ASOCIACION NEGRENSE (ONTARIO-CANADA)  ELECTS NEW OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS  DESPITE HAIL STORM

By Edwin Mercurio
Scarborough-Canada
July 24, 2015



Scarborough, Ontario- A Facebook page inviting former residents of Negros Occidental to come to the group’s Annual Picnic and Election of Officers generated only one positive response, one maybe and three others writing their apologies for not coming due to prior commitments.

Despite the hail storm and the lack of online response, close to a hundred flocked to Asociacion Negrense’s picnic and election of officers at Thompson Park, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.  Many believed that traditional networking via word of mouth this time around beats Facebook’s much hyped online social reach.

Some say the lack of response could be blamed in part due to many members being born during the B.C. years and not during the A.D. years. Being born in the years BC and AD do not have any biblical or religious connotations.   Anno Domini (AD) and years Before Christ (BC) have new meanings in the online social media world.  BC simply means those people who were born “Before Computers” and AD relates to those who were born and raised “After the Domain” names and web sites were the internet language of the day. Most of those who came here prior to the 1980’s were professionals in many fields but were not adept in computer use and online communications and applications.

One positive response to the Association’s invitation via Facebook , however, was taken lightly and blamed on member born in the years BC. Fortunately, it was an important lesson for the group. “There’s no match to person to person via word of mouth approach,” Asociacion Negrense officials said.

The Scarborough picnic turned out to be a blast. Members enjoyed the friendly atmosphere, great Summer ambiance at the park  and comraderie nurtured during the previous years. The food was great and plentiful.  New and old members filled out their membership forms with happy banter while the mostly  young  women board members practice their line dancing. There was excitement in the air.

Current President Elma Saludares  and veteran members of the association since its 1984 founding  supervised the orderly conduct of the picnic and the election of officers.

Asociacion Negrense, one of the largest Filipino-Canadian  community organization during its heyday knew that it was time to recapture the moment when thousands flock to join the association. With the formation of Negros Occidental and Oriental into one Region, the current leaders, the board of directors and members  took no time to elect its new set of Officers to lead the Association – and they did it quickly by acclamation and general consensus.