Tipon Report and Raffle Winners

Tipon is a biennial gathering of alumni and friends of Silliman University in North America with 26 active chapter members. Tipon this year was held in Fairbanks, Alaska from June 17th -21st, 2011. Dinah Penaflorida, our delegate to the Tipon could not be here today, so I am going to read excerpts of her email and testimonials from others who attended the event. Here are some of the highlights:

  • The Alaska chapter with less than 10 members was bestowed with the herculean task of hosting one of the biggest Tipon celebrations - the 10th anniversary.

  • As expected, there was fellowship, class reunions, cruise aboard the Discovery Riverboat on the Tanana river, panning for gold, picnic at Pioneer Park with all you can eat salmon and King crabs, a doubleheader baseball game under the midnight sun played in its entirety without artificial lighting, playing a round of golf in a course designed by Arnold Palmer, participation in the 10K midnight sun run, and motor coach tour to the North Pole.

  • It was the beginning of the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere, this time on the 21st, the longest day of the year. Average temperature was 70 degrees.

  • The Welcome Tipon sign was plastered all over town.

  • The SUAF banner was also displayed the entire time.

  • On the business side, a luncheon meeting was held on the 18th, and each chapter presented highlights of their organization. The SD chapter was the only chapter that had the PowerPoint presentation. Everyone else had narratives. There was also the presentation of Pres. Malayang on the current financial and infrastructure of SU; identical to the presentation he gave on his visit to SD.

  • A second business meeting was held to elect the new officers for the term 2011-2013. Among the elected were: Gideon Alegado from Texas as chairman, and Betsy Jackson from Canada as co-chairman. Dinah Penaflorida from San Diego was nominated as PRO on behalf of Laarni Gularek but she declined on the technicality that she was just a proxy and not a member of the BOD of SD. The next Tipon in 2013 was awarded in a bidding to the Chapter in Dumaguete City, Philippines. Talks were also underway for the 2015 Tipon to be held in Sidney, Australia.

  • Guest speakers during the Welcome and Gala Nights were eloquent. They successfully established rapport with the audience that one made a comment that a Tipon speaker must be a Sillimanian, or someone imbued with the Silliman Spirit emanating throughout the speech.

  • A memorial service was held in honor of the deceased Sillimanians. Our member Pamela Catague was remembered by her classmates with a rose offering at the altar. Also remembered was the late Mr. Paciano Tan, father of 3 of our past presidents in SD, Fely Tan Narvaez, Nate Tan, and Miriam Tan Cole. The late Mrs. Limpiado was also remembered.

  • Adding flavor to the celebration was the SUGGA Concert. It stands for Silliman University Gratitude Goodwill Ambassadors, a group of singers and musicians from the faculty, staff and students of Silliman University. Most members are from the College of Performing Arts with majors in choral conducting, voice, piano and music education. There was also the Tipon Silliman Chorale. Dr. Susan Vista Suarez was the alternate pianist for our member, Miriam Tan Cole who could not attend this time.

  • Also during the Tipon, the winners of the car raffle were announced. The organizers decided not to raffle the Mercedes Benz after all, because they were not able to come up with their target funds - instead they decided to raffle the money. The following are the winners:

  • First Prize $15,000.00 Maria Roman Aquino (from Orange, NJ)

  • Second Prize $2,000.00 Daniel Woods (from St Louis, MO)

  • Third Prize $1,000.00 Cornelius Alviola (from Highland Park, NJ)

  • Consolation Prizes: $500.00 Betsy Engle (Alaska); $500.00 Marietta Salazar (Lincoln Hospital); $500.00 Joy T. Rosello (St. Oakland Gardens, NJ)

Everyone who attended the Tipon said that it was a very different celebration compared to the previous Tipons. As one observer said, the ambience was that of warmth, friendship, a lot of respect for one another, and joyful commitment to achieve success for the 10th anniversary celebration of SUACONA. Kudos and praises were extended to the Alaska chapter and the organizers. The Silliman Spirit permeated the entire celebration. It was an experience that will be cherished in a very long time.