The MADE IN AMERICA project was one of the activities some Ohio families decided to have some fun with while our kids finished middle school and we then had to turn our full attention to the serious business of securing a first quality college education for each of our talented bunch. Along the way, we hoped that some other children might benefit from our pageant hobby by getting to develop their own talents and presentations along with our children's, and for those kids who benefit from the work of our charity of choice, Bottomline, get the valuable supports it provides. 

Well, all that happened and although we originally thought we'd play along until the end of the school year, it seems that our own children's pursuits are taking on a life of their own through recognition and promotion. As a result, the arts and our prior commitment to them are filling space that was earmarked for pageant play. It is with no regret and some fond memories that now we must again be forward thinkers!

Adult hard work, dedication and support for MIA gave folks an opportunity to experience and participate in high quality children's programming and children the opportunity to sparkle and shine with a purpose. Of course like in all things we had the realities of the public to deal with: hot checks, stolen awards, inappropriate behaviors and such...but business is business so we just chuckled a little at the sadness of it and carried on. The important thing is that we are paying out scholarships so that our winning kids can grow what they know because we cared about their development, we know that we served children well by allowing them a venue to step out from their "every day," we kept true to our own standards and we are now able to ascend to the next life experiences with pride of accomplishment.

The children's pageant portion of MIA Ventures is officially retired as of Dec. 31, 2013. In 2014 MIA Ventures will continue some other programming concepts with an arts concentration but not in the form of pageantry and not exclusively for children. As our efforts have been recognized and we have been asked to branch out the brand into other performance models, we feel the timing is right. 

If you are on scholarship with us, we will certainly honor those. We have arranged for an out of pocket "goodwill" donation to the Mineral City Fire Department in January as even though their fundraiser has never paid for itself, we feel that we are obligated to pay those bills for them and we should see them through to a little something also. MIA staff will correspond privately with persons who we want to make sure are taken care of before the pageant focus is retired.

Thanks to all who came out, congrats again to all the winners, "whatever' to any haters...and now we're off to the next big thing! Blessings and may peace be with you.