Miss Trelawny Festival Queen champions entrepreneurial spirit

Renata Hunt will represent the parish of Trelawny at the Miss Jamaica Festival Queen National Coronation in Kingston in August. She emerged victorious over five other contestants to secure the parish title during the coronation event held at the Glistening Waters Hotel and Marina in Falmouth.

Second place went to Abigail Brewster, Miss Trelawny Co-Op Credit Union and Orvillesha Genas, who wore the sash Miss Western Stem Academy.

Hunt, who was sponsored by GoGas Albert Town, is a 23-year-old brand ambassador at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay and sees herself becoming a serial entrepreneur, musician and philanthropist in the future. She vows to use the new title and platform to work with the young women of her parish to develop their creativity through her community project.

Speaking after the coronation, Hunt, who hails from Wakefield in the parish, expressed her elation at being given the opportunity to represent her parish. She noted that she was inspired to enter the competition to highlight her community and to give back in any way possible.

Entrepreneurship lies at the heart of everything the new queen does. In addition to her day job at the airport, she is also a songwriter and make-up artist. Job creation and business ownership is part and parcel of what Hunt wants to do for Wakefield, more so for young women in the community.

“My project will be based on entrepreneurship [and is called] the Wakefield Youth Entrepreneurship Programme. This will be for teens and young adults. I just want to introduce them to the idea of owning and running their own businesses, learning best practices and how to succeed in their chosen field,” said Hunt.

She also echoed this sentiment in her talent piece, which was a dub poetry titled Trelawny Woman Have to Make it Out, which spoke to the resilience of the women in her parish. For her efforts on her way to the crown, Hunt was awarded three of the night’s six sectional prizes. She took home the awards for Most Popular on Social Media, Most Culturally Aware and Most Active in the Community.

The other three sectional awards went to Dwaynecia Simpson – Miss Gateway Co-Operative Credit Union Ltd, who received the Best Performance award; Most Congenial went to Chrisset Minto, Miss Glastonbury Purveyor Company Ltd; while Abigail Brewster was adjudged Most Poised.

Trelawny has won the Miss Jamaica Festival Queen crown on two occasions – Terry-Ann Tucket (2001) and Kaysia Johnson (2006).

This weekend will see the final set of queens being crowned in preparation for the National Finals set for August 3. St James will select its representative on Saturday, June 29 at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre in Sam Sharpe Square; and on Sunday, June 30, St Catherine will crown its queen at the Eltham High School in Spanish Town.