Imagine my surprise when I walk inside Assumption for the first time in maybe 14 years and I find that the Mother Rose Hall has been converted to Greenbelt! I'm serious. I was so shocked to see the changes in the school. The cars could go in and we were actually dropped off at the rotonda in front of Mother Rose Hall.
When I stepped into the auditorium, my jaw just dropped. The school had changed so much since I left my alma mater. Before I could even get over my shock, everyone had to take their seats as the dry run was about to start.
Alam mo talaga, Assumption girls are the best! Dry Run ha! What a dry run it turned out to be! The women were all made up, dressed to thrill and performance level lahat! The program started with the hosts, AC Class of 1983, coming out in a show of force representing the women of substance, of strength, of resilience -- all representative of the Assumption core values. Out came Pocahontas, Darna, Cleopatra, Mulan, Anna (from the King and I), Maria (from the Sound of Music), Lara Croft, the Convent Nuns, the Dreamgirls and many more! Opening number palang yan!
After the opening number, out came the other classes, all well represented by their alumni. (NOTE: The order may be a little mixed up so please forgive the oversight) We were now thoroughly entertained by the Pearl Class of 1978. In the past, only the Silver, Ruby, Golden and (if you're lucky to still have them standing, walking and out so late in the evening!) Diamond Jubilarians perform at the Velada. But because bida talaga ang mga Assumptionista, they invented the Pearl (30) and Jade (35) Jubilarians which added fun and flavor to the event.
The Pearl Jubilarians have to be given 100 for costume design! Check out those headpieces worn during their performance. I swear they are worthy of an Oscar!
They sang songs from Disney Animated Movies, danced, swayed and looked oh so pretty in their colorful ensemble. Akala ata ng Pearl, sila ang Silver Jubilarians! Hahahaha! Nakikipag-contest pa! They were so good and talagang I felt so much pride watching these women perform.
Akala niyo ba magpapatalo ang Jade Jubilarians? My goodness, these girls have so much energy. They came out all clad in green and singing with so much fervor our all time favorite --- DANCING QUEEN! Hahahahaha! It was actually an ABBA medley and so out came Mamma Mia, The Winner Takes it All and all the other classic hits from that wonderful, wonderful foursome. My mom was just about ready to stand up and dance but alas, her manang daughter was around to pull her down as she was getting up. Tita May Gonzales-Benedicto is part of the Gang Green and I've always known her to be very prim and proper, quite reserved actually. Just like The Transformers, there is really more than meets the eye! See her in the first picture above, with the green vest, her finger pointed at 10 o'clock.
Not to be outdone are the Ruby Jubilarians who were celebrating 40 years out of high school. They did a Saturday Night Fever dance medley if only to prove they were more of a child of the 70's than the 60's. Heehee.Can you just feel their energy? I know non-Assumptionists are probably thinking I've gone whacko but really, the vibe that evening was just so infectious. I probably texted at least 10 of my high school buddies telling them of how great an experience I was having watching these women perform.
My Tita Nancy Huang-Santos is part of this class. She was actually their Class President and is now a top Neurologist in the Lodi-Stockton USA area (ang taray!). I'm going to make it my special mission to have her become more involved with her class. She would be so proud of how her classmates organized themselves.
My Tita Amy Comcom-Pecache came home from San Francisco a full month before the Velada to take part in the practices so that she could be more than a wallflower in the program. These ladies started out all dressed in their traditional Filipiniana costumes and it looked like it would be a boring number. Wow, we were severely misled. All of a sudden, the ladies came out in black with something glowing on their clothes. Nagmistulang rave party! Hahahaha!
The highlight of the number was a lady who was rolled in on a wheelchair that got up all of a sudden and started singing "oh ang babae, pag minamahal"! She brought the house down. My goodness, and when she was rolled back to her seat in the audience (which was very close to me), she had to be given oxygen as she was already short of breath. Really, she gives new meaning to total performer!
My Tita Bebe's class was the oldest in the bunch but they gave a very heartwarming song number that literally had the hair at the back of my neck standing. There were at least 34 old girls in attendance. I can't even get that many people to attend my high school reunion! Can you imagine? These women were probably tired and sleepy at 9pm -- bedtime na nila yon noh! But here they were, singing, dancing (sorry, couldn't find any pics) and just melting everyone's heart in the audience.
In the picture below, My Tita Bebe Estela is the lady in deep orange, second from the left.
To close out the evening, AC '83 came back now clad in their 80's attires and were even more vivacious and enthusiastic than their opening number. Some came out to boogie, others were dressed for a luau, for a ballet recital and my good friends Ana Magboo-Ortanez (AC '90) and J Gamboa (wife Maja is AC '90 as well) had their sisters, Leah Magboo-Francisco and Gina Gamboa-Pimentel, going all out on footloose.
It really was a successful affair. Congratulations to the Assumption High School Class of 1983 for a job well done! I've never been prouder to be an Assumptionist than in that exact moment I was at Mother Rose Hall on the evening of your dry run.
Lest I forget, kudos also to AC '83 for raising P1,100,000.00. Eye popping, unbelievable, enviable and most of all, sensational! Hahahahah! The money raised by the class will be donated to the Assumption Alumni Association and they in turn will use the money for the different mission schools around the country.The reason I posted this Velada is that I'm hoping this can reach as many AC'90 classmates as possible. Hopefully, these women will also inspire us to come together as a class. It's been a class with no clear direction and we really need to get our acts together. I hope this post touches ALL my AC'90 classmates and if it does, I hope one of you can convince Therese Ng to be our class rep once again. Hahahahaha!
To end, this post would not have been possible were it not for the beautiful pictures of Bernie Paras Gan. She so generously allowed me to post them and I want to make sure I give credit where credit is due. As such, thank you also to Tita Jean Gonzales-Salvador and to my Tata Ruby Santos for harrassing Bernie until she finally caved in. Heehee. By the way, all the ladies I mentioned are also graduates of THE Assumption.
