Seven beauties picked for Miss SVG Pageant 2017

The Beauty Shows Committee (BSC) of the Carnival Development Corporation (CDC) has this year raised the maximum age for participants in the pageant to 26 and tweaked other areas to make the highly anticipated show even more interesting this year.

This was revealed by new head of the BSC Laferne Fraser at the Flow Wine Bar on Tuesday, during a ceremony in which sponsors sashed the seven women who are taking part in this year’s pageant.

The contestants are Miss Quick Cash Corporation – Bryanna Hadaway, Miss Agricultural Input Warehouse – Brittney Oliver, Miss Jergens – Christal Oliver, Miss Kendra’s Aluminium Products Ltd – Darisean LaBorde, Miss Mustique Company Ltd – Nicolleen Lewis, Miss FLOW – Jimelle Roberts and Miss Metrocint General Insurance Company Ltd. – LaDonna Yorke.

Addressing the gathering, Fraser said that wonderful work has been done by the pageant over the years, but they are building on the foundation set by the past BSC, which was dedicated and hard-working.

She said that this year, each delegate has taken up a cause.

“We feel that [the Miss SVG Pageant] should be more than just beauty and intelligence and talent. We feel it should be empowerment; a message of empowerment should be delivered through our delegates; so this year the focus of the pageant will be an empowerment campaign for women and girls in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG),” Fraser said on Tuesday.

Each contestant has already chosen a women’s issue that they are passionate about.

Fraser said that the women will be extensively addressing issues that women face, “not cliché issues that people talk about all the time in the media…issues that women don’t get to speak about and issues they are not empowered about or empowered enough to talk about or lean on each other.”

The BSC head said that contestants will be helping women to find their voices and recognize their worth and values and have confidence.

Fraser added that the empowerment campaign has a sponsor who will take charge of the initiative and will “power the empowerment campaign.” That sponsor will soon be revealed.

“The activities that you are used be are going to be different,” stressed Fraser, who added that the calendar and activities for the campaign have already been set and every activity will be driven by the empowerment initiative.

“Every time they speak, they will be pushing their topic and we are hoping that will lead to a better St Vincent and the Grenadines.”

During the sashing ceremony, the new members of the BSC were introduced. They are Latifah Bonadie (stage trainer), Latisha Sandy, Janelle Allen (administrative and psychological support), Juanita Phillips (talent coordinator) and Janeil Lewis (administrative support and social media).