(The following was emailed by Nestor Mercado as we were organizing for the Golden Reunion of 2009.)
WELCOME
TO ST. LOUIS HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1959 WEBSITE!
Any way you slice it, fifty years
is a very long time! The passing of the
years, especially that many of them, makes memories somewhat nebulous and
fuzzy. But 2009 is the year when we celebrate the 50th year of our
graduation from high school. Because of
this, I have wracked my mind thinking about the many things that transpired
during our senior year.
The memories that come to mind
are as follows:
●This was the first year Fr. Hubert Dupont became
director of the school.
●The Columbian Squires first came into existence
this year.
●The school newspaper was called The Clarion of
Saint Louis.
●We had our usual high school plays, piano recitals
and intramurals.
●The altar boys would aspire to serve Midnight Mass
on Christmas Eve.
●Inside the church, at that Mass, the star would
travel from the back to the manger scene in the front of the church.
●There were basketball games with teams of the other
catholic schools in the nearby towns.
George Mamuric, Roger Tiongson, Paulino Bulosan and others would play
the neighboring teams. It was a big deal
to go to the neighboring towns to watch these games. It was ever more of a big deal to go to the
big city, Manila!
●At the beginning of the school day, we all lined up
from the shortest to the tallest.
Inevitably, Percy Tiongson would be in the front of the line, and I was always
immediately behind him.
●The school day would begin with the singing of
Bayang Magiliw, then the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, and finally,
end with the Saint Louis School song. In
my travels through the countries of the world, I found out eventually that the
melody of the Saint Louis School song is the same melody as the old South
African National Anthem! Somewhere down
the line, someone took poetical license and adapted the melody of a country’s
national anthem for the school hymn. I guess at that time, the world was still
a humongous place, and who would ever realize that a country boy from Solano
would figure out that someone had inadvertently used another’s tune for his own
purpose. Be that as it may, hearing the
school song still sends chills down my spine to this day.
●At that time, we lived in an insulated, safe and
unadulterated place. Life was simple
then. On the way to school, or walking
on the main drag, one would pass by such landmarks as Sanchez Studio, Avenue Theater,
Hai King Panciteria, Mabuhay Bakery, VLT, and Norenco, and it was a common
sight to see Eleuterio Tropa and His Lamplighter, World Peace crusaders,
walking the streets of Solano.
●I first experienced the beginnings of urban street
lighting when Tottoc Boulevard was festooned with hundreds of fluorescent
lights, giving the street a very festive atmosphere.
●We were all herded to church on First Fridays, so
that we can all hear confessions and attend mass.
●There were many nuns at the Sister’s convent, and they
were usually assigned as teachers in the school.
●We enjoyed hanging out with Roy Tamani at the
convent, making communion wafers and just chilling out..
●During the summer vacation, we would look in awe at
the Varsitarians, as they came back to spend their vacations after grueling
months of study in Manila. Every once in
a while, we would get that much coveted invitation to a party with them, and we
would increase our desire to be like them.
●The jeepney fare to Bayombong was 10 centavos.
●Calesas reigned supreme, and the present day
tricycle was just a figment of one’s imagination.
●Picnics were held at Bangan Hill, the Dike in
Bayombong or the river in Sinafal. The
resorts as we know them today were nowhere to be found.
●We used to enjoy listening to the 45/78 RPM records
at Rol Barrero’s house, and there were plenty of star apples and Indian mangoes
to serve as snacks. We also relied many
times on Rol to help us with scrap book covers, etc.
Our first immigrant to leave
Solano for the U. S. was Amor Salvador, who left for Hawaii after our high
school graduation. A few years back, I
had asked Tony Gascon and Roly Suratos to help me find Amor’s relatives in
Solano, so we can get his U. S. address, to no avail.
Since that graduation day, my
trips to Solano would last no more than three days at the most. But during those infrequent times when I came
home, I have had the privilege of meeting with Jimmy Magalued, Rolly Llantada,
Roger Tiongson, Lawrence Aliac, Lina Tiongson-Purificacion, but never really saw Tony Mendoza, Paulino
Bulosan, Ambong Diego, Roy Tamani and the many other people whose names I begin
to forget.
I did have the pleasure of seeing
here in the U. S. the likes of Rey Miranda, Rol Barrero, Jimmy Magalued, Roger
Tiongson, Mely Manlapig-Tan, Escil Manriquez-Gaines, Mely Urmaza Mamuric, Lydia
Mercado-Villanueva, Linda Garcia-Espinosa and Percy Tiongson.
My hope is that this walk down
the path of years gone by will evoke many more reminiscences than merely the
things I talked about. Nobody has a
monopoly on the memories, and I am sure that you all have more things to
contribute to allow all of us to relive the beautiful world of our youth.
Therefore, please receive my
warmest welcome to this web site, and I invite you to submit your own take on
things, items that you may want to mention, pictures you may want to
share. Together, let us build up on the
increasing excitement of meeting all of you in December, as we look forward to
celebrating the Golden Jubilee of our high school graduation.
God bless you and keep you in His
care, and Happy New Year to all.
Manila Bulletin
