My warmest greetings to all kababayans. Kumusta kayong lahat.

The Philippine Society of Canterbury, Inc. (PSCI) is hosting the Filipino reunion this labour weekend which falls on 22-24 October 2005. This event is called “Pagdiriwang Sa Christchurch 2005” which means CELEBRATION IN CHRISTCHURCH 2005. the PSCI has appointed a separate committee to organise this reunion. This is the 3rd reunion to be held in Christchurch.

In 1994 was the “Pista Sa Christchurch” which was hosted by the PSCI and in 2000, we had the “Katipunan 2000” which was hosted be the Filipino Trust. I am proud that our beautiful city popularly known as the ‘Garden City’ is the venue again for this year’s reunion.

We have a wonderful weekend lined up for everyone. Here’s an indication of what will be happening during the weekend:

1. THURSDAY 20 OCTOBER 2005 - Beauty Pageant candidates arrive in Christchurch. They will learn a choreographed number that they will present at the pageant night. their swim wear will also be distributed following by their briefing.

2. FRIDAY 21 OCTOBER 2005 - Early bird/registration will start at 5:30 p.m. where information packs will be handed over followed by drinks and nibbles. You will be advised of the venue in the next updates.

3. SATURDAY 22 OCTOBER 2005 - A parade will open the sports events at 8:00 a.m. Beauty pageant candidates will lead the parade, followed by all participants and players. Venue for the sports will be the Pioneer Stadium, Lyttelton Street and the Wharenui Sports Centre, Matipo Street. The sports timetable will be covered in a separate update. This is also the day for pageant rehearsals. Talent night will start at 6:30p.m at the Aurora Centre, Burnside High School in Greers Road. After the talent presentation, there will be a concert by Fe Limjap, a very sophisticated and talented filipino performer from Sydney, Australia. She is popular among filipinos in Australia and Christchurch. I have been to one of her concerts and my heart melts every time she sings.

4. SUNDAY 23 OCTOBER 2005 - Mass will be held at 8:00 a.m. at the Pioneer Stadium followed by the games at 9:00 a.m. The federation Annual General Meeting will also be held at the Pioneer Stadium Conference Room, with more details to be advised later. At 6:30 p.m. will be the Pageant/awards Night at the Aurora Centre, Burnside High school, Greers Road. On this night, ticket holders will have a chance to win some lovely door prizes which will be donated by one of our major sponsors.

This year we will be running a raffle to help us defray the cost of this year’s reunion. Prizes will be donated by our Premier Sponsor - L&L International. Tickets will be sold $5.00 each. I am looking forward to all participants, guests and members of the Federation to help us sell the tickets. These will be sent to you with the other updates by April. Please help us sell these tickets.

I would also like to invite FFASCNZ members and non-members alike to participate by way of contributing a number. This could be either be a song or dance, or anything you think might be appropriate for our celebrations. You can also send me or Delia Bradshaw an email and we’ll take it from there.

I am so overwhelmed with excitement with what we’ve got planned for this year. We aim to make this weekend a memorable one for all our Kababayans. We will do our best to ensure that everyone has a lovely time. And hopefully we can count on you to make that happen by coming to Christchurch to join us.

Yours sincerely,

Elvie Claridad-Cragg

Overall Coordinator

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