Elsietampong's Blog

This year’s activities of the Senior Citizens’ Association of Laging Handa (SCALA) surpassed everyone’s expectations of what the Seniors can do. Spearheaded by the the first Chairman of SCALA Ding Villa, the association successfully registered at the Securities and Exchange Commission by April 15, 2010. On May 11, 2010, the First Bingo-Lunch-Dance was held at the Eco Park at the La Mesa Dam. It was sponsored by the Barangay Laging Handa and held jointly with the Barangay Annual Staff Outing. Soon after, on July 31, 2010, a Second Bingo-Dinner-Dance affair was held at the Casa Pura, sponsored again by the Barangay and the Kagawad for Senior Affairs, Mrs. Binggay Montilla. This December 10, the group held their Third Bingo-Dinner-Dance at the Barangay Basketball Court. The Bingo started at 4:45 p.m., with many of the Seniors showing up before the published time of 4 p.m.

Shown above is the indefatigable Treasurer, Flory SyChangco with his Reception Committee comprised of SCALA Directors Lydia Alvarez, and Fidel Paat Jr.

The attendance was very good, with over 50 people in attendance. Flory announced that SCALA General Membership was now 143 people, up from the 132 people before the Affair.

Tito Pepe, as former Barangay Chairman, Actor and Bingo Master Pepe Pimentel has always been fondly called, wholeheartedly and cheerfully did the Bingo, as he did with other two Bingo affairs. The crowd enjoyed his popular jokes that went with the Bingo numbers. Here he is happily posing with Cora Guiang, the winner of the P1,000 Dinner Voucher from Alfredo’s Steak and Bar Restaurant.

Pictured to the left were Marilyn and Nick Jorge, Silvino Abacan and Joe Bugayong. Nick Jorge was a famous basketball player during the prime of his youth. Now he runs a basketball school to pass on his skills to the youth! On the right are Chinni Carpio, Dr. Nenita Co, Martha Manzana and their friends.

Can you see that it was still broad daylight when we started this Affair? Here is Marina and her group that got in early. They were the last to leave, and I know because my last picture was of them leaving with big smiles on their faces and presents in their hands! The other group– “Ninfa and the Dancers”– I call them, they are the ones who bring their own Dance Instructor to make sure that none of them are wall flowers the whole night. These women are very quiet. When you see them walking in the streets on a normal day, they walk slowly with stooped backs. But once they get on the dance floor — all hell breaks loose!

I put this picture in so that I could show how the big the crowd was and the decor the Barangay basketball court had that night. Hey, this just half of the whole crowd! It amazes me no end of how everyone could get so wrapped up with the Bingo game. The bingo players’ eyes are glued to the Bingo card as if their life depended on it. Thank God that this was my third Bingo game for the Seniors, and if you want to be strict about it, the first time I had ever organized activities for the elderly. For the first Bingo game, I got money from some of the directors, and I bought canned goods like sardines, some of which I wouldn’t dare give away any more for the third Bingo night. Since I realized that I had to do most of the solicitation of prizes, I decided to use my skills as a former fund raiser and send letters to all the business establishment in the Barangay.

Pictured left wearing a red dress is the current Chairman of the Senior Association. Her name is Nita Nantes. She is 82 years old, and lives in a group of town homes that she owns. She confessed to me that she built these town homes in 1976 with just a prayer and the backing of the bank who gave her a loan. Nita has been a recipient of “Mother of the Year” for Quezon City and several papal awards for her religious and pious life. One of her six children is a priest. He celebrates Mass in her house every Sunday. But Nita walks slowly to Church every day to hear Mass.

On the right, the group is shown doing a line dancing number. There were not enough dance instructors to go around, and everyone wanted to dance. There were also not enough men to dance with. So– we did a few numbers of line dances.

This lady pictured on the right surprised me with her very dance-ballroom-y dress and her high spiked heels!!! She is the type of “manang” you would never think to be the “belle of the ball”.

The whole night was filled with fun and dancing. The Seniors were extremely delighted with the numerous prizes that I was able to solicit from the many restaurants and establishments that dot the periphery of the Barangay. Most of them were gift vouchers for dinners. They came from the following: Alfredo’s Steak House, Cercchio’s Bar and Restaurant, Chilli’s Mexican Restaurant, Estrel’s Cakes, Jollibee’s Restaurant, Little Asia Restaurant, Max Fried Chicken, Red Crab Seafood Restaurant, Romulo’s Bar & Restaurant, Sushi-ya’s Restaurant, Wheatberry’s Restaurant, Yam Cha’s Restaurant. Non-food prizes came from Urban Escape Spa (body massage), Councilor Marvin Rillo (P5,000); Councilor Raquel Malanguen (a desk fan). Cash gifts came from some of the directors that we used to pay for our expenses.

I made a Newsletter to report on this, and when the Seniors opened the door to receive it, their first question was, “When is the next one?”

This entry was posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:28 am and is filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.