Catherine was crowned on May 4th and competed for the Miss Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen title on June 28th, 2008. She was first runner-up. She sang a Czech song and displayed a painting that she had done. We were very proud of her representation of our Czech chapter and her Czech heritage.

She graduated from Lincoln High School in June and has plans to attend UNL this fall majoring in theatre and hope to minor in archeology/anthropology. Her future plans will hopefully include traveling a lot and seeing Prague at least once in her lifetime. In her free time she enjoys painting and crocheting.

Her kroj was designed and made by herself and her mother. The patterns for the vest and blouse were found in the Czech library and are the traditional patterns used by her great-ancestors. The embroidery across the front of the vest is a design which had been passed down through the generations and is her families emblem with a pattern centered around a heart, using birds, and flowers and leaves to show the significance of nature and farming to her family. One of her aprons is made out of the petticoat which her great-grandmother brought from Czechoslovakia to America in the 1880's.

"Why I Want To Be Czech Queen"
Through my life I have admired many people for their strengths, their goals and what they have accomplished in their life. My grandparents were a huge part of those people that I looked up to. My mother always told me that I reminded her of my grandmother, that we shared the same attitude and looked very similar at least. When my grandma passed away I regretted all the times I didn't ask her about her childhood and her own parents' immigration from Czechoslovakia to the US. I always wanted my grandparents to know how much I respected my heritage and traditions. I hope that becoming Czech Queen, I will be taking a step closer to learning about my family and about my culture. There is nothing more important to me then learning about myself and my family. By becoming Queen, I will be able to branch out and complete my duties as well as show the world how much my family means to me.