Miss Lind-Ritzville replaces DYW

RITZVILLE — With pageant participation down in recent years, the Miss Lind-Ritzville program is replacing Distinguished Young Women here.

In recent years, royalty representing Ritzville were part of the national Distinguished Young Women program. But this year, organizers didn’t want to be tied to associated restrictions.

“For example, under DYW we weren’t allowed to give participants a tiara or a sash or flowers,” Miss Lind-Ritzville program director Sara Dirks said.

“Last year, with continuing restrictions and shifting priorities, we found it difficult to regain support for the program.

“Not only that, several girls had trouble getting their scholarship funds after the program was over.”

“This year, we had only one participant, Madison Bartlett,” Dirks said. “She didn’t have competition, but we wanted to make sure she hit certain scholastic, interview and self-expression benchmarks.”

But with the help of volunteers and a new Ritzville Festivals Association board, Dirks hopes to re-establish the rhythm of prior years.

“Most years, we have a full program and multiple participants,” Dirks said. “Every year since 1957, with the exception of one year, this town has had a program for royalty.”

It started as Miss Ritzville, then became Ritzville’s Junior Miss, then Distinguished Young Women and now Miss Lind-Ritzville.

“We had the program in 2021, but COVID constraints limited us to 50 people,” she said. “That included participants and volunteers, and there was no parade float.”

The Miss Lind-Ritzville program will refocus on representing our local community, she said. “And parades are a big part of that. Fortunately, the Ritzville Festivals Association is gung-ho about getting a float ready this year.”