The Miss Walker County Scholarship Organization is searching for women interested in competing for Miss Texas. Huntsville has a 14 member, non-profit organization that arranges the event at local levels. Titles are offered in two categories: Miss, for ages 17 to 24, and Teen, for ages 13 to 17. The women are given the opportunity to win scholarship money.Volunteer Kim Theodorsen said the women are students with a lot of talent to trying to get a scholarship. “They’re not pageant girls,” said Theodorsen. The organization is non-profit and its primary goal is to provide educational scholarships, encourage community service and promote issues of concern to the community, according to the Miss Walker County Web site. To qualify for the Miss competition, the participant must be a U.S. citizen, at least 17 years old and a senior in high school to 24 years old by Oct. 31, 2001, and a resident of Texas for the past six months or a student of an accredited Texas college or university for at least one semester. The participant also must not have competed in any local, state, or national affiliated Miss USA Pageant for one calendar year and must be single, and never married.The 10 women chosen to compete against each other locally for the Miss Walker County and Miss Sam Houston-Huntsville titles. The winner of the event may advance to the Miss Texas competition, and possibly Miss America. “There is no fee to join the Miss competition, only a $100 deposit,” said Theodorsen. The money is returned to the participants after the competition. Theodorsen said the deposit is taken from the women to ensure they will commit themselves to the event. If they quit, the organization keeps the money to use towards scholarships.All women competing must have a platform they present and carry out, said Theodorsen. The platforms can be any cause of importance that interest the participant, such as heart disease, anti-drinking and driving and the fight against breast cancer.”I go to different schools to help stop violence,” said Miss Sam Houston-Huntsville Sabrina Markle. Markle is a broadcast journalism major at SHSU. Her platform this year is “The Prevention of School Violence; Building Safer Lives and Safer Features”. “This competition has open the doors for me,” Markle said. She said she has earned about $3,000 in scholarships within the past 4 years.The next competition is Oct. 28. Applications are still being accepted and can be obtained at www.misswalkercounty.org.For more information, contact Kim Theodorsen at 293-1625.