CIC '81 Mini Reunion in Vegas

A few weeks ago, the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion High School batch '81 met for a mini reunion celebration in Las Vegas, Nevada. What's so special about it was that this was the first time the ladies came together from all over North America to meet after 34 years from date of graduation.

There were a total of 17 Inmaculadistas who came all the way from Toronto, Canada to Los Angeles, California. The biggest delegation came from California starting with Carol Macaranas-Kamantigue, Fiza Ynclino-Du, Gayle Torrefranca-Solano, Jessica Basa Baluyut, May Ann Gonzales-Sumilhig, May Mayol-Yap, Memnette Opendo-Gequillo, Molly Manaloto- Harnishfeger and Ofelia Mapalo.

Gemma Villamor and Olvy Gonzalez-Sevilla flew in from Toronto, Canada while Agnes Sucalit-Montecillo came from Vancouver, Canada. A few other classmates would not miss this wonderful event, Percyphone Mendoza-Singco from Georgia, Maria Amelia Martinez-Arazo from North Carolina, Rossana Cinco Delos Reyes from Virginia, Marivic Rubi-Astilla from Utah all flew in earlier in the week to enjoy the Casinos. Mercy Garciano-Labrado is the only local who helped the organizers (Molly, Gayle and Agnes) put this event together.

The Ladies shared memories from high school and sang the CIC Hymn which is all in Spanish. "Almost" everyone remembers this beautiful hymn. A fabulous dinner was held at the Wynn hotel after which everyone jumped on a party bus and painted the town red! The Blue and White girls promised to do this every two years and will reach out to more classmates for the next reunion in Vancouver. Definitely a memorable and fun event for all!

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And speaking of Cebuanos in the US… a true-blue Cebuana, Alana Bagley (from Camotes, Cebu) recently visited her hometown with her husband Tom Bagley and daughters Whit and Cath. Also with them on this trip were friends Todd and Vilma Musick. The group took their time to bathe themselves, almost everyday, in the clear waters of Camotes Island, and of course, they had a wonderful time in Cebu. They promised to be back sooner than soon!

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Another familiar face who breezed into town was Roy Abraham, former general manager of Cebu City Marriott Hotel. Roy, now General Manager of Pacific Star Hotel in Guam, came to promote his hotel which is beautifully located along the beach. He invited our group to dinner at Anzani, and afterwards he conducted a raffle draw for a three-day stay at the Pacific Star Hotel. And lo and behold, the lucky winners were Mila Espina and this writer. PTL, we were so lucky that evening!

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We were quite excited to be with Senator Grace Poe as she was having lunch with Dame Mariquita S. Yeung at her house in Betania Hills one noontime. At the time, Senator Grace, when asked about her running for the highest position in the land, told us that after October 12, she would reveal her desire to run or not. True to her words, Senator Grace is definitely running for president. Congrats!