The Little Miss & Young Miss Dorchester Contest, a longtime popular prelude to the annual highlights of Dorchester Day, “has really evolved to be an opportunity for Dorchester girls to come and introduce themselves to the community, to talk about what makes Dorchester so special, and about their experiences,” says the event’s coordinator, Annissa Essaibi-George.”
This year’s pageant will again be held on May 17 at Saint John Paul II Academy’s Columbia Road campus, where participants will use their public speaking skills to share their pride in their neighborhood.
Girls ages 7 to 9 will compete for the title of Little Miss Dorchester, while those ages 10 to 12 will be vying to become 2025’s Young Miss Dorchester. Applications will be available online soon at dotdayparade.org/index.html and must be submitted by May 16.
“It is a contest that the Dorchester Day committee has been hosting, I think, since the beginning of time,” joked Essaibi-George, a former Boston City Councillor and owner of the Stitch House who also serves as president and CEO of the Big Sister Boston organization.
Prior to the contest, all participants submit essays. This year, the younger girls are being asked to talk about their favorite places in Dorchester, while the older ones get to tell why Dorchester is a wonderful place to live.
Contestants will take over the microphone in turn and address their words to an audience of community members and a panel of judges. They will also respond to questions presented by Essaibi-George and last year’s winners, Nicole Adkins and Isabella Robbins.
Essaibi-George said that bringing last year’s Misses back to the competition is “an opportunity for them to demonstrate their own leadership and to continue their development.” She added: “We have girls that have participated for so many years, come back time and time again. Sometimes they win, sometimes they don’t, but it’s really a great exercise in leadership, in public speaking, in sharing with a larger community your love of our neighborhood.”
Following tradition, this year’s Misses and the other contestants will be invited to participate in the Dorchester Day Parade on Sunday, June 1. Essaibi-George thinks the whole experience can become a core memory for all involved.
“I hope that being Little Miss or Young Miss Dorchester is an important milestone for them and an achievement in their life,” she said, “and that they also will continue, especially as they get older, to engage in community activities, that they see that this is a place for them to invest time and energy in and to be a part of something a little bit bigger than themselves.”
For additional information, please contact the Dot Day Committee at dorchesterdayparade@gmail.com.
