Contestants and Deputy PM lunch together after historical sites’ tour

Miss Culture Queen 2010 and Miss Swimwear 2010 contestants at Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, St. Kitts

(St. Kitts, June 21, 2010) – Six contestants vying for the coveted Miss Culture Queen title and eight contestants eyeing the inaugural Miss Swimwear title on Friday had lunch with the Deputy Premier, Sam Candor, at Sugar’s restaurant after a tour of various historical sites in St. Kitts among them Brimstone Hill.

The Miss Culture Queen pageant scheduled to be held on August 1,2010 at 8.00 p.m and the inaugural Miss Swimwear pageant which will take place on July 25,2010 at 8.00 p.m are major highlights during the annual Nevis Culturama summer Festival

Hon. Condor told the contestants that he was having lunch with the ladies on behalf of the Prime Minister,Dr. Denzil Douglas. “He would have loved to have lunch with you but he travelled to St. Lucia to sign the revised Treaty of Basseterre.” The treaty establishes the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Economic Union.

“I want to wish you well. I normally tell girls in my constituency that all of them cannot win but they should enjoy themselves and learn a lot from the great opportunity. I also tell them to accept what the judges decide,” he told the contestants.

Miss Culture Queen contestants pose for a picture with the Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Sam Candor at Sugar’s Restaurant

The Deputy Prime Minister encouraged the contestants to make new friends and to make their country proud. He also presented each of the contestants with a gift from the Prime Minister. “If you have a wonderful time, you will have a good show. If you do really well, that will be an added attraction. The show can be the beginning of achieving your lifetime goal. Be at your best as people coming to the show will want to see ambitious, young confident young women.”

Earlier St. Kitts, Ministry of Tourism officials took the contestants on a tour of St. Kitts historical sites. Also accompanying the contestants on the tour was Founder and Producer of Miss Cariibes Hibiscus show and the reigning Miss Cariibes Hibiscus Yoly Hawley. The show is produced in St.Maartin. Part of Miss Cariibes prize is to tour several several countries.

Humorous self-made historian, taxi driver, Leroy Mathew, drove the contestants and Miss Cariibes Hibiscus to various historical sites. Among the sites visited was the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park.

One historical fact that caused emotion in some of the contestants was the site where the French and the British launched an attack and killed over 3,000 Carib people(Kalinagos). Mathew told the contestants about Barbe an Igneri woman who had been brought to St. Kitts as a slave-wife. Barbe despised the Kalinagos . Ouboutou was becoming increasingly suspicious of the growing European population.

Miss Swimwear Contestants 2010 pose for a picture with the Deputy Prime Minister at Sugar’s Restaurant

Ouboutou Tegremante leader of the local Kalinagos, after consultations with local leaders, planned an attack on the European settlers. The Europeans attacked the Kalinago first at a site now called Bloody Point. Mathew made a stop at the site of the river where the dead were dumped. He said for weeks, blood flowed down the river like water, and hence the river’s nickname, Bloody River.

The contestants heard from Mathew that St. Kitts was the first island in the Caribbean to be colonized by a foreign power and informed the girls that St. Kitts had and still has very fertile soil. “Even an egg can grow in St. Kitts,” he joked. He educated the ladies on how the sugar industry evolved and later declined.

He also told the contestants about the Middle Passage. He described to the girls the painful experiences of the Africans brought as slaves from West Africa to West Indies. Mathew was quick to console the beautiful women:”We should enjoy the sunshine and the sea water. Slavery was tragic but we are a free people. History reminds us how much we suffered. This land is ours and for the future generations.”