Mount Vernon marks Philippine Independence Day with celebration

MOUNT VERNON - The Mount Vernon Community High School cafeteria was transformed into a room of bright blues, yellows and reds Sunday for a celebration of the Philippine Independence Day.

Filipinos and community members from Iowa and surrounding states gathered to commemorate what many there referred to as a holiday resembling American's Fourth of July.

'It started as a picnic, but then it grew,” said Vilma Thorn on how the local event first got started in her backyard.

This is the ninth year that Thorn has hosted an official event to mark the holiday, but the first time it has been held in Linn County. She was expecting a turnout of more than 100 people.

'She's (Thorn) able to unite the other Filipinos in this area to celebrate,” said Eleanor Mendoza-Gonzales, who was attending the event for the first time.

Mendoza-Gonzales said that the history of the Philippines independence can be complicated.

The Philippine Independence Day is held June 12 when the Philippines declared independence in 1898, a declaration that Spain and the United States did not recognize at the time. The United States later granted the Philippines their independence on July 4, 1946. Since 1964, the Philippines has celebrated their independence day on June 12 and the Philippine Republic Day on July 4.

For those celebrating Sunday, offering a 'cultural awareness” as Emma Aquino-Nemecek described it and keeping to traditions was key.

Traditional music, food, dance and dress could be found in the colorful room. Many of the women wore Terno and Mestizo dresses, as well as Kimonas, while the men were in a traditional Barong.

'It's something to be proud of and a source of our strength,” said Mendoza-Gonzales on the Filipinos sense of tradition and to family.

Thorn and Aquino-Nemecek said that they hope to make the local celebration open to anyone in the community to attend in future years. They also said that former members of the military stationed in the Philippines, as well as individuals who have attended mission trips there, have been attending the event for years.