COEUR d'ALENE - In 1958, crowning the Diamond Cup Queen wasn't a very ceremonious event.

So says the queen herself.

"The whole thing was new. It was new to everybody," said Ruthanna (Hawkins) Rauer, the very first Diamond Cup queen.

Ruthanna had taken a semester off from the University of Idaho, and all of the founders of the original Diamond Cup were friends of hers.

So, when they went looking to fill the position, they just asked her to step up.

"I was happy to do it," she said. "But I felt more like a hostess than a queen."

She said the position was designed to help sell tickets and really promote the event to the outlying communities.

"Duane Hagadone was in charge of publicity," she said. "We traveled together all over North Idaho and of course Spokane."

There was no club back then, but there was a group of folks who everyone went to when they needed something done, and they were the ones who got the Diamond Cup going.

Now the Hydromaniacs are the group in charge of the hydroplane races. They are in the process of selecting "Miss Diamond Cup," holding a fundraising event on Thursday evening from 7 to 9 at The Coeur d'Alene Resort Events Center to crown the queen for this year's event.

Cost for tickets to the event are $20 and the proceeds will go to sponsor the U.S. Army Boat that will be driven by Joe Souza. He will also be at the Miss Diamond Cup event. Tickets can be purchased online at www.missdiamondcupcoeurdalene.com

Rauer said a lot of work goes into planning an event of this magnitude.

"I don't see Duane as the type of guy who is willing to blow his own horn, but he did a lot of the work," she said. "He was perfect for that role. We would travel all day and when we got back to town, he would go into the office and work.

"There was no quit in any of those guys."

She said the event came off perfectly, and she has fond memories that will last a lifetime.

She said because of her role in the first Diamond Cup, she had access to the pit areas. One day she was down in the pits with Commodore John Richards when racer Bill Stead asked him if he wanted to go for a ride.

"John didn't like to get off the terra firma, so they asked me," she said. "They let me drive the Maverick, which went on to win the race that year."

She said traveling at 120 mph makes the water look like slate. Rauer said until you travel that fast on the water, it's hard to understand just how dangerous the sport is.

After the first year, Rauer said she didn't have an active part in the organization of the event. A friend of hers became the second Diamond Cup Queen, and two years later Rauer was married.

The event went on to garner a "pretty bad rap" over a few discipline problems that arose, she said.

"One could surmise that many of those troublemakers weren't there to watch the races anyway," she said.

Rauer said she plans to attend this weekend's races at the house of her brother, Jim Hawkins.

"It'll be fun to hear the roar of the boats again," she said.