Moses Lake well represented

RENTON - Moses Lake was well represented in the Miss Washington finals.

The contest was held at Lindbergh High School in Renton July 2.

Seventeen young women from across the state competed for the title of Miss Washington.

Brittney Henry, 24, a Puyallup woman with ties to Moses Lake, won the crown and a $10,000 scholarship.

She moves on to compete at the 2012 Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas. Nicole Erhardt, 19, and Audrey Ramsden, 18, both of Moses Lake, were also recognized.

Erhardt, who holds the Miss Tahoma title, was named first runner-up and earned more than $6,000 in scholarships. Ramsden, who holds the title of Miss Moses Lake, was presented a non-finalist talent award for her violin playing and earned $1,500 in scholarships and an iPad.

Henry had plenty of preparation for the competition, as she was crowned Miss Eastside in 2011, one of three titles given by the Miss Moses Lake program.

"Moses Lake has always been really accepting of me," she said, adding that the Miss Moses Lake committee is already arranging for her to speak to Moses Lake students as Miss Washington.

While a woman must be a Moses Lake resident to be crowned Miss Moses Lake, the program also awards two titles open to any young woman that lives, works or goes to school in the state of Washington: Miss Columbia Basin and Miss Eastside, said Kris Duncan-Crum, executive director of the Miss Moses Lake program.

Each girl competing in the Miss America program chooses a platform to represent a cause, said Duncan-Crum.

Henry works with Wapato-based Northwest Learning and Achievement Group for her platform, "Promoting higher education in low income families." The organization works with schools in Eastern Washington.

Henry grew up in a low-income, single-parent family and had no intention of pursuing higher education, she said. When people asked if she was going to college, she automatically replied, "no."

A parent of a classmate in high school challenged her assumption that she couldn't go to college. Instead of asking "Are you going to college?" he asked her, "Where are you going to college?"

"It was something no one had ever really asked me before," she said.

She was accepted to California State University - Sacramento, where she graduated with a double concentration in Intercultural/International Communication and Organization Communication in 2009.

Henry said it was exhilarating to be crowned Miss Washington and she looks forward to the good she can do with the title.

"It's absolutely amazing, a true blessing, because of the opportunities it's opening up for me to really get my message to the kids who need it most," she said.

More information on Henry and her platform is available at www.brittneyhenry.com.

In addition to winning first runner-up, Erhardt won Miss Congeniality and Top Evening gown.

Erhardt chose the American Cancer Society as her platform, in recognition of her mother who died of Hodgkin's lymphoma in December 2010.

"The American Cancer Society was a really, really huge help for my whole family during my mom's journey with cancer," she said.

She participated in Relay for Life fundraisers in Moses Lake and at Washington State University, where she's a senior majoring in elementary education.

She helped raise over $10,000 for the American Cancer Society, she said.

"Obviously I can't take credit for that," she said. "I've had so many supporters with everything that I've done."

Erhardt has a page on the American Cancer Society website with more of her mother's story at www.main.acsevents.org/goto/erhardt.

Ramsden was crowned Miss Moses Lake in March. She didn't expect to win because it was her first time participating in a pageant, she said.

"It's been a lot of fun," she said. "I never really realized how much the kids love the girls in the crown, but you go into public with it and they just kind of swarm."

She's had fun participating at car shows and Spring Fest, she said.

In addition to playing the violin for 10 years, she plays the piano and said music scholarships pay for about a third of her education.

With music such a large part of her life, she chose a platform reflecting her passion: "Expanding music education opportunities for children."

"I chose that platform because I know how important music's been in my life and how much it's benefited me and I don't think people understand the opportunities there are in music," she said. "Before I started my college search, I didn't realize you could get pretty big music scholarships."

Ramsden will attend Pacific Lutheran University in the fall and plans to double-major in political science and piano performance, she said.

People interested in getting involved with Ramsden's platform can contact Angela Davis, one of her directors, at 509-760-9685.