The Canada West group held a reunion in late November at a Chinese restaurant in Vancouver. There were 29 attendees, including, for the first time, three participants from Seattle.
Fremma Esquejo, Gina Ramirez, Aria Ganesan, Padma Ganesan, Carmen Lanzador, and Maria Luisa Dizon.
After an hour’s happy socializing and reminiscing,we enjoyed Szechwan fare. Then, as coordinator, Ireviewed AFE matters over the past year, touchingon the security of pensions, the new long-termcare insurance program, keeping up-to-date withmembership fees and contact details, the managementset-up at headquarters, the recent flooding in Manilaand the call for funding, and of course the death of Executive Secretary Emeritus Khan. I noted thatIkramullah Khan’s contribution to retirees’ welfarehad been enormous. I also noted that Canada hadbeen split into two subchapters: Canada West (BritishColumbia to Manitoba) and Canada East (Ontario toNewfoundland).
John Cole, Gina Ramirez, and Baby Ignacio.
After discussion, the reunion became a party.Jenny Majarreis emceed everyone through an amusingbrain-teaser quiz on seasonal songs (e.g., Soundlessnocturnal period = Silent night) and she requiredsolutions to be sung. Then she had everyone singingmore seasonal songs, this time imparting feelings(joy, fear, etc.) drawn from a hat. Finally, there wasan artistic challenge—everyone had to do simpledrawings, which Jenny eventually revealed to be part ofthe psychiatrist’s standard battery of tests! It was all alot of fun.
Bruce Murray, Alex Jorgensen, and Wei Min Yang.
A very good and informative time was had byeveryone and, thanks to AFE, links with ADB colleaguesand friends were renewed and strengthened.
Lenn Castro, Dolores Telan, Ed Lanzador, Rey Castro, and Baby Ignacio.