Calling all royalty

There’s a search under way for a missing woman.

Several missing women, actually.

The Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce is trying to contact former members of the Miss Spokane Valley courts. The chamber is holding a luncheon Aug. 11 to reunite those who competed in the long-running pageant, and it wants as many past participants to attend as possible.

“We want to try to find these ladies to honor them,” said Eldonna Gossett, the chamber’s president and CEO.

The chamber is encouraging royalty from surrounding communities and the general public to attend the event, too.

The chamber held the Miss Spokane Valley pageant between the 1940s and 1979 and resurrected it this year in a new format, now called the Miss Spokane Valley Ambassador Program. The contest highlights contestants’ academic achievements and service to the community.

In March, the ambassador program crowned Andrea Flint, of West Valley High School, Miss Spokane Valley. Megan Steele and Kristyne Westermann, also of West Valley, will serve as ambassadors.

The 2004 Miss Spokane Valley contestants will model in a back-to-school fashion show at the reunion event next month.

So far, the chamber has found contact information for about a dozen past participants. While moving its offices, the chamber found the names of several others in some paperwork. It learned that Miss Spokane Valley in 1948 rode in a parade on an aluminum float—no doubt provided by Kaiser Aluminum, Gossett speculated.

“We would love to be able to make a connection to these ladies,” Gossett said. “We’re going to introduce them, and they’ll all have nice corsages.”

KHQ-6 news anchor Stephanie Vigil will host the fashion show.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students. Proceeds will benefit the Miss Spokane Valley Ambassador Scholarship Fund.

For more information or to help identify former royalty, call the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce at 924-4994 or toll free at (866) 475-1436 or go to www.spokanevalleychamber.org.