Smith Crowned Brighton Miss

By Emma Brown

BRIGHTON — The Brighton reservation crowned their new royalty for 2005–2006 on Feb. 17 at the Brighton Rodeo Grounds. The evening began with a 5:30 p.m. dinner for the community and guests, followed by the Brighton Miss and Brighton Jr. Miss pageant beginning at 7 p.m.

This year’s emcee was Miss Seminole JoJo Osceola, who did a wonderful job elaborating on details presented by the contestants, which helped educate the audience about many of the traditional talents and items that were presented throughout the evening. The pageant began with the invocation by President Moses Osceola, who also offered a few words of encouragement for each contestant.

Following the invocation was the introduction of the reigning 2003–2004 Brighton Miss Jennifer Chalfant and Jr. Miss Breanna Nunez. Next, each contestant was brought on stage one at a time to give their introductions.

Brighton Jr. Miss contestants were: Breanna Billie, Janet Smith, Erena Billie, Kiylier Baker, Lois Billie, Ravenne Osceola, Sheila Jones, and Kristina Osceola. Brighton Miss contestants were: Stephanie Smith and Reba Osceola.

Then, it was off stage to change for the modeling category in which each contestant was judged on their traditional clothing and overall appearance. While the contestants were preparing for the modeling portion of the competition, Brighton Board Representative Johnny Jones came up to wish each of the contestants good luck.

“All of the girls are winners because it takes a lot of courage to do this,” Jones said.

Also during the small break, the princess committee presented each of the past Miss’ and Jr. Miss’ with a rose, which added a special touch to the evening. Following the modeling category was the portion of the contest in which each contestant demonstrated their traditional talent.

The talent category has evolved from being open to any talent to now being traditional talents only, which allows each contestant the opportunity to learn and share their culture with others. The talents were amazing, and ranged from demonstrations on how to make sweet grass baskets to a few contestants demonstrating their native Creek language. This segment of the pageant is always the most difficult for judges, because each contestant’s talent is unique and extremely interesting.

After the talent portion, each contestant was brought up on stage for the impromptu question and answer portion of the pageant, which always seems to be the most extreme part of the contest for the contestants. Each contestant did an outstanding job this year, leaving almost no room for error on any contestant’s answer.

Brighton Jr. Miss contestant Janet Smith was asked, “Why do you want to be the next Jr. Miss, and her response was, “So I can represent my community and share my culture with others.” It was short but to the point and well said.

Once the questions were over, it was off stage again to allow the judges time to deliberate and come up with this year’s winners. Before the contestants were brought back up on stage, the judges came up and gave a word of thanks for being asked to be a part of this year’s pageant and shared their delight in how well all of the contestants did. The reigning Miss and Jr. Miss also offered their farewell speeches before turning over their crowns. The princess committee did a fine job with ensuring that this year’s pageant went over smoothly and it was definitely a crowd pleaser.

Once back on stage, the winners were crowned. This year’s Brighton Jr. Miss is Sheila Jones and Brighton Miss is Stephanie Smith. Other winners include Janet Smith who won the Jr. Miss talent competition and Stephanie Smith who won the Brighton Miss talent competition.