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Destini Garcia Crowned St. John Festival Princess
by malik stevens
St. John Tradewinds
After being postponed twice due
to heavy rainfall, the St. John Festival
Princess Selection Show finally
took place on Monday night,
June 29, at the Winston Wells ball
park as three dazzling young ladies
vied for the honor to represent the
island during the St. John Festival
celebration.
Competing in six segments —
presentation speech, swimwear,
sportswear, storybook/cartoon
character, evening wear and question
and answer segment — Jah-
Nyah Dalmida-McCain, Destini
Garcia and Tashiya King showed
the audience and judges true beauty
and poise during their well-executed
performances.
The show was not short of entertainment
with the Wrektion
Band playing its calypso tunes
during intermissions, as well as
performances by the St. Thomas
Charming Twirlers and the dance
group NC Squared.
A surprise visit was also made
by Spongebob Squarepants, Patrick
Star, Winnie the Pooh and
Tigger, who took time to give
out hugs and have an impromptu
dance with the four young ladies
who competed for the title of St.
John Festival Queen the previous
weekend.
“I am a Virgin Islands’ child,”
said contestant #1, Dalmida-Mc-
Cain, as she introduced herself in
her presentation speech.
Eloquent and intelligent, Dalmida-McCain
showcased a strong
performance throughout the show
from the minute she entered the
stage in a karate uniform — sporting
a black belt in the sportswear
segment — to later in the show
when she donned a life-sized version
of Sesame Street’s newest
character Abby Cadabbie in the
storybook/cartoon character segment
of the show.
For evening wear, Dalmida-Mc-
Cain wore a pink and white gown,
with a bodice bedecked in hundreds
of crystals and a skirt made
of lightly-colored pink and white
ruffled chiffon which gave off an
image of drifting cotton candy and
clouds.
During the question and answer
segment, she was asked “What is
your favorite subject in school and
why?”
Contestant #1 responded by
saying math because she wanted
to be able to count all her of dollars
in the future.
Dalmida-McCain won Best
Sportswear for her Virgin Islands
Karate Kid ensemble.
Winning Ms. Intellect, King,
contestant #3, also gave strong
performances throughout the evening.
She wore a three piece boxing
outfit which she called “Fight For
VI” for the sportswear segment.
In the storybook/cartoon character
segment, King dressed as Ariel
from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”
and danced to the popular
song “Under the Sea.”
For evening wear, King modeled
a yellow gown, set off by a bow on
each shoulder. King complimented
the gown with white gloves and a
St. John Tradewinds News Photo by Tristan Ewald
St. John Festival Princess Destini Garcia.
white patterned umbrella.
When asked during the question
and answer segment about her favorite
subject, King also said she
enjoyed mathematics because she
liked to learn new things like adding
fractions and doing division.
Beating out her fellow competitors
and now “good friends” as she
said, 9-year-old Destini Garcia
won Miss Photogenic, Miss Congeniality,
Most Cooperative, Best
Storybook/Cartoon Character,
Best Evening Wear and, by the end
of the night, the crown as she was
announced as the 2010 St. John
Festival Princess.
First Garcia amazed the crowd
with her authentic fencing outfit in
the sportswear segment. She then
moved on to embody a brightly
colored pink Care Bear during the
ConTInUED on PAGE 16
St. John Tradewinds, July 5-11, 2010 5