For the second consecutive year, a Santa Rosa beauty outshone other contestants to emerge victorious in the Miss Moruca Expo 2012 pageant, held over the weekend as part of the seventh annual Moruca Exposition.
Sarah Browne beat four other beauties in five categories of competition—traditional wear, swim wear, evening gown, talent and an intelligence test—to win the title and crown, a press release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said. Outgoing queen Simone Fredericks crowned Browne in front of a large audience of spectators, including representatives from the Amerindian Affairs and Tourism ministries and private sector companies such as Digicel.
Waramuri’s Nikita Lewis, Kwebanna’s Sabrina Rahaman and Assakata’s Romona Charles were named the first, second and third runners-up, respectively. The Ministry of Tourism presented each contestant with a bouquet and cheque valued $5,000 and the Amerindian Affairs ministry presented the new queen with a hamper.
The queen was also given a cheque valued $60,000 from Digicel. An after-party and lime followed the pageant.
The two-day Exposition, which started last Friday, had a packed programme of activities such as swimming, canoeing and tug-o-war competitions at Kabakali as well as a road race. On Saturday, patrons participated in spin-top spinning, archery, slingshot-shooting, fish-trap demonstrations, cassava-making, paddle and craft-making, volleyball and 5-a-side football game. The pageant, the highlight of the Exposition, was hosted at the Kumaka Playfield in Santa Rosa.
