Witt earns Distinguished Young Woman of Lind-Ritzville title

To the applause and cheers of hundreds, Kierstin Witt was named the 2019 Distinguished Young Woman of Lind-Ritzville on Saturday night. Alongside Witt, Chelsie Watterson was named the First Finalist and Else Gielisch received Second Finalist.

With a new venue location, members of both the Lind and Ritzville communities packed into the Lind-Ritzville Middle School gymnasium in Lind to celebrate the accomplishments of the five candidates participating in the program. The five candidates were Witt, Watterson, Gielisch, Kelcee Carlson and Madison Melcher.

Community members, friends and the families of the participants filled the gymnasium on March 17 to be a part of the annual program and watch another well-executed and prepared program.

With a “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” Dr. Seuss theme, the candidates, escorts, little sisters, sophomore sisters, and outgoing representatives performed a dance before introducing the audience to the candidates.

After introductions and interludes by Megan Buriak, Alarah Pierce-Pulliam and emcee Gordon Killian, the program began with the talent performances.

The participants were judged in five categories: fitness, academics, talent, interview and self-expression. The interview portion of the judging was completed in front of a guest panel of judges in the afternoon prior to the event.

Each contestant performed an individual talent of their choice for 90 seconds on stage. The performing arts play a large role in the importance of the DYW program, and the talent portion makes up a significant amount of the judging percentage.

Watterson took the stage first to sing the song “Like I’m Gonna Love You” for the crowd. She was immediately followed by another vocal performance, but this time it was Gielisch who chose the song “Never Enough” for her talent.

Carlson returned to the stage to perform her own choreographed dance to the song “Rockin’ Robin” as her talent. Witt performed next, reciting a monologue about her favorite pastime, trapshooting.

The final candidate to perform her talent was Melcher, who danced to the song “Hoedown Throwdown”.

While the five candidates prepared for the fitness portion of the program, The Dazzlers DFX Dance Group took the stage to perform a jazz dance.

The candidates returned to perform the fitness routine, which has been modified from the 2018 Washington State DYW program earlier this year. Outgoing local DYW Tessa O’Brien helped the candidates prepare for Saturday night’s performance.

As the candidates left the stage after the fitness routine, the escorts momentarily stole the spotlight with a comical dance to the song “How Bad Can I Be?”

After the entertainment, the candidates were brought back to the stage by their escorts for the final category: self-expression.

For self-expression, candidates wear formal dresses and walk a set routine on stage, before answering a single impromptu question in front of the audience.

After the successful completion of the self-expression portion, the outgoing DYW representatives took the stage to say farewell and thank the community for their support. The former finalists Rachel Schell and Sierra Kiel, joined O’Brien in powerful speeches of gratitude to the program, their families and the community.

After an intermission, the audience returned to their seats where they waited in suspense to hear who would be named the Distinguished Young Woman of Lind-Ritzville. The five candidates gathered on stage with their sophomore sisters and little sisters, and waited anxiously as the awards were announced.

This year, scholarship money was provided with each of the awards.

Witt received a $150 Spirit Award for her enthusiasm and dedication to the program. Carlson and Melcher received the Be Your Best Self Director’s Award for $150 for how they conducted themselves during training and rehearsals. Neither award played a role in the final decision of the DYW selection.

For the first time in recent history, a sole candidate swept the judged categories.

Witt received the Talent Award for her monologue during the program and received a $200 scholarship. She then received a $250 Scholastic Award for maintaining an excellent grade point average in high school.

The $250 Interview Award was also presented to Witt, for her professionalism and knowledgeable responses during the interview with the judges.

Witt received the $150 Fitness and $150 Self-Expression Awards for the evening, and then celebrated with those on stage as Gielisch and Watterson were named finalists, and finally she received the title of Distinguished Young Woman of Ritzville.

As the 2019 Distinguished Young Woman of Lind-Ritzville, Witt receives a $1,000 scholarship. As the First Finalist, Watterson receives a $750 scholarship, while Gielisch receives a $500 scholarship as the Second Finalist.