WICHITA — When the Miss Kansas contestants take the stage in Pratt in June the Miss Wichita pageant will rejoin the list of local pageants after an absence of five years.
Miss Kansas 2000 Amy (Shaw) Perrault has taken over the helm of the Miss Wichita Pageant and was pleased with the outcome of the March 6 event in Wichita.
“I was very happy,” Perrault said. “We had about 225 come out to watch the pageant.”
The last Miss Wichita was Adrienne Rosel in 2005 that became Miss Kansas 2005.
Even though the pageant had existed before, so much had to be organized it was like reinventing the wheel, Perrault said.
The pageant is a dual title pageant for both Miss Wichita and Miss Air Capital. Earning the crowns were Miss Wichita Alex Miller and Miss Air Capital Melissa Walthers.
Miller was First Runner-up in the 2009 Miss Kansas Pageant and Walthers is sister to Miss Kansas 2006 Michelle Walthers.
Perrault said she thought Miller was a little scared to get back into competition after being first runner-up. She needs to not get cocky but go back in with the same drive and effort because it takes 10 times the effort because she was that close to Miss Kansas.
She also sees Walthers as a dark horse in the Miss Kansas Pageant in June. As a sister to a Miss Kansas and a Miss Outstanding Kansas Teen contestant, she can draw from a lot of experience.
Even though the pageant was new, they were able to present $800 in scholarship money. The pageant was held on the campus of Newman University in Wichita. Perrault was very impressed with the Newman University facilities especially the dressing rooms.
“The dressing rooms were nicer than at Miss America,” Perrault said.
The Miss Wichita Pageant already has Newman set in stone for the 2011 pageant.
“We look forward to working with them for many years to come. It’s a great setup,” Perrault said.
It was a hectic schedule getting the pageant up and running again. Miss Kansas Pageant Executive Director Doug Brehm contacted Perrault in November 2009 and asked her if she would be interested in restarting the Miss Wichita Pageant.
Perrault said she loves the Miss Kansas and Miss America programs, so even though she only had from four to five months to get things organized she jumped at the challenge.
“It appealed to my love of insanity,” Perrault said.
Perrault said she loves mentoring girls and after her reign as Miss Kansas, she became an image consultant to help girls get the best out of themselves.
She immediately used her Miss Kansas connections and started recruiting help and contestants. Volunteers came forward including Quinn (Aspegrin) Rakaskas, Miss Kansas fourth place finalist in 2002, third place in 2004, semifinalist in both 2001 and 2003. Along with volunteer Cary Sallavedra, Perrault organized a board of directors and held meetings every two weeks because of a lack of time.
“We needed to be organized,” Perrault said.
The pageant drew the attention of the local television and radio media as the nine contestants prepared for the one-day event.
Even though she is the pageant director she took time to help contestants with preparation and not just tell them how everything was going to be at the pageant. She offered advice and resources to help prepare the contestants for the pageant.
The pageant was a success and Perrault has received e-mails from saying they loved the process.
The Princess Program was also an important part of the event and the mothers were very happy with the experience for their daughters.
Anyone interested in information about the Miss Wichita pageant can visit the web site misswichitaamerica.com or send an e-mail to wichitapageant@yahoo.com.
For more information about the Miss Kansas Pageant visit their web site misskansas.org
Perrault is married to Jason and they have three sons, Ryan, Zachary and Kalen.
