Athens is home to a considerable community of Filipino individuals and families, including my own. I am Filipino American, raised here in Meigs and Athens counties. I felt so lucky to have a Filipino community around me despite growing up in rural Ohio so far away from my relatives.
Every year growing up there was a Filipino Christmas party held at the Athens Community Center. Filipino families from the immediate area and surrounding ones, such as West Virginia, would all come together for the celebration. Though it’s no longer held, the party was a space for all these families to find a community that shared their culture.
Long tables were adorned with Filipino dishes like adobo (Filipino-style chicken) and lumpia (a Filipino-stye egg roll). At the last gathering, we joked about the years that everyone assumed someone else was bringing rice and we ended up with none.
The food we all ate was one symbol of the bond of our community and our shared connection to the Philippines, but another was the games and performances. There would always be games for every age group guaranteed to end with belly-bursting laughter.
One game I always remember was when two people would partner up and both try to stand on a piece of newspaper without touching the ground as the paper gradually got folded into smaller sections.
The older kids would help me and the other younger kids plan a performance, usually a dance. We danced to “Gangnam Style” one year and “The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?)” choreographed by one of the older kids.
While we did a more lighthearted performance, my sister and the girls her age performed a traditional Filipino dance called tinikling; the girls would dance between large bamboo sticks tapping to the music trying to keep their ankles from getting clipped.
Even at smaller events like New Year’s Eve parties or birthday celebrations, we would always have karaoke, another Filipino staple that brought a smile to everyone’s faces.
Now the generation that planned all the parties and celebrations is making way for a new one to continue these traditions. And for all the other half-Filipino kids growing up in this region, I hope it continues and they can have the same experiences with a loving community that I did.
Local resident Malaya Tindongan graduated from Ohio University this month with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. They were an intern with the Athens County Independent for the 2022–23 academic year.
