:14:44 10/08/15 Thu Your version of how Ashley continued to be involved is based on your speculation, not fact. But, yes, her lackluster LV performance was largely due to Amalia's influence (or flat-out insistence) on her talent, not her lack thereof. For what it's worth, since MA, the Guru seems to have no problem with not-so-sweet comments. They're certainly not deleting many, if at all. So... (NT) -- No name, 23:15:39 10/08/15 Thu So if you know the facts of whether she remained quiet or stepped forth to MAO, by all means share them. End the speculation. I'm curious to know. It may also help win over any skeptics. (NT) -- No name, 09:11:13 10/09/15 Fri Those are not my details to share. They're Ashley's and she gets to decide whether or not she wants to share them, with whom and when. It's unlikely she'll ever check this board, much less post on it. We should all be thankful for that, given our history with the previous ED. Plus, I'm not sure how relevant those details are now anyway. MAO knows how she handled her conflicts, what she did/didn't say and, being informed, they chose her to lead the program. Now that she's been chosen, people have to make the choice that feels right for them. They can either decide to move forward or move on. It's really that simple. (NT) -- No name, 09:50:17 10/09/15 Fri Hopefully she will do ok. I believe her personal style is old and outdated and she probably played both ends against the middle to maintain a relationship with Amalia. Not much in the personality department but hey, she wants the position. Is she single? I have never seen her with anyone. I thought she got married a long time ago. After what many of us went through the last several years, my respect and appreciation of the organization is gone. (NT) -- No name, 23:30:22 10/08/15 Thu Well, you're certainly entitled to your (many) opinions. One could spend all day refuting your perceptions or filling you in on her personal life, but ultimately few have had their minds changed by voy board discussions and getting too personal created a lot of problems in this program in the past. If you'd like to know about her personal life, I'm sure she would tell you. Why not give her a call? That said, I'm not sure what your opinions have to do with her ability to run the program. I completely understand how your past with the program has left you disillusioned. It's a good time to self-reflect on whether or not you can move past that and muster enough hope and positivity to be beneficial to the program's future. There's a lot to rebuild and Ashley and her team need our support. (NT) -- No name, 08:14:42 10/09/15 Fri I gather from your post that you don't know Ashley very well. (NT) -- No name, 08:20:59 10/09/15 Fri Not so fun to be talked about on these boards....lots of people sure didn't care to talk about others then. I believe you have changed my mind! Ashley is beautiful, friendly, outgoing, intelligent, determined and extremely dedicated! And I will certainly give her every chance to be successful. I do know Ashley but I guess I had a different experience with her. Sounds PERFECT for the position. (NT) -- No name, 08:48:03 10/09/15 Fri Great! Have a great weekend! (NT) -- No name, 09:23:05 10/09/15 Fri Ashley is still married and her husband is now the assistant baseball coach at Ole Miss. She's not single. (NT) -- No name, 09:08:59 10/09/15 Fri Right. And her husband has attended the state pageant with her at least the past couple of years. (NT) -- No name, 09:30:45 10/09/15 Fri i agree with your concerns and the fact that she has brought in a dinosaur to coach and prepare seems like a step bachwards. but time will tell. (NT) -- No name, 12:04:40 10/19/15 Mon lol What are you even talking about? (NT) -- No name, 11:40:43 10/21/15 Wed I think you're confusing class with old school. Ashley's personal style is very current, but classy. She's also very poised. She's going to be great. (NT) -- No name, 08:47:01 10/09/15 Fri

It's been said before, but I am thrilled that MAO gave a former the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of the girls who compete. Ashley is passionate about this program and will not only be a great advocate for it, but also an honest one. (NT)	No name	11:41:02 10/08/15 Thu


As I recall there was a year Ashley was in the program and I heard in the lobby she was not showing up and AS was furious. (NT)	No name	22:35:30 10/08/15 Thu
"you heard" or you know? Lots of rumors in the pageant world. (NT) -- No name, 23:07:16 10/08/15 Thu

I said I heard. To the person that said she was besties with AS, I was there and Ashley was in the book but not there. Nothing was announced that she was unable a to attend so I don't believe see was "besties" with AS. (NT)	No name	17:14:12 10/10/15 Sat


I just hope that they move the pageant to a more central location. Marion is a shit hole and there is nothing there. Making it central is best for everyone and sponsors. (NT)	No name	12:09:42 10/24/15 Sat
I think there intention is to keep it in Southern Illinois. And given MAO's paranoia about F.S.L and the WGN story, I suspect they want to keep the program far and away from Chicago. (NT) -- No name, 23:40:00 10/24/15 Sat First of all, who cares about FSL. The story with WGN was about Amalia and Ashley should be happy that happened or she wouldn't be ED. As far as location, it should be held in Bloomington or Springfield so no one has to drive 5 hours anywhere. (NT) -- No name, 09:20:43 10/25/15 Sun Can't disagree with anything you said, but I do know that MAO raised the issue more than once when people complained about Amalia, that they thought some of the complaints were orchestrated by F.S.L. Of course, they were not as F.S.L had no impact on the type of experience people were having with the Miss Illinois program after her departure, but MAO was paranoid. So I am sure they want to eliminate any potential involvement of F.S.L and avoid the Chicago market after the recent bad press. (NT) -- No name, 15:51:44 10/26/15 Mon Maybe you're the shit hole.....please, STAY HOME! (NT) -- No name, 16:31:17 10/25/15 Sun

Don't seem to think it was a problem when people from Southern IL had to drive to the Chicago area. How many years was that? Suck it up!! (NT)	No name	11:53:29 10/28/15 Wed

Subject: So what is our opinion with Ashley becoming the new ED?
Author: No name	[ Next Thread \| Previous Thread \| Next Message \| Previous Message ] Date Posted: 21:38:19 10/07/15 Wed [ Next Thread \| Previous Thread \| Next Message \| Previous Message ]