The beautiful logo designed and prepared for this event by Marlon and Chat Agbayani
Beautiful backdrop with the logo created and designed by Marlon and Chat Agbayani
The creative couple - Marlon and Chat Agbayani
Chat Agbayani with their children
Our Spiritual Director, Father Juan Caboboy wth the creative couple -Chat and Marlon Agbayani and Deng Gallardo, wife of former President of FFRGOC Mel Gallardo and Violy Arevalo, wife of former President of FFRGOC Joe Arevalo.
FFRGOC choir members enjoying the occasion
FFRGOC choir ladies photo shoot at the event
The Rigodon de Honor Cotillion Dance by the performers who are members of FFRGOC
Let us enjoy and watch the Rigodon de Honor Cotillion Dance on YouTube courtesy of
Mel Gallardo
The Jubilee Gala Celebration was held last August 18, 2018 with a dinner/dance at the Embassy Suites Hotel South Anaheim by Hilton in Anaheim, California for reaching out the 25th milestone of FFRGOC.
It was a wonderful evening as members and guests of FFRGOC arrived and clad in their beautiful long gowns from basic black to different colors of the rainbow. Some ladies wore Filipiniana and cocktail dresses. Most gentlemen wore Barong Tagalog and others wore tuxedos or suits which made the occasion festive, classy and formal.
Entrance and Decor:
The guests started forming a line to the reception table and they were given table seating arrangements including dinner tickets by the reception committee. This process was organized to make sure all the guests have their respective assigned seats and all guests were accounted for.
Decor was a contemporary style which is more fluid than modern style and less adherence to a particular style. Blue and white/silver colors were used as the predominant colors of the decor as shown of the above pictures. Centerpieces of each table had a cylindrical vase filled with water and inside the vase were white floating candles lit up and fresh blue and white hydrangeas. Each table was covered with white table cloths and turquoise napkins for a table setting of 10 people. For sure, the 54 tables looked very elegant and beautiful for everyone to enjoy the event. On the right side of the ball room there was a red carpet that led to a photo booth reminding you of the Hollywood Oscar's awards. It was like having a photo shoot similar to actors and actresses complete with backdrop with names/logos of sponsors as shown in the above picture. These sponsors donated the banner and their donation was part of the fundraising efforts.
Another fundraising effort done for that night was the "silent auction". Prizes or gifts were the silent auction items and displayed inside beautiful baskets that were placed on top of tables covered with black table cloths decorated with blue and white lit up lights. Members and guests filled out a form so they can bid whatever gifts they so desire. The highest bidders won the different prizes. DJ Caroline started playing music of different genre from cha cha, boogie, line dance, etc. Guests started to sit down and others went to the dance floor to have fun and at the same time show their moves with ladies wearing their stilettos or high heel shoes and their partners leading them.
Program:
The program started around 7:00 PM and our emcees, Lorraine Betts and Walter Bayubay entered the center stage to welcome everyone to the festivities. The first part of the program was an opening song , sung by HPRCC choir director Larry Orque Jr. . He sang the song entitled "Magandang Gabi sa Inyong Lahat" meaning "Good evening to all of you". What a great opening number to welcome everyone to start the celebration. Next the HPRCC sung the US National Anthem and Filipino Anthem. As shown in the above picture, the ladies and gentlemen of the choir were all dressed up in long gowns and Barong Tagalog. The choir also sung "Dahil Sa Iyo", meaning "Because of You " a very popular classic Filipino song and the Jubilee song with hand movements. Such a great way to start the program for the evening !
Debbie Gonzales, our very able President of FFRGOC, gave an inspirational and welcome speech. It was followed by a prayer before the meals led by Father Juan Caboboy, the spiritual director of FFRGOC. Around 7:30 PM, the waiters served the dinner and the menu was duet meal (salmon and chicken) with medley of veggies and rice pilaf while dinner music was being played to the delight of the attendees who were enjoying their meals.
An hour later, the program was graced by the members of FFRGOC with their cotillion dance, Rigodon de Honor as shown on the above picture and video. There were 18 pairs or couple who performed the dance to the tune of "Mamang Sorbetero" by Celeste Legaspi.
It was a 15 minutes performance with different formations which was choreographed by a wonderful dance teacher, Jennie Castor and coordinated by Irene Alzate. Performers did a great job and everyone were smiling and happy watching a spectacular show. What a treat for this classical Philippine folk dance performance that required lot of efforts for dancers to practice every Sunday afternoon from 1:30pm to 4:30pm for the past three months before the event at the Santiago de Compostela Church parish hall. The use of the hall was approved by Father Thomas Naval, a Filipino pastor and coordinated by Dina Tennant, a long time member of FFRGOC.
Thank you to all the following 18 couple participants and the dance instructor shown as follows:
Jennie Castro, Dance Instructor/Choreographer
Liino and Minda Aldana
Frank and Boots Mercado
Mel and Deng Gallardo
Rene and Sol Sollorano
Gene and Nene Reyes
Eli and Debbie Gonzales
Frank and Lorraine Betts
Wally and Fely Claudio
Glenn and MaryAnn Puzon
Eli and Elvelyn Ruiz
Bert and Cynthia Mones
Cesar and Irene Alzate
Manny and Rose Aquino
Norie and Francis Olmo
Noel and Carina Mateo
Steve and Luz Loreto
Ed Hortinela and Cora Narciso
Walter Bayubay and Helen Alonso
In the middle of the night, Debbie Gonzales, President of FFRGOC, spoke briefly to acknowledge and give thanks to all members who contributed to the event. She also gave plaques to some deserving people. Among them were Larry Orque, Jr. for his contribution of music for the past 25 years, Nenita Miyata for the appreciation of her willingness to help FFRGOC in every way she could, and to Jenny Castro for appreciation in teaching the participants of the cotillion dance, Rigodon de Honor for about 3 months.
Raffles were drawn and one of the main prize was One Night Stay at the Embassy Suites. A 50/50 split between the winners and FFRGOC for the money collected on the raffle tickets during the night were also drawn for the first, second and third prizes. The silent Auction winners were also announced for all the prizes and gift baskets. And yes, more dancing to the different tunes and the dance was sometimes led by DJ Caroline. The dancing floor was full of people dancing till the wee hours or midnight and no one wanted to go home until the end of the night.
Our Jubilee Gala Celebration for the 25th year anniversary was surely a success considering we collected money for a worthy cause and at the same time had so much fun ! A win-win situation for all of us !
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