Miss Teen Cayman pageant canceled

Organizers of the 2014 Miss Teen Cayman Islands pageant say the event has been canceled this year. 

A lack of funding, as well as organizational issues, means the pageant will not be held again until next year, organizers said. 

“Normally, activities for the Miss Teen contest are well on the way from earlier in the year but because of members heading off to college and having other responsibilities, we decided to host the contest next year to coincide with [the Leo Club’s] 40th anniversary,” said Tannya Mortimer, third vice president of the Lions Club of Grand Cayman. 

The new date for the pageant is Aug. 29, 2015. 

Miss Teen Cayman, which serves as a fund-raiser for the Leo Club of Grand Cayman and which has been held for more than three decades, had been scheduled for the end of August this year. 

“We need to rebuild the club,” Ms. Mortimer said. “Once we get the club back and functioning properly, which we are hoping will be by December this year, a board appointed and a committee started for the Miss Teen contest, we will be able to host the contest. We are going through a whole rejuvenation process at this time.” 

Winston Hayle, immediate past president of the Lions Club of Grand Cayman, acknowledged that finding sponsors and disseminating information about the teenage pageant in time for the August contest was proving challenging.  

He stressed that the Miss Teen beauty pageant is the flagship project of the Leo Club of Grand Cayman, with the Lions Club of Grand Cayman having overarching responsibility.  

The Miss Teen contest usually takes place at the Lions Community Centre, featuring girls between the ages of 15 and 17. The organizing committee is comprised of former Leos, past Miss Teens and other experienced individuals.  

The Leo Club marked a milestone last year with the crowning of the 35th Miss Teen Cayman Islands – 17-year-old Tishay Heath. Miss Heath will continue to reign for another year.