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| Oscar Spence seated with his wife Cecille at his right and myself in black polo |
by Susan Palmes-Dennis
OSCAR Spence, a former area representative of the Fil-American Community of the Carolinas (FACC) during the time of past president Paul Amigo talked about his experiences with the Fil-American Community and what he learned from them.
I met Oscar Spence on January 31 through the invitation of his wife Cecille to celebrate the “Sinulog.” Cecille Spence is from Cebu province, Philippines and started the annual Sinulog celebration in North Carolina five years ago.
I learned a lot from him. After introductions were made, I learned that my gracious host was friends with Paul Amigo before he got married to Cecille and got recruited at the FACC.
Oscar served as the liaison between the FACC and the Fil-Americans at Albemarle and Salisbury. I heard about his helping the FACC and making sure that the folks at Albemarle and surrounding areas attend.
“It would be nice to attend again but we are 40 miles away and we could not participate anymore with the Charlotte events because of my health,” Oscar said.
Oscar recalled that they “had people coming from Gastonia, Concord, Monroe.”
“There seems to be people there who like to maintain the camaraderie but they don’t want to go Charlotte. They like to get together with Filipinos but they don’t want to go Charlotte, it's too far away,” he said.
When asked how he took on the job as FACC rep, Oscar said he was more of an informer. “But Filipinos, they love parties. They like to party and come to Gala.”
Among the challenges facing the FACC now is not only to sustain current members but also invite new ones especially the youth.
FACC officers really work to enhance unity and friendship among members and serve as a source and proponent in the promotion of Philippine culture and heritage, interests and concerns.
There are so many beautiful things about the Philippines and its culture that showed be known especially to the next generation of Fil-Americans here at Charlotte.
This is a challenge not only to the officers but to the parents and guardians as well unless we let anything that's Filipino in us to evaporate to oblivion.
It is becoming a challenge to ensure the participation of Fil-Americans since back home Filipinos are clustered first to the first big islands and the smaller islands.
Fil-Ams in the area reflect that clustering back home but there is one moment when we do get together and that is when there is a party. That's what myself and the rest of the current batch of FACC officers hope to achieve with “FACC: Beyond the Gala.”
(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who worked as a nanny and is now employed as a sub-teacher and a part-time teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.
Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.
You can also connect with her through her email susanap.dennis@yahoo.com as well as her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063)
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