PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
By Anita Navalta Bautista
I hope all of you had a nice vacation or should I say respite from FANHS Stockton for the last three months. We took some three months off so that the families could enjoy each other and have some quality time doing fun things. I really don’t think any of us forgot FANHS. We still had individual projects to do and so we continued to do FANHS work. Thanks to Mel, Terri, Violet, Letty, Moreno, Deanna, Mary Louise and Rossi.
The Central Valley Asian American Chamber of Commerce of which FANHS Stockton is a member had their monthly mixers. We were picked as the spotlight organization for September. I regret that I could not announce this earlier, so that our members who could attend could be there. This was a last minute announcement. They announced it at the mixer. But have no fear; I was there with my trunk full of FANHS paraphernalia so we were not embarrassed. And I probably made the best off-the-cuff speech I ever made in my life. Anyway that is what I was told by the guests.
I showed FANHS Stockton support by helping out the Sacramento Delta garage sale, also in September. They were able to make $176.00; and we supported the Fil-Am Lion’s breakfast. Our book sales are continuing. We made another $300.00. FANHS Stockton also made $48.00 on our Trader Joe’s cashews sale. We were able to support FANHS East Bay Chapter at their Filipinos in the East Bay book signing by attending and buying books. We also worked with Little Manila Foundation on the exhibit for the lobby of the Bob Hope Theater for the play by Carlos Bulosan, The Romance of Magno Rubio. This exhibit was at the lobby on October 4th and 5th at the Bob Hope Theater (Fox Theater).
Two of our FANHS Stockton members who knew Carlos Bulosan spoke at the October 2nd Chavez Library symposium about Carlos Bulosan with Dr. Dawn Mabalon, Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University, Angelina Candelario Novelozo and myself talking of his times and experiences.
Be sure to attend our FANHS Recognition Luncheon, October 18, at 11:00 am at the Mekong Harbor and later on the same day the book signing of Riz Raymundo’s book Tomorrow’s Memories. The book signing will be at the Chavez Library, October 18, at 3:00 pm. It is free and refreshments will be served.
Anyone who has time to help FANHS Stockton with preserving our Filipino American history, your history, with old photos, especially of Little Manila store fronts, may call me, Anita 956-1728 or Terri 462-3489.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE By Anita Navalta Bautista
The Third Annual Golf and Picnic was a success. Thanks to our dedicated giant Mel LaGasca and his crew of golf angels who helped and gave of their time and money to make it a huge go. We truly appreciate each one and their dedication. Thank you all.
Also, in the last three months our chapter has had a lot of exposure by networking at different venues: May 1-31 a “Filipinos in Stockton” exhibit at the Chavez and Weston Ranch Libraries; the FANHS golf and picnic on May 10; a Pepsi Family Day, May 18; 1st International San Joaquin Film Festival - June 4-8; Artwalk in downtown Stockton on June 13; a book signing with Prof. Dawn Mabalon at the Chavez Library on June 14; the Central Valley Asian American Chamber of Commerce mixers each month, the Daguhoy Filipino Bazaar - June 28-29 and on July 5, the Filipino Federation of America conference and dinner.
This past Spring, FANHS Stockton and Little Manila Foundation hosted and lectured about our Filipino American history to students from a Los Angeles high school, UCLA, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, UOP, San Francisco State and the Berkeley School of Religion.
FANHS Stockton received the Central Valley Asian American Chamber of Commerce Lotus Award on May 28 for our historical contributions in our Asian American community. Our chapter also received seven other recognition awards in May from Mayor Ed Chavez and other public officials.
My story appeared in the May-June Asian Pacific American News and Review taken from an interview with Jerry Paular. It depicts the historical involvement of the early Filipinos in the “Filipino American and the Zoot Suit.” That issue also carried a story about FANHS Stockton receiving the Lotus Award.
Our continued exposure at different fundraisers is very important. This brings FANHS Stockton to the public eye. Our chapter invites volunteers and suggestions to help raise much-needed funds for our FANHS museum. FANHS needs your continued help.
Speaking of help. At the recent National FANHS conference it was suggested that the 2009 Trustees meeting and the 2012 FANHS National Conference be in Stockton. We need the members to show their vote on this. Please let us know if you want to have these functions here. We need your input and most of all, we need your help. Let us know. My telephone number is (209) 956-1728, Mel LaGasca (209) 835-7578, Terri Torres (209) 462-3489 or email us at StocktonFANHS@aol.com
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
By Anita Navalta Bautista
The past two months have been very busy and productive. The book launching for "Filipinos in Stockton" was more than a success. This book sold a record number of one-day sales for the Arcadia Publishing company. Our chapter sales have not been too shabby either. Word of mouth has kept a steady stream of buyers at my door. At the Central Valley Asian American Chamber of Commerce (CVAACC) monthly mixer I sold 10 books. At the Cougar High School Health Fair held on March 8th, I sold 10 books. And our participation in the Daguhoy Lodge pancake breakfast, gained another 8 books in sales. Others have been calling and picking up 3 to 5 books! We have sold almost all of the calendars. I have one left. (Little Manila has only a few left!) Other news -- We gained a new member. Our work on the golf and picnic for May is moving along, thanks to our solo leader Mel LaGasca. He is a Goliath in energy. And Terri and Violet's endless energy in doing the souvenir books for the golf and picnic is invaluable. We will support the Livingston FANHS Picnic with individual FANHS picnic goers. Thanks everyone, this chapter is awesome!
If you want a copy of the fantastic book, call Anita at (209) 956-1728. It costs $20. If you need it mailed to you, the postage will be either the post office flat rate envelope of $4.60 (2-3 day delivery time) or $3 book/media rate (1-2 week delivery time). Copies for sale will also be available at upcoming book signings and at the Alaska conference in July. Proceeds go into the FANHS Museum Fund. Thank You!
[Ed. Note – one of our members, Felomina Hufana, has sold more than 15 books to her co-workers at Dameron Hospital. Thank you!]
By Anita Navalta Bautista
When I first joined Stockton FANHS (March 1997), I tried to get some locals to join our chapter. I got a rude awaking when one person said to me, "What do you (FANHS) do? You don't do anything." I could not answer that question, I was in shock. I then worked in earnest to encourage and accomplish FANHS projects. What could I do to show that we are a viable organization? I let my past experiences speak for itself. I was the Sacramento FANHS president, historian and archivist in the 1990's. My role as a Stockton Chapter past Vice President gave me insight into what our chapter should be doing. My greater experience was working as a social worker for the Veterans Administration and as a people person for just short of 30 years and I recently received a congressional appointment to Congressman Jerry McNearney's Veterans Advisory Board. So that tells you something about me. It says that I have the stick-to-it-ness for this job. Now, I have to prove it.
While I was a member of Stockton FANHS, I became a vice president; presented my research paper on "The Filipino and The Anti-miscegenation Laws of California" at two of our FANHS National conferences; I have written short articles for our newsletters; created an original story for TheFilipinas magazine; designed a Chapter t-shirt along with Beverly Engkabo; designed and created Christmas wreaths for fundraising to support the printing of our chapter newsletter; I took part as a volunteer at the CSU Sacramento in the Ethnic Studies Department for their Oral History Program to record, train and assist the students in the interviews; completed oral histories on my own; created and put up FANHS exhibits with our committee at local libraries; contributed to KVIE's documentary, "Little Manila: Filipinos in California's Heartland," created and directed a DVD called "Talk Story" which included stories of five of our elderly Manangs and Manongs for our Chapter; and took part as an interviewer for the Library of Congress' Veterans Oral History Project which included combat veterans Frank Tibon and Albert Liwanag. These are some of the things that our chapter is proud to have taken part in during the past years. We continue to work on the National FANHS museum project.
Now let's see what our chapter can do to make FANHS the best it can be. I will ask for your help. If you can just get others to take an interest in letting FANHS copy old photographs for our exhibits or let us help record your Filipino American history. We need your stories so that you will leave your legacy for the following generations. Don't let someone ten or twenty years down the road write your story, because it will be wrong. Don't let your children question, "Who am I? Who are my people? Where did I come from?" Let your recorded personal Filipino American histories say who you are.
By Terri Torres
First off, I'd like to thank everyone for two great years! We've accomplished a lot! Not only has FANHS' National Museum project gained more momentum, we've also managed to expose the history of Filipino Americans to more of the public with the PBS documentary, the Filipino American History calendars, and the upcoming "Filipinos in Stockton" Arcadia book. I feel very proud and privileged to have led the chapter through the past years and will look forward to all the great things ahead. Thank you!