The Show Goes On: Miss St. Croix Contestants Give Taste Of What’s To Come At Preliminary Event

ST. CROIX — If there’s one season that can help with moving past the psychological effects of ruinous hurricanes, it’s the cultural season of the territory. Weeks following Hurricanes Irma and Maria, uncertainty hovered around the Crucian Christmas Festival, the island’s monthlong string of events that start in December and run into early January. Would there be enough money to fund the over $500,000 annual affair, which includes nightly Festival Village activities with top Soca bands from around the Caribbean? Would Virgin Islanders be in the mood to party? The latter was never really in question, but the former was a genuine concern.

These questions were put to rest when Governor Kenneth Mapp announced that this year’s festival season would not only take place, it would be longer — 15 days to be exact — with events happening not only on St. Croix, but St. Thomas and St. John as well.

The confirmation cleared the way for one of the season’s most iconic showcases, which has generally served as the kickstarter for the festivities: the Miss St. Croix Queen Show.

Under new direction this year, the Miss St. Croix Queen Show is being chaired by Jason Gardener, founder of JG Management, a well-known figure in all things pageantry and modeling, and a meticulous organizer known for transforming seemingly mundane locations into dazzling performance sets. His skills were straightaway put to the test for the queen show’s first preliminary event dubbed “A Glamorous Garden”, which was originally set for Oct. 22 at the Botanical Gardens, but was pushed to Sunday to, of all places, outside Mr. Gardner’s office near Jane’s Bridal in Mount Pleasant, after the original location was all but destroyed by Hurricane Maria.

This reporter did not know what to expect; the area is small and, on the surface, hardly ready for an event hosting the potential future queen of St. Croix. But in typical JG Management fashion, the location was transformed with decorations, a catwalk where the three potential queens performed, and with three tents, two housing guests and a center, smaller tent for media.

Mr. Gardner had done it again, and will have to once more work his magic on December 17 at the St. Croix Education Complex gymnasium, which is where this year’s show will be held because the traditional location, the Island Center for the Performing Arts, was also ravaged by Hurricane Maria and will not be ready to host the show by its scheduled date.

As for the three young women vying to be St. Croix’s 65th anniversary queen, they did their part on Sunday in bringing beauty, intelligence, and class to the stage. Categories included intro speech, cocktail dresses, swimwear, evening gown and personality questions. Mr. Gardner said yesterday’s presentation should help the ladies be better prepared for the main event, and also as a teaser to help build momentum for the December 17 showcase.

According to Mr. Gardner, the show had been in decline for years, and was not being considered as a threat by rival pageantry events around the Caribbean. He intends to change this perception.

“When I took this on I had a vision for us to be as competitive as all the other Caribbean islands so that the queen will definitely be ready for any regional pageant that she attends throughout the Caribbean,” Mr. Gardner told The Consortium during intermission. “I think for a long time we’ve been falling off; people did not see the Miss St. Croix winner as a threat anymore, but now they will.”

Is there any pressure to transform the show? “The pressure is definitely on,” Mr. Gardner admitted. “From the time I announced in January, everyone I’ve met has said to me that they can’t wait for the show, that they’re happy I’m in charge of it and they’re excited.”

While the excitement has added to the pressure, Mr. Gardner has no doubt in his and his team’s ability to deliver. “We’re definitely going to do that with all the challenges,” he said.

The three contestants are Shanice James, above left, Shanisa Emmanuel, center, and Vynisha Charles.