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Reflections of the past year Submitted by: Valerie Veridiano It was a year that was filled with energizing challenges, good camaraderie, new ideas, fun-filled parties, and new friendships formed. It was a year of connecting with other people new to us, like the WWII veterans who fought in the Philippines, and a reconnecting of our own people who joined us again. It was also a year where 37 new families joined our organization for the first time. We accomplished so many good things this past year, and these all happened because of a great group of officers and help from the members of the Board of Directors. The year was kicked off with getting our new website up and running. For those of you who are new to the association, our website is www.cmfaa.org. Richard Huss initiated this, and we're continuing to update it and post current issues. We have received mailings from people near and far and maintained network relations with other organizations. Our first event last year was Valentine's party where over 180 people attended. It was the first time that we limited the party to adults only, in order to maintain an atmosphere that a romantic party such as this calls for. It was very well received, but unfortunately we could not accommodate everyone who wanted to join us because of the hall size. Randy Feldman and Jim Masters did the music, with help from computer lap top technology identified by Ed McDowell. It was a wonderful night filled with delicious food, good company and energetic dance music. Because of the positive feedback, we will continue to limit next year's Valentine's party to people in their teen-age years and above. In May we had our 8th annual May fiesta. We tried a new venue this time with the thought of accommodating more people, after learning from our Valentine's party experience. Well as it turned out, over 230 people attended the fiesta. It was, I believe, the largest party our association ever had. We served lechon, among other tasty Filipino cuisine, mixing the cuisine with your more �American� dish, spaghetti and meatballs. A dance group from Boston performed a few Filipino folk dance numbers. Unlike the Valentine's party, May fiesta was open to everybody of all ages. That night the kids were all delighted as they watched the dance performers, and it was special to see the kids dance with each other and with their parents and other adults. As was the case during Valentine's party, our food coordinator, Pam Pulsifer did an outstanding job in coordinating food preparation and distribution. Our officers and Board of Directors members once again helped in cooking and preparing for the party. Because there would have been a five-month gap before our next scheduled party for Halloween, we thought it would be nice to have some kind of a summer event. After having had two very successful dance parties, we thought we'd do more community or civic- based activity, combining it with some summer fun for the kids. Hence, the idea of celebrating Fil-Am Friendship day on the fourth of July was conceived. We had a very memorable day at Shore Park Indian Lake in Worcester where thirteen WWII veterans, 12 of whom served in the Philippines during those brutal times, attended the event with their spouses. That day there was a rekindling of a bond that exists among Filipinos and American soldiers, especially those who were in the Philippines during WWII. One could feel the warmth and attachment these men have for the Filipinos they met while leading the liberation of our country. These men all went home that day feeling appreciated and gratified that they made a positive contribution to society. Our association also got a very nice front - page article on the Worcester T&G dated July 5, 2003, covering the event. One could see the Filipino flag on the background. The event was free, and food and drinks were served all afternoon, while the kids splashed in the lake and played games. In the fall was our annual Halloween Party, which is also open to all ages. A lot of kids came and most of the adults came in costumes. We tried another innovative idea at this party, and that is to serve only appetizers and finger food. Because of that we also charged very minimal admission tickets. There was more than enough to eat that night. The young at heart danced the night away. We're considering doing the same idea for food next year, though some people think we should go back to Philippine food, which would require we charge a higher admission price. Please let us know your preference. We were going to have our annual children's holiday party on December 7 but because of the severe snowfall it was cancelled. Some parents and their children were asking if it would be re-scheduled. Well, we won't schedule another kid's holiday party but we're considering doing something in the future where the party is geared primarily for kids. We'll keep you posted. At our 10 th Anniversary holiday party, people who have volunteered and served on behalf of the organization through the years were awarded Certificates of Appreciation. What was obvious that night was that majority of us have carried out and rotated between various roles through the years, and for the following year we still find ourselves plucking from the same source of people. As was mentioned in a previous newsletter, our association is aggressively seeking new people to help us and be actively involved, be it as officers or assistants, or committee chairperson or member. We do have an open meeting policy, where anyone from the membership with interest is encouraged to attend and participate during the meetings. If you feel you're not ready to become officers, we encourage you to at least come see the meetings, which are also somewhat social gatherings, with the understanding on all sides that you may or may not be involved in the future. Also during the holiday party, our fund-raising coordinator, Lucena Masters, raised $308.00, which will be donated to the �Bantay Bata� program sponsored by the Philippine-based TV network, ABS/CBN. Our association's growth this year has been astounding. We believe more people attended our five scheduled functions than at any time in our ten- year history. We would like to specially thank Randy Feldman and Jim Masters for a wonderful job of being our DJ's free of charge. Jim Masters was able to borrow speakers from Bose Corp. where he works as an engineer. He also used some of his own equipment and loaded all the music into a laptop computer for each party and played the music at the parties. Randy spent many countless hours listening to music and spent lots of his own �pesos� on CD's to choose the music from and transfer on a lap top computer, just to get the music right. As a final personal word, I can honestly say that as much as there was a lot of work that had to be done while serving as the President this past year, it was very rewarding in many ways. For me personally, it was a year of juggling between time for family obligations, hospital work, acupuncture classes, CMFAA meetings, and finding pleasure time for me and my husband, family and friends. It was, however, a year that I feel so privileged to have served. Parties are more energetic when we pack the place with people. Let's keep up our great turn out, giving each other the positive vibe we've achieved so far, renewed energy and enthusiasm, new and rekindled friendships, strong leadership and cooperation, and enhanced feeling of belonging to a vibrant and wonderful community.
Home \| About Us \| Officers \| Gallery \| Contact Us \| ©2004 CMFAA

Reflections of the past year

Submitted by: Valerie Veridiano

It was a year that was filled with energizing challenges, good camaraderie, new ideas, fun-filled parties, and new friendships formed. It was a year of connecting with other people new to us, like the WWII veterans who fought in the Philippines, and a reconnecting of our own people who joined us again. It was also a year where 37 new families joined our organization for the first time.

We accomplished so many good things this past year, and these all happened because of a great group of officers and help from the members of the Board of Directors. The year was kicked off with getting our new website up and running. For those of you who are new to the association, our website is www.cmfaa.org. Richard Huss initiated this, and we're continuing to update it and post current issues. We have received mailings from people near and far and maintained network relations with other organizations.

Our first event last year was Valentine's party where over 180 people attended. It was the first time that we limited the party to adults only, in order to maintain an atmosphere that a romantic party such as this calls for. It was very well received, but unfortunately we could not accommodate everyone who wanted to join us because of the hall size. Randy Feldman and Jim Masters did the music, with help from computer lap top technology identified by Ed McDowell. It was a wonderful night filled with delicious food, good company and energetic dance music. Because of the positive feedback, we will continue to limit next year's Valentine's party to people in their teen-age years and above.

In May we had our 8th annual May fiesta. We tried a new venue this time with the thought of accommodating more people, after learning from our Valentine's party experience. Well as it turned out, over 230 people attended the fiesta. It was, I believe, the largest party our association ever had. We served lechon, among other tasty Filipino cuisine, mixing the cuisine with your more �American� dish, spaghetti and meatballs. A dance group from Boston performed a few Filipino folk dance numbers. Unlike the Valentine's party, May fiesta was open to everybody of all ages. That night the kids were all delighted as they watched the dance performers, and it was special to see the kids dance with each other and with their parents and other adults. As was the case during Valentine's party, our food coordinator, Pam Pulsifer did an outstanding job in coordinating food preparation and distribution. Our officers and Board of Directors members once again helped in cooking and preparing for the party.

Because there would have been a five-month gap before our next scheduled party for Halloween, we thought it would be nice to have some kind of a summer event. After having had two very successful dance parties, we thought we'd do more community or civic- based activity, combining it with some summer fun for the kids. Hence, the idea of celebrating Fil-Am Friendship day on the fourth of July was conceived. We had a very memorable day at Shore Park Indian Lake in Worcester where thirteen WWII veterans, 12 of whom served in the Philippines during those brutal times, attended the event with their spouses. That day there was a rekindling of a bond that exists among Filipinos and American soldiers, especially those who were in the Philippines during WWII. One could feel the warmth and attachment these men have for the Filipinos they met while leading the liberation of our country. These men all went home that day feeling appreciated and gratified that they made a positive contribution to society. Our association also got a very nice front - page article on the Worcester T&G dated July 5, 2003, covering the event. One could see the Filipino flag on the background. The event was free, and food and drinks were served all afternoon, while the kids splashed in the lake and played games.

In the fall was our annual Halloween Party, which is also open to all ages. A lot of kids came and most of the adults came in costumes. We tried another innovative idea at this party, and that is to serve only appetizers and finger food. Because of that we also charged very minimal admission tickets. There was more than enough to eat that night. The young at heart danced the night away. We're considering doing the same idea for food next year, though some people think we should go back to Philippine food, which would require we charge a higher admission price. Please let us know your preference.

We were going to have our annual children's holiday party on December 7 but because of the severe snowfall it was cancelled. Some parents and their children were asking if it would be re-scheduled. Well, we won't schedule another kid's holiday party but we're considering doing something in the future where the party is geared primarily for kids. We'll keep you posted.

At our 10 th Anniversary holiday party, people who have volunteered and served on behalf of the organization through the years were awarded Certificates of Appreciation. What was obvious that night was that majority of us have carried out and rotated between various roles through the years, and for the following year we still find ourselves plucking from the same source of people. As was mentioned in a previous newsletter, our association is aggressively seeking new people to help us and be actively involved, be it as officers or assistants, or committee chairperson or member. We do have an open meeting policy, where anyone from the membership with interest is encouraged to attend and participate during the meetings. If you feel you're not ready to become officers, we encourage you to at least come see the meetings, which are also somewhat social gatherings, with the understanding on all sides that you may or may not be involved in the future. Also during the holiday party, our fund-raising coordinator, Lucena Masters, raised $308.00, which will be donated to the �Bantay Bata� program sponsored by the Philippine-based TV network, ABS/CBN.

Our association's growth this year has been astounding. We believe more people attended our five scheduled functions than at any time in our ten- year history. We would like to specially thank Randy Feldman and Jim Masters for a wonderful job of being our DJ's free of charge. Jim Masters was able to borrow speakers from Bose Corp. where he works as an engineer. He also used some of his own equipment and loaded all the music into a laptop computer for each party and played the music at the parties. Randy spent many countless hours listening to music and spent lots of his own �pesos� on CD's to choose the music from and transfer on a lap top computer, just to get the music right.

As a final personal word, I can honestly say that as much as there was a lot of work that had to be done while serving as the President this past year, it was very rewarding in many ways. For me personally, it was a year of juggling between time for family obligations, hospital work, acupuncture classes, CMFAA meetings, and finding pleasure time for me and my husband, family and friends. It was, however, a year that I feel so privileged to have served. Parties are more energetic when we pack the place with people. Let's keep up our great turn out, giving each other the positive vibe we've achieved so far, renewed energy and enthusiasm, new and rekindled friendships, strong leadership and cooperation, and enhanced feeling of belonging to a vibrant and wonderful community.