SBC Alumni Reunion in San Francisco

By Gabriel Ortigoza

“Look, everybody is looking at us.” - Cable Car Driver

Friday, November 17, 2017 was the designated date for Southern Baptist College (SBC) alumni’s arrival, meet and greet in San Francisco, California hosted by Aldea “Ading” Arcenio. Early birds got treated with Ferrari ride driven by Ading herself in the hilly town of Tiburon.

While waiting for other alumni coming from Texas, whose flight was delayed, and while the table was ready, we started dinner at the host’s house. Table conversation covered stories from 1970s, 80s, 90s, 2000s and the latest happenings at SBC, in Mlang, and the Philippines.

Alumni of Southern Baptist College based abroad met recently in San Francisco, California
for a reunion. The get-together was a modest emulation of the more ambitious 2nd Global
 Reunion held last September in M'lang, Cotabato Province.

Some of the highlighted stories were the presence of “Santermo” in Mlang plaza seen by the locals and passengers of Mintranco when the bus used to go around municipal plaza area to pick up passengers traveling to Davao at 4 am for the first trip and 5 am for the second trip.

The ghost of Jackson Hall was likewise underscored. Some alumni and faculty members saw the ghost while majority of us were not privilege to see it. During the September 2017 global reunion at SBC, school guests stayed at Nash Hall and I did not hear somebody stayed at Jackson Hall. It may be Nash Hall is beautiful place to stay while Jackson Hall is dilapidated old building or maybe because of the lingering thoughts and fear to see up-close and personal the building’s loyal inhabitant(s). Ading is a living witness while her older sister Jocelyn did not see the ghost at Jackson Hall. The house of Arcenio sisters is located fronting Jackson Hall. SBC faculty ma’am De Luso is another witness.

Lela Mae Salazar-Delgado, HS ‘78, shared a story every time she and her classmates heard helicopter sound they will look at each other’s eyes and say, “si sir Ortigoza manog abot” (sir Ortigoza is arriving) and they will shout “helicopter” and everybody in the classroom, even at the middle of class instruction, rushed out of the door and proceeded to the direction of the sound as the choper comes closer and when the "bird" can be seen as it zeroing in towards the landing zone either at SBC field or to the empty space between administration building and Founder’s Hall (the area is now occupied by the High school building). Same was true to our class, to Elementary, High School, and College, everybody rushed out to see the helicopter. Some tripped off on their way out of the building and even from the houses. One of our house help even jumped out of the window just to see the helicopter. My father was a soldier from the Philippine Air Force and every time he comes home from military camp in Awang, helicopter pilots, who were graduates of PMA in the 70s like Red Capunan, flew him to and from our hometown in Mlang.

More stories about SBC and Mlang were shared and it was a good feeling to reminisce history. This is one of the reasons, aside from seeing classmates, schoolmates, teachers and friends, alumni attend school reunion.

We ended the night with a short alumni meeting. As the president of this newly created alumni association I presided the meeting with Pastor Rolly Delgado led the opening and closing prayer while his wife Lela Mae Salazar-Delgado served as our musical director for our hymns. Our host Ading Arcenio delivered a welcome remark. Vienna Villasor-Quiroz, association’s vice president, shared highlights of the minutes of March 23, 2017 initial alumni meeting at the Yacht hosted also by Ading. Alumni treasurer Garry Bianzon gave us updates on the current health of our infant finances. Members are encouraged to pay $20 annual membership fee. Our money in the treasury is intact and has not been touched. We reserve to use it for our future project at SBC. Alumni in the United States and Canada who want to contribute for our future project can start small with your annual membership because if we gather it all together it becomes big. The whole is greater the sum of its parts. We concluded the meeting by singing SBC alma mater song. (Trivia: The lyrics of SBC Alma Mater song were written by T. Bergante, Jr. and E. Ballenas. Original melody from “He Lives on High” by B.B. McKinney).

We ended our alumni “sweet” conversation at past midnight. Some alumni and family were billeted at Ading’s main house on top of the hill while others at Ading’s guest house down the hill kissing San Francisco Bay.

Saturday, November 18. Aside from personal knock by Keren Calapardo, SBC alumna who works and flew from Singapore to attend the reunion, Ading uses Facebook Messenger to notify us when the table is ready. Because we went to bed past 1 am we woke up late and had breakfast at 10 am. After breakfast we had group video and photo using Ading’s drone. For our activity of the day we gathered at the guest’s house about 0.8 miles by Waze or a 5 minutes’ walk downhill. While walking with Pastor Rolly, Lela Mae, and Keren, I observed high-end cars passing by. Pastor Rolly and I counted 2 Porsche SUVs, 2 Tesla sedans, a Jaguar, and other high-end vehicles on that short walk less than a mile downhill.

While waiting at the Ading’s guest house for our 2 pm pick up by the cable car, we walked to the guest house ramp by the bay to enjoy the sun in the cold San Francisco weather. At about 2 pm Lela Mae pointed to a cable car, about half mile away, plying the route near the shorelines coming to our direction. I said, “This is it.” We went to the front of the guest house for our ride. That cable car built in 1920s was chartered by Ading. Of course, individual and group photos were taken before we boarded the car and shared the photos to the world via social media knowing fellow alumni and friends were waiting for it.

From the town of Tiburon in Marine County on the way to downtown SFO people were amazed upon seeing the cable car which prompted our woman cable driver to say, “Look, everybody is looking at us.” Aside from the driver, the car has tour guide who told us via microphone the history and important spots in the city. After an hour of city tour we stopped at Pier 49 for a 15-minute break and bathroom privileges. Our second stopped was at the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. The tour guide told us the official paint color of the bridge is international orange. I thought all the while it was rusty brown. We were safely dropped off at the beachfront guest house in Tiburon at exactly 5 pm. From the guest house we drove uphill to the main house for a military-style “Boodlefight” dinner. One thing most of us observed at commencement after the grace: Deafening Silence. Everybody was hungry and very much focus on the food eaten using barehand. Shout out to Bonbon Calaoud for deliciously prepared food for us. Story telling resumed after everybody was full after the mouthwatering sumptuous dinner mostly seafoods.

November 19, Sunday. Story telling continuous while we gathered at the kitchen island during breakfast. Story telling made alumni attentive and participated in the conversation. If we can do the same at the church I’m sure no one will sleep while the minister delivers the message. After the breakfast we drove to Clipper Yacht Harbor in Sausalito, around 7.5 miles distance by Waze from Ading’s house, for our 10 am to 2 pm scheduled activity: Cruise by the Bay.

When all were aboard Ading’s yacht, the contracted captain introduced himself and his fellow captain. The captain oriented us on the salient points while on board especially on how to operate a digital flush for the head (toilet) and other features of the yacht. Food was also prepared for us. While on our way to San Francisco Bay I had a chance to talk with the female captain Leslie Carson. I learned that Leslie is the wife of the yacht captain as she told me and the couple are both maritime captains. As Leslie and I conversed on California politics, she mentioned she used to work at the office of the state governor Gerry Brown and she is a friend of state appointment secretary Mona Pasquil, the first Filipino-American to hold the post. Leslie also told me she was once a city mayor in Yuba. Both captains were experienced in maritime field and I’m glad Ading took them to pilot us on our cruise.

The first landmark we cruised at was the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. I told my fellow alumni “We used to see Golden Gate as cover photo of school notebook while studying at SBC in 1970s and 80s now we personally see it not only from the top and sides but also view from under the bridge.” Very few people were privileged to see the bottom of bridge. It was my second time to see it courtesy of Ading. The next point of destination was Pier 39 where the famous seals lay afloat marine logs. Then we proceeded near AT & T Stadium, the home of San Francisco Giants. The water was calm in the area so the captain suggested we eat our lunch there. We then proceeded to Angel Island passing under the new Bay Bridge and Alcatraz Island. The architectural design of the new Bay Bridge as seen from below is beautiful. We docked at Angel Island for 45 minutes. The island used to receive immigrants coming from different parts of the world mostly from Asia. This island is also known as the “Tears Island” because migrants who were denied entry to San Francisco were deported back to country of origin. The island was also used to isolate migrants inflicted with contagious diseases. At about 2 pm we were back to Clipper Yacht Harbor to end our cruise and to say goodbye to our fellow SBC alumni.

November 20, Monday. While most of us went back to work on this day, Ading and family together with some SBC alumni chartered a jet and flew to San Diego for the continuation of their vacation. Yes, Ading chartered a plane from San Francisco to San Diego. I can just shake my head in awe seeing my fellow SBC alumni in a chartered plane on their next thanksgiving week vacation.

Thanks to all alumni and family who came for the gathering of God’s people and to Ading for hosting our first SBC alumni reunion in San Francisco. Indeed, God is great and worthy to be praised.

Happy thanksgiving everyone.