Canberra Corner
|
20 July 2011
FCCACT Officers 2011 - 2012
Hopefully I have not missed the deadline for the June edition of the Herald. We celebrated the 113th Philippine Independence Day in Canberra last night and I am yet to catch up with my sleep after several long nights preparing for the most awaited and biggest event in the Filipino Community calendar in the ACT. I was getting calls for tickets until 5 pm yesterday – oh well – Filipino bad habit- last minute decisions but we could not take more than 350 guests at the Corinna Ballroom in the Southern Cross Club. It was elegantly decorated with red, yellow and blue balloons with candelabras on black tablecloths, mirrors on the wall and chandeliers. The program was highlighted by performances from the youth groups: Rondanihan welcoming the guests with Filipino music – they are a big asset for the Filipino Community Council of the ACT. The Hip Hop dances from the FilOz Youth group and the award winning dance crew ‘Project Beats’ rocked the ballroom. The audience just loved both groups who danced very skillfully. A number of young people also danced with the ACT Filipino Association the ‘Southern Islands Suite’ including the popular ‘Singkil’. It was a real delight watching the youth - the hope for our future.
To highlight value we place on the youth’s contribution to the Filipino community, the FCCACT President’s community award was given to Geraldine ‘Dina’ Ivankovic. Dina is ‘beauty and brains’. She was runner in the Miss Philippines Australia Pageant and Miss Earth and was Miss Penafrancia. She said she is finished with beauty pageants and formed the FilOz Youth group. Having completed a degree in graphic design she has designed our souvenir programs for the last 2 years including the souvenir program for the FILCCA National Convention. She is a very skillful dancer too. I can now see Dina being President of FCCACT in a few years. More power to you, Dina. Her proud parents are Gloria and Tony Ivankovic.
Mrs Perlita Swinbank welcomed the Pinoy Football Aid group who joined us in December 2010 and the Philippine Cultural Society (PCS) who joined us this month. The Pinoy Football Club is raising funds to bring at least 15 children to play in the Kanga Cup football competitions in Canberra. PCS, headed by Mrs Feding Donaghue, has a very experienced dance group and will surely be an asset to our group. That makes a total of 9 member organisations. We would need a bigger venue next year. Our ball has become so popular that in the next few years people will be buying tickets from scalpers.
One of popular events of the ball was the search for the Belle of the Ball. The winners last night were Rani Asuncion, Isabel Gourdine and Judy Ryan. It was a difficult job for the judges (Larissa, Mr. Alistair Coe and Ellen Regalado) as the saying goes ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’. All of the ladies actually made a big effort getting dressed for this special night – the committee were very pleased with this as it showed the importance the guests placed on the Ball. Thank you to all the ladies and gentlemen – translated to ‘Mga Binibini, ginoo at ginang’ by the Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Mr. Steve Doszpot. Ms Mary Anne A. Padua, Charge d’Affaires of the Philippine Embassy told us that the theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Kalayaan: Paninindigan ng Bayan’ and reminded us that it was also the 150th birthday of one of our national heroes, Jose P. Rizal.
Winners from recent karaoke contests gave us their version of ‘Alone’ (Marilyn Escamis) and ‘All by Myself’ (Diane Emalay) – she hit that high note excellently. Marilyn Mendez, backed up by her band completed the three love songs with ‘Inseparable’. The band got the whole room rocking all night - young and old alike. Hannah Albarece and Hardy Vargas did an excellent job getting the program going at 7 pm sharp – my husband, Bill was surprised it actually started on time which enabled the dancing to start earlier than in previous years. The speeches were short and sweet. The musical enjoyment for the night was commenced by the piano virtuoso Ms Hildegarde Palafox-Mendoza who she played the Advance Australia Fair and Lupang Hinirang following by a number of kundimans.
Thanks to all our donors and advertisers. The major prize was donated by my son Matthew who passed his last exams last Friday and is now a fully pledged CPA (Certified Practising Accountant). Congratulations son! The Sampaguita Ladies donated most of the raffle prizes. When I asked one of my guests Kate McAlister (my son James girlfriend) what she thought of the ball – she replied ‘I enjoyed it a lot. It is a lot better than any ball we’ve had in Young – I will bring my whole family here next year and we’ll organise a table’ Hmmm – I thought that was funny!
The FCCACT Committee thanks everyone who continues to support us. See you all next year!