Dec. 1, 2007 — A passerby strolling down a Frenchtown dock the other day stopped in her tracks when she came upon JeT'aime Cerge.
"You're a beauty," she exclaimed.
Cerge, Miss 2006 USVI Universe, replied with a simple, "Thank you." This is familiar turf for Cerge; she's been noticed all her life. She is a certain beauty, but that's just icing on the cake. As you peel back the layers, you see an ardent islander, bursting with pride about her French heritage and about the island she loves. She is equally ardent — passionate, even — about the environment.
Those two concerns of the 23-year-old Cerge merged this year when she was invited to enter the 2007 Miss Earth contest in the Philippines. But the invite came with strings.
"They wanted me to be in the Miss USA category," she says. Drawing on a healthy supply of French spunk, she says, "I told them I would enter as Miss Virgin Islands, or not at all." The contest, in its seventh year, now has a Virgin Islands category.
Cerge spent five weeks in the Philippines for the Nov. 11 pageant, returning a few weeks ago. Carousel Productions launched the project in 2001 in the belief that beauty queens would be good advocates for environmental causes.
"The experience was amazing," Cerge says. "There were 92 of us from all over the planet. We split up into three groups and toured the Philippines. Manila is the most polluted city because of its vast population and its mode of transport."
The trip also took Cerge and the other contestants into the countryside.
"I loved going out in the country, the provinces," she says."We traveled all over — we were divided into three groups. For two weeks we were in a monsoon. There was flooding everywhere — eight feet of water in some places. We visited 12 provinces. They were poor places, but the locals would come out to greet us, surrounding us, clapping and cheering every day for what we were doing, our mission to save the planet."
Though Cerge didn't place in the competition — Miss Canada Jessica Nicole Trisko won the title — she is pleased at what she came home with: more knowledge about ecology and protecting natural resources.
She told the judges about her home: "What makes me proud of the country I am representing is that the Virgin Islands is the very definition of paradise on Earth. We are surrounded by a vast wealth of natural beauty, rolling mountains, exotic wildlife and some of the best underwater (and above-water) scenery in the world."
Cerge is concerned about what she sees happening to that environment now in her own Northside neighborhood.
"I've traveled all over," she says, "in Europe, and in the Caribbean. St. Barts is so clean. I am saddened by what I see happening here, the destruction of our neighborhood. I hate to see the trash piled up. I used to know everyone in our neighborhood. I could walk home at any hour; I wouldn't do that now. And the traffic!"
Cerge lost her beloved dachshund of nine years, Poco, to traffic. He was run over shortly before she left for the Philippines.
"I still have trouble talking about it," she says. "I have his collar hanging in my car. I plan to start the Poco Foundation, to help abandoned pets left on the road, to provide a place where they can be taken."
She is generous about sharing her knowledge and talent, coaching other girls. "The Miss Carenage winners are almost always related to me — Jennifer Louise Greaux, Amanda Greaux, Lorrie Ryan," she says, "and I love helping them."
Cerge attended Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School until the ninth grade, finishing high school in California, where she lived with her mother. She earned an associate of arts degree from San Francisco State College, and a degree in fashion design from the Miami Institute of Art and Design.
She lives with her father, Kenny Cerge, a well-known Frenchtown fisherman. Her grandmother is a well-known community leader.
"My grandmother, Eleanor Cerge, taught me to be a lady and to be respectful, but I think my dad influenced me most in terms of ambition and feistiness," she says.
The "feistiness" has come in handy in the highly competitive world of modeling and pageants. Cerge was signed by the prestigious Wilhelmina Modeling agency when she was 15. "I modeled all through high school and college — a lot of TV commercials," she says. "I still model on a freelance basis."
As legend has Bette Davis famously saying, "Old age isn't for sissies," so it is in the world of beauty pageants. It's hard work. Miss Puerto Rico 2007, Ingrid Marie Rivera, recently made headlines claiming her clothing was doused in pepper spray. Cerge says, "It happens all the time, not mace, but clothes going missing, straps cut. There's a lot of cattiness, spitefulness. It comes with the territory. There's a lot of prestige at stake. I try to steer clear of girls I can see will make trouble."
She adds, "The contests are about making friends, too, and the girls in the Miss Earth contest were amazing. I came back with Miss St. Lucia as a good friend."
Cerge is easy to talk with, natural and easygoing, if ambitious. She is anxious to talk about her current projects — a magazine and a fashion business. She and friend Angelica Carby created their own business, Sugar & Spice Artistry, where they provide specialized care in makeup, hair, facials, nails. The business is featured in the new magazine Core, a locally owned bimonthly publication that targets young urban islanders — and where, not coincidentally, Cerge serves as fashion editor.
Though still an active model, she has an eye on the future.
"Modeling won't last forever," she says. "I want to make my own piece of the rock. The idea is to start something I can take anywhere."
But she has no plans to leave anytime soon: "I was away eight years, and I'm not ready to leave, I'm so blessed to live here. My friends feel the same way — they couldn't wait to get back from being in the States."
OK, now what about the name? JeT'aime means "I love you" in French.
"I totally love my name," she says. "My Aunt Noreen suggested it, and my dad loved it, and that was that. I've been asked to change my name from the time I was young for something easier to spell."
With a toss of her long, red curls, she smiles. "I always say, 'No.'"
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