• The sport of pageantry The sport of pageantry By Duane Shimogawa Jr. – The Garden Island And I thought playing basketball was hard. Well Saturday was an eye opener for me as the co-em-cee, along with Malisa Pegeder (Miss
• The sport of pageantry
The sport of pageantry
By Duane Shimogawa Jr. – The Garden Island
And I thought playing basketball was hard. Well Saturday was an eye opener for me as the co-em-cee, along with Malisa Pegeder (Miss Kaua’i Filipina 1996) for the 2005 Miss Kaua’i Filipina Scholarship Pageant.
The participants, Veronica Pablo, Sharon Viquelia, Amanda Carpio-Schone, and Patricia Agustin made it look easy. Except for a few minor mixups, the contestants impressed a crowded War Memorial Convention Hall audience, who was treated to another great event, put on by the Kaua’i Filipino Community Council.
As a last minute replacement for emcee, I went in not expecting much, but after the night was all said and done, I came away with a greater appreciation for beauty pageants. I’ve emceed other events and I’ve got a really special one, coming up this Saturday (my nephew Cody’s 1st birthday), but this one was refreshing, like a scoop of Cold Stone Creamery ice cream in August.
A lot goes into these events and the people behind the scenes are the “real” miracle workers.
They truly make the event a success and without them, it wouldn’t have been a total success. The 47th annual pageant is the oldest and best one of its kind on the island. In fact, it’s the oldest Filipina pageant in the state, according to members of the Kaua’i Filipino community.
What impressed me the most about the entire event were the speeches from the contestants.
It’s hard enough standing in front of a crowd, but remembering a thoughtful speech and conveying it to an audience and being judged on it, makes anything else seem as easy as eating apple pie.
Preparation is everything and the winner of the terno/speech phase (Veronica Pablo) showed how much she really prepared. However, being able to stay cool under pressure was the case for almost all of the contestants. A couple of individuals had a rough time remembering their orations, but they recovered and made the best out of the situation.
A judge was also extremely touched by one of the speeches, that she too was covered in tears after the performance.
The girls have gone through months of preparation and to see it all unfold in one night was amazing.
Miss Pablo has a great shot at the Miss Hawai’i Filipina crown (My bets are on her!) Her proud parents, Jaime and Josie, only hope that their youngest daughter, Meagan, a star soccer goalie for Kapa’a High School, will trade the cleats for some high heels (right, Meagan?).
But even if Veronica doesn’t come back with the state crown, she’ll still be a great representative for the Garden Isle. Her contagious smile, good looks, and gracious attitude should take her far, with her next stop at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.
It was a pleasure meeting many of the individuals who worked so hard on something that only lasted for just a couple of hours, but according to Domie Bucasas, who has been the pageant’s general chairman for three years, he keeps saying that he’ll stop heading up the event, but every year he seems
Something tells me that despite all of the work and stress, the end result of the Miss Kaua’i Filipina Pageant seems to always outweigh the negative!
