Showing My Appreciation and Eternal Gratitude

I've been interviewed countless times on TV, in newspapers and in online publications because of what I love to do. My bread creations caught the attention of many people and the media because of the underlying reasons for creating them.

For example, the Obama Pan de Sal, which celebrates the first African American president of the United States; the Pacquiao breads such as Brazo de Pacquiao, Siete Coronas de Pacquiao and Pan de Pacquiao -- to honor Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, now an elected congressman in the Philippines; and many others.

The latest to interview me is a respected journalist in San Diego, California, who wrote the following story that I now like to share here. The story features my own tribute to my Uncle Fred, my father's older brother, by way of creating a special bread for him and his siblings.

Had not Uncle Fred done what he did to his family in San Carlos City, Pangasinan, none of the Venturas would have made it, and thrive, in the United States. Here's the story:

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
Features
Volume 4, Issue No. 20
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . A community service of Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . .

The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Wednesday, June 23, 2010
~ One creation followed another, and another, and still another. With the way she's going, this creative entrepreneur may run out of breads to allocate and name for or after individuals who have made outstanding accomplishments. President Obama, boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, actress-singer Genesis, the two women presidents of the Philippines. Now, in an act of eternal gratitude, she pays tribute to an 85-year-old uncle without whose diligence and tenacity, this businesswoman and her family would not have been in the United States pursuing the American Dream. To him and his siblings, a special bread is created and named Ventura bread.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

WILMA FERNANDEZ VENTURA: AN EXPRESSION OF ETERNAL GRATITUDE
Flash of Genius Leads to New Creations; Now, It's
a Sunflower-Like Bread for a Loving Uncle and Aunt


By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

TORONTO -- At her small office a few steps from the huge oven at her famous bakery, Wilma Fernandez Ventura sits relaxed on a reclining chair, smiling, and then, in another burst of genius, she rushes out of the room to the long, stainless steel-topped working table where she mixes dough with ingredients that will form her latest creation.

As she works on weighing and measuring ingredients and determining how much will go into the mixture for that perfect blend, she pauses, scoops out a teaspoon and tastes, then lets out a whisper: this is it! She then readies a whole tray for the oven.

That was a few months ago when this reporter interviewed her in San Diego, California for a series of stories about her pioneering effort to establish a distinct collection of specialty breads that are named after outstanding leaders, sports and entertainment personalities in the United States and the Philippines.

For a couple of days earlier, the well-liked Wilma -- as she is popularly called in San Diego's Filipino community -- was in deep thought, thinking of ways she could show her respect, gratitude and admiration for the man responsible for letting her family dream the American Dream and bring it to reality.

It's been almost 30 years when her parents, Domingo Ventura and Alegria Fernandez, and their eight children, including Wilma, packed their belongings and left San Carlos City, Pangasinan for the United States.

"Uncle Fred, my father's older brother who was in the US Navy then, had petitioned all his seven siblings and tried to bring them all to America so they could find new opportunities and improve their means of livelihood," Wilma explains.

Six of the Ventura siblings and their families managed to come to the US. Wilma's family initially settled in Guam and then moved to San Diego, California where she founded the celebrated The Original Richard's Bakery, named after her first-born, her only son.

Uncle Fred and Auntie Verna at their residence in Connecticut.

Altogether, her Uncle Fred had succeeded in bringing to the US a total of 32 individuals, including his siblings' families, nephews and nieces. Over the course of three decades, they married and are now raising their own families, effectively enlarging the Ventura families into a clan clustered in different parts of the US.

"I'm always in awe of him," states Wilma, referring to her Uncle Fred, now 85, who lives with his very supportive wife, Auntie Verna, 76, in Connecticut. They have eleven children, four of whom Wilma met for the first time when they visited her in San Diego.

The Ventura siblings, all 11 of them, with Uncle Fred and Auntie Verna.

She said she's been wanting to show how she could thank him for his loving and caring ways manifested by his gesture of bringing all the Venturas together under great sacrifice for him.

"The challenge was quite intimidating," admits Wilma. "But who would let it pass? To be given the chance to be in the US was already half the solution to problems. The other half was to make use of it to achieve life goals," she adds.

"Were it not for Uncle Fred and Auntie Verna, I wouldn't be here. My family wouldn't be here. Most likely, we would still be in San Carlos trying our best to survive," Wilma says.

It was this thought that pushed her to come up with a specialty bread -- an eight-pointed bun, garlic-flavored, that looks like a star and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The sesame seeds give the bread the appearance of a sunflower.

Wilma names it the Ventura bread -- in honor of his Uncle Fred. The eight "points" represent the Ventura siblings, according to her -- "the uncles and aunties I will never forget", namely, James, Fred, Narciso, Leonora, Trinidad, Domingo, Eduardo and Jhona.

"I can't think of anything to immortalize my Uncle Fred's deeds," Wilma points out. "Creating this bread for him and his siblings is the greatest compliment that I could give him as a businesswoman and baker".

"If I had done it for President Barack Obama, boxing champion Manny Pacquiao (now a congressman), actress-singer Genesis, and others, why not my Uncle Fred who made it all happen, to begin with?" she asks.

Each of the person she mentions had specialty breads named after them -- all invented by Wilma -- such as the best-selling Obama Pan de Sal, the Pacquiao breads (Siete Coronas de Pacquiao, Pan de Pacquiao, Brazo de Pacquiao) and Genesis Loaf. (Video links at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QhH3Xqphs0 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU8DbR5sm6E&feature=channel )

Ventura bread (pictured) is the latest specialty bread created by Ms. Wilma Fernandez Ventura as a way of expressing her appreciation and gratitude to her dear Uncle Fred Ventura. The eight "petals" represent the eight Ventura siblings, including her father Domingo, who immigrated to the United States from San Carlos City, Pangasinan.


The Ventura bread will be the latest addition to the growing list of breads, pastries and native kakanins that Wilma's creative mind has brought about in the last three years to the two-decades old Original Richard's Bakery which she owns and manages in National City, San Diego's neighbor to the south.

"My grandpa, Captain Leodegario Ventura and my grandma Rufina Ramos Ventura, are always in our hearts, and I am grateful to them as well, for without them, we won't have an uncle Fred who'd brought us here," Wilma stressed.

For more news, visit: http://currentsbreakingnews.blogspot.com/ and: http://gotchajournalist.blogspot.com/ .

(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted, on condition that the author and the publication be properly credited. By Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 4, Issue no. 20, June 23, 2010).

A True Story of Perseverance . . . and Triumph

Many years ago on a visit to the Philippines, I met with with my godchild in my hometown of San Carlos City, Pangasinan. I was there on another purpose but I took the time to talk to her knowing the dire situation her family was in.

She's much too different now from when I was 12 years old and she was just an infant, one of several children that I would have the honor of being a godparent to. I became a "ninang" from that time on.

In 2004 with my son Richard and daughters Rizalyn and Rosemarie in tow, I visited again just to give my kids an opportunity to see what the Philippines looked like, all of them having been born in the United States. My eldest daughter, Rosannah, stayed behind to care for the business.

I inquired about my godchild and was promptly informed that she had left our hometown for some greener pastures abroad. Nobody knew exactly where she was. To hear "abroad" was good enough, however. To me, it meant being able to get out of the terrible living conditions there.

In the Philippines, godparents take on a serious role to the point of being "the other" parents with all its meanings. In my case, I've taken to being a "ninang" on a more sober note the moment I immigrated to the United States three years later when I was 15 years old.

That was also the time when I had my first gainful employment at a McDonald's branch in Guam. Many months later, my parents and my siblings moved to the mainland, specifically in San Diego, California where I put up my bakery.

As a ninang, I felt an obligation to care for my godchild like a secondary parent. Not that my godchild's parents were neglecting her. It was the economic straits they were into that I had to assume a proactive role. Thus, began years of helping out to my first godchild.

In between the time of her baptismal to the time I saw her again as a young woman, many years had elapsed. She was through elementary school, then to high school and later through two years of college education, or a total of almost 20 years.

The time practically parallels the existence of my bakery -- The Original Richard's Bakery -- which is now on its 23rd year serving the Filipino community in the same place in National City, San Diego County, California.

Now on that visit in San Carlos City, one of the first persons to see me in my mother's house was my godchild -- an attractive young lady named Maricris Solomon de Vera. She's grown alright, and appeared very responsible, as I later found out in the course of our conversation.

As I expected, she brought me up to speed in her life. She's been through a lot of hurdles, including her family. Today, she told me that if only she had some money to cover the cost of a passport her work opportunities would vastly improve.

The first time I heard it I was surprised. Here is a young and able lady already seeking a chance to work, except that there's not much she could do.

Without any hesitation, I reached for my purse and handed her the money that she needed, plus a little extra for her other expenses. After that I forgot about it. In fact I did not hear anything from her in the months and years later.

Back in San Diego, I focused on my business and did the same things I love doing -- baking and running my store. I hadn't even noticed that at least five years had passed since my last visit to my hometown with my kids, and many more years since I last saw my godchild.

Last year, I did something no other bakery had done in the United States, or elsewhere that I knew, by creating a specialty bread to honor the first African American ever elected president of the United States. It was to celebrate the milestone of Mr. Barack Obama that I invented the Obama Pandesal.

To make it widely known, I created an account on Facebook, and then on YouTube. I also signed in for a number of online sites.

In one of those easy days after a long weekend, somebody had posted a message on my Facebook account. I could not believe it. I thought maybe it was another person with a similar name. But there it was . . . with a picture to boot. It was my godchild!

She's now Maricris Navarro. I didn't bother at first, knowing fully well I didn't have a friend or a relative with that name. That's when she explained that she's my godchild and I am her ninang.

And then she reminded me of the time we last talked when I gave her some money for a passport. It wasn't the amount that she cared so much about, it's the thought of me helping her that gave her the challenge. She knew I trusted her and felt it with the money I was giving.

It was pitiful, she said, of the situation she and her family were in. "Kahit inaapi nila kami nuon, hindi kami sumuko. May plano si God sa akin," she wrote in her message to me.

"Kung hindi ninyo ako pinag-aral, hindi ko mararating ang kinaroroonan ko ngayon. Proud din ang pamilya ko," Maricris said, acknowledging all the support that I've extended to her over the years.

That made me cry. Tears of happiness welled out of my eyes. I felt so happy that I made a big difference in her life.

"Talagang palaban ako. Nagmana yata ako sa inyo kasi kayo po ang naging inspirasyon ko. Kayo po ang nagpalakas ng loob ko para labanan ang hirap ng buhay . . . " And with that, I was inconsolable. I was crying a river.

After a few more Facebook exchanges, she finally called me. She was crying as she began to update me about everything that happened to her since the passport money I gave her many years ago.

Now she's married and has one kid. She left the Philippines quite recently and now works and stays in Vancouver, Canada as a caregiver.

That's one in a million chance for her, and she grabbed it. Who wouldn't when the promise of a bright future beckons?

Manny Pacquiao - Our Idol, Our Hero!

I'm just one of the millions of adoring fans of our boxing champ Manny Pacquiao and his victory last night (Saturday, March 13) in Texas makes me proud as a Filipino.

Very proud, in fact, that I created three special breads for him as a way of honoring him and celebrating his many victories. These breads are the Siete Coronas de Pacquiao (for his seven boxing belts), the Brazo de Pacquiao (for his powerful arms) and the Pan de Pacquiao.

When he knocked down Ricky Hatton last year, I created a healthy fruit drink -- the Pacquiao Punch -- as a tribute to his strength and agility.

Those products are available only at my storefront at The Original Richard's Bakery, 3400 E. Eighth St., Suite 114, National City, CA. 91950. Phone: 619.472.1530.

Congratulations Manny! You are the idol and hero of all Filipinos!

The Creative Entrepreneur

I've been in the bakery business far longer than most bakeries in San Diego, California. That is not a boast. It is the truth.

It's the reality that I want to say over and over again so that people, specially my beloved customers and friends in and outside the Filipino community, will realize that they can bank on my experience to get the high-quality breads from The Original Richard's Bakery.

For more than 20 years, come rain or shine 365 days a year, my bakery has been a reliable community partner, providing customers with the freshest breads -- both traditional and special -- to complement their meals at home or elsewhere during parties and special occasions.

Our mainstays include at least 20 products, from pandesal to bibingka and puto, to fruit drinks to home-made spread, to special cakes and pastries -- all a good source of nourishment.

For example, we have breads as we knew them from the homeland, the Philippines, like pandesal, pan de leche, pan de coco, pan de ube, pantosta, Manila tasty, white bread, raisin bread, cheese loaf, ube loaf, cheese rolls, cheese bowling, butter rolls and ensaymada.

Part of me loves to create something beyond the ordinary but within the reach of everyday consumers. These are from my own recipe, including Genesis Loaf with blueberry, stimulus cake espresso, stimulus cake loaf (with either tarts, pecans or walnuts), banana loaf (with or without macapuno), the ube McPuno cupcakes (either with blueberries or mango).

Even as the price of basic ingredients has soared to new highs, The Original Richard's Bakery has maintained its prices within affordable levels. Customers naturally ask how we can manage to do that and stay afloat.

Well, the fact is we are always on the lookout for new business opportunities. That means expanding our product lines and broadening our market.

I have created new products to complement what we already have. To cite some, we have this very popular Obama Pandesal and the three Pacquiao breads -- Siete Coronas de Pacquiao, Brazo de Pacquiao and Pan de Pacquiao.

By now, most people know that the Obama Pandesal was named after the incumbent president of the United States for being the first African American to occupy the White House. The three special breads took the name of Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, without doubt one of the greatest boxers of the world, as my way of celebrating his victories.

Admittedly, the introduction of those new creations of mine has made The Original Richard's Bakery quite famous. Through all these months, the bakery has become synonymous with those breads. And rightly so, because my bakery is the only place where one can find them.

If other bakeries say they also have Obama Pandesal, for example, or the three Pacquiao breads, it means they are not being honest. That's because The Original Richard's Bakery is the sole bakery that produces and markets them. They are my creations.

I've also created the equally famous Genesis Loaf, one of my specialties, to honor a friend and supporter, the movie actress and singer Patricia Javier, whose real name is Genesis. The loaf has the taste and texture of a muffin.

There are more products that I have created and are available at the bakery, except that I have not made any public announcements about them as I did Obama Pandesal, the Pacquiao breads and Genesis Loaf.

These products, made 100 percent from rice, include the three variations of bibingka which I named Cory, Imelda and Gloria -- and collectively known as the Reyna Bibingka ng America. They are topped either by cheese, macapuno, ube or salted eggs. They are also my best sellers.

Our puto products are a hit too. They come in various sizes and flavors, such as round puto the size of cupcakes flavored either with mocha, ube, taro, mango, strawberry, green tea, watermelon or pandan. We also got kuchinta, palitaw, biko and a lot more of the kakanins.

Many times during the morning, customers would come to the bakery asking, for example, what to eat the regular pandesal with for breakfast. That's when I came up with my specially-formulated spreads, namely: salad sandwich, chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad and cheese pImiento.

I enjoy my work as much as I love to create new products. That puts me ahead of the competition. In fact, the greatest compliment I get regularly is in being imitated. My products, or something that sounds like my products, would suddenly pop in some bakeries. It's a big compliment knowing my products get copied.

But if you want the best and the freshest, stay with me. Stay with The Original Richard's Bakery. It's not just the name that's original, the products too!

Please note: Orders (with deposit) are accepted at the bakery only, not by phone nor by email, at least 24 hours in advance. Cash only. We don't accept large amounts like $100 bills. Address: 3400 E. Eighth St., Suite 114, National City, CA. 91950. Ph: 619.472.1530

Launching of Obama Pandesal

Special products of The Original Richard's Bakery