The George Town Heritage Day committee and the Central Scranton Committee will once again host the Miss George Town Beauty Pageant, Weekender has learned.
The Central Scranton committee was formed about 15 years ago and is headed by Dale Ramon. The committee’s aim, they tell us, is to ensure that the traditional way of doing things is not lost.
“Times are changing; many of the older people have passed on and the younger generation are not always as keen to stick to the traditional way of doing things, this meant there was a risk of us losing much of our rich heritage,” says Dale.
He wanted to ensure that the positive aspects of our traditions are kept, while at the same time embracing new ideas that will help the community to grow in a positive way. This initiative has led to a park being created, homes being repaired after Hurricane Ivan plus suggestions from the community brought to discussion and issues within the community dealt with. So activities such as a Family Movie Night, Christmas parties, Mother Day And Fathers Day luncheons, Children’s Fun day and managing the George Town Heritage Day and special church services come into play.
“As you know it takes money to make these things happen and were are very thankful for all those that gave time and money in that past help us make these activates possible. But sometimes enough money was not always available, so in August of last year the committee decided to host a Miss George Town pageant as a fundraiser.”
A good venture
Organisers from the Central Scranton Committee see it as a good venture to revive the George Town beauty pageant.
“The Miss George Town Pageant will encourage the young women in the community to uplift themselves and put themselves with an organisation that will help them to take up leadership roles with in the community and be outstanding citizens. For us it is not about having a beauty pageant just for a fundraiser, we want to use the pageant is a vehicle to get our young women were they want to be.
“Last year we did a trial run, which went extremely well. To our surprise the interest was very high – we had 10 contestants from all over George Town. And because it was the first time in a long time we decided to allow women of all ages to participate; yes, married and single. To give an opportunity to women who always dreamt of being in a pageant but never got that opportunity.”
Standard pageant
The winner last year was 16-year-old Mahalya Seymour, a student from UCCI who is studying construction engineering. This year organisers plan on doing the same with contestants between the ages of 15 and 38.
“This will be this final year for up to age 38. It is a pageant with standard rules and regulation. We also have made changes to the categories – the interview will be conducted talkshow style and there will be no private interview with the judges or final question onstage; the evening gown competition has been changed to the Grace and Elegance competition and the modelling competition replaces the swimwear,” says Dale.
“The pageant is to help us raise funds for our community projects and the George Town Heritage Day activities for the National Festival, Pirates Week. Our future aim is to provide the winner an educational scholarship. We are very proud to bring back the Miss George Town Pageant and are presently seeking pageant candidates to compete for the 2012 title.”
Of course, if selected to be a candidate, one will already posses the qualities of grace, poise, and charm as well as beauty, adds Dale.
“This pageant focuses on you and what you can offer the community of George Town. And the contestants will understand that certain requirements must be met. It is a pleasure for us to be able to offer you this life changing opportunity and we look forward to receiving your application before January 15, 2012, which is the firm deadline for this event.”
This year’s entry forms are now available with all the details. Contact Dale Ramoon 927-6084, Scranton Community on Facebook or the show producers at 323-3617 and 939-5537.
Related Videos
