Town fiesta 2014

Dinner dance part 2
The BANC dinner dance event held last Saturday in San Jose was also in celebration of our town fiesta which is held every October 21 in honor of Binangonan, Rizal’s patron saint, St. Ursula. There’s another group in LA, the Binangonan Association of Southern California (BASC) that celebrates the town fiesta in mid-October of every year.

Ed Garovillas, Alona Cerrero, Dr. Florence Callanta- Garovillas.
They drove 4 hours from Visalla, 230 miles southwest of San Francisco and 190 miles north of Los Angeles.

Alice Maaba-Dacanay the Statue of Liberty.

The BANC officers poured a lot of their time and efforts in reaching out to townmates leaving in Northern California. It’s worth the hardwork and dedication. People are able to meet elementary classmates, neighbors, friends, and lost lost relatives. Living in a foreign country could be lonesome sometimes. Having kababayans around make one feel not too far away from home.

Nery Aragones,  Russiel Celones,  ____, Alona Cerrero,  Lita Diumano, ____, Alice Dacanay

Lita Diumano, Russiel Celones, Alona Cerrero, _____

E——–“Ano ba yung throwback?”
A——–“Yan ang uso ngayong word. Past, memories, looking back”.

Joel Lopez, Irene Paralejas – Lopez,  May Pagaduan

Len and Dimple

I didn’t want to pose na sana, they called me. Kaya ayun I was no longer wearing the hat. Masakit ang bewang ko.

I went back to the buffet table and got more food.
E———–“Kumakain ka na naman? Hindi ka pa tapos kumain?”

Aileen and Bong worked very hard to make their event a success. Aileen designed the souvenir program and spent days and nights putting it together.

Message from President Pnoy

Bong pulled all stops to reach their advertising targets. Asking people to advertise even if they are not from our town.
The two of them spent months preparing for this occasion.

Angie flew in from Queens, New York, while Lea Balignasay is from Los Angeles.
These two girls are childhood best friends of my sister.

I viewed the dozens of photos in my camera. I could see my drooping eyes and sagging face. Stretch!

I was tasked to pick and announce the winners of the Mr. and Ms. BANC of the Night.
Mr. Boying Garovillas and Ms. Nery Aragones – de Jesus. Nery looks very pretty in person. She must have been a stunner during her younger days.

People were still dancing at 11:30 pm eh hanggang 12 pm lang yata ang rent ng hall.

Mahigpit pala dito, dapat eksaktong 12 midnight, out the door and the place must have already been cleaned, by YOU!

Dali-dali tuloy ang hakot ng mga gamit. Dyos mio hindi ako sanay na ganito because I am used to having helping hands in the Philippines.
Merong mga taga ligpit.

I went back to check where my sister was, abah, she was cleaning the kitchen and Bong was sweeping the floor. Aileen kept on saying “Ayaw ko na dito, na i- stress ako”.

JTS Northside Community  Community Center is adjacent to the Mabuhay Court Senior Housing in the historic neighborhood of Japantown and near downtown San Jose. Originally built in 1975, the Center has run its senior programs since 1979 and was completely rebuilt in 2003 as the Jacinto “Tony” Siquig (JTS) Northside Community Center as a multifunctional community center.

JTS stands for Jacinto Tony Siquig, a Filipino, who was considered the founding father of this community center. He was an extremely successful farmer in San Jose, denied enlistment to the U.S. army during WWII because he was “more valuable as a farmer than a soldier.” Mr. Siquig was an advocate driven by basic essentials. He and his fiancée Lily, who was Mexican-American, traveled to New Mexico where they were legally married, and in the 1970s he sought a place for  his aging peers to gather and socialize. “In 1975, he lobbied and obtained funding from the City to build Northside Community Center,” and Senior Nutrition Program.