July Revelers & Celebrators

By: Veronica Leighton

 

I can still hear pops and blasts coming from some fired fireworks and firecrackers, remnants of the July 4th celebration a week or so ago around my neighborhood, while meeting my seventh deadline for the year.

Growing up in the Philippines, revelers play with fireworks and firecrackers in welcoming the new year but not in celebrating the independence day. The latter is a quieter celebration marked by parades, speeches, and beauty coronation galas, just like how the transplanted Filipinos do here in Chicago

Here’s a little bit of history about “The Fourth” celebration. Did you know that at the first Fourth of July celebration, which took place in Philadelphia in 1777, revelers fired a cannon 13 times, once for each colony? That night, 13 fireworks were fired off from the city’s commons. These days, Americans, immigrants, and visitors of this country wear red, white and blue in parades, barbecues, and television shows, and fireworks are now a massive industry.

We also have to realize that the Philippines is the only country in the world that used to celebrate its independence on July 4th, today, it is now known as the Filipino-American Friendship Day.

For this July issue, we feature the PIWC’s Philippine Independence annual celebration that historically happened on June 12th, with the culmination of its monthlong activities last June 23rd I in its gala & coronation of beauties night. We are proud to present in our July cover the Philippine Independence Week Committee’s 2018 crowned beauties and other featured activities under the able leadership of Ms. Lourdes Mon this year.

As July is considered an active summer month full of long list of activities, our Chicago Philippine Reports TV (CPRTV), sister company of Via Times, has not stopped its grinding searches in featuring fresh, pretty new faces to its viewers. As our longtime and loyal Newscaster Lou Cabalona recently had Baby Reign Malaya, a welcome addition to the Cabalona family, and she has been on maternity leave, we have been featuring our new talents as sub newscasters for our show. They are Nica Mendoza, Karla Maglantay, and Maya Leighton. Congratulations to that wonderful couple, Lou and Baron Cabalona!

You will find more exciting and entertaining articles written by your favorite columnists in this July issue, plus some colorful pictorial pages featuring events galore around our ever-active community. As you know, Via Times is the only community publication that presents original features and column stories written by seasoned writers, never, never lifted from Internet news or stories. Have fun reading from cover to cover!##

Lou Cabalona(CPRTV Newscaster) with her newborn baby

Karla Maglantay CPRTV Sub Newscaster

Maya Leighton CPRTV Sub Newscaster

Nica Mendoza CPRTV Sub Newscaster