Petit 19-year-old Iva Satney made the trip from St Lucia to participate in the 2009 edition of the Miss Easterval Beauty Pageant held Saturday on the Grenadine island of Union Island, one of the chain of islands that make up island-state of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and ended up with the title.
It was an event Iva prepared herself for, after winning a contest in St Lucia last year that was held to select the country's representative to the Miss Easterval show.
“I am happy that I won,” an elated Iva said after.On her way to winning the title, Iva also took the the best evening gown category and performed a ballet-type dance to a very slow version of Bob Marley's 'No woman, no cry', to gain the judges nod as having the best talent.
Iva came up against Shakela Bellamy from Barbados; Carriacou's representative Marie Mc Gillivary; Giselle Greendige of Grenada; Shemeika Matthews out of mainland St Vincent; Abeka Williams of Trinidad and Tobago and Celesia Baptiste from Union Island.
The beauties made their first appearance in cultural attire, with Trinidad and Tobago's Abeka Williams taking the top honors with her depiction of T&T's Humming Bird.
Iva won the talent and evening wear segments, with Grenada's Giselle Greendige being best at interview and having the best swimwear.
Miss Photogenic went to Shemeika Matthews, with Celesia Baptiste peers voting her as Miss Congeniality.
The judges placed Barbados' Shakela Bellamy as First Runner up and Greendige as Second Runner up behind Iva.
The Miss Easterval Beauty Pageant is part of the celebrations to mark Easterval, a unique form of celebrating Easter that takes place annually on Union Island.
The tradition goes back more than four decades and includes the use of the drum in the many cultural presentations by persons living on the island, with neighboring Grenada sending its Tivolee Drummers to be part of the 'Cultural Explosion.'
The Hugh Mulzac Square is the venue for local cuisine, and four steel bands on the island participated in this year's festival for the first time. The organizers have added the 'Future Stars' segment, which provides an avenue for the children of the island's two primary schools and one secondary school to showcase their talents.
Easterval festivities also include basketball and netball, with a number of local basket players who are foreign-based making the journey home each year to participate in the island's unique Easter celebrations.
Barbados' Rupee along with St Vincent and the Grenadines' 2009 Soca Monarch, Skinny Fabulous, former Soca Monarch, Fireman Hooper and DJ Tarrus are some of the acts presented for the Digicel-sponsored 'Soca Fest' on the Aston Hard Court with the climax of a J'ouvert street party.
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