Orland Park Woman Completes Her Reign as Miss Illinois

For Orland Park resident, Sara Toth who is Miss Illinois USA National Miss 2019, her reign ends this month. She began doing pageants at the age of 12.

“My dream was always to get the title of Miss Illinois” Toth said. “When I finally won it, I felt all my years of hard work has paid off. I love beauty, I love pageants and love getting dressed up in dresses. That’s one of the reasons I work at Kimberly Bond Boutique here in Orland.”

Not only did Toth get her pageant dress at the boutique, she gets to dress women to look their best for a special function whether it be prom, a wedding even a few funerals.

“Throughout my year I’ve had so many opportunities to volunteer for a number of different organizations” said Toth. “I’ve volunteered for Feed My Starving Children, Safe Humane, the Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago Ridge and Gigis Playhouse.

“For the Anti-Cruelty Society, I attended the Bark in the Park event which raised funds to help adopt the animals” explains Toth. “Another event that was special was attending GiGI’s Playhouse in Grundy County. It was a fashion show and I walked with girls down the runway that have Down’s Syndrome. It was the best experience.”

According to Toth the requirements for being the queen can be hectic. “You have to do an appearance every month and some type of volunteer work every month as well” Toth said. “I’m in school, it’s been difficult sometimes to balance the crown and school. When you look at it, you don’t realize how many volunteer opportunities there are. It was easy to find events to go to and fundraisers to support.”

Last years pageant was held in Chula Vista in Wisconsin Dells. There were both Illinois and Wisconsin in the same building. Toth also won the talent competition.

“I have been singing and playing the guitar since I was little” said Toth. “I love musical theater, I love singing and all that comes with it. I decided for my talent I was going to perform My Immortal by Evanescence.”

Toth has brought her many years of experience of the arts. As a student at Sandburg high school she was on the speech team, Madrigals and Music Theatre. “It was the best experience of my life, I would never change a thing” she added.

During her year as queen, Toth promoted two platforms. “My passion is working with children” Toth said. “I was an aide for children with disabilities. I want to help anyone with a disability. The other half of my platform is helping animal shelters. My dog Mojo is a rescue, I got him when he was over a year old. He was abused before we got him, all he did was shake. After that one of my goals is to help animals like Mojo get a home. These animals don’t deserve that.”

As Toth prepares to get into her pageant dress, she reflects on coming to Kimberly Bond Boutique for all her dress needs. “Kim has always been so sweet to me” Toth said. “The one dress I got here wound up giving me the title of USA National Miss Illinois.”

This past June, Toth traveled to Disney in Florida for the National pageant. “It was a week long “ Toth said. “There was a lot of friendships made for a lifetime.”

“I’ve had several girls come in buying dresses for pageants” said Kimberly Bond who has owned her Orland Park salon for 34 years. With all her years of dressing young women, Bond knows the perfect dress when she sees it. For Toth it was a natural fit. “You have to look at the person and see what looks good” Bond said. “You look for a dress that makes them ad adds to their beauty. It’s not just the gown, it’s the girl in the gown. You can tell when it’s the perfect dress, I see the light come through them. When they walk out of that room with that smile, you know.”

Toth who attends St. Xavier University is studying communications. “Winning this pageant has been such a motivation for me” Toth said. “I want to continue in pageantry, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get to the place you want to be. You never understand how much power a crown can give you.”