Miss America Memories

By Haley Joy Tate

Miss America week went by in a blur, but two things stand out to me more than anything else.

One of the greatest blessings of my year as Miss Montana has been my relationship with my Miss Montana’s Teen. She is truly a ray of sunshine — someone who encourages everyone around her and brings so much joy wherever she goes. Walking through Miss America week together only strengthened what has become a genuine sisterhood, and I know without a doubt she’ll be a lifelong friend.

The other moment that stayed close to my heart was my Miss America gown. A week after I was crowned Miss Montana, a family friend offered to do any alterations I needed — free of charge. An hour later, she came back and offered to make my entire Miss America gown, asking only that I cover the cost of materials. Years earlier, I had been her daughter’s youth group mentor, which made the full-circle moment even sweeter.

The gown was finished the week I left for Miss America and was lovingly nicknamed the “Greek Goddess dress” by some of the other contestants. Designing my own gown for that stage was something I never imagined, and I’m incredibly grateful for the generosity and community that made it possible.

Miss America wasn’t just about the stage — it was about sisterhood, service, and being surrounded by people who show up in the most unexpected and meaningful ways.

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Haley Joy Tate is the current Miss Montana. You can follow her on her Instagram. 

This is her first guest blog for Section 36 Forevers.

I Hereby Resolve...

 Typically, the end of the year is a time for people to reflect on their life, and to make any changes they see the need for. Why do it for the first of the year? No particular reason. Although, I suppose, a July 2 Resolution doesn’t have the same ring to it. A New Year’s Resolution also has the added benefit of only occurring once a year. If you make a New Month Resolution, and fail after three days…you have some obligation to make the same resolution the next month. If you make a resolution on January 1, but flop by January 2, you can wait an entire year before you have to try and make yourself a better person. That’s a handy feature. People also find it nicer to write these resolutions down. Anything written down automatically has more weight. After all, if you take the time to type it out and share it with others, it must be important. Plus, anyone why knows about your resolution will obviously shun you if you don’t stick to it. If you make a resolution in silence, it’s pretty easy to ignore it. Of course, that presumes that anyone is listening, or cares enough to hold you to it. That’s probably not the case here. But, what else am I going to write about on January 1st? 

My main resolution really requires you to all help along. I really want to be able to share more guest blogs from all of you in 2026. While the writing and sending part depends on you, there are some things I can do to help you along with that.

I want to work on making this a place where you're more likely to want to write a blog for. Starting with viewership. I want to make a dedicated effort to make sure as many eyes as possible are on your posts when you write them. Whether that's with promotion or persistence, I need to get moving. The Instagram account passing 2000 followers is a result of similar efforts on that front. I'd like to do more things like that here.

I also want to be more visible elsewhere in the titleholder landscape. Whether that's following and commenting on social media, or reading and commenting on websites and blogs, or whatever else it may be. Part of that is, simply, those things are worthy of my support. The other part is just making Section 36 Forevers more of a community that you'll love being a part of. Feel free to offer suggestions on that front and ways I can support you.

So, there we go. Things I want to try and do in the coming year. If you care, feel free to try and keep me honest. Mocking comments if I’m going astray are encouraged. Or, help me out by contributing to the resolutions. Or both. Or, ignore it all completely. Your call.

Happy New Year Everyone!