About the Contest — Holyoke St. Patrick's Parade

About the Colleen Contest

The first Colleen was chosen in 1955 by a ballot that was published in the Holyoke Transcript Telegram for a period of about 2 weeks. Families and friends of Colleen hopefuls would submit their names by ballot to the Committee. The five young ladies with the most votes would be the finalists and the lady with the most ballots would be the Grand Colleen. Some years over 30,000 ballots were counted. The system was changed in 1963 after years of complaints to the newspaper that ballots were stolen from newspapers.
First Colleen Contest was in 1963 at the War Memorial
For many years, the Grand Colleen participated in a Pageant in Kerry, Ireland that included Colleens from all over the world. They all competed for the “Rose of Tralee” title, In 1970, Holyoke was honored to have its first and only “Rose of Tralee” – Colleen, Kathleen Welch.
The “Bonnie Baker Miss Congeniality Award” is named after Bonnie Baker who was a Colleen Organizer and former Director of the Contest. She was integral to the Colleen Contest for 25 years. This award is special because the contestants select the young lady who has made their Colleen Contest experience special.

Participation in the Colleen Pageant allows each contestant to not only represent her family and heritage but her community.
Each contestant will learn more about their Irish heritage and experience the longtime traditions of the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Committee.
Participating in the Colleen Pageant provides contestants the opportunity to meet new people - either from the Pageant, the Parade Committee and the Community.
Grand Colleen Pageant contestants will learn life-long lessons, such as public speaking, interview skills and networking. It is also a great addition for their resume.

Orientation meeting is held the week before the Pageant where Contestants learn about the Committee’s expectations if selected and draw a number of order of appearance at the Pageant
Three judges meet with the Contestants the morning of the Pageant for a 10-minute interview to review their personality and intelligence. The judges then attend the Pageant to select the five finalists based on poise and appearance.
Contestants with the five highest scores become the finalists.
While the tabulating is taking place, Contestants vote for the Contestant who has been the most supportive, fun and responsible for making the experience joyable. The Contestant with the most votes wins the “Bonnie Baker Miss Congeniality Award” and is invited to attend the public appearances with the five finalists, even if she is not one of the finalists.

Colleens attend several events prior to the Grand Coronation Ball, including Committee events and other public appearances.

Finalists are on a level-field; prior scoring is not included in this event
New judges are selected and finalists are scored on poise and their answer to the same question.
Grand Colleen is crowned with a Tiara by the Grand Marshal.
After her name is announced, the Grand Colleen walks to “The Colleen Song”. This song was written for the Holyoke Grand Colleen and is sung at each Ball. It was composed by Lisobel Thaute and arranged by Helen Ezold.

The Parade Committee gifts the Grand Colleen with a tiara, a trip to Ireland for four, and a scholarship.
The Grand Colleen and her Court are also gifted with their gowns and other gifts donated by the Committee and area businesses.