Norman Martin
July 15, 2010
Felicia Mayeur
July 19, 2010
While its name may sound intimidating, Larose Civic Center’s three-day beauty ‘boot camp’ for young girls interested in beauty pageants was quite the contrary. Including make-up sessions, tiaras and boas, the sessions were designed to give local girls a feel for what pageants are really like.
“It’s just to help the girls come out of their shell and try to get them to maybe participate and help represent our organization when they grow older,” said Earline Prest, board member of the Bayou Civic Club. The $45 dollar fee for the program went toward the operations within the Larose Civic Center.
The three-day “boot camp” began on Thursday, with an introduction and icebreaker for the participants, who ranged in ages 4-12.
“We got them in a circle, and got them to tell us an interesting story about themselves, just to get them used to talking in front of other kids,” Prest said, who also explained many of the girls were extremely shy the first day.
“One little girl’s mother wasn’t even out of the door, and she was hysterical and by the end of the day she was introducing herself onstage,” she said.
A professional photographer as well as hairstylist was also present the first day to take glamour shots of the participants before they began learning how to walk onstage.
The three-day training session was topped off with a “show-off” day complete with a pajama pageant on Saturday where more than 30 family members came to see what the girls had learned. Prest wanted a pajama pageant so the girls wouldn’t feel in competition with each other over their dresses.
In the audience was Madonna Dufrene, mother of 5-year-old Karalyne Dufrene, who sat in the front row as her daughter bounced around the stage.
“She loves to play and have fun, and just be a little girl,” Dufrene said of Karalyne, who is also involved in all-star cheerleading and T-ball. “She’s done a few pageants in the past, and she might do some in the future for our local community,” she said.
But hold the glitter and the spray-on tans, because Dufrene said that type of pageant isn’t something she would like to see Karalyne involved in.
“I don’t foresee us continuing with anything glitz-wise, she’s just a home girl,” she said. “My personal choice as a mother is to just keep her natural.”
Staying natural didn’t bother 5-year-old Karalyne, who just liked being onstage.
“My favorite part was dancing to the music,” Karalyne said with a smile.
“I just want her to be friendly and personable,” Dufrene said. “I think the most important thing about pageants is congeniality. … I want her to have even more beauty on the inside than she feels on the outside.”
All 16 “Boot Camp” participants line-up onstage at the Larose Civic Center’s three-day beauty queen camp after receiving their tiaras and boas for a job well done. JENNA FARMER
