FINALLY – THE SNNHS BATCH ‘69 GOLDEN JUBILEE REUNION

by: Norberto Betita

The day did finally come when after 50 years from the day we left the portals of our Alma Mater---the Surigao del Norte National High School---we are again reunited as a batch of graduates of the year 1969. We come together with fervor and intensified excitement as though we were those young and vibrant youth of long ago. The friendliness and camaraderie of those energetic past reverberate and ring anew when we gather as one class, no longer as those vigorous graduating senior students, but the lively and enthusiastic band of seniors awaiting the graduation day of life.

The first thought that came into my mind was our abiding and heartfelt gratitude to the core group---Dr. Amelia Romero Nambatac, Hon. Philip M. Adlao, Ms. Jocelyn Balutan-Dedumo and Ms. Florida Kaimo-Clerigo---with Dr. Nambatac at the helm. Their incalculable and untold determination to make our golden jubilee reunion a success, truly made the event most grandiose and marvelously memorable for all. We are likewise grateful to all who have so generously and benevolently contributed financially or otherwise to the jubilant realization of the grand episode of our common 50-year journey from high school graduation through life’s challenging voyage.

We also express our deepest gratitude to the husband of Josie---Mr. Allan McCall---the husband of Aname---Mr. Emil Gines---who together joined with us in all our activities and had become our voluntary official photographers while we are rebuilding our camaraderie and friendship and reminiscing the memories of our youthful past. They are to us adoptive members of SNNHS batch 1969.

The impact of the individual kindness and support for each other and the liberal donations of the affluent, is an incarnate characterization of the words of Etienne de Grellet: “I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

The highlights of the golden jubilee year reunion included the following:

September 5, 2019 – Final practice for the gala night presentation at the Provincial Gymnasium. It was our first meeting together with those coming from lands faraway. We realized that our countenances have already changed with some we could no longer identify and therefore have to be introduced again. There is so much joy and gladness to meet together with those who had been carried far into the realms of endless opportunities, away from the place of our ‘once upon a time.’ 

At night, we have our first dinner together at the roof deck of Mr. Marlo and Dr. Amelia Nambatac’s residence. There we enjoyed for a short moment the presence of our dear Social Studies teacher--- Irenetta Bullo-Montinola, PhD. It was a joyful and memorable meeting with her. She’s now 82 years old, but she looks just as we are at 67. It was a sumptuous feast with our favorite food exceeding our old-age limitations. We sang and danced and chitter-chattered---retelling memories of the past.

September 6, 2019 – Our second day activities included a City tour where we visited the vicinity of the Provincial Capitol and enjoyed picture taking while continuing with our chitchats. We proceeded to our Alma Mater—the Surigao del Norte National High School---and there also took pictures for remembrances. Then went to the City Hall for another picture taking. The tour was concluded at the JB Farms Resort where we have our lunch and continued chitter-chatters while the cameras were clicked for more records of the memorable events. 

Engr. Surtalicito C. Liquido and I attended the SNNHS Alumni Foundation, Inc. (SAFI) awards night at Parkway Hotel. Surta was one of the Most Outstanding Surhighnian Award (MOSA) 2019 recipient in the field of Engineering, as an alumnus of Surigao del Norte National High School. After which, we proceeded to the venue of the 39th wedding anniversary of Emil and Aname at Jakelou restaurant. 

At Emil and Aname’s wedding anniversary celebration we were joined by Dr. Celia Silverio-Santos and Atty. Epifanio Almeda and his wife Gudilla, who just arrived in the afternoon of the same day. Except for Aname’s few relatives, all the guests are from SNNHS Batch of 1969. It was also a grand celebration where we were made to express our thoughts about Emil and Aname’s love and romance, followed by our individual reflections and memories of those of our wonderful high school life.

On my part I commended and congratulated Emil and Aname for their extraordinary marital closeness which I often observed from their posts while at home and during their travels to different parts of the world. Their evident togetherness and apparent love and intimacy and even their attachment to their family were exemplary and remind me of Shakespeare’s descriptive meaning of love which I recited during the event, especially for them, thus: 

“Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me prov'd,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.”
(William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116, Let me not to the marriage of true minds) 

September 7, 2019 – The final day. The Grand parade started at 7AM. I had to catch up having awakened late, tired as a result of two days of vigorous activities. Our golden float with Batch ’69 aboard in golden T-shirts and hats, overflowed with participants. After the grand parade, we were then ushered into the Surigao Provincial Gymnasium for the different contests, one of which---the Yell Contest---our batch placed second place.

While seated on the stage and waiting for the other batches to arrive from the parade, we started dancing with the music, although not in the program, to entertain the weary crowd of SNNHS Alumni and thus prompted other batches to join in the dancing and made the waiting hours merrier and enjoyable.

After the contest, we were again marshalled by the core group to the Almont Hotel for an eat-all-you-can lunch. The food stuffs on display were truly sumptuous, but we were made to realize of our old age food limitations, hence, nobody seemed to take a second round of the splendidly lavish meals. 

Before the Gala Night of the 2019 reunion, we assembled at the Gateway Hotel for another elaborate dinner. While enjoying the meal we continued to delight in our togetherness, strengthening the bonds of our group as SNNHS batch of 1969. Then we proceeded to the Provincial Gymnasium for the Gala Night to perform our choreographed presentation, led by Susana Cayasa-Lipang, Maria Estubo-Entendez and Delia Cortes-Morticio. We were glad that despite the obvious flaws of our presentation we were applauded by the audience. 

As an extension of the jubilee celebration, on the night of September 8, 2019, some of our 1969 batchmates participated in a joint gathering of Surigao City all 1969 batches from San Nicolas College (SNC), North Eastern Mindanao Colleges (NEMCO), and Surigao del Norte National High School (SNNHS). Dr. Amelia Romero-Nambatac hosted the affair at their residence. While there, friends and classmates from elementary and high school met and memorialized once again the friendship and camaraderie of childhood and youthful long ago. 

We missed those who, for some obvious reasons, did not make it to this grand and glorious day of reminiscing and remembering the sundry wonderful memories of those vibrant and pleasant high school days while also enjoying the camaraderie of the present. We likewise remembered with fondness and affection the memories of those who had already gone beyond the veil. 

In the winding up of our jubilee year celebration, we parted ways with solemnity and hopeful vision that we will one day be together again with the same enthusiasm and vigor. May the warmth of our embrace and the glow of our love and friendship ever gleam and remain bright and radiant throughout the remaining laps of our mortal race. May we be able continue to fill our “Winding up days with toil and nights with sleep” (William Shakespeare), that we may sustainably be invigorated. The path to our life’s December is perilous and vitally crucial. It is a lonely trail, full of hazards and dangerous cliffs. May we ever take every step with caution and care, for one misstep can be fatal. We may not be able to meet often, but we hope that our communications with each other will remain connected.

With such grand and spectacularly unforgettable moments we shared together, it is profoundly worth to reiterate our genuine gratitude to the core group led by Mely. The flashes of joy and gladness that we experience as a result of their efforts is not worth the money. Those precious twinkling amusements may have been short, but it becomes priceless as it turns to memories; for memories are forever.