Shannon Kelly Visits Section 36!

Section 36 had another visitor! Shannon Kelly is passionate about self-care, a talented singer, and the current Miss Champlain Valley. I was so excited that she was willing to visit with us to discuss those topics, and a few more. 

So, let's see what happens when Shannon Kelly visits Section 36!

What made you decide to try for the Miss Vermont crown as Miss Champlain Valley?

I began getting involved with the Miss Vermont Scholarship Organization in 2020 because I was looking for a performing arts opportunity in the midst of lockdown. 4 years later, I’ve acquired key skills, made lifelong friendships, and learned to value myself in ways that make me so excited to come back and rock the Miss Vermont 2024 stage!

What is something Yamuna Turco is doing as Miss Vermont that you would want to emulate?

Yamuna has served wonderfully as Miss Vermont, and will leave a lasting impression on the legacy of the organization. One of the things I admire most about her reign and hope to emulate with mine is her sense of joy. Yamuna is able to brighten up any room she walks into, and can make anyone feel comfortable and important when they talk to her. 

How would you complete the sentence, “I get great satisfaction when ___”?

I get great satisfaction when I can make people smile! In my everyday life, I’m always cracking jokes, and i’m a fierce optimist. If I can brighten someone’s day with a compliment or a story, there is no greater prize. 

How did you select your community service initiative Self C.A.R.E.?

My Community Service Initiative, Self CARE: Creating Accessible Resources for Everyone, was formed after I realized how deeply basic self care was impacting my mental health. As someone diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and ADHD, finding the motivation to perform simple self care tasks can be challenging for me. Through competing, I began to rediscover the drive to take care of myself, in order to make myself feel and look good. I realized that in order to make self care a bigger part of peoples lives, someone needed to talk about it and find ways to make it more accessible for lower income folks.

As a talented singer, what is your favorite part about performing your talent on stage?

As a theater major, I love being given opportunities to perform. My favorite part of performing my Miss Vermont 2024 talent is telling a story of determination and hope. The character in my song has struggled, but she’s sure that through perseverance, she can achieve her goals.

You are currently a theatre major at Borough of Manhattan CC. Where do you see your studies taking you?

After I graduate college, I’d love to become a professional actor or director. Theater is what I’m more familiar with, but I’d love the opportunity to try working in film as well!

If you could be a Disney character for a week, who would you choose? Why?

If I could be any Disney character for a week, I’d be Tinker Bell! I’ve seen every Tinker Bell movie, and she was always my favorite character growing up. I love her friends, fashion, and being able to fly doesn’t hurt either! 

If you had an extra ticket to see the Red Sox play at Fenway Park, who would you take with you? Why?

If I could see the Red Sox play at Fenway Park, I would take my little brother with me! I love spending time with him, and we would have an awesome time together. 

Is there a feature or activity at a baseball game that you’d especially like to experience?

In the past Miss Vermont and Miss Vermont’s Teen have been able to throw the first pitch for Vermont’s baseball team, the Vermont Lake Monsters! If crowned that’s an event I’d be stoked to participate in! 

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A first pitch is always a fun time. Hope she can make that happen!

As always, I want to thank Shannon for visiting with us, and for sending along the pictures to go with the interview.

I'm sure you'd like to follow along with her during her journey. You should be sure to check out her title's Instagram account, as well as her personal website. They're both great ways to keep track of everything she has going on. 

Thanks again Shannon, and good luck in the future!

2023 Topps Holiday Mega Box!

I like when baseball cards are fun. I think some people in the hobby take things a little too seriously. So, to me, a card set that doesn’t is a good thing. Enter Topps Holiday. It’s basically a parallel of the regular Topps Set, but with some whimsey. They put snow falling on the card. There are gimmicky SP with holiday additions. And there’s an autograph or relic in every box. Hard to not have fun when you’re opening this box. Especially when you can get the hot rookies like Brayan Bello and Corbin Carrol.

How did this box go? Let's find out!

Like I said. You can get rookies. Red Sox rookies are, of course, even better...like this Yoshida one here. 

Nice card of the now former Red Sox ace.

Speaking of hot rookies, doesn't get much better than this one of Bello here. It will be intersting to see if he takes the next step this season. If he does, that would be huge.

Topps is really taking advantage of the horizontal format with these Sox cards. Hopefully Devers got all of that one in this picture.

Again with the really good use of the horizontal format. Like Bello, I'm excited to see what Story adds to the team this season. If he's healthy last year, the Sox are likely in the playoffs. See if that comes to be this season.

And there you have it. Not much to complain about. Got two of the three est rookies in the set, and some key vets. I'd call that an absolute win.

If you want to see the rest of the box, go check out the opening on my YouTube video. And feel free to like/subscribe while you're there.

How did your box go?

2022 Topps Allen & Ginter Blaster!

Not sure why I still had this one hanging around, but here we go. Allen and Ginter are always fun wax to open. Sure, it can get a little annoying when the best card in the pak is an influencer you’ve never heard of. But, it that really worse than a bench player from a team you don’t like? I think it’s a small price to pay for the variety and interest that can be found in any pack.

How did this one go? I guess there's only one way to find out...

As always, here's the box. I wonder who the model is for the old timey player they show.

This is an interesting insert set. It's called "Pitching a Gem", which is one way to describe a good pitching performance. But, to add to the odd nature of the set, they took it a step further. The bottom of the card lists Roger's birthdate, and his birthstone. So, not only is he pitching a gem, but it's also mentioning a related gem. Not bad. I think it's way better than another generic "MLB Stars" insert set.

And, that's all the Red Sox cards. Pretty disappointing. But, I thought I'd give you a chance to see the rest of the cards from the box by checking out my YouTube video.

How did your box go?

Go Red! 2014 Topps Update Target Red David Ross

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

Clearly another member of the 2013 World Series Championship team. You don't see a lot of cards with players showing off their rings like this. I think it's great that Topps took advantage of having Ross in the Update set to include a picture from 2014 like this one. It's a great departure from the standard baseball card photos. 

Once again, there are like 36 different shades of red on this card, whcih messes with my brain more than I'd like. But even that can't detract from this card celebrating my favorite World Series title.

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I'm sure you all remember Miss District of Columbia Jude Maboné from her interview with us. Her "heart health" community service initiative is, obviously, quite relevant this month. As such, she's supporting the Simon's Heart campaign this month (and every month). I highly recommend you join her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

Go Red! 2013 Topps Target Red Ryan Dempster

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month. Here's the first one.

Let's talk about this card...

2013 was quite the year for Boston and the Red Sox. It wasn't Dempster's best year stat-wise, but he was able to celebrate a World Series championship when the season ended. He was even able to close out game one of the series at home. Not a bad way to end it.

As for the card itself, while I love the Target red variations in general, the colors are just odd this year. The border is almost crimson, where the Red Sox logo is more of a fire engine red. The sea turtle in the corner appears to be a third shade of red. It's all just a bit "off". But, still a nice memory of my favorite World Series title.

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I'm sure you all remember Miss District of Columbia Jude Maboné from her interview with us. Her "heart health" community service initiative is, obviously, quite relevant this month. As such, she's supporting the Simon's Heart campaign this month (and every month). I highly recommend you join her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!