Miss Dumaguete through the Years. It took me and historian friend Penn Larena to plan, research, and collect photos to finally realize this photo exhibit of past Miss Dumaguete beauties.
When another friend Marc Calumpang joined us — whose passion for history and heritage matches ours — the exhibit at last took form.
At first I called it Chasing Miss Dumaguete.
But as the exhibit date neared, it became more like Hunting Miss Dumaguete.
We “ransacked” the cabinets of Monique Gaston, looking for a photo of her aunt Alicia Montenegro Teves. (We got it at last from Alicia’s daughter, Maitos Aldeguer.)
We knocked on doors, we called people who we knew were relatives and friends of past beauties, we emailed past Miss Dumaguete who are now based abroad.
And all the while working on a very tight budget, thanks to the support of the Dumaguette Festival & Arts Society (DUFAS).
But most expenses we gladly financed from our own pockets.
The photo exhibit, now going on at Robinsons Place, displays photos of Carnival Queens, as they were called before the war, the oldest of whom is of Miss Trinidad Pinili Pastor in 1920. The exhibit formally opened Wednesday, and we are still basking in the success of the event.
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