Ateneo Alumni Australia celebrates 10th Anniversary

by Roberto “Obet” Dionisio

The Ateneo Alumni Association of Australia, Inc. (AAAA), held its Grand Reunion and 10th Anniversary combined with an early Christmas Party at The Ranch in Eastwood on the evening of 06 December 2008. Most of the members brought with them their spouses to enjoy the camaraderie of the group.

The occasion was enhanced by the presence of Fr. Iain Radvan, S.J., Chaplain of Loyola College, a Jesuit School in Mt. Druitt. He delivered the Invocation, officiated the induction of the officers and delivered a very meaningful Jesuit-inspired message. He encouraged all the association members to continue practicing the Christian spirit amidst the growing indifference from other quarters.

Among those present were new members Jay Mendoza with wife Jenny. They came all the way from Canberra just to attend this occasion. Even the very busy Chris Pangilinan and Arnul Pan took time out from their tight schedule to savour the spirit of being with fellow Ateneans. We welcome the presence of our basketball players, Fidel Fernando and Michael Almario who attended the event with his girlfriend Trish Umali. And of course, there were Armando Israel and Bruce Lee who are both new members. Others who attended were Board Members Juan Celeste with his wife Alice, Dino Crescini and his wife Vivian, Fely Perez, Julie Nunez and alumni Nick Celino, Amador Jalosjos, Denis Reyes, Katherine Watson.

Hovert Gonzales, another true blue alumnus and famous acoustic guitarist, volunteered his time and services to entertain the members the whole evening. The ladies were serenaded by Hovert with his renditions of various love songs. All those present joined the fun when Hovert played dance music of the 60’s and 70’s.

The incumbent President Mario Almario delivered a very passionate speech, inviting all the members to actively participate in the association undertakings and future events. He also encouraged all members to look and recruit new members to make the association bigger and stronger. As he has stated in his message in the Souvenir Program, he envisioned that the association would be nationwide and in the future, there would be an inter-state gathering of alumni.

Real fun started with the parlour games, with Fr. Iain gamely participating in one game, and Vivian Crescini In the next competition, the men and women, grouped separately, struggled in a game of knowledge of the human anatomy. Unfortunately, the ladies proved to be more knowledgeable and wiser than their husbands. They won the event by one point. The revelation of the night came when the husbands were fitted against their wives in remembering important events and dates in their early relationship and marriage. The Gamesman of the evening accepted no responsibility in case there would be a big fight or divorce after the event. The game was won by Mario & Luming Almario and Michael Almario & Trish Umali. outlasting all the participants in a “catching game” of Filipino words. introduced by the Gamesman of the evening, Obet Dionisio.

Dino Crescini deserves special kudos for single-handedly producing the Souvenir Program, contributing his service for free. His contribution to the success of the event is priceless. Among the messages included in the Souvenir Program were from Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, S. J., current President of Ateneo de Manila University, Ernesto de Leon, Ambassador of the Philippines to Australia, Fr. Iain Radvan, Chaplain of Loyola College and Mario Almario, President of AAAA. A brief message was also sent by Jimmy Pimentel, a former association President, which was read by Dino Crescini. Congratulations also to the Organizer of the Event, Alric Bulseco, for a job well done. He also acted as the night’s Master of Ceremonies and he ably handled the proceedings, making sure there were no dull moments and nothing is missed in the program.

Eagle-eyed Mike Alvarez and Julie Nunez manned the reception table. They made sure no one passed by without first paying the Dinner Cost and Membership Fee. Obet provided name tags for everybody which proved convenient for those first timers in recognizing everybody.

But all of the merriment would have been forgotten if no photos were taken to record the celebration. Jomark Sto. Domingo, our indefatigable Board Secretary acted as our Official Photographer. During the whole evening, Jomark was seen running around taking pictures for posterity. He made sure that the attendees in the Grand Reunion would be part of the association’s history with their attendance preserved in pictures. While everybody was busy exchanging pleasantries and swapping stories and experiences, Jomark was jumping from one table to another taking pictures of the group. Before anybody could say good bye, Jomark insisted that a group picture be taken. I hereby propose to give Jomark Sto. Domingo the title of “Kodaker of the Year”. It was almost twelve midnight when the attendees finally bid good bye to each other, bearing in their faces sweet smiles and in their minds, sweet memories of attending the first Grand Reunion and the Tenth Anniversary of the Ateneo Alumni Association of Australia, Inc.