First-ever Flores de Mayo on Saipan tonight

Before the month usually associated with the blooming of flowers in the Philippines winds down, Saipan Grand Hotel will celebrate May with the first-ever Flores De Mayo on Saipan tonight at its cavernous lobby.

The Susupe hotel’s food and beverage outlet manager, Lance Razon, said he thought about holding the event as a treat to the Filipino community on island and the children who have not experienced being spruced up for such a formal event.

“Probably I just miss home. Actually I thought about this for the benefit of the Filipino community on Saipan. But I wanted to elevate it and invite everyone on the island to feel or to let the children feel how great it is to participate in such an event,” he said.

Razon, however, said that, unlike the Flores De Mayo back home, the 50 or so kids who have signed up for the event will not have to parade with their gowns and barong tagalog on Beach Road.

Instead they will be sashaying down on more than their Sunday’s best on a ramp especially constructed just for the occasion by Grand Hotel.

“The good thing about tonight’s Flores De Mayo is all moms, even here at the Grand, are very enthusiastic about it and they themselves have volunteered their sons and daughters to join,” he said.

The fashion show’s director Oscar Yema said the audience could expect nothing short of a grand event, as the children will be making their best supermodel impressions on the catwalk.

Yema has even scheduled a rehearsal and briefing a few hours before the Flores De Mayo to make sure that everything will go on smoothly come show time.

Grand Hotel’s front office manager Gary Garcia will serve as the event’s emcee.

The Flores De Mayo will coincide with the Grand Hotel’s ever-popular Friday Food Fair and Razon said his staff has added tables and strategically placed them to give diners an unimpeded view of the fashion show.

Saipan Photo Lab, YCO Hardware, Jollibee, and Pepsi are the main sponsors of the Flores De Mayo, which starts at 7pm. The Friday Food Fair is from 6pm to 10pm.

Flores De Mayo is month-long Catholic festival in the Philippines held in May in honor of the Holy Mary. Introduced by the Spaniards, the last day of the festival is usually highlighted by a pageant called Santa Cruzan. The Santa Cruzan is a procession in honor of the supposed finding of the Holy Cross in the year 326 A.D. by Helena, mother of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great.

For more information about the Flores De Mayo at Grand Hotel, call Marcy at 234-66-1 local 300.