The Fraser Valley was represented heavily at the 2019 Miss BC competition in Fort Langley.
Surrey’s Bremiella DeGuzman took the Miss BC title and Isabella Reid took Miss Jr BC, West Vancouver resident Aria Krilanovich earned Miss Teen BC while Langley’s Sascia Sahota won Mrs. BC.
“The Miss BC pageant was wonderful and I feel so honored to have been given the opportunity to serve as Mrs. BC 2019-20,” Sahota said. “Today I am feeling very much in shock, but excited for the year to come. I am looking forward to the journey ahead of me and the opportunities that I will have to make a difference in our beautiful province, in Canada and beyond.”
Other provincial winners of the night included:
Harleen K from Surrey won Junior Miss BC Charity
Bonnie Johnstone from Abbotsford won Mrs BC Charity and Mrs Lower Mainland
Christina Wiebe from Port Alberni won Mrs Vancouver Island
Nicole Haney from Langley won Miss Fraser Valley
Julia McKibbon from Penticton won Miss Teen BC Interior
Rose Lepin from West Vancouver won Miss Teen Greater Vancouver
Ola Lemanowicz from New Westminster won Miss Greater Vancouver.
Aman Merdha from Abbotsford won Miss Lower Mainland
Eugenia Fasciani from Surrey won Miss Southwest BC
Harninder Kaur Nijjar from Terrace won Miss Northern BC
Aditit Panwar from Surrey won Miss Teen, Lower Mainland
Miss BC is in its 18th year and has been held at the Langley Fine Arts School for the past 14 where organizer Darren Storsley is also a teacher.
“It started out as Miss Fraser Valley and has just grown over the years,” Storsley said. “Vancouver always gets these types of events so I love bringing something like this to Langley. It’s an awesome place to live and work.”
This year saw the Miss BC Pageant experience it’s second highest contestant enrollment with 51 women taking part. Thirty additional winners and competitors from years past also came back to volunteer and run the show.
“Now the whole province gets to come here,” Storsley added. “Whether your from Cranbrook or Keremeos, people are coming from all over to be part of it. Lots of contestants from Vancouver may have been through Langley, but they’ve never really stopped to have the chance to experience it. I love seeing expression on their face when they see Fort Langley and realize this neat old village exists.”
Partnered with the Canadian Cancer Society, over $400,000 has been raised by the pageant for their annual Cops for Cancer campaign.
Read more: Miss BC 2018 crowned in Fort Langley
Over the weekend, contestants answered questions from a panel of judges and receive life-skills training. Each contestant presented a personal expression of sports wear and an evening gown in the final showcase.
”It’s different every year,” Storsley said. “The women can participate in self defence classes and leadership forums on how to assert themselves in a typically male dominated world – which the pageant is trying to help change.”
Unlike traditional pageants, Miss BC does not focus on physical beauty — there are no age, weight or height restrictions to enter. Contestants give back to their communities through volunteer work and strive to be role models for young people.
“The 2010 winner [Tara Teng] was from Fort Langley and she was actually flown out to Ottawa to talk about human trafficking. She actually had dinner with Stephen Harper’s at his house when he was Prime Minister and as spoke at conferences in Thailand and India,” Storsley said. “The contestants are all working to enhance the lives of others.”
For more information and a full list of winners, people can www.missbc.ca.
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Email: ryan.uytdewilligen@langleyadvancetimes.com
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