Don't tell me -- she's lived in a Pearl District condo for almost six months now, and she's always loved the Blazers like Hillary loves the Yankees.

Looks like she has Tigard roots -- at least enough to be Miss Oregon Teen USA in 2000.

Here's an interesting comment.

She was also "Miss Portland" in 2003.

On May 16 of this year, this publication wrote:

Kari is currently the events and communications intern in the Portland office and recently won the title of Miss Portland. She came to us from the LA chapter where she’s been a wish granter for two years, and she just started working on her first wish here in Oregon. Kari is looking forward to sharing the Make-A-Wish mission as her platform during the pageant.

This says (scroll way down) she was 2nd runner-up Miss Oregon in 2004.

Looks like she was still "Miss Covina" as late as December 2006.

She is listed in the 2006-07 catalog of Mount San Antonio College (Walnut, Cal.) as a staff member.

What am I doing this for? I can't imagine anything less important. Congratulations to Miss Virding, and I hope she wins something in a national "scholarship competition" sometime before she enters assisted living.

I can't stop. The official rules are available if you go here and click on "Become a Contestant." The rules state that you need six months' residency "prior to entering a local preliminary pageant."

The Miss Portland Pageant was held on April 14. The application deadline was March 1.

Hey Jack... a little clarification:

Kari Virding is an Oregonian. For a few years, she lived in California going to college. According to the pageant rules, you compete where you live. Like many of us, she tried California, and decided that Oregon is home.

(Full disclosure - I've met Kari. We have mutual friends, and they thought we should meet; since our names are spelled and pronounced the same way - and she's a gorgeous woman, and... well... I'm not.)

Hmmm... 23 or 24 years old... apparently had a full-time paying job after graduation in California, for at least a year, and continuing into last fall... was still apparently holding a beauty pageant title (and making an official appearance in a parade?) in California months after the Oregon residency deadline (Sep. 1, 2006) passed... Was she also an Oregon resident when she entered in California last year?

Can you have two legal residences at the same time in the beauty pageant world? Maybe it's like the Rhodes Scholarships or the U.S. Senate or the Vice Presidency of the United States, where there's a whole lot of winking going on.

She seems like a nice person, and like I say, I wish her well. But I do think it's funny that the new Miss Oregon was Miss Covina, California as late as last Christmastime.

We have relatives who are totally immersed in the Miss Oregon pageant "lifestyle". They seem to enjoy it. It keeps them very busy.

I got dragged to the Miss Oregon pageant twice. It's like going to another planet. I knew how the Europeans felt when they landed in the new world. I didn't understand the pageant culture at all. I still don't.

The stories I could tell. I am proud to say I persuaded the boyfriend of one of the contestants to crawl under a restaurant table so he could sit next to his special contestant girlfriend. His eagerness was not reciprocated. She dumped him. Like a concrete statue in deep water dumped him.

The little secret of Miss Oregon is that it's not just a scholarship pageant. The winner gets oodles and oodles of free stuff. Rooms full of free stuff. From who? Take a look at the sponsors in the event program. I guess the winner won't get any Schumacher furs this year. . . darn.

I particularly enjoyed the contestants with either the conservative Christian, or on the other end, the feminist bent, complaining about the swimsuit competition, for their very different but similar reasons. But not so much complaining that they didn't strut out there like their scholarship depended on it.

I admit though, it was a tradition when we were growing up to watch Miss America every year. My parents let us skip school and we always went to the beach to watch Miss America.

My sisters and their friends played pageant every summer in our backyard, over and over. We fashioned runway borders for the winner's walk with the garden hose.

I always had to be the judge(my sisters said boys couldn't enter the pageant..lucky me). I had to pick a different one for the winner each time.

I wonder where all these state pageant winners will end up this year? There's no deal for a national show yet, is there?

Does Miss Oregon have a song, like Miss America has a song?

"There she is! Miss Oregon
Back from L.A., with an orange tan..."

Anyone who hasn't seen "Little Miss Sunshine" needs to to put this in perspective.

A carpetbagging beauty pageant contestant! You stay classy, Miss Oregon.

Wow....I guess everything is from California now.

The only message I see here is if you go blond you win. I'm off to the hairdressers.

Contestants can "live, work or go to school" within their city to be eligible. Kari continued on to graduate school in CA while working full-time, which sealed the CA eligibility. But Kari was born and raised in Oregon. She is no longer a staff member at Mt. SAC, that is old information.

And while "free stuff" is cool, there are no guarantees. The only guarantee is the scholarship money for school. I'd do it if I could.

When you click on the photo in the California link, you get a bunch of strange stream of conciousness writing...what's with that?

Contestants can "live, work or go to school" within their city to be eligible.

Which one of those did she do continuously in Oregon from Sep. 1, 2006 to March 1, 2007?

you get a bunch of strange stream of conciousness writing...what's with that?

Some of it's pornographic. Looks like that site's been hacked.

"What am I doing this for? I can't imagine anything less important."

Your blog got bought out by Fox? [ducks]

QUOTE -- Contestants can "live, work or go to school" within their city to be eligible.

Which one of those did she do continuously in Oregon from Sep. 1, 2006 to March 1, 2007? --END QUOTE

Have legal residence in OR (student status.) The end.

Have legal residence in OR (student status.) The end.

Maybe to you. She graduated from college in 2005. She lived and worked in California, and was not enrolled in any school, as of Sep. 1, 2006 -- isn't that true? Hard to see how that constitutes "legal residence in OR (student status)" as of that crucial date. I'm not sure what "law" you refer to which would reach that conclusion.

Did she file Oregon resident income tax returns for all those years?

Plus, if she retained "legal residence in OR" all these years, how was she eligible to run for Miss Covina, California?

Either the beauty pageant world is crazy (entirely possible), or somewhere, some rule was not complied with.

Had to repost, almost spit my cereal when I read it... hilarious.

"What am I doing this for? I can't imagine anything less important."

Your blog got bought out by Fox? [ducks]

You can have legal residency if you have a driver's license from the state and a legal residence in the state you want to compete for 6 months prior to the pageant. you can then qualify in another state if you are going to school full time or again have an address in that state. In a sense you can have dual residency if your parental address is in one state, and your school address is in another. But just look back to Miss America 1998 she ran in 5 different state pageants before winning Miss Illinois. Many serious pageant girls do what they can to win a state title and thousands of scholarship dollars.

I believe it's called "state hopping."

It's crazy to me that she could be a resident of Oregon in the fall of 2006, at the same time that's she's still appearing as Miss Covina, California. I just can't get past that one.

Jack, thank you so much for your interest in me and in the Miss Oregon Scholarship Program! I am flattered to be the subject of your blog. I am a native Oregonian. I grew up in Beaverton and graduated from Southridge High School. My parents live in Tigard. I attended Azusa Pacific University in California which qualified me to compete in Miss California last year. But my heart was in Oregon and I really wanted to represent my home state of Oregon. The Miss America Organization's residency rules do allow a contestant to run either where she is a full time student or her home state. Rest assured, I am an Oregonian through and through! I look forward to traveling our great state as Miss Oregon and hope that you and I can meet in person.

I think, dear Jack, that's pretty much what you can call someone who has FAR MORE CLASS THAN YOU!!! You sure have done a fantastic job of making yourself look like an jerk!
Kari is going to be a wonderful representative for Oregon as is evident by her strong character, commitment to charity work and her love of this state. Her recent post shows far more eloquence than ANY of yours (hmm, I wonder how quickly this will get deleted by YOU!). Although you tried to pull her down, she won't allow you or others to tarnish her good name! And clearly has come out looking better in all this than you who seems to deal in the dirt.
Also, does anyone find it a little odd that a grown man, "jack bog", is so obsessed with pageants, or is it just me?

Kari, I'm sorry that I have apparently distracted you and your vocal fans (including Stephanie, bless her heart) from the business of winning the national title. But I'm sure you, as a true Oregonian, know how we all feel about Californians sometimes.

I wish you had simply continued to compete in Oregon every year, rather than switching to California for a year. That's the only reason I found anything unusual about your story.

The Miss America Organization's residency rules do allow a contestant to run either where she is a full time student or her home state.

You graduated from Azusa Pacific in 2005, right? That's what all the press reports say. Were you a full-time student at a California school in 2005-2006? Weren't you working in a paying job as a staff member at Mt. San Antonio College during 2005-2006?

If you weren't a full-time student in California in the spring of 2006, then how could you become Miss Covina at that point -- unless California had become your "home state" by that time? And if California had become your "home state," when did your "home state" go back to being Oregon? Was it by September 1, 2006, as the rules require? Weren't you still appearing as Miss Covina in December?

I appreciate your commenting here, but I'm still not convinced that something wasn't wrong, either down there or up here. I'm a complete newcomer when it comes to scholarship pageant eligibility issues -- I may very well be missing something that's obvious to people who are more familiar with the program. But you may want to hold off on further public comment about this issue. If the other contestants in Miss Oregon 2007 don't pursue this question, what's said on this blog doesn't matter, does it? And the whole Miss California eligibility issue, if there ever was one, is over -- there is a new Miss Covina and a new Miss California now.

I see you have made your MySpace profile private. What's up with that? It was a nice page.

Some years back a routine gimmick to draw folks to grand openings of retirement residences was the presence of Miss Oregon or Miss California or Miss Washington. Back then I had been digging ditches to supply water to the greenery (a job that American's supposedly won't do today, unless they mess up or rebel against boring conformity in school and need to build character).

I do wonder what it would mean if a Miss Oregon refused to attend the grand opening of project X Y or Z as a public protest to some offensive funding scheme that spawned the project? That won't happen, because it might destroy credibility and future prospects to become the public face for some corporate ad campaign.

I believe it's called "state hopping."

I prefer carpetbagging. Either way it gets away from "The Ideal" that that's "our girl" up there. This should be a scandal.

Once you've competed in one state's competition, you should be disqualified from competing in any other state. Period. Otherwise state pageants are simply meaningless.

Of course, Miss Virding isn't the only person representing Oregon who's current ties to the state are sketchy.

The residency stuff is all technicalities. Sounds like this gal is an Oregonian through and through. I am glad she is representing Oregon in the Miss America pageant.

Sounds like this gal is an Oregonian through and through.

I'm sure she didn't say that up on the stage in the Miss California contest.

First of all, why do you people care?!?! Especially YOU Jack? Don't you have better things to do with your time than TRYING to smear the name of the new Miss Oregon? I guess the answer is no? But more to the point...maybe if you're SO interested, as is evident by your single-mindedness in pursuing this matter...you should call up the Miss Oregon Scholarship Program and ask THEM these questions(the website to contact them is www.missoregon.org)! I GUARANTEE you they would be more than happy to answer your questions! Call up the Miss Oregon Scholarship program or Darla Harman (who does the booking for Miss Oregon 2007) and ask to interview Kari about your allegations that she isn't (or wasn't) elligible to compete in Oregon. It seems to me, that if you REALLY wanted to resolve the issue then you would take the time to go through the right channels. But I'm predicting 1) Now that you've been such a jerk you don't have the guts to meet Kari face-to-face and interview her, 2) You don't really want to resolve anything but would rather just TRY and stir up dirt, or 3) you have no life and this is all you could come up with to make your life meaningful, I'm betting that it's a combination of all the above. Get over it people! Are there not more important things to worry about in this state other than the new Miss Oregon 2007 and her elligibility requirements?

I have four questions about all this. First, if Kari is a devoted Oregonian then why did she make it perfectly clear that if she didn't win the Miss Oregon crown, she was on the first bus back to California to live when the pageant was over? Second, if she graduated in 2005 and has no plans to continue her education, then where does the $10,000 scholarship go? Not very fair to the four runner's up who are all still struggling to stay in school financially. Third, why did Kari sit with the Oregon crowd at the Miss America Pageant in January? One would think she should have been sitting with the Miss California people to support Miss California whom she had competed against last year. Fourth, when did she give her Miss Covina crown away? Six months before Miss Portland? All seems a bit sketchy. A true Oregonion wouldn't threaten to go back to California if she didn't get her way. Look out Oregon, past record shows that Kari will leave the Oregon pageant family high and dry as soon as the Miss America Pageant is over in January.

Chris,

You lost any claim to Miss Oregon as "our girl" when you hopped to Vancouver.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/chrissnethen/about.html

Nothing you say on this subject has any credibility.

Whatcha makin' over there on Fruit Valley Road? Carpetbags?

Are there not more important things to worry about in this state other than the new Miss Oregon 2007 and her elligibility requirements?

For you, Stephanie, apparently not.

I have four questions about all this.

Ah. Marie, Marie... we've been waiting for you.

when did she give her Miss Covina crown away?

The Covina City Council was still calling her by that title in December 2006, after she worked on the Christmas parade down there.

Nothing you say on this subject has any credibility.

Don't mess with Butterbean.

Uh-oh. Stirred up a hornet's nest, Jack.

As I see it you don't have to be on the same page as Kari, the nice person, and you don't want to be either, because Stephanie resides there with her.

I think there are some issues within the "pageant family."

I find it interesting that no one is even willing to see another side of this argument. Not only is no one willing to hear another side, but when I bring up possible resolutions (as was asked for in a recent post on the main page), such as asking the organization itself, I am attacked by Jack and others on this blog. A little bit sad, in my humble opinion. I guess all in all, it's much easier for everyone to attack someone and join on the bandwagon, than for a few people to stand alone as a voice of support for those who deserve support. I'll agree that my posts have not been incredbily favorable towards Jack, however, HE has not been incredibly favorable towards Kari (if I have hurt Jacks feelings it certainly was not my intention, I was just responding in the same fashion as everyone else has before me). However, there's nothing wrong with someone saying the way Kari has been treated on this blog is unfair and unjust. Her post was extremely nice and yet, all anyone, including Jack, can do is continue to attack her. I think it's a sad commentary on our world today that when someone does charity work and cares about their state they get ripped to pieces.

I'm not "ripping" Kari "to shreds." I just think she may have outsmarted herself with her wily tactics, although I understand they are typical in the pageant world.

As for name-calling, Stephanie, if you re-read the post and the comments, I think you'll find that you've established yourself as Miss America in that department.

You couldn't be more right, I've been the one saying such things as "carpet baggin", "state hopping", "she's lived in a Pearl District condo for almost six months now, and she's always loved the Blazers like Hillary loves the Yankees", "There she is! Miss Oregon
Back from L.A., with an orange tan...", I'm sorry possibly I am incorrect, and please clarify it if I am, but were those things that you and others wrote meant to be nice and kind?

They were meant to be funny. Because beauty contests scholarship pageants and the people who take them seriously are hysterically funny.

As for "state hopping," that's what it's called.

I agree that they could have meant to be funny, and maybe I just didn't see it. But when you are talking about a person I think it's just hurtful. Saying someone has an "orange tan", I just don't see how that's meant to be funny. I realize the purpose of your blog is to rile (sp?) people up, and I think that's a great thing. People shouldn't just accept the norm and conform, especially in today's society! But when you have such an awesome forum to incite thought and really make people think, I believe that also comes along with responsibility.
But obviously we aren't going to agree, and that's fine. Good luck with everything!

Jack, you asked: You graduated from Azusa Pacific in 2005, right? That's what all the press reports say. Were you a full-time student at a California school in 2005-2006?

Jack... Kari Virding is in graduate school at Asuza Pacific. She's been a full-time student the whole time -- even now.

This is really pretty simple.

Here's my question: Do you really think that the Miss America organization didn't check her eligibility?

She's been a full-time student the whole time -- even now.

And the way you know this is how? You got a line to the registrar at Azusa? It would be against the law for them to tell you about her courses there, I think.

It's been two years since she got her bachelor's -- what kind of graduate studies has she been doing for two years, full-time, still no advanced degree and she still needs a scholarship?

How could she be working at Mount San Antonio College as an alumni coordinator while she was a full-time student at Azusa?

Do you really think that the Miss America organization didn't check her eligibility?

I have no idea. If it wasn't challenged, maybe not.

Maybe all she had to do was show an Oregon driver's license. But that doesn't mean that at some point she didn't become a California resident, at which point she should have surrendered her Oregon driver's license and gotten one in California.

It would be interesting to know if she paid Oregon income tax on her California-source personal service income.

I think there are some issues within the "pageant family."

Gee whiz. I guess so.

Carpetbags?

Using my real name and everything! It's a sweet gig. You should come check it out. But you'll have to use your real name too.

ask THEM these questions

I wonder if this isn't a national issue rather than a state one. Does the local organization set the rules or the Miss America organization? It would be fun, I bet, to interview Darla (any relation to former Miss Oregon/America Katie? how long has she been booking the event?), but ultimately this should be brought to the attention of the national body.

hopped to Vancouver.

When she's not doing reality TV, our girl Kristen Eddings is leading feminist protests and helping out in Sierra Leone. After she turns in her crown? NGO work in Jordan. Which kinda makes interning at Make-A-Wish seem...

Well, that's enough of that.

It would be interesting to know if she paid Oregon income tax on her California-source personal service income.

Now, Jack...

If she didn't but should have, all she'd have to do is pay up, and say she'd paid in the wrong year (file an amendment).

Just like Sen. Betsy Johnson did when she got caught (by reporters) not filing the proper forms. Or in the proper year.

By reading her post above, Kari seems to be a really nice person. Hopefully she won't use the following default excuse:

"Mistakes were made. My accountant screwed up. My Miss California / Miss Oregon application filer person screwed up. My hair colorist person screwed up. It really is all just a simple misunderstanding... that has all been cleared up.... this is old news."

It's a friggin beauty pageant, is this all really that important? 600,000 Iraqi dead, and counting. No wonder our nation is slowing sinking like the Titanic.

It's a scholarship competition.

This is just plain creepy.

Curious. What's her sign? (Kari Virding: What's your birthdate, and birthtime if you know it -- an astrologer just asking?)

It just goes and shows ya', you can take a Beaver out of the Golden Bear, but you can't take the golden bare out of a beaver.

---
Back (indefinite) when I was shilling fine and hustling my chops, on separate occasions my astrology clients were a Miss Massachusetts and a Miss Arizona. The real deals. Come to ask this native Oregonian filly breaker, (you bite the ear when you're mounted, you don't whisper in it; grip the mane, don't hug the neck; it don't take a bridle but that's handy ... I never cared much for the broncs): Will I be rich? Will I be poor? How is my fame destiny?

Here's what I said to she: Que sera, es.

They both thanked and tipped me lavishly and I'm a better person due to them. However, when I erected the chart for Oregon's PMOY ('99? '00?), she wouldn't even give me a peck. But I knew that in advance, it's my business. Mayhaps I was off my chops.

Facts:
1)The Miss America Organization is the largest scholarship organization for women ON THE PLANET....they offer over $40 million a YEAR....on EVERY level, not just to the lucky few who win.

2)Scholarship monies can only be used at acredited colleges and universities, and can be applied to tuition, books, or to pay off student loans (explaining why a grad student would want to enter)

3)Kari and her family are OREGONIANS...the only proof required for her to compete in California was a student ID....Miss America realizes that ladies will travel out of state to attend school, and even encourage students to run wherever it is most convenient, with some restrictions (i.e. you must give up your crown before you compete for another, etc.)

Now, instead of questioning her status, you should be thrilled to have her representing Oregon. I get that you aren't too keen on pageants, and that's okay...I'm not that into sports, but when the OSU Beavers or the UO Ducks do well nationally in any sport, I am proud of them. I am not a basketball fan, but if the Blazers can turn it around this year or next, it will give me bragging rights with my other friends...doesn't it feel good to be on the upswing? So, if Miss Oregon competes at Miss America and finishes anywhere north of the top 15, we can all have a moment to feel proud.

Most recognize Katie Harman as Oregon's first Miss America, but are you aware that before Katie, we came very close? In the 90's Oregon had the winningest record of any state (including Texas, and Oklahoma) WE had 1st, 2nd, 3rd runners-up, plas a few in the top 10, plus one Miss Hawaii who was originally from Oregon who made the top ten....we were on a winning streak until the year following Katie Harman....since then, nothing.

We should be doing eveything we can to support Kari in her upcomming run for the Miss America crown, because for the first time since Katie Harman, we have a chance to do well nationally again......it feels good to be on the upswing.

the only proof required for her to
compete in California was a student ID

When she entered Miss Cal, what Cal school was she attending, full time?

Did she pay Oregon income tax?

Kari moved back to Oregon in early October, a full eight months before Miss Oregon......She flew back to Covina just to crown her successor, and did this before she signed paperwork for her local, Miss Portland (six months after she relocated almost to the day)

This was all discussed in triplicate BEFORE she entered her local.....there is NO NEWS HERE. The reason people questioned her eligibility is because pageant season doesn't start until Feb/March, and to some nitwits afraid of competition, Kari seemed like an easy target....they didn't realize she had moved home until she arrived on the scene at the first pageant as Miss Covina....then Miss Portland. I know it's confusing to those of you that don't understnd the system, but don't continue to broadcast your ingnorance by broadcasting more ridiculous speculation.

Doesn't matter to whom she paid her income tax, doesn't matter that she is still working on her masters from Asuza via internet in Portland, doesn't matter that she grew up in Tigard and Beaverton. All that matters is that Kari did her homework, moved home with the blessings of the Miss California Organization, and continued to work hard at making her dream a reality by becoming Miss Oregon...THAT is the story....she is an incredible young woman that you would be blessed to have a cup of coffee with.

I'm beginning to think that you, Jack, are a Cassie supporter, as her camp was the most up in arms about Kari's relocation back home to Portland....

Kari moved back to Oregon in early October

Thanks for clarifying that point. If what you say is true, then she's probably ineligible. The rules clearly state that you have to be here for six months prior to entering: "RESIDENCY - resided in the local pageant franchise area for a minimum of six (6) months prior to entering a local preliminary pageant." The deadline for applying for the Miss Portland contest this year was March 1, 2007, and if that's when she "entered," she had to live in the Portland area no later than Sep. 1, 2006.

she is still working on her masters from Asuza via internet in Portland

Now that is funny. Here's the list of graduate programs at Azusa Pacific. You seem to know a lot about this, so tell me: Which one was she enrolled in, full-time, when she entered Miss California? And if she has been full-time at Azusa continuously since she graduated in spring 2005, how is it taking so long to finish?

At some point, she must have become a California resident.

You really don't get it. I am sure that she is an extraordinary young woman. But she was appearing as Miss Covina as late as last December, and I'm having a hard time seeing how she could be Miss Portland three and a half months later. If "the system" allows that, then yes, I don't understand "the system."

I do not know, and could care less, who "Cassie" is. I do know that any further uncivil comments you post here will be removed. You are in my house, and you shouldn't call me names.

early October, a full eight months before Miss Oregon

Miss Portland was April 14. The entry cutoff was March 1.

And the way you know this is how? You got a line to the registrar at Azusa?

Um, because I asked her? As I said WAAAAY up-thread, we've been introduced.

p.s. Have you never, ever heard of someone working full-time while going to school full-time? I know one who was in your tax class last year.

When you were introduced, did she produce a transcript?

Anything's possible, I suppose. But what kind of graduate degree is she taking at Azusa that's taking more than two years? And was the commenter here last night correct that her graduate study has been done over the internet? If an Oregon resident takes internet courses at a school based in California, never setting foot in California, does that qualify her to run for Miss California? I would think not, in which case Ms. Virding's eligibility in California may have been based on resident, not student, status in that state.

I'm not going to comment specifically about my place of employment, and I'd ask you to refrain from doing so, but it is my understanding that any full-time student at any accredited law school who's also working full-time is breaking some pretty clear rules.

... it feels pretty good on the downswing, too ... just saying ...

So, I was doing a little research...
It looks like our new Miss Oregon is a talented vocalist. She won her talent night and the overall talent award for the competition.
But, is it weird to anyone else that she's apparently been singing the same number for years? Turns out, when she competed for Miss California, she also sang "The Girl in 14G."
I happen to know Miss Oregon 2004, Brook Roberts, did the same thing. Anyone can be good at something if they practice it for three years!

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Kari is singing the same song for a reason: it is a great song that shows incredible versatility and dramatic range....She has sung other songs, by the way....."Think of Me" from Phantom, and something else operatic come to mind, but they don't compare to Girl in 14g? Have you ever heard the song? Written for Christen Chenoweth....I doubt many pageant girls could touch it, as it requres three distinct styles (opera, Jazz and legit) and a 3 octave range.

Brook Roberts is another story.....she could only sing one song, so she took that one song as far as she could. Doesn't make her any less of a person, since the judges are different each year. This year's first runner up sang the same song for the thrid year in a row.....*yawn*....the same opera song is the same opera song, but the girl in 14G is a different story.

Rock on, Jack!!

Here are the grad courses at Azusa Pacific that are available on line. You wonder which of these she may have taken...

Here's the rundown on the organizational leadership master's program. Most students in the program are part-time.