An annual tradition that goes along with the Miss West Duluth Pageant is my attempts to stir up controversy about it.

My initial objection came in 1987, when the first Miss West Duluth was a young lady from Morgan Park. It seemed to me that if the title was going to be “Miss West Duluth,” the contestants should all be from West Duluth.

I was told back then the criteria was that girls must live within the attendance boundary for Denfeld High School to be eligible. Although I thought “Miss Western Duluth” might be a more appropriate name, I was satisfied with this Denfeld rule, so I shut up about it for a few years.

Then, in 1996, a graduate of Hermantown High School was a contestant. I assumed she lived in the Denfeld area but chose to attend Hermantown, which would get around the rules enough to allow her to compete. In subsequent years I’ve noticed Proctor High School students in the list of contestants.

Give a contest an inch and it takes a mile. One of this year’s contestants is a senior at East High School, according to the Spirit Valleys Days insert in the Budgeteer News. (UPDATE: She lives in Morgan Park, according to comments to this post.)

Now, I don’t mean to fan the east/west flames here, so I’m just going to suggest we call this thing the Miss North America Pageant already and get it over with.