Teen Program

Reader disputes information

I applaud councilmember David Curnel and Lorna Bolyard for bringing their concerns to the public. I agree with Curnel, shouldn’t the women who become “Miss Moses Lake,” “Miss Columbia Basin” and “Miss East Side” reside in those locations of Washington? Curnel has it right when he asks the question, “why should individuals and local businesses donate to an organization that funnels money out of the community?”

I would rather invest our community resources in a woman from Moses Lake and send her to Miss Washington. Isn’t it better to be proud that a true resident was doing her best to represent the local community then trying to implant someone to increase the chances of winning at Miss Washington? If the organization just wants to host a pageant that is great, just call it something else.

The supporters have three major arguments 1) They need to have the Miss program in order to have the Outstanding Teen program, 2) The non-residents only get a small amount of dollars given to them and 3) the community should blindly support them.

To these arguments I ask why do you need three Miss titleholders? It seems counter-intuitive if your real focus is to be about the Miss Outstanding Teen program. According to the Miss Washington Web site there are multiple outstanding teens who exist, but do not have a Miss program. The argument that they must have the Miss program in order to have the Teen program appears untrue. Scholarship dollars may have been awarded proportionally, but what about the cost to send them to the state level? Three girls to one is not proportional.

Maybe the community should pick a representative from Moses Lake and call her the, “Official Miss Moses Lake,” whose focus is to embody Moses Lake not Miss Washington.

Jason Gavinski

Moses Lake