Sample Press Release: Northside Community Center

San Jose, CA, October 20, 2003 — Whenever San Jose/San Francisco/Oakland Greater Bay Area consumers think about shopping for the best deals in town, a special trip to the San Jose Berryessa Flea Market generally means a one-day expedition or adventure. The attention focuses on the Filipino American communities in the Bay Area when the United States’ largest flea market, spanning 50,000 to 70,000 visitors each day during most weekends, gives San Jose’s Northside Community Center a hearty pre-Grand Opening celebration at one of its central venues, The Pavilion, at 1590 Berryessa Road, on Saturday and Sunday, November 1 and 2, 2003 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The festivities aim to bring the multi-ethnic and intercultural communities of Santa Clara County and their neighbors together that weekend for a first-ever Filipino community festival in the marketplace. Each day, the fiesta starts with a cacophony of colors as costumed revelers parade around the perimeter of The Pavilion, alerting shoppers to a special event taking place.

Since Northside Community Center was constructed with funding from The City of San Jose, during the Fiesta Filipinas 2003’s Opening Day on November 1, 2003, the City of San Jose’s political, community, and business leaders are expected to officially open the festival. A special recognition and award will be given to the Philippine government by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) in the Silicon Valley. The Philippines is the first country to sign the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, a requirement set by the World Health Organization to regulate the packaging, use, distribution, and advertisement of tobacco products. The Senate President of the Philippines, Franklin M. Drilon, according to Philippine Consul General Delia Menez Rosal, has been invited to accept the award on behalf of the President of the Republic of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and the Philippine government.

Booth vendors selling food and novelty items, giving information on businesses and services targeted to the event’s diverse audiences, and non-profit organizations are participating in this marketplace’s festival. Among the corporate sponsors, Wells Fargo will bring the nation’s first mobile community technology center, the e-Bus, to the San Jose Flea Market for children to experience the applications and innovations of multi-media computers and the Internet.

On-stage entertainment features Filipino American musical talent ranging from song and dance artists to the Fil-Am Veterans Rondalla Ensemble. Northside Community’s Intergeneration Performing Troupe, directed by Ben Menor and Fredez Limos, takes center stage as the dancers, ages 6 to 87, display their prowess of Filipino cultural dances as they perform with parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. A special tribute to Filipino American Veterans is also highlighted with patriotic displays of ceremony and colors to honor them.

Northside Community Center is the pride of the Filipino community and the City of San Jose because it is the first of its kind to be designed as the template for the “community center of the future” complimented by affordable housing. The center has a 16,500 square-foot building with senior housing, the Mabuhay Court. The newest component of Northside Community Center’s services is its event management and catering services. The Grand Opening festivities, which will be held at its 488 North Sixth Street address on November 7 to 11, 2003, will have events and activities for the center’s participants, supporters, and contributors.

For more information about Fiesta Filipinas 2003, contact Nita Geda, the event’s coordinator, at Northside Community Center, (408) 977-4005 or e-mail her at [email protected].