A 37-year-old former beauty queen and working mother of three was named Bermuda's Mother of the Year by the Continental Society yesterday.

And in a sign of the changing times on the Island, Mr. Egbert Simons, an assistant maitre d' at the Southampton Princess Hotel, was chosen runner-up, marking the first time that the award has ever been given to a man.

"He (Mr. Simons) was at a loss for words when he found out,'' Society president Mrs. Janel Ratteray told the more than 200 guests who had turned out for its 26th annual Mother's Day luncheon at the Belmont Hotel and Golf Club.

In presenting Mr. Simons with the award, Mrs. Germaine Trott of the Society added: "Our runner-up is an excellent example of the mother-father role.'' Mr. Simons, a 44-year-old widower, was chosen from among dozens of candidates after one of his two children submitted an essay called "Why My Dad Should Be Mother Of The Year'' to a Continental Society panel of judges.

As in previous years, the Society sponsored an Island-wide essay-writing contest for schoolchildren as a way of ferreting out potential Mothers of the Year and choosing an ultimate winner.

This year, the top honour went to Mrs. Pearl Laverne Trott, whose 10-year-old son Kenton turned in the most persuasive essay.

Mrs. Trott, the winner of the Miss Queen of Bermuda title in 1978, is currently an employee of the Bank of Butterfield's mortgage and finance department.

In addition to Kenton, a student at the Port Royal School in Southampton, she and her husband Douglas also have another son and a daughter.

"I think,'' Kenton wrote of Mrs. Trott in his 300-word essay, "that my mother is special.

"She loves her family, she provides food for us so that we don't starve, she makes sure our clothes look right for school or wherever we may be going and she makes sure that we learn about Jesus so that we can all go to Heaven as a family. That's mom's prayer to God all the time.'' In addressing the Belmont luncheon after being presented with her award, Mrs.

Trott affirmed that religion was indeed an important component in her household, and of parenting in general.

"As my son has pointed out in his essay, I am rearing my children in the ways of the Lord,'' the assistant head deaconess at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Southampton said.

"Most mothers, I know, are trying to do the same. My mother and my grandmother did it. And it has provided me with my foundation.'' Providing a foundation for children was, in fact, a predominant theme of the Mother's Day luncheon.

Its guest speaker, lawyer Mr. Marc Telemaque, urged mothers to avoid giving in to the materialistic whims of their children and instill some discipline instead.

"We've been so obsessed,'' the lawyer said, "with giving our children everything we never had that we've failed to give them what we did have. By giving so much, the novelty of receiving has given way to expectations.'' He continued: "Give more of yourself and less of things. That Nintendo or Sega Genesis (video game) will be outgrown someday, but a lesson in politeness and demeanour will stay with (children) forever.'' Mr. Telemaque's comments notwithstanding, "material things'' did figure prominently during yesterday's event.

As Mother of the Year and runner-up respectively, both Mrs. Trott and Mr.

Simons were lavished with gifts by the Society's corporate sponsors.

Their children, moreover, were also presented with less-extravagant favours.