PARK RAPIDS, Minn. — Emma Vrieze, 20, of Osage, Minnesota, has a packed summer schedule. As Miss Minnesota, she’s criss-crossing the state, attending parades, coronations and other community events.
On Thursday, July 24, the 2023 Park Rapids Area High School graduate stopped at Citizens National Bank (CNB) in Park Rapids, Minnesota, to receive a much-appreciated $2,500 donation.
From there, she and mom Missie Vrieze were headed to Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
Every morning, Missie Vrieze prepares for the day’s public events, too. When you’re walking with Miss Minnesota, she quipped, you can’t wear sweats.
On Tuesday, Vrieze sang at the Minnesota Lynx basketball game.
“It was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done,” she said. “All the players were standing right in front of me, waving and saying hi.”
Vrieze brought her aunts, who found themselves in the spotlight, as well.
By day’s end, Vrieze’s cheeks are sore from smiling. “Oh, the parades,” she said. “This last one I think was, for real, four miles.”
A nursing student at Minnesota State University Moorhead, Vrieze is finishing the last few weeks of this semester on top of her “busier than busy” calendar.
She also works as a float team nursing assistant at Essentia Health in Fargo.
In late August, she’ll make an appearance at the Minnesota State Fair. Then the Miss America competition will be held in Orlando, Florida, over Labor Day weekend.
Fans can follow Vrieze on Instagram
at @missamericamn.
1982 Miss Minnesota was from Snellman, Minn.
Vrieze is the second person from the Park Rapids area to compete in Miss America.
Laurie Saarinen was crowned Miss Park Rapids in 1981, won Miss Minnesota and competed in the 1982 Miss America pageant. She was a semi-finalist in the national contest.
“It’s really cool for our community. It’s a big deal,” said CNB president Jason Funk told Vrieze on Thursday, July 24.
A staff member also made an anonymous, undisclosed donation. “They just prefer it that way, and they wish you the best,” explained CNB marketing officer Debbie Tostenson.
Traveling has been the biggest expense, thus far, Vrieze said, especially since she lives Up North.
“Everything is three-plus hours, so that’s been a challenge, but I have a really nice chauffeur,” she said, smiling at her mom.
Missie Vrieze noted she bought new tires yesterday.
Vrieze plans to use the CNB donation to pay for a required — and spendy — advertisement in a Miss America magazine.
“I love when people ask, ‘So where do you live?’ Park Rapids, but really Osage, so 250 people,” Vrieze said. “They’re like ‘whaaat.’”
To give people a reference, Missie Vrieze said they now explain they live by Itasca State Park, the source of the Mississippi River.
“People have been so sweet,” Vrieze said. They frequently tell her, “‘We can tell you’re from a small town,’ which is the nicest compliment. … Because that’s the goal, I think. With pageants, you can get a little bit lost with the competition and the ‘looking good.’ But at the end of the day, it’s service based.”
Missie Vrieze said, “That’s what we’ve enjoyed about all these small towns in Minnesota. You can really connect with them because your community shows up.”
Vrieze’s year-long community service initiative is drowning prevention. She recently partnered with a St. Cloud group to get AEDs in enclosed sheds at public spaces, “so they’re heated and cooled.” She wants to add Narcan and tourniquets in the bins as well, particularly in rural areas where it might take a while for first responders to arrive.
Vrieze credits her mom for her personality. “People are like, ‘We can tell you’re the same.’”
Missie Vrieze adds, “I said, ‘Well, you might be the shortest one on the Miss America stage, but there’s heels and you’ll smile bigger.”
