Without a Miss Wisconsin preliminary pageant in Platteville, the annual Miss Fox River Valley and Miss Heart of the Valley pageants are seeking entrants  from southwest Wisconsin for the 2013 pageant.

The double pageant event will be held at the Thompson Community Center in Appleton Saturday, April 6.

The two combined pageants are “open” at-large competitions for any qualified woman from anywhere in Wisconsin, ages 18 to 24, who lives, works full-time or attends school in Wisconsin.

Contestants will be judged on the basis of a personal interview, platform issue, swimsuit, a 90-second talent routine, and evening gown. The deadline is March 25 and there are no entry fees to compete.

The winners of both pageant titles will advance to the 2013 Miss Wisconsin pageant in Oshkosh June 22. The winner there will win additional scholarships and represent the state in the 2013 Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, N.J., in September.

Interested entrants from the Platteville area are asked to contact pageant director Joel Andelman, (715) 258-2762, jmandelman@charter.net.

The last Miss Platteville to compete in the Miss Wisconsin pageant was Ellen Faith Ullsvik in 1973. The current Miss Wisconsin is Kathryn Bess Gorman, 23, of Onalaska, who won her state title in Oshkosh in June on her second attempt.