The atmosphere in Bath, St Thomas, was rich with jubilation.

Only hours before, a tiny fraction of what the ‘forgotten parish’ has to offer had paraded across one of the world’s biggest stages, elevating Brand Jamaica and with a St Thomas, swollen with pride.

In small pockets along New Road in the community, residents repeated much of what has been on the lips of almost every Jamaican since Toni-Ann Singh was crowned Miss World at the 69th staging of the pageant in London, England, on Saturday.

Everyone was proud.

The St Thomas native wooed her way to the coveted title, outshining 111 other contestants in the process.

“She mek wi feel proud suh till,” Sharn Lewis told the Jamaica Observer yesterday when the newspaper travelled to the parish.

“We feel really good that someone from our parish went to represent Jamaica and did such an awesome job. Here is a forgotten parish, so for her to come from here and make the community shine and show that positive can come from St Thomas make us feel really great,” Lewis beamed.

Many of the residents have no relationship with Singh, some have never even met her, but for them, her achievement has re-energised their campaign to get St Thomas the recognition it truly deserves.

For them, she has flown St Thomas’ banner in a space where only three other Jamaicans have been privy to.

“What she has done for St Thomas is beyond words. She bring tears of joy to our eyes; I feel very good about her. So much of them go to the competition for years but this young girl from St Thomas win. I feel so proud to be from St Thomas. When she win wi take out wi best pot covers and beat them, people drive up and down outside on the road. Everybody was merry. This is the best Christmas wi have. She give us an early Christmas,” a resident who gave her name as Janet Anderson shared.

Singh, 23, claimed the title 26 years after St Ann South Eastern Member of Parliament Lisa Hanna walked away with the crown in 1993.

Carole Joan Crawford in 1963 and Cindy Breakspeare in 1976 were the other Jamaicans to secure success at the world’s oldest beauty pageant.

“It was an overwhelming feeling here when wi see that she win,” Chantella Ellis recounted. “To know that she is from Bath right here in St Thomas and that she leave the community and shine for us is just fantastic. She put us on the map again — the forgotten parish. We are on the map again and we feel blessed.”

“I know her, I know her parents, I know her family background very well so I feel overjoyed. A black girl from St Thomas is Miss World. We’re on top of the world,” “Ellis added.

The heavy downpour which followed Singh’s victory early Saturday in the parish was not enough to quell the parade which flowed through Bath and Morant Bay.

As Ellis puts it, there are no pot covers left in that side of the island.

“Wi had a lot of joy in the rain. People celebrated like it was nothing. Whole heap of pot covers knock, maybe none nuh leave inna Bath or elsewhere here. New pots supposed to affi buy for Christmas because mi sure we bruk them up. It was just joy,” the woman told the Observer.

Saturday sales for Babara Donaldson soared.

The thrill of the moment led to some much-needed “big-spending”, she confessed.

“Right now mi feel so good, so happy, mi feel overwhelmed. I feel like a winner. I’m feeling a sense of power, pride, and a sense of joy. We were at my establishment yesterday and there was a lot of excitement. It was just pure laughing, drinking and just love all around. Sale wasn’t bad. Because of her victory, wi make a lot more money. Mi sale go up up up, so right now mi really feel happy,” the June Cool Runnings proprietor said.

While growing up in Bath, Singh began a love affair with singing and classical music that continued when she migrated to the United States 14 years ago.

That love affair led to her winning the Miss World talent contest with a performance of Whitney Houston’s I Have Nothing.

A recent Florida State University graduate, Singh is an aspiring doctor.

On Saturday, she shared the Miss World win with young girls around the globe.