Paula Gordon chosen as chairwoman of Carnival Pageants working committee | SOUALIGA NEWSDAY

SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - Paula Gordon and her Essence & Mind organization have been chosen by the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) to lead the working committee for Carnival Pageants. The change is a result of the SCDF's ongoing reorganization, which aims to involve more Carnival stakeholders in the coordination and direction of certain aspects of the festival.

The SCDF noted that it had gotten a number of inquiries from people interested in being the pageant committee's chair, which necessitated a rigorous study and evaluation of the relevant experience that each applicant would bring to the table.

In the end, Gordon, a former SCDF board member, former Mature Queen and dedicated pageant enthusiast, was selected due to her wealth of experience and know-how with pageants. The SCDF added that the fact that she started her Essence & Mind organization in 2022 focused on elevating pageantry was an added benefit. “We are confident in our decision to select Ms. Gordon for this task,” the SCDF explained.

The working committees of the SCDF work semi-independently, responsible for all aspects of their committee. While committee chairpersons have the freedom to select her committee members, the committees fall under the auspices of the SCDF. The SCDF remains responsible for all financial responsibilities, but leaves creative development up to the committees. Gordon and her organization will operate under the same regulations.

“Obviously there is a measure of familiarity with Ms. Gordon and the SCDF and this too is a form of comfort for us. Our pageants are important to the Carnival product. We did not host any for Carnival 2022, recognizing that the model was not working. There were too many overhead, inefficient operations and too many unresolved issues after the pageants. We needed to streamline the operations to avoid all of the problems of the past and get others, in particular the private sector, more involved. We trust that Ms. Gordon and her team will successfully pull this off,” the SCDF said.

The SCDF further explained that elevating the pageants in Carnival and ensuring that they are finically feasible also requires careful planning by the SCDF itself. “We have four pageants in Carnival with a combined budget close to US $100,000. That is a price tag that has to be reduced. As such we have instructed Ms. Gordon to start with organization the two traditional pageants of Carnival, the Senior and Junior Pageants in 2024, and work on a plan for the Teen and Mature moving forward,” the SCDF said.

Registration for the pageants is currently open via the SCDF website www.sxm-carnival.com. Interested girls for the Junior (7 to 12 years of age) and Senior pageants (18 to 25 years of age) can also register and seek further information via email essenceandmind@gmail.com.