Vol. 11, No. 16, Nov. 19, 2007

The LCHS-AA board of directors and officers, in a meeting held last Nov. 7, has set the date of the 3rd LCHS Grand Alumni Homecoming (GAH2008) on May 23-24, 2008, to be held at the LCHS gym, Iligan City.

During the board deliberations, the concerns of some quarters regarding the new schedule were discussed. The board likewise considered the sentiments of the majority of new LCHS graduates who are still in college.  Feedback received from them indicates that they would be unable to attend the grand homecoming if it were held during school days. They said they will surely be around if it is held during summer vacation. In order to enable the biggest number of alumni, both local and overseas, to attend the affair, the board has deemed it fit to hold the affair on May 23-24, 2008.

Also approved at the board meeting was the launching of the contest on the logo and theme of the 3rd LCHS Grand Alumni Homecoming.  The contest, now ongoing, is open to all alumni.  The winner of the contest will be entitled to free registration in GAH2008. Entries or inquiries may be addressed to Roger Suminguit through his email: teboncho719@yahoo.com

In the same meeting, the board also acknowledged the cash donation of P5,000 from the family of the late Sy Chu An who passed away last Sept. 25. They board is thankful to the Sy family as the donation will help augment the funds of the LCHS Scholarship Foundation. (Accompanying photo is a scene from GAH 2005 opening rites.)

LCHS celebrates 69th Foundation Day
By Roger Suminguit (Batch '73)

LCHS celebrated its 69th Foundation Day last Nov. 12 with the theme "Leading Towards True Solidarity."  The celebration started with fitting ceremonies officiated by Fr. Daniel S. Sormani, C.S., Sp, parish priest of Resurrection of the Lord Church in Iligan City.

Part of the ceremonies was the turnover and conversion of the former registrar's office at LCHS to the LCHS-AA office. Robert Co, president of the Lanao Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce Inc., formally turned over the ceremonial key to James Booc, president of the LCHS Alumni Association. Among the highlights of the celebration was the tribute to the Golden Jubilarians (Batch '57) and Silver Jubilarians (Batch '82).

Members of Batch 1957 are: Minda Ang, Lilian Ang, Allen Co, Anita Co, Ellen Co, Remedios Chiu, Dy Phek Giok, Maria Jo, Robert Kho, Kho Siok Bin, Kho Siok We, Lim Choy Giok, Sy Beng Gui, Bian Bian Sy, Manuel Sy, Calixto Tan, and Pablito "Chi Kian" Yu.

Members of Batch 1982 are: Joy Grace Boniao, James Booc, Joel Chiu, Jose Chu, Eleanor Co, Nancy Dagondon, Leo Dagondon, Theresa Decamotan, Susan Delorino, Crestensien Fernandez, Frances Lee, Robert Lueong, Maribel Mecina, Francisca Monterola, Lyndon Ngo, Melba Riveral, Phillip Steven So, Maria Luisa Soy, Maria Theresa Soy, Jessica Sy, Peterson Chio Sy, and Yuri Taongan.

Also given recognition were members of Batch 1967 who marked their 40th year (Ruby Jubilarians). The tributes were followed by song and dance numbers performed by LCHS students and faculty.  Christine Veronica Uy, Head of LCHS English Dept., was the Foundation Day coordinator.

Making life meaningful
Thu, 8 Nov 2007 09:37:11

Rivers do not drink the water they carry. Trees do not eat the fruit they bear. Clouds do not bathe in the rain
they produce.  We are meant to give, even if we get nothing from it.  Measuring life by what others do may disappoint us but measuring life by what we do will make life meaningful.
--Susan Lim-de la Cruz, Iloilo, Philippines; email: iko1031@hotmail.com

Here are some interesting word plays conceptualized with the use of anagrams (rearrangements of the letters of one word or phrase to form another word or phrase).  Read on and have fun.

DORMITORY: DIRTY ROOM
PRESBYTERIAN: BEST IN PRAYER
ASTRONOMER: MOON STARER
DESPERATION: A ROPE ENDS IT
THE EYES: THEY SEE
THE MORSE CODE: HERE COME DOTS
ELECTION RESULTS: LIES - LET'S RECOUNT
SNOOZE ALARMS: ALAS! NO MORE Z'S
THE EARTHQUAKES: THAT QUEER SHAKE
ELEVEN PLUS TWO: TWELVE PLUS ONE
MOTHER-IN-LAW: WOMAN HITLER
--Ellen Lim, Manila, Philippines; email: ellenlim427@yahoo.com

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY.  LCHS-AA top gun Suniel Lim (Batch '66) and wife Corrie (in photo) spent a happy and meaningful weekend in Cagayan de Oro City on Nov. 11 and 12, 2007.  They were celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary last Nov. 11 and Corrie's birthday on Nov. 12. Suniel is currently executive vice president of the LCHS Alumni Association.

DEFEATED ANEW.  Poor Jose "Joe" Booc (Batch '68), he was defeated again in his bid for barangay captain of Iligan City in the Barangay & Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) simultaneous elections last Oct. 29.  He also ran for the same post in May 1997 and July 2002 but lost.  He likewise threw his hat anew into the political ring in the election for councilor of Iligan City in May 2007 and suffered a crushing defeat.  Well, Joe may be down for now but don't count him out yet.  Wait until the next election, you'll see him back in the thick of the action.

RECENT VISITORS.  Spotted recently coming home to Iligan for a brief visit were Johnny Ling from Canada; William  Dy (Batch '71) from Manila; Charina Dy-Carlos Yu (Batch '85) from Cebu; and Alfred Lai II (Batch '89) from Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

HELLO FROM CALIFORNIA.  In our alumni circles as in life itself, some pleasant news come along every now and then.  The latest one comes from California, U.S.A. where many fellow alumni and Iliganons are based.  Among them are Laureto Lao (Batch '68) and Elsie Tan-Lao (Batch '70), in photo hereunder. They live in Stonehill Court, Riverside, California, where they run a prosperous trucking business. Laureto and Elsie recently spent their holidays in the Carribean islands aboard a luxury cruise. They also went on a tour of such renowned places as Monaco, Monte Carlo and Italy. They have likewise expressed their interest to grace the forthcoming 3rd LCHS Grand Alumni Homecoming on May 23-24, 2008.  Hasta la vista!

Henry L. Yu, M.D., Batch '69

There's indeed no stopping it! The Yuletide Season is here. It's that most wonderful time of the year; a season of merriment, reminiscences, sentimental journeys, reunions, get-togethers, gift-giving, and a smorgasbord of parties to attend to. Yo! "It’s Christmas time in the city, ring-a-ling, hear them sing, soon it will be Christmas Day ..."

Where but in the Philippines do we find people feeling Christmas as early as SeptemBER? You know it is Christmas time when stores here start to have an array of displays - from greeting cards, Christmas decors, to an assortment of blinking lights, non-stop Christmas songs via CDs, etc. Yup, the atmosphere says it all and has it all and we start making a list of what gift to give to lolo, lola, mommy, daddy, kuya, ate, tito, tita, anak, inaanak, anak-anakan, driver, yaya, kusinera, labandera, atbp. Quite a tall order, of what to give, to whom and when and how much. Christmas is truly a season of giving and forgiving.

Flashback: How was Christmas like during the Yeah, Yeah Vonnel generation compared to today's YouTube gen? Basically, the same spirit of merry making, preparations, jubilation and celebration. As kids of the rolling '50s or the fabulous '60s, we certainly didn't have the high tech gadgets that our youngsters are enjoying now. Ours were definitely simpler in more ways than one, yet we enjoyed to the max simply because those were the only things available during that time of our youth and we have not much choices then.

1950. 1960. 1970. 1980. 1990. Where were you all these years?

Fast Forward to Y2K. Five decades have passed from the time we were kids. The Baby Boomers are now well into their midlife years. We have traveled life's many journeys. It's been a long and winding road. We've committed mistakes along the way. We have loved and lost. We were confused, we cried some tears, we ran and stumbled, we had bruises. We fell and stood again. We learned our lessons. Oh, we’ve really been through a lot. All those years gone by, the memories of our dreams, of the way we were and all. Gone but certainly not forgotten because they have been deeply imprinted in the inner recesses of our hearts and minds all these years. They are truly life's precious moments, and as such, simply unforgettable.

With each Christmas that comes, a bunch of memories is deposited and added into our memory bank. But no matter how many Christmases have passed, the fact still remains that in the eyes of our fellow classmates, family and friends, we will always be Toto, Boy, Jun, Dodong, or Inday, Mary, Lulu, Lenlen of decades past. Nothing has changed except that we have become better persons - as children of God, as working professionals, parents, or as senior citizens.

With each Christmas that comes, we become what we have been - recycled, repackaged, reformulated, renewed - all like children of God, awaiting for His coming, our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ, the real reason for the season. There's still that feeling of excitement, maybe not so much for ourselves now but for our children. As parents, we still make a countdown as to how many more days are there to Christmas, and everything else that spells joy to the world, of the season's best. In our children, we see a reflection of our youth, of the way we were.

Yes, we still believe in the Magic of Christmas. We will always do because it's magic whenever we think about the memories of those wonderful Christmases of our beautiful past when we were the noisy and carefree kids of the 50's, the reigning teenagers of the jam session era of the 60's, the working bunch of yuppies of the 70's, the family men and women of the 80's, the midlifers of the 90's, and now the senior citizens of the new millennium. It’s magic because no matter how depressed or forlorn we feel because of some seemingly insurmountable problems that beset us, we still manage to smile whenever we hear Christmas songs, they that transport us back into that era somewhere in time when we were the young and the restless, living in a world that was more peaceful and safe, where there was less of the more - less pollution, less traffic, less violence, and, yes, less responsibilities in life.

An author once wrote that there are four stages of life:
Stage I - We believe in Santa Claus.
Stage II - We don't believe in Santa Claus.
Stage III - We are Santa Claus.
Stage IV - We look like Santa Claus.

So at what stage are we now? Life is indeed a cycle. We were yesterday’s kids and today’s professionals, working for our family. Truly, as one popular brand of baby powder ad would put it: "The baby is now a lady". But the wonder is: Whenever Christmas comes, the baby in us also comes back to life - resurrected. And that’s magic.

May we all have the Magic of Christmas.

Igdono U. Caracho, Batch '66