Miss Washington

Elyse Umemoto, Miss Washington 2007

Laurie Nelson, Miss Washington 1978

The Miss Washington competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Washington in the Miss America pageant.

History

Washington first sent delegates to Miss America in 1926 and 1927 with Leona Fengler Miss Seattle. She was sponsored by the Seattle Times (a practice common in the early days of the Miss America Pageant). She was pictured by the paper leaving in a bi-plane for her cross country flight to Atlantic City where she was voted 'Prettiest Girl in an Evening Gown'. Featured in the Seattle Museum of History and Industry in the exhibit 'Puttin on the Ritz' a 1920s display. In 1987, Leona was welcomed home and featured once again at the newly revived Miss Seattle Pageant that year.^[1][2]

The Depression and War years caused sporadic participation by Washington Contestants to the Miss America pageant, but the Miss Washington pageant was revived in 1948, with a $1000 scholarship being offered to the winner. In 1949 the Pageant was a 'financial flop' and the winner had to seek community donations to fund her appearance at Miss America. At the time the organization was so deeply in debt that the titleholder's tiara was nearly repossessed by the manufacturer.^[3][4][5]

Then as today the Miss America State Pageant programs are staffed, produced and sponsored by civic minded community volunteers and businesses who are mindful of promoting service to the community by the young ladies involved. The Primary function of the program is to provide scholarship dollars to further the contestants education, making the Miss America Local State and National the single largest Scholarship for young American Women who are American Citizens in the World. Unlike most other pageant programs there is no entry fee charged to the Contestant to compete and she must win a local Competition to get to the State level and then is eligible to go on to Miss America. The talent and trappings to compete from one level to the next are assisted when possible by the volunteer committees and sponsors, but the effort and dedication to the most of the opportunities available are indeed the responsibility of the participants. It is very often a fact that those women who never capture the top spot and move to the next levels of competition get the most personal growth from their interface with the ideas of making a difference in their community, and go on in life in pathways of great accomplishment. Simply by having had the opportunity to learn how to interview for the year of public service in the 'job' of Miss America.^[1][6]

In 1948, the Miss Washington pageant was held in Ephrata.^[7]

From 1961 to 1997 it was hosted by Vancouver, under a number of Executive Directors before being moved to the Tri-Cities under the Directorship of Chamber President Dorothy Schoeppach under whose direction the local programs again grew from 9 to 22. Two years later it moved to Tacoma under the Directorship of Joan Dehn and Mike Shinkle.

The pageant has been held in Renton since 2008 under the Directorship of Charlie VanTramp and then to date 2013 Peggy Miller, and Patti Belik. The Miss Washington pageant is a 501-C3 Scholarship Organization, and sponsorship is tax deductible, although tickets to the events are not.^[8][9]

The Competitions Contestant Contracted rules continue to be Morally and Culturally upright. The participants must live work or go to school in the areas permitted by the programs they compete in, never married or have been pregnant, nor convicted of any crime.

Results at Miss America

Washington has won several special awards in Talent, Swimsuit, Interview and Quality of Life (making a difference in your community) at Miss America. In 1980 Doris Hayes, the first African American Miss Washington, tied with Lencola Sullivan of Arkansas as the pageant's first African American preliminary winners. The Local pageants and the Miss Washington pageant had in fact been multi-cultural for decades prior, and have had all ethnicities represented as entries to Miss America, including Honey Castro - Moses Lake, So Young Kwon - Seattle, Maryannna Loya - Seattle, Elyse Umemoto - Seattle, Semmelle Ford - Tacoma, Tina Willis - Tacoma.^[10][11]

The most successful Miss Washingtons at Miss America though the years have been:

1927 Leona Fengler       Miss America Top 5 / 1926 'Prettiest Girl in Evening Gown' Finalist
1939 Annamae Schoonover  Miss America 2nd runner-up
1950 Karlyne Abele       Miss America Top 10
1959 Sharon Vaughn       Miss America 2nd runner-up
1963 Mardi Hagan         Miss America Judges Award
1964 Lsuren Waddleton    Miss America Non-finalist Talent Award
1965 Kippy Lou Brinkman  Miss America Non-finalist Talent AWard
1971 Susan Buckner       Miss America Top 10 / Swimsuit Preliminary Award
1973 Leslie Ann Mays     Miss America Top 10 / Swimsuit Preliminary Award
1974 Kathleen Beth Moore Miss America Top 10
1978 Laurie Nelson       Miss America 4th runner-up
1980 Doris Hayes         Miss America Top 10 / Preliminary Talent Award
1981 Kristine Weitz      Miss America Non-finalist Talent Award, Preliminary Swimsuit Award
1983 Honey Castro        Miss America 3rd runner-up
1989 Jennifer Wall       Miss America Top 10
1991 So Young Kwon       Miss America Top 10
2002 Amanda Beers        Miss America Top 10
2003 Fianna Dickson      Miss America Non-finalist Interview Award
2006 Kristen Eddings     Miss America Top 10
2007 Elyse Umemoto       Miss America 2nd runner-up / Reality Check Winner
2010 Jacquie Brown       Miss America 3rd runner-up
2012 Britney Henry       Miss America Non-finalist Talent Award
2013 Mandy Schendel      Miss America Top 10
2015 Lizzi Jackson
2016 Alicia Nichole Cooper Miss America 3rd runner-up

^{[1][6][12][13]}

Winners

* Succeeded to the crown after Miss Washington won Miss America

References

External links

• Miss Washington official website