Aurora Hispanic Heritage Advisory Board

By MATT BRENNAN For The Beacon News

June 21, 2009

It takes about three months for a contestant to thoroughly prepare for a beauty pageant, according to Jalitza Colon.

And she should know, as she now proudly wears the crown of Miss Puerto Rican Queen for Chicago — just as she has for Aurora.

Jalitza Colon, the newly crowned Miss Puerto Rico of Chicago, a former Miss Puerto Rico of Aurora and current coordinator for the Miss Puerto Rico of Aurora pageant (left), poses with Miss Puerto Rico of Aurora 2008 Lynnette Montanez. The 2009 pageant will be held Saturday at East Aurora High School.

Colon began preparing for Chicago’s Miss Puerto Rican contest in January. But when the contest was pushed back from April to June, she and the other five contestants had a couple of extra months to prepare.

Colon came out on top, and on June 7 was crowned Miss Puerto Rican Queen of Chicago.

“It definitely took a lot of preparation in advance,” Colon said.

The contestants were judged in several categories: opening number (a dance), swimsuit, evening gown, talent, an interview and an onstage question.

The swimsuit and talent competition took the longest to prepare for, she said. She worked out and lost about 30 pounds for the swimsuit competition, she said, and learned how to play the Puerto Rican guitar for the talent portion. She began practicing the guitar in November and had to learn a song that didn’t make her sound like a beginner, she said.

“That’s pretty much the national instrument of Puerto Rico,” she said. “And it’s male-dominated.”

Colon recently met and was congratulated on her victory by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. She will wear Chicago’s crown for a year, until she passes it on to the winner of next year’s pageant.

In the meantime, the title of queen comes with some duties.

“You have tons of people taking pictures of you, and you have to speak a lot,” she said.

Colon has participated in several pageants in the past, including winning Miss Puerto Rico of Aurora in 2003.

Participating in pageants has given her several life skills, she said.

“My public speaking has really improved,” she said. “They (pageants) have provided me with a professional, personal and educational challenge.”

The 23-year-old is a graduate of East Aurora High School and received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Aurora University. Colon will be managing the speaking schedule that comes with winning the pageant while trying to find a job in school social work, she said.

She has gotten so much from her experiences with the pageants that she decided to give back. In 2007, Colon became the pageant coordinator for the Miss Puerto Rico of Aurora pageant. This year’s local pageant is at 7 p.m. Saturday at East Aurora High School, and there will be four contestants competing for a $1,000 scholarship.

The categories in the Aurora contest are similar to those she competed for in Chicago, she said. There is no talent competition in Aurora, however. Instead, the contestants have to write a paper about the town they are representing, she said.

Also, there is a community service aspect to the Aurora pageant. The contestants participated in the Rebuilding Together Aurora program back in April, where volunteers work to repair homes of low-income residents.

Most of all, Colon wants others to have the same positive experiences that she has had with pageants.

“Being successful is making other people successful with you,” she said. “I want them to reach some of their career goals. It’s giving them an extra step up.”

AURORA – Mary Garza was reading The Aurora Beacon News over the Memorial Day weekend in 2007 when her eyes scanned a photo of a cute little boy. Little did she know that within the next several weeks, that boy would inspire her to try to save his life – but that she would end up saving another boy’s life in the end. Here is Mary Garza’s story in her own words:

“Being the mom of two little girls myself, I was instantly drawn in to an article about a cute little baby on the front page of the newspaper.

“The story was about a boy named Felipe Aguilera, a horrible disease that was killing him, and the dedication of his mother to fight for his life. Not quite the topic I expected. There was a lot of information in the article about Felipe’s surgeries to that date. He was 21 months old then, and he had already had seven operations. I thought about how I would lose my mind when my 18-month-old had a fever over 100 degrees. Surgery was completely unthinkable to me.

“Information was given in the article about a bone marrow drive to be held the next day. This one tiny little thing—a bone marrow transplant—was Felipe’s chance at a healthy, normal life. Felipe’s mom was quoted as saying, “Hispanics take care of each other.” As a Latina, as a mother, and as a human being, I was driven to contribute what I could. But to be matched with Felipe was a one-in-a-million chance, according to the article. One in a million. I went to the drive anyway. I gave a sample of saliva from the inside of my mouth. That was it.

“I was called within weeks of the drive to report to a LifeSource location for blood testing. I had an orientation/informational meeting with LifeSource Bone Marrow staff. Everything had to be anonymous, but I asked if the recipient might be Felipe.

“‘No,’ I was told. I was possibly matched with another baby: ‘Younger. Not even one year yet.’ I made my decision when I heard those words. I was ready to donate. Months of waiting and scheduling and testing and matching ended on the fifth of December, 2007.

“The ‘harvest,’ as it is called, was fast, retrieved under sedation by two amazing doctors, and flown away to some unknown place; at least it was unknown to me.

“Now I had to wait again. Periodic updates were all optimistic. On December 5, 2008, I called my bone marrow coordinator and asked to waive my anonymity, as the one year anonymity period was over. On Monday morning, February 23, 2009, I was up early on the computer and found a picture of my recipient, Evan, in my mailbox.

“He was playing on a trampoline. I could not even read the words his father had written through my tears. But I saw that he was perfect and beautiful and happy and playing on his trampoline.

“Some people may say I saved Evan’s life. But I think Felipe saved Evan’s life. I was along for the ride. On my own, I never knew a thing about bone marrow donation. I did my blood donations a few times a year and that’s all I ever thought of.

“If it were not for Felipe and his mom and their energy, I would not have signed up. This experience has fundamentally changed my life. The things I have learned and the people I’ve met and the stories I’ve shared have been phenomenal. I wholeheartedly encourage everyone who is eligible to go to a bone marrow drive: Anyone of any race, ethnicity, gender or religion — anyone. This is saving people’s lives. Look at Evan!”

“Because a matching donor is most likely to be found within a person’s ethnic background, increasing the number of minority donors helps more patients,” said Julie Contreras, a bone marrow representative from the Be The Match registry. “It is a simple swab test that places you on the registry and allows you to possibly give someone else a second chance in life just like Mary Garza did for Evan.”

In honor of Evan Garcia and Felipe Aguilera, the City of Aurora is sponsoring a bone marrow drive from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 10 on the fifth floor of City Hall, 44 E. Downer Place, Aurora.

Appointments are not necessary, but those who would like more information can log on to bethematch.com or call 847-803-7857 or 847-803-7891 with questions.

Felipe waited two years to be matched with a bone marrow donor, but his parents received the call late last month that a donor had been found. He traveled from Aurora to Ohio on May 25 to prepare for his marrow transplant; which will occur early this month.