Miss Universe NZ 2009, Katie Taylor had not long returned from that contest in the Bahamas when renowned pageant entrepreneur Val Lott of Howick received a special phone call.
It came from the personal assistant of Dr Asit Choksi whom Katie had met briefly at one of the pageant functions.
“The call was to invite Katie and I to be Dr Choksi’s guests at his New Year’s Eve function for medical staff from his five cancer clinics,’ Val says, “Initially I was overwhelmed and even a little bit suspicious because I didn’t know anything about him.
“However, after numerous emails and phone calls we decided to go. My husband Allan was also invited to join us provided he travelled at his own expense. We decided this was a good idea just in case things didn’t turn out as expected.”
Val needn’t have worried. The trio arrived in Houston, Texas to be met with “unbelievable hospitality.” “We attended dinners, went sightseeing and we were even treated to an overnight visit to Las Vegas. In Houston we stayed in the model suburb of Woodlands which was absolutely charming, the friendliness and environment not unlike that of Howick.”
At the New Year’s Eve party Dr Choksi told Val he’d been prompted to invite Katie back to Houston after talking to her at the Miss Universe event.
“Dr Choksi told me he had been extremely impressed by Katie’s intelligence, warmth and beauty and thought she should have won the pageant title.
“Naturally we were both thrilled by his remarks and just delighted at the very real welcome we received on arrival in Texas.
“The whole trip was a bit of a dream and totally unexpected. On reflection, I just can’t thank Dr Choksi, his family and friends enough for giving us such a wonderful treat.”
And for Katie, who was Miss Howick first runner-up in 2006, a Miss Auckland and a Miss Universe NZ contestant the following year and then winner of her second Miss Universe NZ pageant in 2009, the arrival of the New Year burned extra bright.
Katie’s birthday falls on January 1 and the Choksi family had organised for a candle-lit birthday cake to be presented to her just minutes before midnight. “It capped off a glittering evening at which Katie was queen for the night,” Val says.
