I am still on a high two weeks after I had the honor and the pleasure of serving as master of ceremonies for the Third Annual Filipino Festival in Malden, Massachusetts (Official Facebook Page) which served as a celebration of all things Filipino-American!
Yours truly, Mary with Honorable Gary Christenson, Mayor of Malden, the Engine of the Filipino Festival in Massachusetts, Ms. Kristine Bautista and one of our wonderful sponsors, Ramar Foods International.
Where do I even begin? Well, just to let you know this will be first of my three-part Blog series, and I don't even think that three blog posts will be enough to cover such a spectacular event! But I think it would be apt to give thanks where thanks are due: I thank Sir Ronnie Puzon from Remax Massachusetts, who I have unfortunately have yet to meet as he had a commitment in Africa but was kind enough to send me a message the other day. I look forward to seeing you soon. Thank you, too to the very gracious and humble Mayor of Malden, Gary Christenson who lent so much support throughout the event! I've only been living in the United States of America for one year, and he's the first government leader I've ever met thus he would always have a special place in my heart, in this new world, new life. Special thanks to new friends too just like Ms. Nicole Baltazar for making me feel very much at home in Massachusetts.
And most of all, my heart overflows with gratitude for my new friend, Ms. Kristine Bautista, her husband Julius and their son, Matty! Where do I even begin with Kristine? First of all, she's a beautiful person inside and out, and I will never forget how she has entrusted me with such an important task, even when she had yet to meet me. She is not just an intelligent mind and kind heart, but she's also the founder or (in the words of her hubby, Julius Bautista), the 'Engine' of the highly-successful and certainly highly-anticipated annual Filipino Festival in Malden Massachusetts! This year truly was groundbreaking, but I bet it is not as successful as next year's event! Congratulations Kristine, to such a great achievement that has and will continue to touch the lives and hearts of not just Filipinos and Americans, but even people from other ethnicities and cultures!
This event simply breaks down walls and barriers, and isn't it beautiful to see a spectacle that is not bound by the color of your skin, your nationality or ethnicity or the languages that you speak? Truly, I'd like to echo Malden Mayor Gary Christenson's welcome message when he spoke of his appreciation (and spoke in Tagalog too, how about that, Go Mayor Gary!) of Filipino culture, whose music, art and of course, culinary flair stands out and stands with the rest of the world! Speaking of that, here's a video of Mayor Gary and a clip of me undertaking my hosting duties:
With that, please do watch out for the rest of my blog posts in the coming days, and I hope you feel my glee, being part of this. I'll also be sharing about the founder, Kristine Bautista's welcome speech and of course the few interviews I did with Ms. Nicole Baltazar and also some of my wonderful new Filipino American friends from Massachusetts! Indeed, there is just a plethora of things to write about; such a rich and magical experience that truly makes me proud of being a Filipino in America!
Mary
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