Regina Beavers… ‘beautiful in mind, body’

The newly crowned Miss Jamaica World 2001, Regina Beavers is still on cloud nine and reeling with shock, when she became the youngest girl ever to wear the prestigious and highly sought after crown.

Beavers gained the distinction when she upstaged a considerably tight cluster of 20 other girls to walk away with the chance to represent Jamaica in Sun City South Africa, in November.

She impressed the audience and judges at the Miss Jamaica World grand coronation held at the Hilton Kingston ballroom before a capacity crowd, including family members and friends. The new queen whom nine of the 11 judges thought was beautiful in mind and body as well as articulate and intelligent, was the most suitable girl of 21 to go up against the over 100 girls from around the world in South Africa.

She is still reeling from the shock of winning the competition, which she admitted she enjoyed thoroughly, at the time relishing her role of pageant clown, always chipper, telling jokes and keeping the vibe going in the 21-girl camp.

Twenty-one women vying for a highly sought after title? One would think some contestants sharpened their claws against each other for one-upmanship. “No there was none of that here, we loved each other and had a fabulous time,” she said.

All Woman found Beavers to have a highly developed and genuine sense of humour, very quick to smile and a warmth which no doubt the other contestants saw, leading them to vote her the most congenial contestant. The award earned her a $10,000 award from the Guardian Insurance Brokers

She took the crown based on the judges’ assessments at pre-judging sessions where her obvious ability to think on her feet must have separated her from the bunch in a very tight competition where a large percentage of the girls were beautiful to look at.

It was this ability which gained Beavers even more fans in the packed Hilton Ballroom when she was asked what has become a decidedly cliché beauty contest question. What would you do if you were Prime Minster for a day? Her answer, which spoke of health care reform and free education for all, gained a resounding shout of approval from the packed ballroom.

September 1, 2001 however will remain a bittersweet memory for the new queen as hours after she was crowned Miss Jamaica, her ex-boyfriend allegedly committed suicide at his upper St Andrew home.

Word reaching All Woman is that the deceased, Jeffery Stephenson, was depressed over his break-up with Beavers and had an argument with the new queen on the night of the pageant. However, she denied these charges claiming instead that he had only come to congratulate her on her victory. She told All Woman that she broke up with Jeffery at the beginning of the summer, but would speak to him from time to time on the telephone.

“He didn’t seem suicidal to me, nor did he seem depressed, Beavers said, so everything came as a shock to me when I got the phone call on Sunday morning that he had died. I haven’t had time to really think about it yet,” she said, as her new title has suddenly made her very busy with little or no time to really reflect on the tragedy.

Reports are that Jeffery was dropped off at home at approximately 12:30 pm a half an hour after the coronation. By 1:00 pm he was involved in a motor vehicle accident, in his father’s car, one he was not supposed to be driving as having turned 17 years-old the previous day, he was not at the legal age to have such a licence.

Word is that he was escorted home to retrieve papers for the car, and it was while policemen were waiting for him outside that they heard the explosion. His grandmother was the only person at home at the time as his parents were said to be vacationing on a cruise ship at the time of his death.

While she doesn’t want to burden herself with the guilt of his death, the rumours naming her as a possible cause of Jeffrey’s suicide had reached her and has had a profound effect on her. “While I am sure that I am not at fault, I can’t help but wonder she told All Woman, and she continues to ask the question one everyone’s lips – Why?

Just a few months ago, Regina Beavers was just a typical teenaged girl excited about the prospect of graduating from high school. She had no dreams of world travel and wearing a glamorous and coveted crown, but was eagerly looking forward to higher education at Emory University in Atlanta where she would major in Developmental Psychology.

In the meantime however, she took a holiday job with family friend and legendary fashion designer Francis Keane, where she did office and in-house model duties.

Therefore, being on stage is not a stretch for Regina as she first donned Keane’s fabulous outfits at the age 14 in a fashion show, and she has since done two major collections in 2000 and 2001 for the famous designer.

So it was while going about her business, doing her job with Keane, that she was roped into the idea of becoming a contestant in the Miss Jamaica World contest.

“It was a sort of launch for the 2001 contest held at the Hilton Kingston”, she told All Woman, ” I was invited to accompany Franics Keane.”

It was while at this June 2001 function that Beaver’s infectious personality was noticed by Miss Jamaica World executive producer, Mickey Haughton-James and pageant director Laura Butler. “He told me that I looked good, had youth on my side, nothing to lose and a lot to gain by entering this contest,” she said. “and best of all, there was free membership at the gym,” she quipped with a mischievous grin.

She left the function a changed woman; she was totally sold on the idea of entering the contest, the next hurdle, confronting her family. “My mom was a bit sceptical at first,” said Beavers. She thought I was too young and said it was a decision that not only affected me, but my whole family. However, I used the same sales tactics that Mr Haughton-James used on me, his exact words in fact. At a Beavers family meeting, it was agreed that it would be a good thing to do.

“After entering the competition I spent a lot of time at the gym, I wanted to be confident about how my body looked,” she said . However, when the competition, got into gear, it was a little bit more difficult to put in the gym time. Beavers, no stranger to physical exercise, already had perhaps the best body in the contest.

“I just love sports,” she beamed, “and I was always active at Hillel, where I was captain the basketball team, the swim team, played table tennis, football.” It was this love and total involvement in sport why she was voted Hillel’s Sports woman of the year for 2000 and 2001. It was also this love of sports that since childhood had her participating in athletics, and while she was good enough to represent her prep school at the National Prep School athletics championship, she could only manage 4th place. “But I was once placed third in a relay,” she laughed.

Just about getting ready to transfer credits she got while studying college courses at Hillel Academy to Emory University, Beavers won the competition and has decided to defer the study of developmental psychology for a year to fulfil her Miss Jamaica responsibilities.

“I didn’t do CXC or CAPE Exams she told us, I received a United States High School Diploma through Hillel, and instead took independent College courses through the University of Nebraska while in the 6th form.

It was while doing this course that she was introduced to the field of Psychology. “I thought that it was fascinating,” said Beavers. “I learnt about why people do the things they do, about the function of the brain and how to deal with disorders she said admitting that she has always been somewhat of a counsellors. “Even as early as the 6th grade my friends would always come to me for advice.” And her discovery of psychology made her decide that she was on the right track all along.

During her reign, she plans to use the title as a platform to speak about a topic that has always been close to her – hearing impairment. “My mother is an audiologist,” she said. So growing up I have had first hand knowledge about people with hearing disorders. I have seen a simple hearing aid given to a client of age 30 who has never heard or spoken before develop speech within weeks of being fitted with the apparatus, she said.

While she has no immediate plans for her campaign platform, she hopes that she will be able to establish a link with the Jamaica Association for the Deaf, to host some sort of conference, hand out booklets, put on a fund-raising campaigns for the hearing impaired and needy.