Miss Carib: From Mini Miss to Miss Fiesta and beyond

By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express

When Shailene Panylo took to the stage as Miss Carib 2014, it was the latest step in a long history with the pavilion.

Having been a member since she was only a toddler, Panylo was the face of Club Carib that year, the 40^th edition of Oshawa’s annual Fiesta Week.

While some of the pavilions choose their pageant winners through contests of their own, Club Carib chose Panylo based on her history and experience with the group.

“What we typically do now is choose people who have been good role models in our pavilion. Anyone who is of age to compete is considered equally. They take a look at how long you’ve been there, how much you’ve helped out in the pavilion, how much you’re immersed in it and in your community,” she says.

“We went through that, and I was lucky enough to be chosen.”

From there, Panylo went on to not only represent Club Carib, but to also be chosen as Miss Fiesta 2014.

Panylo says she credits her accolades to her hard work throughout the years to helping make Club Carib a better place for all in the community, including taking part in just about every activity the pavilion has to offer.

“At the time, I would’ve been a member for about 14 years, and at that time I had danced and played steel pan for years and years. I also did a lot of community performances,” she says.

“So whenever something came up, I was always the one who was asked to go play steel pan here or go dance there. I always agreed, and I worked really hard to get more of the youth involved.”

One event Panylo says she thinks helped her stand out was a Mother’s Day event she put together, organizing everything from dancing and music to the costumes performers would be donning.

“I did that because I wanted to, and it was Mother’s Day. Mothers deserve to get the chance to relax, but also because it was one of those moments where if I can do this, we can all do this,” she says.

“I really wanted to push for the rest of the dance group and the boys and girls my age to want to be more involved in pavilion events and have a say in things and live up to the role that we’ll be taking over when we’re older.”

Two years removed from her reign as Miss Fiesta, Panylo just completed her first year at the University of Toronto, where she is working on a double major in molecular biology women and gender studies, and named earlier this year as one of the recipients of the province’s Lincoln M. Alexander Award, which recognizes youth who work against racism and promote multiculturalism.

Still a member of the club – Panylo says her busy school schedule has cut down on the amount of time she can help out – the former Miss Fiesta says she learned a lot in the pavilion, including skills she could use in the future.

“For me, it was getting to watch as I grew and getting the opportunities to step up and do different things,” she says.

“The opportunities to take advantage of different experiences that were presented to me. I learned a lot of my public speaking through being Mini Miss. That was my first time really speaking in front of people, and it for sure shaped my future because I now deal with public speaking.”

Another thing Panylo says she got out of her time with the pavilion is a sense of appreciation for her heritage.

“It helps you grow a love for your own culture and the diversity,” she says.

“I’m in a place where growing up in Oshawa wasn’t so diverse. And so, at school and places where I might not like my hair or my skin colour, there’s always that place where you could go and be 100 per cent who you were, heritage wise and culture wise. You can be completely comfortable with yourself, seeing that there’s other people older than you that are very much comfortable with themselves. and know their roots really well.”