|
|
History of the |
|
|
|
|
Prologue Southern
California is home to a great concentration of Filipino-American immigrants.
A good percentage of this multitude are former residents of Ormoc City,
Leyte, Philippines who had since immigrated to the “greener
pastures” of the United States of America (USA). Just like the
rest of other ethnic immigrants that came to the USA, the process of
assimilating the new lifestyle and identity of being an
“American” is easy and natural, which gradually sets in due time.
But the process of eliminating all vestiges of the Filipino heritage is next
to impossible let alone, unachievable. As had been experienced by most
“first generation” Americans who had come before us, the identity
transition is a hard one, thus the reason why we see culturally concentrated
areas such as Chinatown, Little Italy, Korea town, Japan town, etc. They were
established by first generation immigrants who naturally congregated in one
locality for their common reasons. They had to contend with the changes
brought on by the “new identity” while at the same time, try to
hold on to the “old identity.” Then, as diverse as the Filipino-American
community is, we tend to develop organizations that most reflect the
ethnicity to even within our own former hometowns and general areas. It is
not uncommon to even see numerous organizations divided by streets from
within the city. Although life
in the USA is indeed a fruitful and prosperous one for most “first
generation” Filipino-American Ormocanons who had called Southern
California their “second home,” there is a commonly felt need for
companionship, support, and unity; general sense of longing for all things
Ormocanon, and a craving for “belonging” to something more
closely affiliated to the ancestral homeland. Most if not all see the value
of socializing with long lost friends and relatives who had also settled here
as well and/or at least keeping the preferred company of town mates whom they
have since met here and have generally made good friendly relationships with.
There had been
Ormocanon organizations that were established in previous years and organized
to meet those needs, which were active for a short while. But since most, if
not all, have been inactive for many years (at least to the perception of
everyone) in meeting the constant need of the constituents, the craving to
have a new organization was painfully apparent and immediate. The Beginning of the New Era Such was the
situation in November 20, 2002 when a group of individuals, mostly Ormocanons
who are residents of Southern California, gathered together to welcome fellow
Ormocanon guests, Peter
Aviles and his spouse, the former, Helen Saavedra, who just arrived from the Philippines to
visit the USA. Mr. Lory
Tolentino who was a next
door neighbor and close friend of Peter Aviles in
Ormoc City, had brought them over to the residence of Mr. Bert and Josie Alvarez in Perris, California where other
Ormocanons were gathered together for the occasion. In attendance were George and Gener
Lurenana, Jun Uy, Maite
Larrazabal, “Bopep” and Marne Meneses,
Carlo Tolentino, James Larrazabal, and Chito and Celia Arradaza. The gathering was
graced by the dinner prepared by Chito Arradaza,
which was composed of an exotic Visayan dish called “rhapsody,” a culinary specialty made out
of chicken meat and blood cake cooked with coconut milk and other native
ingredients. Other dinner entrees were fresh ”kinilao” and “tinola’ng”
yellow tail fish brought by Gener and George Lurenana,
which made the dinner not only sumptuous but heavenly much to the delight of
everyone present. After dinner,
there were a lot of varied topics of discussions that were brought to fore.
One of the discussions was the situation of the need to reinvigorate the
Ormocanon community in Southern California. Mr. Lory Tolentino proposed to possibly reorganize the old Ormocanon organization
and develop a new association to achieve that goal. The proposal was seconded
by the Lurenana brothers and Maite Larrazabal. By the end of the day, everyone present made their
whole-hearted interest in the proposal and made their full commitment to have
it realized. Then, taking
the much needed initiative, Chito
Arradaza, a natural born
leader and veteran of professional and civic oriented organizations (Jaycees
and the Rotary Club) in Ormoc City, called and presided a special meeting on
May 2003 with the agenda to select and vote for the name of the new
organization. The meeting was held at his parents’ residence in Los
Angeles, which was well attended by other Ormocanons who were invited for the
occasion. In attendance were George and Conching Lurenana, Gener
Lurenana, Ellen Loreto Cala, Tony and Bella Diano, Sonny Conopio,
Remy Conopio, Tony Anasco, Boy Yahut, Perla
Tan, Lusie Velasquez, Eddie Geneston, Estrella Villacaste and many others. After extensive
discussions and subsequent votations, there was a tie in the selection of the
name but was broken by Lusie
Velasquez who casted the
deciding vote in favor of the new name. Thus was born the new organization
named: “Ormocanon Circle of Southern California” Before the
meeting adjourned, the new group’s founding members agreed to hold an annual
“fiesta” celebration in honor of the
official patron saints of Ormoc City, Sts. Peter and Paul, The date was unanimously agreed upon and was scheduled to be
held on June 28, 2003 at the huge farmland of Bert and
Josie Alvarez and Family in Perris, California. Additional
and continuing historical account will be documented as they occur and will
be posted and linked with the EVENTS button. Click HERE
to access. Source Credit: ·
Chito
Arradaza – history
rough info ·
Mario
Yrastorza Hermosilla
– page content, development, and info polishing |
|
|
|
©
2003. All rights reserved. |
Direct all comments to the Webmaster |
Last updated: July 26,
2005 |