Jeanica Perpose was a two-time winner Saturday during the 46th Terno Ball benefiting the Kaua’i Women’s Filipino Club.
Perpose finished first runner-up in the Prettiest Terno competition and came back to take the crown of Elegant Couple with CJ Menor on the evening when the ballroom at Royal Sonesta Kaua’i Resort Lihu’e was packed with local businesses. Residents and Government Leaders of Kaua’i and O’ahu.
Deandrei Gonzales led the category of the most beautiful ternos, while Tia Kawamura took second place.
At the Best Barong Competition, Greyson Lucas won the hearts of the judges, with Mario Trinidad and Kaua’i County Council Member KipuKai Kuali’i taking first and second place respectively.
“People were thrilled to be able to celebrate this illustrious event after a two-year absence,” said Barbara Green, president of the Kaua’i Filipino Women’s Club, which hosts the Terno Ball as a unique fundraiser for the club’s presented scholarships to young women who are graduate from Kaua’i high schools.
“Hawaii State Senator Bennette Misalucha and Representative Nadine Nakamura presented the Kaua’i Filipino Women’s Club with a Certificate of Appreciation recognizing the positive impact, demonstration of unique culture, and thousands of dollars in scholarships the organization provides since the club’s inception in 1955.”
Fire knife dancer Pomaika’i set the stage for the evening of cultural performances, including tsunami taiko, which featured drum beats followed by cultural dances of the Philippines.
“The fabulous Bailes de Jose dancers made their grand entrance, adorned in Filipino cultural regalia,” said Green. “The collaboration between the two cultures was symbolic, as Honorable Mayor Derek Kawakami commented in his message.”
O’ahu’s Greg Gabayo headlined the entertainment.
“The comedian/hypnotist is a professional, board-certified stagemaster-hypnotist who not only had 12 brave volunteers who spoke Chinese, modeled a catwalk and danced by the river, but also managed to get our own County Council member, Billy DeCosta, to do it to rock audiences in the theater styles from Elvis Presley’s ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and serenade them with ‘Falling in Love With You,'” said Green.
Charlmaine Bulosan, Chair of Terno Ball, expressed her appreciation for the hard working members of the Terno Ball Committee and the many sponsors for the various stages including a silent auction.
“Like a true queen, Kiele Casillas, the 2022-23 Miss Kaua’i Filipina, flew back from her college campus in Arizona to be with her Filipino Kaua’i community,” Bulosan said. “Miss Casillas brought the invocation for the evening.”
