On hand for the 2005 Miss Washington Pageant at Tacoma's Champions Centre on Saturday, June 25, will be Miss America 2005, Deidre Downs of Alabama. Twenty local preliminary winners from around the state will compete for the Miss Washington title now held by Allison Porter, 25, of University Place, a 2002 graduate of Harvard University and entering the University of Washington School of Medicine this fall to pursue a medical degree.

Preliminary competition for Miss Washington will be on Friday, June 24, at 7:00 p.m. with the finals on Saturday, June 25, at 7:00 p.m. The Champions Centre is located at 1819 East 72nd Street in Tacoma.

The 2005 Miss Teen Washington competition will be held at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. Preliminary competition begins on Friday, July 1, at 7:30 p.m. with Talent competition on Saturday, July 2, at 1:30 p.m. The new Miss Teen Washington 2005 will be selected during the finals at 7:30 p.m. and will receive a trip for two to compete for a $30,000 college scholarship at the first-ever Miss America's Outstanding Teen Pageant in Orlando, Florida, in August.

Additional information about both pageants is available at the Organization's website at www.misswashington.org.

About Miss America Organization

The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. The Miss America Organization provides young women with a vehicle to further their personal and professional goals and instills a spirit of community service through a variety of unique nationwide community-based programs. Miss America state and local titleholders, along with the Organization's network of volunteers, participate in more than 12,000 community-service projects annually, providing over 500,000 service hours to worthy causes. For more information about the Miss America Organization, visit www.missamerica.org.

   Contact:
   Nick Latham
   Media Relations Director
   Miss Washington Scholarship Organization
   206/284-2040
   206/919-1923 Cell

Source: Miss Washington Scholarship Organization

CONTACT: Nick Latham, Media Relations Director of Miss Washington
Scholarship Organization, +1-206-284-2040 or +1-206-919-1923 Cell

Web site: http://www.misswashington.org/