Our community, the Fil-Am community, celebrates the 4th of July under the promotional title of Fil-Am Friendship Day. This event is a conglomeration of Fil-Am groups joining to have fun under the sun. Usually, the event is held in a town park in Virginia Beach, Virginia where it can accommodate hundreds of people throughout the day.
This town fiesta, as some people call it, begins with a parade around the park. Participating organizations arrived early during the day and started to form their individual presentations. Many got busy setting up their group's assigned spot around the park's large acreage.
The preparation for this event began long before the celebration date. There were many committees involved and the planning was intense. Roadblocks after roadblocks were thrown at them and sometimes the problems just grew from within, but persistence had its rewards.
By nature, Filipinos were extremely sensitive and because of this characteristic behavior, the thinking was that the sustained pain was the hidden energy that propels them to overachieve. It was also suspected that this demeanor contributed greatly to their struggle to overcome the much oppression reported throughout their history as a nation.
Now back to the town fiesta: As we moved around the park, the aromas of barbecue were in the air. There were all sorts of music (some soft, some loud) playing. Some come from bands performing traditional songs written from many years ago. Others, from bands performed by the younger generations who liked to play their own kind of music.
These songs from years ago brought back memories. It makes the mind of the old-timers raced back in time. Soon, their stories about their younger days started to float around. Of course, the kids were never interested but a few others would say, "Oh, we were listening and just soaking it all in. It may come in handy someday." Therefore, the talked of unbelievable anecdotes continued throughout the day.
The Fil-Am Friendship day organizational committees received valuable help and donations from the City of Virginia Beach, and from merchants, and grocery stores in the area. We cannot thank them enough for their unselfish support to our community. There were also many people who contributed their time, their talent, and their resources to ensure the success of this celebration.
Various scenery of a diverse community working, living and having fun as one - Filipino-Americans in Hampton Roads.
People enjoying the serenity of nature and living life to the fullest.
We hope you enjoyed your visit. Thank you.
We hope you enjoyed your visit.
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Disclaimer: In cases of errors, omissions, and other unforeseen events beyond our control, rest assured that it was not on purpose. In any occurrence, we respectfully offer our sincere apologies.