Everyone Was A Winner At The 15th Annual Your Highness Grandmother Pageant
Grandmothers were the cause of celebration on Sunday at the National restaurant and catering hall in Brighton Beach. The talented ladies brought history, whimsy, song, and dance to the stage, and glee to the members of the audience.
“I never thought we’d live to see the 15th anniversary,” said Raisa Chernina, president and founder of the Be Proud Foundation, a Sheepshead Bay-based non-profit organization that hosts the pageant every year.
The grandmothers used the spotlight to celebrate their grandchildren, as well as America, the adopted home of each contestant. They honored their American patriotism with traditions of their Eastern European cultures.
“I cannot believe how much talent we’ve seen in this room; from the grandmothers who were great, and the children who were great,” said Assemblymember Bill Colton. “A tremendous amount of talent put together by the Be Proud Foundation.”
The afternoon started with a video showing pageants from years past, which incited laughter and applause from the audience, and tears from Chernina, who dedicated the movie to her late mother. After the video, there was a drum performance by two young boys and a man.
The first contest of the day was a spelling bee of sorts. The grandmothers were given pieces of paper that had Donald Trump’s and Hilary Clinton’s name written four times each of them. The goal of the contest was to choose the name that was spelled correctly. Only two grandmothers got it wrong.
There was also a raffle in which prizes like 10 pounds worth of dumplings, makeup, luggage, and gift certificates were given out.
Then the 12 grandmothers started the pageantry with their performances. the first was Galina Basova, who is from Russia and is the proud grandparent of five. She wore a dazzling red and white costume with the number 15 on her back to commemorate the anniversary of the pageant. She even brought Councilmember Mark Treyger for a spin across the dance floor.
“I’m not sure if I’m at the Your Highness Grandmothers Pageant, or if I’m at the Miss America Pageant,” said Treyger. “What I appreciate is in addition to seeing such talented grandmas perform, is seeing them perform with their grandchildren, the youth of our community, because we have to give our young people something good to look forward to.”
Roza Mordukhaeva, from Uzbekistan, is a former nurse and kindergarten teacher and a current grandmother. Dancing, singing, and cooking are among her passions, and she was crowned a co-winner on Sunday because of her singing and dancing.
She sang a beautiful song in Russian about the community here and the friends she has made since she came to the US. She wore a bright blue and pink colored flower crown during her performance.
“It’s remarkable,” said Theresa Scavo, Chairperson of Community Board 15.
The other winner was Faina Konusova, who is from Moscow, Russia. She has been in the US for 18 years and has 3 grandchildren. She sang with her wonderful singing voice and had an enormous group of fans with big signs praising her and the US.
After the grandmothers, the grandchildren performed a traditional Russian dance routine, to the enamorment of the crowd.
It was a truly joyous occasion filled with positivity and youth, which was proven to be not numbered. Although two crowns were given out, each contestant was a winner.
