Dear candidates,
I promised you I’d keep in touch if any further developments arose regarding the coronavirus and its impact on your competition.
This afternoon, the Chelan-Douglas Health District issued a press release which stated in part, “Your local health department firmly urges the cancellation of in-person group events of any size, and especially the larger ones with over 20 participants, for the foreseeable future. “
Although this strikes me as a disproportionate action based on the lack of confirmed coronavirus cases in Chelan County, the fact that they have now set this standard publicly means that the board of Miss East Cascades is forced to consider an appropriate response. We have scheduled a phone meeting for Friday at 11:00 a.m. to determine our options moving forward.
The options we’ve been able to identify at this point include, but are not limited to:
- Proceeding as scheduled with a public competition on March 21;
- Postponing the competition to a later date this spring;
- Moving to a private competition without an invited audience.
We may consider other options as we move through our deliberations. However, I don’t see an outright cancellation with no titleholder selected to be an option we’ll consider.
I’m writing you now out of a spirit of transparency, so you’re not taken unaware that we’ve been forced to have this conversation. I’m also writing to gather your input, so that we might honor your preparation and take into account any insights or preferences you might have in this regard as well. Please call or write to share any concerns or suggestions you may have, and we’ll give them strong consideration.
We’re all being faced with an unprecedented challenge right now. What has not changed, however, is our strong commitment to each of you to make this the best possible experience we can considering the circumstances in which we find ourselves. We deeply appreciate each one of you and hope you’ll remember us as we deliberate on your behalf.
