More Than a Crown
Miss Florida Junior Teen Savannah Pellegrino Shows Pageantry Opens Doors for Community Service
Written by Blair Townley
In pageants, the focus among contestants can be about getting the tiara and the attention that follows from it from judges, audiences and fellow participants.
Savannah Pellegrino of Leesburg saw her winning the title of Miss Florida Junior Teen 2009 as her way to improve the Lake County community around her, from bringing food to local fire stations to supporting her “Go Red” platform for woman’s heart disease.
What has been her most touching act of pageantry service was making camouflage blankets with her mother for area soldiers being deployed to Iraq.
“We wanted to do something more so my mom knew how to make these no-sew blankets [and we made them],” recalls Savannah of the 70 blankets she made with her mom in two weeks.
The lengthy sewing project was worth the extra effort when Savannah was able to personally give each blanket to the grateful soldiers at the Leesburg Armory.
“When I got there, I really wasn’t sure what to expect because it was a whole room of army guys with their families,” Savannah recalls. “It was very rewarding though and to think something so small actually affected them. We saw one guy who was putting the blanket in his knapsack.”
The blanket presentation to the soldiers is just one of the many great aspects of pageantry Savannah feels honored that she has been able to do for the community.
Savannah had already become a familiar face around the Armory as she has delivered cookies once a month over the past year to soldiers with another pageant teen. She has also presented homemade meals to two fire stations in Leesburg and read names of fallen 9/11 firefighters at a memorial in The Villages.
To be named Miss Florida Junior Teen, participants are required to support a platform or charity cause throughout their year-long reign.
Savannah decided on her current platform of “Go Red for Women’s Heart Disease,” bringing awareness to the community about women’s heart disease at local events such as the recent “Bash for the Hearts” at the Harley-Davidson dealerships in Leesburg and Clermont.
The cause is close to her heart as her aunt died of a heart attack at age 53. Savannah also hopes to become a cardiologist or have some career in the medical field in the future, so “Go Red” felt like the platform for her to support during her reign.
“I began searching different things and I thought ‘Go Red’ seems to fit with our circumstances and what I want to be, my ambition,” Savannah recalls.
Besides being crowned Miss Florida Junior Teen, she also is the reigning Miss Lake County and plans to participate in Miss Leesburg, Diamonds and Denim and other local/national pageants after she gives back her Miss Florida Junior Teen title in April.
School is also important to Savannah, who is currently a sophomore at First Academy and holds a 4.2 GPA along with being active in cheerleading, point ballet and several school-affiliated organizations. She is looking to the University of South Florida as a potential college choice.
Yet the experiences she has had in pageantry has given Savannah more confidence and life lessons than she ever thought possible.
“I’m proud of Savannah because she has more of an awareness of the many needs out there,” says Teresa Pellegrino, Savannah’s mother and frequent companion to Savannah’s pageants and charity appearances.
“I thought it was about going on stage, looking pretty and getting a crown. There is so much more behind it that the general public doesn’t understand until you get into the program and see how much community service, how much giving it really is,” Savannah states.
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