Miss St Catherine Festival Queen eyes national title
Published:Wednesday | June 8, 2022 | 12:09 AMRasbert Turner/Gleaner Writer
St Jago High School alumna Khdrea Jones is setting her sights on the national title after being crowned Miss St Catherine Festival Queen.
Jones, a journalist, who was crowned at the G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport on Sunday, said it would be an honour to follow in the footsteps of former Miss St Catherine Festival Queens Dahlia Harris, who won the national title in 1990, and Kamara Wright, who won the title in 2019 and saw her reign extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am aware of the enormous achievement it would be; I will be doing my best to achieve that objective,” Jones told The Gleaner.
The 23-year-old also hopes to focus on assisting the young and the old during her reign. “I will be using my reign to improve the lives of the youth throughout the parish. The aim is to bridge the gap between the elderly and the young. I am aware that training and educational programmes will be the tool to achieve the desired results,” said Jones.
IMPRESSIVE GROUP
Jamaica Cultural Development Commission Regional Director David Reid, who has responsibilities for St Thomas, Kingston and St Andrew and St Catherine, was proud of this year’s crop of contestants.
“I must declare that I am very confident in the national competition; this is a very intelligent and focused group. We are happy the competition is back following our success at nationals in 2019,” said Reid.
Speaking with The Gleaner, the 2021 Miss St Catherine Festival Queen Kemoy Perry says she’s looking forward to continuing her work.
“It was a great opportunity for me to serve this parish, and to the winner, I say welcome to the club. While my reign as queen is over, my work continues,” said Perry.
The 2019 Miss Jamaica Festival Queen, Wright was also on hand for the coronation, which saw Asheeka Buchanan being named first runner-up and Kavelle Broomfield, third runner-up. Broomfield also won Most Culturally Aware and Most Active in Community, and veteran entertainer, Nadine Sutherland, kept the audience satisfied musically.
Wright presented a special award to the last five parish winners, giving each former queen a trophy for their contribution to national development. Speaking of her reign, she said it was an honour to bring the national title to St Catherine.
“It was a great pleasure to grace St Catherine with the national title,” Wright said.