Spring is Here! Celebrations Abound

By: Veronica Leighton

 

Our Chicago community is buzzing like a bee and fleeting like a butterfly with all kinds of exciting events as the month opens up with the official celebration of the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

For the APAH kick-off, many Asian leaders and personalities started the month (May 1) by congregating at the cocktail party hosted by Billy Dec, owner of Sunda Chicago and Nashville, and co-hosted by OCA Greater Chicago (headed by George Mui) and Asian American Coalition of Chicago (headed by Attorney Abella-Austriaco), as reported on Veronica’s Vibes page 5. Many invitations abound from some local and political government officials for Asian community leaders at this time of the year, giving recognitions to the many contributions that our group has made in our communities. (Veronica’s Vibes on page 5)

Our editorial, written by Joe Mauricio (this page), touches on a brief history and contributions of Asian migration to the United States, same thing with Notebook columnist, senior editor Elsie Sy-Niebar (pages 12-13), Louella Baron Cabalona (Arts/Tech, page 35), about Asian personalities who are making a difference in our community, and Elaine Lehman, (Water and Fire, page 10) about the plight of poor Amerasians (beautiful children of American servicemen and Filipino mother parentage) in the Philippines since time immemorial. As usual, your favorite columnists offer your favorite topics to read, feed your heart and soul, and make your day pleasurable and look at the world in a positive light.

Traditionally, the month of May is a time to celebrate and welcome spring for many cultures of the world, with May 1 known and celebrated as May Day, a common spring ritual. It also celebrates a very popular, looked-up-to worldwide occasion, Mother’s Day, every second Sunday of May honoring and mothers with love; Cinco de Mayo, a historic occasion that originated in Mexico is now widely and happily celebrated all over in this country; Memorial Day, an official holiday, honors our soldiers for valiantly serving and defending the country towards the end of the this month; Santacruzan, a religious tradition in the Philippines, honors Mama Mary through a time-honored religious pageantry, floral offerings and procession throughout the month; and hooray to many nurses out there for all your hard work and contributions for a healthy and livable world, the Nurses Day.

Happy to mention that, personally, I consider May as an exciting month for me as I always celebrate my birthday on May 31st. Happy birthday to me! Likewise, Happy birthday to Matilde Bosque for hitting a century-old on her last birthday, friends Walter Pagal (50) and Fred Tsai (75), all featured in our pictorial pages. On a sad note, condolences to the friends and family of Dr. Hector Marino, an active community leader, who suddenly passed (read Girlie Pascual’s GMail on page 35).

May is also an exciting month for many students and educators, as well as parents, as graduations and prom nights are great memorable occasions to experience and savor while looking forward to the upcoming vacations.

Many of these interesting May happenings can be read on the pages of this widely-read magazine that has been serving and entertaining our community for many years. Enjoy reading your V Day, stands for *Via Times reading day! ##

Happy Mother’s Day pictures with Veronica together with son Bobby and wife Christina, and grandshildren Maya and Christian.