PAMANA Celebrates Christmas
Holidays done right: Filipino style
Holidays done right: Filipino style
Laura
Salinger is a
freelance
writer based
in Madison,
Wis.
Salinger is a
freelance
writer based
in Madison,
Wis.
din of cheerful voices in conversation wafted my way. It soon became clear that holiday
cheer and goodwill had survived after all.
Featuring a potluck lunch buffet (including traditional Filipino dishes like pansit, a
pig roast and egg rolls), children’s activities (including several craft tables), various
games, and a silent auction, PAMANA’s Christmas celebration was alive with
conversation, delectable treats, and much entertainment. The main goal was to get
people together to share in tradition and each other’s company.
“We want the culture to stay alive in the hearts and minds of the children being
raised here,” PAMANA’s newly-elected president Cora Holloway said. “We get together
around food, that’s part of our culture.”
The event itself was filled with much laughter and even a Filipino Santa Claus, who
got quite excited feedback from the large gathering. Children frolicked around the large
room and adults shared in delicious food and animated conversation. It was, indeed, a
colorful event filled with all the sights and sounds that many enjoy over the holiday
season. For nearly 30 years, Madison area Filipinos and their friends have been
gathering to celebrate the holidays.
PAMANA first began in 1982 as the Filipino Association of Madison. It is now a
registered non-profit organization of nearly 1,000 families and individuals whose
current mission “includes fostering unity and harmony among Filipino, Filipino-
cheer and goodwill had survived after all.
Featuring a potluck lunch buffet (including traditional Filipino dishes like pansit, a
pig roast and egg rolls), children’s activities (including several craft tables), various
games, and a silent auction, PAMANA’s Christmas celebration was alive with
conversation, delectable treats, and much entertainment. The main goal was to get
people together to share in tradition and each other’s company.
“We want the culture to stay alive in the hearts and minds of the children being
raised here,” PAMANA’s newly-elected president Cora Holloway said. “We get together
around food, that’s part of our culture.”
The event itself was filled with much laughter and even a Filipino Santa Claus, who
got quite excited feedback from the large gathering. Children frolicked around the large
room and adults shared in delicious food and animated conversation. It was, indeed, a
colorful event filled with all the sights and sounds that many enjoy over the holiday
season. For nearly 30 years, Madison area Filipinos and their friends have been
gathering to celebrate the holidays.
PAMANA first began in 1982 as the Filipino Association of Madison. It is now a
registered non-profit organization of nearly 1,000 families and individuals whose
current mission “includes fostering unity and harmony among Filipino, Filipino-
By Laura Salinger
Just before heading to PAMANA’s (The Philippine-
American Association of Madison & Neighboring Areas)
annual Christmas party at the Goodman Community Center on
Dec. 19, I braved some holiday shopping. If cheer and goodwill
were what I was searching for during my last-minute shopping
escapade, it would have been a long, winding road of no
success. Nearly giving up on what I decided had become an
almost non-existent attitude of holiday goodwill, I walked in
from the cold and snow into the warm and inviting Goodman
Center on Madison’s near east side. Rounding the corner and
heading to PAMANA’s party, the aroma of spiced food and the
Just before heading to PAMANA’s (The Philippine-
American Association of Madison & Neighboring Areas)
annual Christmas party at the Goodman Community Center on
Dec. 19, I braved some holiday shopping. If cheer and goodwill
were what I was searching for during my last-minute shopping
escapade, it would have been a long, winding road of no
success. Nearly giving up on what I decided had become an
almost non-existent attitude of holiday goodwill, I walked in
from the cold and snow into the warm and inviting Goodman
Center on Madison’s near east side. Rounding the corner and
heading to PAMANA’s party, the aroma of spiced food and the
American, and American communities in south-central Wisconsin, promoting Filipino cultural education, and providing aid
and assistance to humanitarian projects both in the local community and distressed communities in the Philippines.”
Current president Cora Holloway is very excited about PAMANA’s future. Recently obtaining non-profit status (a milestone
for the organization according to Holloway), PAMANA leaders are now on the mission to create a strong board and a focus
group so that the organization can achieve some big things. The ultimate goal: a Filipino center.
“Our main goal right now is to have a strong organized board,” says Holloway. “Our dream is to raise enough money so
that we have a Filipino center. The center would be a place where we can really showcase our culture and gather together.”
Prominent to the Filipino culture, Holloway says, is the notion of working together or bayanihan. The term bayanihan refers
to a spirit of communal unity or effort to achieve a goal. Bayanihan is at the center of Filipino culture and PAMANA has
employed this concept many times to help area Filipino’s in need. It is at the center of Filipino culture and a notion that
PAMANA will draw on as they work to achieve their goals in the future.
Bayanihan is also a notion that speaks across cultures, however, especially after reflecting on the holidays and what
they should really mean. The holidays should not be about harried trips to the stores (with, unfortunately, some crabby
shoppers) to get as many gifts as we can. It is about sharing and community, or bayanihan. The holidays should not be
about one religious tradition or another (some, obviously, who do not even view this time as “the holidays”) but about
reaching across religious and cultural affiliations to extend that handshake of goodwill. The holidays are about memories,
togetherness, and (thanks PAMANA for reminding me just in time) about bayanihan.
and assistance to humanitarian projects both in the local community and distressed communities in the Philippines.”
Current president Cora Holloway is very excited about PAMANA’s future. Recently obtaining non-profit status (a milestone
for the organization according to Holloway), PAMANA leaders are now on the mission to create a strong board and a focus
group so that the organization can achieve some big things. The ultimate goal: a Filipino center.
“Our main goal right now is to have a strong organized board,” says Holloway. “Our dream is to raise enough money so
that we have a Filipino center. The center would be a place where we can really showcase our culture and gather together.”
Prominent to the Filipino culture, Holloway says, is the notion of working together or bayanihan. The term bayanihan refers
to a spirit of communal unity or effort to achieve a goal. Bayanihan is at the center of Filipino culture and PAMANA has
employed this concept many times to help area Filipino’s in need. It is at the center of Filipino culture and a notion that
PAMANA will draw on as they work to achieve their goals in the future.
Bayanihan is also a notion that speaks across cultures, however, especially after reflecting on the holidays and what
they should really mean. The holidays should not be about harried trips to the stores (with, unfortunately, some crabby
shoppers) to get as many gifts as we can. It is about sharing and community, or bayanihan. The holidays should not be
about one religious tradition or another (some, obviously, who do not even view this time as “the holidays”) but about
reaching across religious and cultural affiliations to extend that handshake of goodwill. The holidays are about memories,
togetherness, and (thanks PAMANA for reminding me just in time) about bayanihan.