June 2, 2006

It’s a celebration

Kawitenos of Northern California host 500 guests at ‘Fiesta of the Cross’

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Approximately 500 Kawitenos of Northern California and guests filled Lake Cunningham Park May 26 to celebrate Philippine Heritage in conjunction with the Catholic Fiesta of the Cross.

Approximately 500 Kawitenos of Northern California and guests filled Lake Cunningham Park May 26.

The Kawitenos, who hail from the Kawit, Philippines, initiated the annual event in 1982 to honor Spanish influence in Philippine culture, according to the Kawitenos association secretary Grace Red.

Red said the group assembled in 1980 when three Kawit natives, Neme Guevaria, Rody Dalan, and Joey Alvarez were attending a function and decided that they needed some way to organize members of the Kawit community who had emigrated to the United States and settled around San Jose.

“I guess they figured, ‘let’s have a get together and invite all of these people from the same town to spend time together,” she said. “About 60 families came out that first year and it was very successful.”

The group celebrated with lunch, live music, fellowship and a brief mass Sunday.

“The association is not exclusive to Catholics, but the fiesta is normally a religious celebration of the Patron Saint,” said Red. “The Fiesta is held in May in honor of the Spanish Queen Helena and her son Constantine. The origin of the feast came when the Queen and her son went to Rome in search of the Holy Cross. When they found it, there was a celebration and the tradition was passed down in our town during the month of May.”

The invitation-only event was designed also to increase the visibility of the organization which collects membership dues, in order to finance scholarships intended for Kawitenos still living in native Philippine communities.

“We are proud to say that the money raised is donated to indigenous Philippine citizens, and that we have currently provided schooling for six college graduates through the program,” said Red.

Money is also utilized to secure high school text books and for general charity work, which promotes education.

“All people are extended family, friends and acquaintances,” said Red. “It’s sort of like the Aloha spirit. Anybody can come in and join in our festivities. We want to promote camaraderie.”

Red said many Kawitenos live by the term ‘Kababayan.’

“It means that if you are our neighbor and you are from our same town, that it is really almost a brotherhood or a sisterhood—a close knit term that says you are a part of my community,” said Red.

While Kawitenos have spread throughout the Bay Area over the past 25 years, more than 60 percent of the association still resides in Evergreen, according to Red.