AFCI’s 50th year

Although I only spent a few years of my life in the western city of Toledo, I always consider myself as a Toledohanon.  My parents met in that city since my mother’s father is from Toledo while my father’s family moved there due to the lure of the old Atlas mines.

We lived in the compound near the power plant and foundry, where my father used to work, and spent many nights at the recreation center to watch and sometimes learn new sports.

Recently, I have been visiting Toledo quite often and many times I’d still go to the area where we once lived, but the houses and other structures there including the foundry have long been gone.

The power plant is still there and now the huge plant of Atlas Fertilizer and Chemicals Inc.

This is the reason why when I got an invitation from my good friend Butch Abad of AFCI to join the 50th anniversary celebration of their company via a golf tournament last Thursday at the Alta Vista Golf and Country Club, I could not say no.

The event was quite exclusive as only suppliers, company officials and select members of the host club took part in the 18-hole contest.

The golf part is always enjoyable as the cliché goes “a bad day at the golf course is always better than a good day at the office.”

The awards ceremony was also something different with a Spanish singer entertaining the guests and some Japanese company officials also rendering a song to the delight of the audience.

If there’s one thing that I can never forget about being a part of Atlas, it is the camaraderie of the people who work and live in the company.

Today, many of us Atlas brats still find time to hook up and look back at the good old days in the recreation centers and in our school.  Toledo and Atlas will always be a part of our lives and will always be in our hearts.

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I was with doctors and lawyers earlier this week to discuss the staging of the 3rd Medico-Legal Charity Golf Tournament on November 16 at Alta Vista Golf and Country Club.

I joined them on the invitation of Dr. Rene Rafols, who is hoping to use the tournament to raise funds for the pediatric surgical ward of the Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

Also present were Dr. Albert Solis and lawyers Tito Pintor and Pete Flores representing the legal profession or should I call them the legal golf luminaries.

What makes this different is that there won’t be registration fees that would be collected, but participants (this is open even to non-doctors and lawyers) will be encouraged to donate any amount for the beneficiary.

It would be hard to turn down a request for an event like this, so I immediately agreed to help out Dr. Rafols and do my little share for this tournament.

I hope our many kind-hearted golfers would find time to join this event.  You don’t really have to play if you can’t find the time, but your donation for this very good cause will be something that would go a really long way.

Dr. Rafols is preparing a multi-media presentation during the awards ceremony to show you where the proceeds would go.

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MILESTONES: Belated birthday greetings to the biggest supporter of volleyball in the Philippines – Gov. Gwendolyn F. Garcia, who turned a year older yesterday.

Gov. Gwen is the woman behind the GUV Cup, which is now the biggest volleyball tournament in the country.

I’d also like to greet my high school buddy, Atty. Joel M. Seno a very happy birthday for tomorrow. 

More power!