December 11, 2005 ALP Christmas Party at Alice's Place

ALP Monthly Meeting Report

ALP CHRISTMAS PARTY REPORT

December 11, 2005

by James Kevin Ty

ALP held its December monthly meeting at the residence of colleague Rev. Alice Villa-Real. It was also the Christmas Party for the ALPers as well. Members who were present were James Kevin Ty, Alice Villa-Real and brother Carlos, Jett Aguilar, Dante Cruz, Joey Grajeda, Tommy Tan , Rich Pijuan , Alexander Loinaz , Joel Munoz , Joseph Torres , Mac Libid and his cousin Badz , Greten Estella, Henry So, Joseph Gutierrez, Rafael Lunar, Edmund Rosales and his wife Bernadette as well as children Luigi and Bea, Brian Davis, Nat Nat Paredes, Rosemarie Gonzales, Jonathan Ty, Allen Yu, Ice Ponce, Hans Gideon Cerdenia, Lea Visaya , Mrs Emilia Agustin, and new ALPers Lala Alcala and her daughter Erin, Emma Catherine Flores and son Louis as well as their friend Sandy Ebrada.

The party started at around 1:00pm with members filing their registration as well as cast their vote to elect the new set of officers for 2006. Honorary Director and Election Chairperson Emilia Agustin took charge of the election while Edmund's wife Bernie help Mrs Agustin. After majority of the members present were able to cast their votes, Reverend Alice Villa-Real lead a prayer to thank God for the strong bonding of fellow ALPers as well as blessed the food the group will be feasting today. There were a wide varieties of potluck food brought along by fellow members and everyone had a great time eating and chatting with each other.

At around 2:00pm, exchange gift by fellow members started with Nat Nat Paredes being the first to draw for her gift. Edmund Rosales lead the program with some assistance from fellow member Lea Visaya. Everyone was excited as they eagerly waited for their names to be called by Edmund :)

The main event for the day was the 2nd ALP Astroquiz Contest with Edmund as the quizmaster. The contest was initiated last year by the ALP directors to encourage members to read more topics on astronomy and space. ALP directors and officers are disqualified for the contest. A total of 10 members , lead by last year's defending champion Jett Aguilar, joined the contest. The rest of the contestant were Mac Libid, Joseph Torres, Rafael Lunar, Greten Estella, Brian Davis, Emma Flores, Lala Alcala, Dante Cruz, and Joey Grajeda. The winner of the contest will be awarded a pair of Bushnell 10x50mm binocular. This year's format was opted by the quizmaster to be like the local gameshow "Game Ka Na Ba?" to make the contest both fun and exciting! In the first round, the contestant will try to outdone each other by speed and the first 4 participants who got 2 correct answers will enter the championship round. During the championship round, the first to get 4 correct answer will be declared this year's champion and will take home the beautiful binocular :)

After a round of tricky questions made by Edmund, ALPers Brian Davis, Jett Aguilar, Rafael Lunar and Greten Estella advanced to the next round with 2 correct answers. The championship round saw Brian Davis leading the way with 3 correct answers while defending champion Jett Aguilar trailing by 2 correct answer, But Jett did catch up with Brian while Rafael Lunar also came from behind to give both Jett and Brian a run for their money. Jett eventually was able to beat the other guys in terms of quickness to be able to answer which comet has the shortest orbital period of 3.3 years which we all know is the comet Encke! Boy! It was a photo-finish win by Jett as he once again was declared this year's champion. Congratulation Jett!

It was already around 3:30pm and Mrs Agustin announced the 6 nominees for next year's set of officers. They were Edmund Rosales, Alice Villa-Real, James Kevin Ty, Allen Yu, Rich Pijuan and last but not the least Joel Munoz.

After some break, Membership chairperson Rich Pijuan gives a short report and once again welcome this year's new ALPers. Afterwards, Treasurer Allen Yu gives a breakdown on the income and expenses made by the society for the year 2005. Lastly, President James Kevin Ty gives the 2005 Year End Report as well as give a short preview of what special events and activities the society will prepare for the year 2006. With a Gibbous Moon rising from the east, Alice brought out his Celestron C90 spotting scope and members get a peek of the Moon.

Since there was a quorum of 7 directors present, the directors proceeded with the election of officers ad committee chairmen for the year 2006. The following were elected:

2006 OFFICERS: