Who Will Be Little Miss Puerto Rico of New Britain?
By Chris Seymour | Correspondent at July 9, 2024 | 6:15 pm | Print
The 2015 Little Miss Puerto Rico of New Britain Pageant, which is for girls ages 7-9, is taking place next month and interested candidates can still sign up.
According to coordinator Nancy Vega, there are currently five girls signed up to take part in the pageant, which will take place Saturday, Aug. 15 at 2 p.m. at the Puerto Rican Society Club of New Britain, 152 High St.
“The more girls, the better,” said Vega, who is the secretary of the Puerto Rican Festival of New Britain and was organizer of a pageant for teen girls that existed until 2006, Miss Puerto Rico of New Britain.
The idea for the “Little Miss” pageant came about when Vega was talking to others at a meeting of festival organizers.
“I said at one of the meetings that I kind of missed it and it would be nice to have a pageant, have a little girl represent us at the festival and everybody went for it,” explained Vega. “And a few other members were like, ‘we will help you’ and I started spreading the word through flyers and Facebook.”
The pageant on Aug. 15 will include a talent aspect as well as a sportswear component, according to Vega. “We have talent, which is cultural expression, and the talent is pretty much embracing your Puerto Rican heritage/culture,” said Vega. “As long as it has to do with Puerto Rico, it may be done through a song, with a dance, or a poem.”
The sportswear segment will feature the girls dressed to compete in sports such as baseball, tennis, karate or soccer.
“They’ll come out and have their gear and they will work with that; so if it’s soccer, they will have a soccer ball, and with baseball, a baseball bat,” said Vega. “You’re thinking, someone from 7-9, what would be cute?”
The pageant will also offer the girls a chance to get comfortable with public speaking. “They’ll be saying their name, their age and their school and where they’re from or the town they’re representing [in Puerto Rico],” said Vega.
The pageant also gives the girls a chance to build their self-esteem, she added. “They come in very timid and very shy and by the time the completion is over, win or lose, they have the self-esteem and they meet new friends,” said Vega of the positive effect she has seen other pageants have on young girls—and the effect she expects this pageant to have on her current crop of kids.
Leading up to the pageant, Vega holds a series of rehearsals with the girls to prepare them for the big day. During those rehearsals—and, really, any other time during the process—the girls may be getting observed by a judge (their identities are being kept secret) and not even know it.
It’s all part of Vega’s strategy to keep the girls on their toes, and on their best behavior, at all times.
“I have told the girls they need to be on their best behavior because the judges will see them not only the day of the pageant, but they will also see them before the pageant, so they could come out, and it could be during rehearsal,” she said. “We let the girls know, ‘you are representing your parents and New Britain.’ It’s very, very important, but I do want you to have fun though.”
Even though there will be just one pageant winner, Vega said she would like to have all the girls be on hand at the Puerto Rican Festival of New Britain. “I am still trying to figure that out, because although we are going to have one winner, I still want all the girls to be there; they’re little and they’re going to work very hard,” she said. “Yes, only one person does win but we are going to see what we can do the day of the festival—maybe have them entertain—but I haven’t decided what they’re going to do.”
The pageant on Aug. 15 is open to the public and will cost $10 for admission. To purchase tickets—or for more information on signing your child up for the pageant, which costs $35—please call Vega at 860-833-3722.
