2007 APPPA Auxiliary Officers

President -------- ------------------------------------------- Mary Jo Tan

Co - President --------------------------------------------- Pam Zapanta, DMD

Secretary ------------------ --------------------------------- Ching Enciso, M.D.

Treaurer ------------------- --------------------------------- Fe Valeros

PRO -------------------------------------------------------- Norma Mendoza

Board Of Directors: 

Carlita Rodriguez          Florence Guerrero     Gloria Santos

Aurora Balizado            Carmen Villanueva

Immediate Past President - Amy Ballecer

Slogan: “ The great essentials in life are something to do, something to love something to hope for.”

APPPA Auxiliary

Reminiscence

By Amy Ballecer

The concept of forming the APPPA Auxiliary was first introduced by the energetic, trail blazing Mrs. Florita Campbell in one of the APPPA meetings in 1980. This was enthusiastically received and embraced by the wives of the doctor members who before the formation of the Auxiliary were just present in meetings to help and support their husbands. They wanted something more concrete and productive. This group of ladies wanted to have their own identities, their own objectives and goals. They wanted an organization independent of the APPPA. It is akin to the idea of the housewives not satisfied with just being called homemakers but want to elevate their status to domestic engineers. An exploratory committee was formed, the constitution was spelled out, and officers were elected and then inducted at the 1981 Annual APPPA Induction Ball with Mrs. Florita Campbell at the helm as the First president of the APPPA Auxiliary.

The Auxiliary’s constitution is simple and it has only 2 objectives. First is to promote social, cultural and charitable functions for its members and second to assist the APPPA as long as there is no conflict with this ( Auxiliary ) organization’s constitution. Underlying these objectives are the unspoken words of friendship and fellowship. We did not plan on having big ideas or big agendas. We were not out there to save the world or move mountains . We were just a group of ladies who wanted to grow socially and culturally and in the process help our husbands with their organization

( APPPA ) .

There are four major agendas that are undertaken by the Auxiliary. The first is the APPPA Induction Ball. The officers ( particularly the President of the Auxiliary ) and members are supposed to help the APPPA, in anyway they can to insure a successful Induction Ball. The second activity of the Auxiliary is the cultural and educational promotion and enhancement of its members. This is usually held in March or April. Over the years, we had invited several speakers ( most notably Mrs. Sonia Games , a holocaust survivor ), went to the museums and attended concerts. The last one was a musical mélange by various ASU artists. There were a classical pianist, two opera singers, flutist, a guitarist and a very unusual musical instrument that I have not seen or heard before but was really beautiful. It was a very enjoyable and entertaining concert. An opera singer sang a song that started and ended with just one word….” Meow “. Who says that opera songs are hard to understand. Kudos to Dr. Rey Vito for putting up this very culturally oriented concert. This year our cultural activity consisted of some of the members attending Tea Party at the historic Hackett House in conjunction with the Maricopa County Medical Society Alliance of which Mrs. Anita Szymber ( an APPPA Auxiliary member ) is chair. ( See picture below ) The third agenda of the APPPA Auxiliary is the Honoring of the Graduates of the sons, daughters, in – laws, and grandchildren of APPPA and Auxiliary members. This idea ( a wonderful one at that ) was first conceived by Mrs. Fe Valeros and was adopted right away and initiated in June of 1982. We wanted to instill in our children/grandchildren our sense of pride with their accomplishments and to impart in their minds that educational achievement is paramount in the culture of the Filipinos. The third major agenda of the Auxiliary is the Hospitality Night that is usually held in October or November. This serves as a vehicle to welcome new and prospective members of the APPPA. What we do is we select a theme and then ask the members of the APPPA and the Auxiliary to dress up or dress down ( remember the Hawaiian night ? ) for the occasion. Over the years, we did roaring twenties, masquerade ball, western night , barrio fiestas, Hawaiian , Spanish/ Mexican and last year was bohemian. You should have seen Dr. Herman Mendoza, Dr. Rene Valeros and Dr. Nelson Villamor shi – shaying with the belly dancers some of whom were in their 90s ( invited by Dr. & Mrs. Severo and Florence Guerrero ) already. Our objective in this hospitality nights is to welcome new comers but our loftier motive is to establish fellowship, camaraderie and friendship among the members. We had fun…. Oh boy, did we have fun. The last but certainly not the least is our charitable agenda. Through all these years we have given donations to various charitable institutions in the Philippines . We donated to medical missions, orphanages, and victims of earthquakes, floods, landslides etc. We gave monies to religious organizations to help poor children get a decent education. Through the Children International the Auxiliary adopted ( suggested by yours truly ) a boy, his name is Oliver Olpida. When we adopted him he was only in grade school. Now, he is a young man studying in college to become a teacher. Did we make a difference in the life of Oliver? The Auxiliary Members would like to think so.

Long live the APPPA Auxiliary. God bless us all !