Up to 500 members of Grays Harbor County’s Filipino community gathered at the Shoppes at Riverside on June 18 to celebrate Philippine Independence Day, the 119th anniversary of the Philippines gaining independence after 500 years under Spanish rule.

This is the third year of the local celebration under organizer Fredericka Huseby, who owns Huseby’s Filipino Store and Asian Groceries at the Shoppes at Riverside. Before moving to Aberdeen, she had organized similar events in the Seattle area — even a Filipino American tennis tournament at the Boeing Tennis Club from 1993-97. Prior to that, while working at a hospital in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, she rallied the several hundred people of Filipino descent who worked with her and managed independence day celebrations there through most of the 1980s.

A number of awards were presented, as they are every year. Huseby said they include Deserving Mother of the Year, Deserving Father of the Year, Deserving Family of the Year and Professional of the Year, honoring the achievements of the area’s Filipino-American community. Awards for academic achievements were also presented to students from Grays Harbor College and St. Mary’s High School.

“We also award our veterans, those who served in defense of this country,” she said. “We give wine to the guys and necklaces to the girls.” Huseby said 27 veterans were honored during the event.

The next big event will be Filipino-American Picnic at Friends Landing in Montesano on July 8. She is expecting a similar crowd there, 400 to 500 people.