Written by Tom Larson.
Class of ’74 “Esyindig” Highlights Gala Event VI
The highlight of Gala Event VI for many attendees from the Class of
1974 (as well as from 1972, 1973, 1975 and a few “official
gate-crashers”) was the Saturday afternoon luncheon hosted by Terry
(Euyang) Tsu and her husband Dennis. Originally conceived as a party
to give ’74 graduates a little extra time to spend with each other and
celebrate their 25-year anniversary, the “esyindig” expanded into an
extraordinary event in its own right, attended by over 80 people.
As the list of attendees grew in the months prior to GE VI, so did the
planned festivities. Jeff Phillips, Lo (Stewart) Mayer, Tom Larson,
Phil French, and Rose (Clurman) Calander devoted many hours of
e-mailing and brainstorming to the planning process. When it became
apparent that this was not going to be a quiet gathering of a dozen or
so people, Jeff came up with the brilliant idea to rent a school bus to
transport the party-goers from the Hyatt in San Jose to the “Tsuhouse”
in Menlo Park, about 25 minutes away. Terry made the arrangements, and
so on Saturday morning at 10:30 AM, eager alumni lined up to board the
big yellow bus, conjuring up memories of numerous field trips to Clark
Air Base or Subic Naval Base for games.
After driving through an area of Menlo Park reminiscent of Forbes Park,
the bus stopped at the end of Terry’s street. As the riders strolled
down the lane, they were greeted by a huge “Mabuhay” sign in front of
the Tsu’s lovely home, with a large palm tree in the entrance court.
Inside, the hospitality was warm and welcoming, and the house and yard
were decorated with wonderful Filipino artifacts. As an added bonus,
Mr. & Mrs. Euyang were there to help, and seemed as pleased to see so
many old friends as all of us “kids”. Damn if none of those Euyangs
seem to have aged a bit! Maraming greeting, hugging and kissing was
followed by an exodus into the yard where the San Miguel beer was on
ice.
Terry and Rose (Clurman) Calander produced an incredible menu of
Filipino delights, starting with plenty of San Miguel beer.
Appetizers included balut, green mangoes with bagoong, fried dilis,
chicharron, banana chips and Nagaraya peanuts. The sumptuous lunch
buffet was comprised of pancit, lumpia, chicken adobo, and naturally,
lechon, complete with the very attractive pig’s head. For some
reason, the food was very masarap - more delicious than I remembered
from the Philippines, which is a testament to the marvelous culinary
skills of Terry, Rose, Dennis, Liz Fisher and the rest of the cooks.
While the luncheon buffet was being finalized, everyone gathered around
for a rousing game of “Jeepney Jeopardy”, modeled after the real show,
and hosted by Alex TreBeak (Tom Larson, ’74). This was the real deal,
complete with a game board showing categories and answer values,
Jeopardy and Double Jeopardy rounds, daily doubles, and Final Jeopardy.
All 60 questions related to the Philippines in some fashion, with
categories such as Pinoy Places, Philippine History, Translation
Please, TV Commercials, A.S./I.S., and Tagalog English Wordplay.
For example, from the Tagalog English Wordplay category:
Answer: A famous cartoon bear, another name for a submarine sandwich,
and the Tagalog word for handsome.
Question: What are Yogi, hoagie and pogi?
Or,
Answer: Come here, corn chip.
Question: What is “Halika dito, Frito!”?
You get the idea. And then there were a few in the category of
“Translation, Please”, such as:
Answer: Tagalog for “You have no penis”
Question: What is “Walang titi mo”?
And the most controversial of all:
Answer: Tagalog for large breasts.
Question: What is “Maraming susu”?
Vigorous debate has followed concerning the proper modifier for “susu”.
One camp maintains that “maraming” means “many”, and therefore the word
“malaking” is actually the correct translation, unless you want to
describe someone with more than two breasts!
The game was hotly contested throughout, with the Class of ’74 in a
close match with the Class of ‘73, led by Ken Butt, who was later
crowned MVP (Most Valuable Pilipino). Unfortunately, the Class of ’72
proved lacking, and never really got going, despite having Andoy Butler
on their side. The Class of ’75 displayed typical underclassman
immaturity, complaining about calls that didn’t go their way, and
whining throughout about the judging (handled with integrity and
authority by Phil French, ’74 – after all, “right is might”, diba?).
In fact, it all came down to Final Jeopardy, when the Class of ’74
overtook the Class of ’73 by correctly naming 10 of the 21 oldtimers
listed in the ’74 Kawayan. Amazingly, eight of the oldtimers were in
attendance at the party. Some grumbling about the fact that the host,
judge and scorekeeper were all from the Class of ’74, as well as the
Final Jeopardy category being called “Class of ‘74”, was heard after
the game, but for the most part, a great time and much laughter was
shared by all.
Lunch was a perfect time to sit with old friends, reminisce, and admire
the jeepneys crafted by Terry, or read through the compilation of
biographies and pictures of Class of ’74 alumni that was put together
by Lo (Stewart) Mayer. Lo solicited information about what our 1974
classmates had been doing for the last 25 years, from everyone she
could contact before the reunion. We called it our mini-Kawayan, and
it provided lots of great information about both those who attended GE
VI and those who didn’t. Great idea, thanks, Lo!
Suddenly, karaoke broke out! A stirring (?) rendition of “Feelings”
was delivered by a Class of ’75 trio consisting of Walter (Jun)
Euyang, Brian Rafferty and Keller (Half-A-Man Stan) Staley. Next,
the cast of Guys & Dolls, which was the 1974 I.S. musical, was
reunited. Maggie (Wakeman) Peacock, Tom Larson, Mary Jane Bruce, Jeff
Phillips and Phil French performed several numbers. Initially, they
were greeted with polite applause, but as they droned on interminably
with song after song, caught up in their memories of past glory and
stardom, the crowd rapidly lost interest. Finally, Terry had to try
to force them off the machine by unceremoniously waving the lechon head
at them.
One final bit of entertainment was provided by Freddy Gleeck’s (‘74)
reading, in perfect Filipino voice, alleged quotes, sayings and
mis-sayings of current Philippine President Joseph Estrada, quoted from
the Filipino book “Erap-shan”. At the same time, the perfect
conclusion to the lunch was served: rice cakes with shredded coconut,
turron (banana fritters), otap (Filipino cookies), and of course,
Magnolia ice cream, with barquillos.
Although almost everyone could probably have spent several more hours
enjoying the hospitality, nostalgia, kinship, fellowship, camaraderie
and general good times, the San Miguel was gone and the GE VI dinner
was only a few hours away, so it was time to go. Everyone was given a
pasalubong (parting memento) of Manila courtesy of Mr. & Mrs. Euyang
and Carol Euyang: a fan, a wooden caribou, or straw coin purse.
On the way out, all stopped under the Mabuhay banner for group photos,
then boarded the bus for the ride back to the Hyatt. The good times
kept rolling, as Ken Butt (’73) launched a song competition between the
front and the back of the bus, which was surprisingly entertaining. As
the bus rolled into the Hyatt parking lot, everyone knew they had just
shared an immensely enjoyable afternoon and an experience none will
soon forget.
Kudos to Terry and Dennis, Carol, Walter, and Mr. & Mrs. Euyang, Rose
(Clurman) Calander and all the others who helped plan, host, and cook
for “The Esyindig”. Maraming salamat po!
List of alumni attendees:
Terry Euyang, Walter Euyang, Carol Euyang, Mr. & Mrs. Euyang, Rocky
Gump, Greg Gump, Mrs. Gump, Lo Stewart, Rose Clurman, Jeff Phillips,
Elizabeth Fisher, Arthur Slonsky, George Slonsky, Esther Marcelino,
Gunther Moral, Tom Niblock, Sue Butler, John Gamber, Cayo Gamber, Jimmy
Gamber, Aldo Garrolini, Nino Garrolini, Kenny Greenfield, Eileen
Greenfield, Philip Adamson, Lawrence Li, Phil French, Tom Larson, Fred
Gleeck, Jeff Meyer, Jon Onstot, George Sycip, Mary Jane Bruce, Mrs.
Bruce, Maggie Wakeman, Mary Lynn McLarney, Liz Hamra, Richard Guardian,
Ken Butt, Tony Picini, Claire DeMyer, Borgie Nielsson, Kari Russell, Jeanine Totten,
Cho MacArthur, Pat Larson, Sue Samara, Tom Perrine, Andy Butler, James
Jackson, Dennis Mesina, George Drysdale, Lynn Lipman, Keller Staley,
Brian Rafferty, Jagdesh Mirani
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