CAPTAIN FEDERICO ?REX? REYES is healthy, lucid and agile at 96 that his birthday was quite a celebration, surrounded by family and dear buddies from the Rotary Club of Cebu.
There was a Thanksgiving Mass followed by dinner at the family-owned Plantation Bay resort in Mactan Island.
Nephew Manny Gonzalez, Plantation Bay?s ?Lord High Everything Else,? was in town and personally supervised the excellent menu served. Usually in a dapper suit, this night he donned chic beach shorts.
In attendance were Capt. Rex?s two sons. Federico Reyes Jr., ?Boy? to kith and kin, was with wife Beth, plus children Butch and Odessa, and pretty Mitchi. Florentino ?Tinoy? Reyes and wife Marilou were with children Yasmin, Annika and Troy.
Eldest of the brood Teresita ?Chickie? Reyes Feraren, her husband Joji, and their son Pepper were unable to come. Chickie had previously scheduled a trip to visit daughter Lia and Leo Reznicek, and their little Eliana in Germany. She just couldn?t change plans, and the celebration for Daddy Rex was rather impromptu.
The merry bunch that had gathered cheered when a Powerpoint presentation showed Rex as a dashing pilot of the Philippine Air Force. A war hero, he wooed and won Cebu heiress Consuelo Cuenco, daughter of the eminent Jose Mariano Cuenco, at that time the president of the Philippine Senate.
From Manila had come his sister-in-law Teresita ?Titang? Cuenco Gonzalez as well as nieces Victoria Manguerra Montilla and Ana Maria Manguerra. They recalled life in the gracious old house along Cebu?s Mango Avenue when it was lined with fine homes.
The house is till there with all its appointments, many of them art objects bought during travels abroad, and Capt. Rex continues to live in it. It is now surrounded by commercial establishments.
Going back to Chickie Feraren, she is with the sales office of the Plantation Bay in Makati. After she returned from Germany, she has come several times to spend precious moments with her Daddy Rex. During one of her visits, she met aunt Titang Gonzalez.
They planned a night out at Plantation Bay to coincide with the luau night. Ana Maria Manguerra was also in town. They asked cousin Nancy Roa Cuenco to join in too, and that was quite a lively party.
Theme nights
Plantation Bay has varied theme nights during the week. The dance troupe that performs is composed of the resort?s staff where many talents abound. The show on this Hawaiian night was fabulous, and so is the Filipino Fiesta night palabas. For one thing, all the girls are pretty and shapely, and the men are manly.
Speaking of birthdays, Eliva Lu Ym celebrated hers with trustees of the Arts Council at her home in Maria Luisa Estate Park. Cocktails and pica-pica were served at the main salon. It is dominated by a stunning portrait of Elvira and daughter Kaye by Romulo Galicano.
Present were Petite Garcia, Maxwell Espina, Marissa Fernan, Annie Aboitiz, Teresin Mendezona, Mayen Tan, Mariter Klepp, and Deena Pages. It was a gourmet dinner with fine wines ? Señorio de los Llanos, white and red. Everyone dug into the homemade birthday noodles. Rating raves was the special Cebu lechon of which an entire platter was of squares of the crispiest panit ever.
There were enough trustees to constitute a quorum for a meeting. ?But everything discussed is off the record,? someone quipped.
Just a few days away was the piano recital of Justin Jee, a talented young man who is a senior at Yale University where he is piano accompanist of the glee club. He has Cebu roots.
The Arts Council is handling the 12th edition of the European Union?s Cine Europa in Cebu come October 9-11. It will be at Onstage theater of Ayala Center with films from Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and Switzerland.
Also in October, though dates have to be finalized, is a recital by Duo Rivera from Spain. Sisters Raquel and Ma. Luz Rivera formed a violin and piano team in 2000, to great critical acclaim. They made their international debut in 2004 at Les Invalides in Paris.
Set on November 15 is a book launch by the Philippines? foremost artistic print maker, Manuel Rodriguez. He is from Cebu, lives in New York, and is in his 90s. He expects to be here for this occasion which will also open an exhibit of his rare prints at the Annie Chen gallery on AS Fortuna Street, Mandaue City.
To reel off the Arts Council?s 50th anniversary as well as to celebrate the National Month of the Arts in February 2010 there will be a performance of Ballet Philippines. Venue will be Theater One at SM City Cebu, either on Feb. 5 or 12, 2010. Details are forthcoming.
