Cast of characters:
K-Listers:
Evangelista, Weeny and sons Brian and Ira [VA]
Gatbonton, Manolo and Carina [VA]
Nepomuceno, Marc and Lou and children Pio and Amanda [MD]
Reyes, Iohan [VA]
Reyes, Yvonne and son Diwa and niece Pong Tantiangco [DC]
Rosmer, Dave (aka Deerslayer) and son William [SC]
Sibal, Vic, Gina and sons Vince and Alex [VA]
Tayag-Pili, Riza [TX]
Guests:
Campomanes, Milton and Anna (David) [San Fernando, Pampanga]
Cabatit, Rolly and Ines (Due) [Angeles City]
Montano, Joe [Norfolk, Virginia]
Plans for this gathering were drawn up a month earlier, but it was only a week before the get-together that things started shaping up. Everyone was just so busy with work and other commitments, not to mention Vic's Jul 31-Aug 9 trip to Cocoa Beach, FL, for his son Vince's baseball tournament. The point persons were: Marc for the attendees; Iohan and Marc for the food; and Manolo for the venue and accommodations.
After Vic's arrival on Monday, Aug 11, he and Manolo made some final arrangements to ensure the success of the gathering. These included the lodging arrangements at the Sibal and Gatbonton Luxury Inns, as well as a naval base VIP Suite for Dave at an irresistible price. Should the need arise, others could also be accommodated in the VIP suite.
Dam Neck Beach had earlier been selected as the venue, but later Vic was able to get a better spot at Little Creek Beach, where the waves are more gentle for all the kids and where there was, a few feet away from the beach, a pavilion complete with tables and benches and a huge barbecue pit; and a private cabana complete with reefer, shower, toilet, and table set. What more could one ask for!
At 4:00 p.m. on 15 Aug, Friday, Deerslayer and 14-year-old, Philippine-born William arrived in his deer-damaged, red 1981 Mercedes Benz sports car. Vic drove over to the BOQ to welcome them. Although they had never met before, Vic was confident that he would recognize Dave when they met, but, to Vic's regret, he didn't, in spite of the professor's beard that Dave was sporting. Was it maybe because of Dave's six-month old pregnant belly, remnants of the beer-drinking days at Clark or the ravages of middle age? Nevertheless, Dave was in high spirits in spite of the 6-hour drive from South Carolina, which was made more grueling by his car's broken A/C, at the height of the East Coast summer. Dave's excellent spirits, were probably also brought about by a 1989 (post-Marcos) Tanduay Rhum, something that Dave had been saving for years for a special occasion such as this one.
Later, while Vic and Dave were cooling down and taste-testing the Tanduay at the VIP suite, Dave remarked "It's been a long time since anyone felt I was a VIP (like actually never), so I am certain that this will be fine, as will the regular suite." To their credit, Vic and Dave didn't finish off the bottle and saved some for the following day.
In the evening, Vic, Dave, and William dined at Virginia Beach's locally famous Fiestahan. William, having lived in Angeles during his first three years, liked the "galunggong" and was interested in a lot of Pinoy things. Dave had menudo and pork adobo. After dinner, they proceeded to the house of Manolo, who was anxiously waiting at his front steps for the supposed early birds from Maryland, Marc, Lou, Pio and Amanda, who actually arrived at around 8:00, an hour delayed for a four-hour trip. After exchanging pleasantries, greetings and salutations, everyone took their dinner seats and reenergized their tummies with Chinese food. Marc and family spent the night at the Gatbontons'.
At 9:00 the following morning, Manolo secured the pavilion closest to the beach and the cabana. He reported, "All is quiet on the eastern front." After Manolo, first to arrive were Vic and his family, Dave, and William, followed by Iohan and Weeny and her kids (who had left Northern Virginia very early in the morning); and Marc and family, with Carina. And that was it, everyone thought, with the exception of Riza, whom everyone knew was arriving late from Dallas, TX.
The ice chests were opened for beer and sodas, and Manolo started prepping the BBQ pit. There were green mangoes, watermelon, and various other fruits. Pre-prepared dishes included pancit (with putu lason), menudo, a tossed salad, a pasta salad, and leche flan. After the BBQ pit was all fired up, Manolo steeled himself for the heat of the summer combined with the heat of the BBQ pit and grilled the marinated pork, hotdogs, hamburgers, fresh corn, eggplant, and bangus. (In spite of the grilling, they refused to give up their secrets.)
It was perfect beach weather, with the day being the hottest day of the summer. Almost everyone spent a lot of time in the water. The kids, including big kid William, played on the shore, digging in the sand and building sand castles. Amanda picked a friend named Anna, who later didn't want to be parted from her. Marc also flew a kite (actually Amanda's), but stopped short of jumping in the lake because there was none. Vic and Marc operated their videocams, while others took pictures.
Later, the former Ines Due (originally of Angeles City) arrived with her husband, Rolly Cabatit. Atching Ines, who used to work for Al's Trading in Angeles, had been invited by Vic to meet Marc and his family. During Marc's teenaged days in Angeles, Atching Ines used to keep an eye out for the Wilkerson boys and their cousins, including Marc, who hanged around the Al's Fiberglass store at Nepo Mart. Needless to say, it was a very nostalgic reunion, as it was more than 20 years ago that they last saw each other. Atching Ines and Deerslayer, who was also a good friend of Mrs. Tess Wilkerson and her late husband, Al, also had many stories to share with each other.
Everyone was pleasantly surprised when Yvonne showed up with her son Diwa and Joe Montano. (Joe Montano, although neither a K nor a K-Lister, was the one who had told her about the KHP and the K-List.) The day before, Yvonne had said that she was having transportation problems. As someone said later, Yvonne made it "by hook or by crook."
Shortly after Manolo and Carina had to leave late in the afternoon because of previous engagement, Riza finally arrived after disembarking at 12:00 noon from a plane at the National Airport in Washington, DC. The trip from the Nation's Capital had taken longer than usual due to the heavy traffic on all roads leading to the area beaches. Milton Campomanes, a good friend from the area, had picked her up. Of all the attendees, Riza was the only one who had never met any of the K-Listers before. Riza brought with her a very welcome treat; silvanas made by her sister who has a pastry shop in Munoz, Nueva Ecija.
Unfortunately, Riza wasn't able to spend too much time in the water as it was getting late and everyone was packing up to go to Dave's VIP suite for dinner and some K-List discussions.
At Dave's VIP suite, the kids were banished to the bedroom to watch TV while the adults gathered in the sala for some discussions. Also present was Anna, Milton's wife, as well as their kids. With Marc at the videocam, Vic started the ball rolling by talking about his vision for the K-List and the Kapampangan Region in general. The others followed suit with their ideas: Iohan, Joe, Yvonne, Dave, Riza, and Marc.
The rest of the evening was spent examining the books and materials brought by Dave, Marc, and Vic. Unfortunately, the evening was too short for any kind of serious reading, which everyone would have loved to do. Family by family started leaving then, until it was only Marc and family with Dave and son. Weeny and her sons, as well as Iohan, spent the night at the Sibals'; Yvonne and son were at Joe's parents' house in Virginia Beach; Marc and family spent the night again at the Gatbontons'; and Riza stayed with Milton and Anna.
Epilogue:
By late morning the following day, of the out-of-towners, only Riza and the Nepos were still around. Dave and William headed back home early in order to beat the heat; Iohan and Weeny and her kids had departed from the Sibals' quite early; and Yvonne and her son and Joe returned to Washington DC. The Sibals prepared brunch for and Riza, the Gatbontons, and the Nepos, after which everyone, except for the Gatbontons who again had another previous appointment, went to Sunday mass at a nearby church. After mass, Vic accompanied the Nepos and Riza to Virginia Beach's boardwalk, but due to the heat, after only about an hour, they all returned to Vic's place to cool off with some ice cream. Afterwards, Vic accompanied Riza and the Nepos to Manolo's place to pick up their things. Manolo and Carina were not home, but Carina's mom was there, and she wouldn't let them leave on empty stomachs, and so they ended up having dinner there. After Manolo and Carina arrived, more time was spent at the dinner table chatting and before anyone knew it, it was 7:00 p.m., and by the time the Nepos left (with Riza) it was already 8:00 p.m. By midnight, they were all safely in Gaithersburg. Riza's mom picked her early the following morning.
What a weekend! Next stop, New Jersey on 27 September. See you all there!