The Miss Burien Scholarship Program announced last week that Janie Bakke has been named the organization's new executive director.

She succeeds Diane Kennish, who is stepping down after nine years of leading the program.

Bakke has close ties with the pageant world already-she is the mother of Stacy Bakke, who was Miss Burien 2004.

She is also a former Mrs. Washington.

Bakke joins an exclusive club of community leaders as only the fourth executive director of the Miss Burien program in 38 years.

"Being an executive director takes a tremendous amount of time and energy," said Kennish. "I was concerned about finding someone to take over.

"It had to be someone with patience and good character, and who would relish a challenge. It had to be someone who lived in the Burien area, and who would have enough time to do the job well."

Kennish should know. The last time an executive director stepped down, Miss Burien went into a multiple-year hiatus with no pageant. She took over the program in 1998 and revived it almost from scratch.

In the past two years, Miss Burien contestants have been first, third and fourth runners-up in the Miss Washington Pageant, and SEAFAIR Queen and second runner-up at SEAFAIR.

Kennish decided to leave the program because "after 9/11, my job as a flight attendant became more and more difficult, and more time consuming....

"I talked to my family. I prayed. I spoke to close friends and to other pageant people - and chose to resign. It was a very, very difficult decision to make, like giving up part of my family."