In 1958, crowning the Diamond Cup Queen wasn't a very ceremonious event. So says the queen herself. "The whole thing was new. It was new to everybody," said Ruthanna (Hawkins) Rauer, the very first Diamond Cup queen. Ruthanna had taken a semester off from the University of Idaho, and all of the founders of the original Diamond Cup were friends of hers. So, when they went looking to fill the position, they just asked her to step up. "I was happy to do it," she said. "But I felt more like a hostess than a queen." She said the position was designed to help sell tickets and really promote the event to the outlying communities. "Duane Hagadone was in charge of publicity," she said. "We traveled together all over North Idaho and of course Spokane"/Jeff Selle, SR. More here.

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