New, old FACC members join summer picnic

Bee Dizon with FACC past president Dell Fallar

by Susan Palmes-Dennis
with photos by Alex Romero

Newly minted members of the Filipino-American Community of the Carolinas Inc. (FACC) to hold another event similar to last Saturday's Summer Picnic at the Park Road Park. 

New member Bee Dizon made the request during the picnic after she got enthusiastic finding the FACC online through its website faac.us where she learned about the summer picnic.

Bee Dizon showed her desire to be active but asked that there be more events like the summer picnic to stoke her enthusiasm and other members. 

Dizon arrived in North Carolina two years ago after staying in California for 30 years. She lives in Clover, North Carolina and talked with FACC past president Dell Fallar during the picnic.

During the picnic, a Fil-American named Bernadette Cooper who works at the  Embassy Suites Hotel at Concord renewed her membership after almost 12 years of being inactive in FACC activities. 

Bernadette or Bern  arrived at 9 am to join her friend Juralyn Jongco Hall who is also new to FACC but has been attending FACC activities without fail. And there are still many Filipino-Americans out there whom FACC is inviting to join. 

Another new member is Susan Orlasan Kuen Nelson who lives in the Albemarle area. She had so much fun that she immediately bought the FACC Gala tickets for October 14.  “I enjoyed this, the camaraderie of kapwa Pinoy (fellow Filipinos).” 
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Susan is from Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental, northern Mindanao in the Philippines. FACC treasurer Yulie Armstrong said there were 20 new registrants in the FACC during last Saturday's summer picnic.

Joining them were inactive members that renewed their membership and an American student of the Eskwelahang Munti (Little School) Tagalog Conversation class named Danny Edwards.

The FACC membership fee is US $10 per person and $15 per family. This year, the FACC raised its membership fee 29 years after its inception.  

The FACC is the umbrella organization for Filipino-American associations in the Carolinas and is a pioneer group in the area. There are existing Filipino-American groups either based on faith, profession, occupation or geographical boundaries like the Ilongo and Bisaya groups that FACC embraces in its fold.