Filipinos in Alaska

For the first time in two years, the Filipino Community Inc. will be holding its annual Christmas party in Juneau. It’s the organization’s first since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Rachel Carrillo Barril, a FilCom board member, says she’s been going to the parties since she was a child. 

“We’ve always done Christmas parties,” she said. “Usually we have a mixture of American and Filipino food for the holiday and some dessert and drinks.”

Carrillo Barril says the party traditionally includes Christmas carols followed by games and presents for kids — and there’s usually a door prize.

“After all that, it’s usually dancing,” she said. “Usually, a lot of the elders like to do their cha-cha dancing or their line dancing and that kind of stuff.”

Carrillo Barril says the party is FilCom’s next step toward re-engaging the Juneau community after the long absence of in-person events during the pandemic.

“We’re hoping that this event will just bring back interest into the community and we could start getting people comfortable with participating in the meetings, and providing our other services and programs,” she said.

The Christmas party will be held this Saturday, Dec. 10, beginning at 5 p.m. at the Filipino Community Hall downtown. There is no entry fee, and everyone in the Juneau community is welcome to attend.

This story is part of KTOO’s participation in the America Amplified initiative to use community engagement to inform and strengthen our journalism. America Amplified is a public media initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

I have deep affection for ube, the mild, sweet purple yam that colors pandesal, Filipino breakfast bread, and shows up in the pastry section in Hawaiian grocery stores and lends its hue to the outrageous pastries at Benji’s Bakery. This Thanksgiving, I wanted to bring it to my family in pie form. This recipe is a rich, vibrant “move-over pumpkin pie” for the holiday dessert lineup. Every person I served it to was eating it for the first time. Every one of them said it was delicious. If you like pumpkin or sweet potato pie, this pie is for you.

A few notes. You can use any unbaked pie crust. I used my own salted butter crust but I changed up the method a little to get way more flake. Using the same ingredients, I pulsed the food processor instead of letting it run, and I left the chunks of butter bigger than a pea, some of them even as big as two peas. I added the liquid to the crust, pulsed once, and then dumped it on parchment paper when it was still crumbly. Then, I pressed it together and rolled it out into a rectangle about the size of a novel, then I folded it in half and rolled it back into the same-size rectangle. I folded it again, rounded out the edges so it made a disc, and tossed it in the fridge for a couple minutes. This method kind of laminates the dough, a little like a croissant, and you’ll notice the difference.

This recipe calls for butter and cream. If you’re trying to lighten it up a little, you can use milk with no problem. If you’re going dairy-free, you might try oat milk and vegan butter. You can also reduce the sweetener by a quarter cup. There’s also the treasure hunt for ube, which is a purple yam. You can sometimes find it at New Sagaya Midtown or other Asian markets in the produce section or grated, in the freezer section. You can also use purple sweet potato or Okinawan sweet potato for this recipe, which are both pretty frequently at Fred Meyer and sometimes at Safeway in the sweet potato bin. If you use frozen grated ube, cook by covering it with water in a microwave-safe bowl and then cooking on high for 3 to 4 minutes, so it becomes soft. Don’t forget to drain. About 1 1/2 cups cream, whipped with three tablespoons of powdered sugar and a little vanilla, will give you enough for a healthy dollop of cream on each piece.

Ube pie

Serves 10

Ingredients:

1 pound, skin-on ube/purple yam or purple sweet potato

1 stick salted butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup cream

2 eggs

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

Whipped cream and freshly grated nutmeg to serve.

Method: Put sweet potatoes/ube in a pot and cover with water, boil over medium heat for about 45-50 minutes, until very tender. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove from the potatoes heat, drain, allow to cool enough to be handled. Peel them or scoop out soft meat. You should have roughly 2 cups of potato/yam.

In a blender or with a mixer, combine potato/yam, soft butter, sweeteners, cream, egg, spice, vanilla and salt. Mix until smooth. Pour into an unbaked pie crust. Bake for 55 minutes, or until set in the middle. It will rise and then fall a bit. Allow to cool completely before dressing with whipped cream. Sprinkle it with freshly grated nutmeg.

This story originally appeared in the Anchorage Daily News and is republished here with permission.

Bayani “Bing” Carrillo has volunteered for Juneau arts events for years. He’s the go-to guy for designing inventive sets and solving technological problems.

His first volunteer project was Wearable Arts, the annual fashion show hosted by the Juneau Arts and Humanities Center, years ago. Since then, he’s been recruited to help out practically every arts group in Juneau.

“Other things started to come up, like Perseverance [Theater] stuff, working on sets. So I would go help some of the guys cut lumber, put pieces together,” he said. “And then I started doing other things like for the Folk Festival, helping set up the stage, setting up the mics.”

Carrillo helps hang the lights downtown before Christmas. He sets up the power for vendors at the Maritime Festival. One year, he made a giant sparkly high heel for the GLITZ Drag Show. Between running countless shows and managing other volunteers, Carrillo says the wide range of activities he does is challenging but satisfying.

“It’s fun, but it’s a little bit, you know, what’s the word? You gotta be on your toes,” he said.

One of his most memorable projects is a set he created for the 2020 Wearable Arts event.

The show is about making something out of the things you have, and Carrillo did just that. He made a colorful backdrop of interlocking rings framed by string lights for the runway. And the entire set was made out of construction pipe.

“I have friends that I know that own, you know, construction companies, and I say, ‘Hey, you got any pipe?’ They say, ‘Yeah, we got some pipe, come over and grab it’,” he said. “So these come in like 20 foot lengths, and they’re like six or four inches wide, but [the set] is all pipes.”

Carrillo’s creative set-building is one reason why he was named this year’s Patron of the Arts by the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council for the Kathy Kolkhorst Ruddy awards. Another reason is to honor his service as JAHC board vice president for the last six years.

“He’s probably one of the longest serving board members,” said Kathleen Harper, who has worked with Carrillo through her role as the facility manager for the council. “So I think that a large part of it was just like, he’s given so much to the arts community, what can we do to honor that service?”

At first, the selection committee thought about nominating him for the Volunteer for the Arts award. That was until they realized he had already won that award a decade ago, in 2012.

Carrillo’s technical expertise didn’t come from nowhere. After graduating from Juneau-Douglas High School in 1974, he tried his hand at college and a state job before deciding to pursue a trade. For about 25 years, he says, Carrillo traveled around Southeast Alaska pursuing electrical jobs before landing in the metering department at AEL&P.

Once he retired, Carrillo began applying his technical expertise outside the workplace. He says it was a natural fit.

“I knew other people that were [volunteering], so they asked me, ‘Hey, want to help out?’ since I’m knowledgeable regarding building things and electrical stuff,” he said.

With all of his years volunteering in the Juneau arts community, Carrillo has not forgotten his time as an electrician. He’s equally known for his support of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, where he has twice been recognized as his local’s Volunteer of the Year.

He is famous for providing elaborate appetizers and setting up his block rocker for music at the union’s annual picnics. He even made a Rosie the Riveter-themed cornhole set.

Nona Dimond, office manager at the IBEW Local 1547, remembers countless times Carrillo has been up for helping out the union.

“He just is one of those really dependable people, but also very thoughtful in making sure that everybody has everything they need in order to really get that sense of brotherhood, and he doesn’t ask for anything in return,” Dimond said. “They should call an award the Bing Carrillo award. Because if you’re getting a Bing Carrillo award, that means you’re stepping up and going above and beyond.”

Carrillo’s sense of community extends to the rest of Juneau, and his roots in the town run deep. His parents are from the Philippines, and his father worked for canneries in Southeast Alaska and his mother for the state. At one point, Carrillo’s father and uncle owned a downtown bar called the Dreamland Club. Carrillo lived above the bar when he was very young, until the family moved into the home on Starr Hill that he shares with his mom to this day.

Carrillo was born here, and other than his travels around Southeast Alaska when he was working as an electrician, he’s never left Juneau. He also doesn’t want to. He has a wealth of hobbies in Juneau anyway, including photography and building electric bikes.

For all the years Carrillo has lived in Juneau, he has become someone respected and appreciated within the community. It’s become a joke among his friends that everywhere you go in Juneau, you’re likely to find Carrillo helping out with something.

“And that’s just kind of how he is,” Dimond said. “He just shows up out of nowhere and solves all your problems.”

This story is part of KTOO’s participation in the America Amplified initiative to use community engagement to inform and strengthen our journalism. America Amplified is a public media initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

October is Filipino American History Month. An event over the weekend in Juneau will celebrate Filipino food with several local chefs.

“So all of my memories, there’s always food associated with them,” said chef Rachel Barril. “Filipino food is the cornerstone of Filipino culture. It’s how we gather for family celebrations, funerals, that kind of thing.”

Barril works at In Bocca Al Lupo in Juneau, which is known for its wood fired pizza. But Barril makes sure there’s always a Filipino take.

“I take the traditional dishes and apply more modern techniques that I’ve learned. I like fermentation. Recently I learned to make miso out of peanuts and I used it in a kare kare dish. It’s like a peanut curry, usually served over oxtail,” she said.

October is the time to consider the contributions of Filipinos to U.S. history because the first Filipinos landed in what is now the United States in October of 1587.

“So, Filipinos have been in America for 435 years. And that’s 33 years before the pilgrims landed,” said chef Aims Villanueva-Alf, who owns Black Moon Coven in Juneau. “I never knew that.”

Villanueva-Alf is from Juneau, but the rich and long history of Filipinos in Alaska specifically is something she’s only recently started to embrace since moving back from the Lower 48.

“I don’t feel like fully let myself really nourish myself in my culture and my heritage until I was out of Juneau,” she said.

Lionel Udippa from Red Spruce and Abby Laforce Barnett from Zerelda’s Bistro will also be bringing food for the event hosted at the Filipino Community, Inc. hall downtown. And they’ll join in a panel discussion, followed by a screening of Ulam, a documentary about Filipino food, sponsored by Friends of the Juneau Public Libraries.

Listen to the full interview on Juneau Afternoon.

This story is part of KTOO’s participation in the America Amplified initiative to use community engagement to inform and strengthen our journalism. America Amplified is a public media initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

October is Filipino American History Month and celebrations and conversations have been taking place throughout Juneau. This Saturday, FilCom and Friends of the Library have a special event taking place at the Filipino Community Hall including food, a film, and a panel discussion with some of the best chefs in Juneau.

Today on Juneau Afternoon, KTOO’s Community Reporting Fellow Tasha Elizarde shares the history and meaning behind Filipino American History Month and leads a discussion and preview of Saturday’s events with special guests Nel Udippa from Red Spruce, Aims Villanueva from Black Moon Koven and Rachel Barril from In Bocca Al Lupo.

Also on today’s show, host Andy Kline sits down with  Lindy Ryan author and screenwriter of the new book and a short film, “Trick or Treat, Alistair Gray”

Guests:

• Lindy Ryan, author and screenwriter
• Tasha Elizarde, community reporting fellow, KTOO
• Nel Udippa, chef, Red Spruce
• Aims Villanueva, chef, Black Moon Koven
• Rachel Barril, chef, In Bocca Al Lupo

The pandemic disrupted a lot of the community activities we used to take for granted, but slowly, many of them are returning. 

Just last month, regular bingo nights started up again at the Filipino Community Hall in downtown Juneau after a two-year hiatus. 

On a recent Thursday evening, the bingo hall was buzzing. A few dozen people — mostly seniors, but not all of them — were clustered around long tables, waiting for the games to begin. 

It costs $21 to play. That gets you 13 games, or rounds, of bingo. The total payout is $5,000, but the most you can win on a single game is $1,000.  

Nan Hotch said she comes every Thursday and Sunday. She doesn’t win much, but she enjoys catching up with other regulars. 

“It’s nice to be with all the friends you can’t go see all that much anymore, so [you] get to come here and visit,” Hotch said. 

She missed that while Filipino Community, Inc. bingo was shut down. The charitable gaming operation has been going on continuously since the 1990s, according to FilComm Vice President Dante Reyes.

“We were out of our gaming operations for about two and a half years,” Reyes said. “And that’s why we lost a lot of revenue. So we’re happy that we started operating.”

That money not only keeps the lights on and the roof from leaking, but helps the organization pay for annual scholarships for students and hold cultural events. When it’s not bingo night, they rent out the hall for weddings, funerals or other events. One of the food carts by the docks uses the kitchen to prep during the summer.

The building is more than 100 years old and needs repairs and upgrades. The electronic bingo boards that hang on the walls and tell players what numbers have been called and what pattern wins each game aren’t that old, but they have their own issues. 

Cyla Garcia is the bingo manager. She said they’re hoping to replace the boards. They actually opened for a day back in June, but had to close again due to technical problems. 

“There’s still a lot of bugs and fixes that we need to figure out but hopefully, we don’t have to, we can just get a whole new system,” Garcia said. 

On a typical night, she said they see 60 to 80 patrons and make about $9,000 to $10,000 in gross sales. 

“Dividend just hit, so we’re kind of at our high peak right now,” Garcia said. “So people still have money to spend.”

The first game starts at 7 p.m. It takes about 15 minutes – and sometimes a few false alarms – before each game comes to an end. As soon as that happens, it’s on to the next one. 

One game is called the Filipino special. That’s the big payout. 

“It used to be called Italian, but it didn’t make sense to me so I changed it to Filipino,” Garcia said, laughing. 

The numbers come fast, and the winning pattern changes with each game. It’s hard to keep up for a first timer, but most veteran players have multiple cards going at once to increase their chances. 

Reyes said it’s nice to see the same faces every week again. 

“So they want to go here, have camaraderie as you can see,” he said. “And they got some storytelling about what happened during the last previous days  and telling about their grandkids, their kids or whatever they’re doing.” 

Shannon Bible sat at the end of a table with a friend, diligently marking numbers on her cards. She says she’s glad to be back, and it’s nice to have somewhere other than bars to go to socialize at night. But she said it’s not completely the same.

“It’s kind of sad, too, because a lot of people that were regulars are no longer here,” Bible said. “A lot of people that used to come here are no longer with us.”

Two-and-a-half years is a long time, especially during a global pandemic. But for now, it’s nice to have a little slice of normalcy back — and maybe a chance to win big, too.

This story is part of KTOO’s participation in the America Amplified initiative to use community engagement to inform and strengthen our journalism. America Amplified is a public media initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.