Belmopan Queens – THEN

A total of 73 young women have been crowned “Queen of The Bay” in Belize. The first competition was held in 1946 and the first Queen was Miss Rita Lewis. Back in those days, the pageant was limited to Belize City but today 1 young lady from each of the 6 Districts vies for the crown. Interestingly, our Director’s mom, Miss Desiree Smith, was a past Queen and won the title of Queen of the Bay Belmopan in 1987. 

Featured Photo by Anthony Sierra Photography

Since then, Desiree has traded her title as Queen for “Mama Dez” which many children in the neighborhood refer to her as. She is also a huge support to our ID SEVEN team and we are truly grateful for her. We thought it would be fun to photograph her with this year’s Queen of the Bay Belmopan, Miss Jenny-Lee Cruz (2018) who went on to win the title of Queen of the Bay Belize! 

Belmopan Queens – NOW

Belmopan celebrated this victory as it has been 11 years since the Capital City has brought home the crown. Jenny-Lee also got the award of Miss Eloquence at the pageant for her exceptional response during the question and answer segment.

It’s important to acknowledge everyone’s worth and efforts because we all bring something unique to the table.

Jenny-Lee is such a beautiful soul and we were happy to celebrate her victory. Despite her hardships, she glowed during the pageant process. She lost her mom earlier this year and we can only imagine how emotional this win was for her. After all, nothing could compare to having your mom there to support and celebrate you.

First photo by Life Graphix Photography

However, she did have an amazing team of women who were such a fantastic support crew for her. Also there to support her was her dad, a face who many Belizeans know as “Bredda Fem.” He is known by the young and old for his song, “Dah if yuh wahn, Jesus nah guh force yuh.” This was actually a design on one of our very first t-shirts. Musical talent definitely runs in the family and Jenny-Lee is likewise, a wonderful singer. She hopes to be a professional singer one day.

From the Reigning Queen

I entered Queen of The Bay last year for the first time and wasn’t quite as successful and I gave it another try this year. Thanks be to God, I won in both Belmopan and Belize City. My experience has displayed that when you put your mind to something you can accomplish anything. I’m also not blind to pain, having lost my mother 4 months ago. Although it’s hard, I’ve become stronger especially with the goal I set to make her proud.

My wish is to use the Queen of The Bay platform to let females see that we are all resilient and nothing can bring us down and keep us there forever. I would also like to encourage Belizeans to uplift and support each other so that we can see success for each other. It’s also important to acknowledge everyone’s worth and efforts because we all bring something unique to the table.

Below are some great photos of the new Queen shot by the talented Quilz Tamay.

Gallery Notice : Images have either not been selected or couldn't be found

We also have to give a huge shoutout to Anthony Sierra Photography for capturing these lovely Belmopan Queens.

Gallery Notice : Images have either not been selected or couldn't be found

D’Andre Martinez | Photo by Henry Cho

Both Queens are rocking ID SEVEN’s Axe & Paddle Baseball Tees. Earlier this summer, we also got to photograph last year’s (2017) Queen of the Bay Belmopan, Miss D’Andre Martinez. She is wearing a fan-favorite, our Belize Map Backstage Tee.

Do you know any past Belmopan Queens? Comment their name and the year they won Queen of the Bay Belmopan.