Mantecans remember Festas past
• Bob Lemos: Having my uncle Manuel Silva sneak me in the back door so I didn’t have to wait in the long line and later on he gave me a big jug of picking spices when I started making my own sopas !!!
• Kelly Gibbs: Outbidding a dairy mama on a damn wine rack. Damn you free cocktails during the auction. Damn you.
• Jennifer Teicheira: Playing hide and seek in the dance hall and getting tangled up in the curtains on the stage, trying tremocos and not liking it, drinking orange soda with my sopas. I still do that. Being little and marching in the parades as umbrella girls and wearing matching outfits with my sisters and Jillian Joaquin and Kaylee Joaquin. Hanging out with friends and my family. Listening to the bands play traditional music during the parades. Watching Cuz Chris and Vovo Teicheira auctioneer together (love that one action pic of both of you auctioneering inside the hall). But my BEST MEMORY is being the Big Queen 2004-2005. I was very happy that Vovo Teicheira was able to see myself, my sisters, Amelia (Little Queen), and Uncle Wes and Aunt Marlene (presidents) represent our family before he passed in July 2005. I can still remember the pride and joy on his face that day. I was extremely honored and proud to be a part of the MRPS’s long history and to represent what Queen Isabel means to all Portuguese people...her strength, courage, spirit, and charitable heart.
• Caroline Silva Silveira Wolfe: I can remember when we were young we had a carnival where the parking lot is. I rode it with Mel & he kind of got sick.
• Miranda Souza Freitas: Eating sweet bread on the float and of course we had to have Orange Crush with our sopas and tremocos.
• Brandon Ftacek: I remember marching in the parade holding the Manteca MRPS hall flag and going every year with my grandparents. My grandpa getting me a cup of the lupini beans. He called them “thramush” or something like that. Lol and I used to think the bread was a big piece of fat. Great times every year though. Only missed one year since I was 6.
• Mary Gomes Del Pino: Marching all over California as little queen. Itchy dresses, shooting tremoco at each other, boys in white shirts drinking orange soda – a mother’s nightmare. Sopas, sopas and more sopas. Dancing the Chamarrita and hoping you landed with the cute guy, great bands like Vern LaCrosse and the Islanders and the Rocha Brothers. Going to the El Rey theatre to watch a movie during the auction. Falling asleep on the benches when you were too tired and your parents wanted to keep dancing. Sliding on the shiny hardwoods. Wearing your new clothes and checking everyone else out. Listening to the Portuguese bands while they marched in the parades and lots of floats (we had 5 years ago). Feeling proud to be Portuguese – the people who fed everyone in town for free.
• Bill and Andrea Cambra: Bill loved marching as Uncle Sam when we was a kid and also being his aunt Pegi’s cape carrier. They had those back then.
• Andrea: all 3 girls “marching” in their car seats as infants on the floats as angels. Priceless
• Cheryl Mathews Pires: I remember being a kid and my mom taking my brothers and I to the MRPS Hall so that we could march in the parade. One year it was so hot in the ballroom and the next thing I knew I had passed out as we were waiting to head out to march. Mike remembers carrying a statue in one of the parades wearing zipper ankle boots that killed his ankles but knowing he was going to be rewarded with orange soda made it worth it for him. Another fond memory for him is watching Joe Rosa, Uncle Gil, and Mr. Dias play sueca – a Portuguese card game.
• Loretta Lucas Hoyer: Being a queen of course!!! But then watching my daughter march as a queen and follow the tradition was pretty awesome too.
• Angela Seamas: Papa Gill yelling at us as kids for running down the center aisle as they were serving the sopas, and then kissing us after and apologizing for yelling. Also, growing up with such a big family. I don’t have a lot of family, but I have the biggest of families because of the hall. More grandparents than I could fathom.
• Alyce Machado Luis: Festa meant faith. We were raised knowing the power of the “Holy Ghost” and spiritual reason for the Festa. So Festa meant that special church service after the long march from Grant to Library Park to Yosemite to Fremont and finally to St. Anthony’s on Grant. The bands playing “oh Portuguesa” and the “Holy Ghost” song always bring tears to this day as well as the music and cantoring in church as the queens are crowned. Our celebration of FAITH brought us to the biggest party in town. As young child we played tag, jumped off the ballroom stage, weaved in and out of those dancing the Chamarita and drank soda endlessly. And yes, the double feature at ElRey Theatre to avoid the heat and long auction. My dad buying me a Barbie dollhouse in the auction that I still have. As a teen there was the anticipation of the dances on Saturday AND Sunday, which were packed to a standing room only capacity of Portuguese and those “who wished they were.” Now, sitting on the corner of the stage mesmerized by the drummer in the “Rocha Brothers Band.” The following day the cleanup of the hall was another big party. As I had children of my own I instilled in them the significance of the Holy Spirit thru St. Isabel and the traditions of our heritage that is founded in our Catholic faith.
• Monica Teicheira: It’s an honor and privilege to serve your Hall!! It’s about reflecting and embracing the selfless acts Queen Isabel did for the hungry and homeless. Two memories I have would be when I was little sitting and watching my Vovo Dias, Gil Fagundes, and Joe Pacheco playing a rowdy game of cards and getting my ribbon binned on me every year by my Aunt Mabel and cousin Janet Teicheira.
This weekend marks the 95th annual MRPS Hall Celebration of the Holy Ghost – better known as Festa. The Portuguese people have left an indelible mark on California as far back as 1542. That’s when Portuguese explorer Joao Cabrilho became the first European to set foot in our great state when his ship landed in San Diego Bay.
A mass immigration to California took place in the early 1900s. If you have lived in our little town for any amount of time, you undoubtedly have made more than a few friends with Portuguese bloodlines. We are usually easy to spot – the loudest and shortest in the room, unnecessarily using their hands to turn a two-minute story into a 15-minute short film. But I’d venture most people also consider the Portuguese a hard-working group of honest and fair people that put one thing before anything – family.
The Festa ties together the rich traditions of Portugal and the Azore Islands. Many have heard of a Festa, or have even attended a few. Some ask, “Do I have to be Portuguese to attend?” or “What’s it all about?”
The Miracle of Queen Isabel, as told by others
The Library of Congress: "Born in 1271, Queen Isabel was married to Portugal’s King Diniz. Like her great-aunt Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, for whom she was named, Saint Elizabeth of Portugal dedicated her life to the poor. She established orphanages and provided shelter for the homeless. She also founded a convent in Coimbra.
There are many versions of the story of Queen Isabel’s miracle of turning bread into roses, but they are all fundamentally the same. She is said to have been forbidden by her unfaithful husband to give to the poor." According to Carlos Ferreira of Salt + Light Blogg: "Legend says she would leave the palace disguised in order to take food to the poor. She was very devoted to God and also passed a great part of her time in prayer.
One of the miracles attributed to her is the “miracle of the roses.” After the king had discovered she was leaving the palace to take food to the poor he forbade her to do it. He threatened to lock her up and confine her to the palace. She never gave up, every day leaving behind the king’s back. One day in the winter she was carrying pieces of bread hidden in her dress. The King saw her going out and stopped her asking, “What you are carrying?” She answered, “Roses, my lord.” He didn’t believe her because it was winter. He asked her to show him the roses. Obediently, she unfolded the dress and there were roses instead of bread.
This is the most famous miracle attributed to her. She was always an example of devotion to God and to those in need." Queen Isabel subsequently started a tradition where she would find the poorest people, adorn them in new clothing, and then personally serve them a meal at her table. The people of Portugal vowed to honor and commemorate Queen Isabel, by carrying on this tradition on their own.
She was canonized in 1625, and we now celebrate her as Saint Isabel.
And the Festa is born
This weekend we will feed the people of Manteca – the poor and well-to-do alike. While we are honoring an old tradition, I like to always put a new spin on it. The Portuguese people in this community are honored and overwhelmed at the opportunities they have been offered by our wonderful town throughout the years. Showing our gratitude and appreciation to the people of Manteca is something that we are more than happy to do. There is nothing that makes an old “Portagee” happier than having food in his belly, a drink in his hand, and someone’s ear to bend about the history of their town. This weekend is your opportunity to share a plate, cup, and ear – and just listen. You may learn a little something you didn’t know about Manteca.
The majority of Northern California towns have a large Portuguese faction. With a different town having a different Festa every week, it can easily become a summer-long party. Manteca is fortunate enough to have two Portuguese Halls/Societies, the MRPS and the FESM. That’s twice the Festa and twice the fun!
I am 41 years old, and have only attended one “Annual” event annually — the MRPS Festa!
Festa days past
My brain floods with memories of Festas past. Searching for cute girls – then finding out they are related. Wearing Orange Crush cans on my feet after drinking my 10th one. Climbing the flag pole for money. Sliding on the dance floor as old timers danced the Chamarrita. I actually had most of my “firsts” in life at this very function. First kiss. First fight. First drink. And all in the same year. Let’s just say the age of 10 was pretty awesome.
As a young Portuguese boy you spend your first 10 Festas just trying not to get yelled at or spanked. And I mean by anybody. I learned early on that any female 20 years my senior is an aunt and any male an uncle and they all have authority to punish you. If old man Joe Mancebo would’ve had it his way, young boys wouldn’t learn to run and yell till old enough to drive. “Quit running and yelling, gosh darnit!” must’ve been said to Tony Coit and myself nearly 100,000 times from 1976-86. Then you get older and realize you may as well play by the rules since you are more than likely going be here for 75 more of these.
I think I can speak for most when I say, the Festa is about heritage and family. It is important we teach every new generation of the values and lessons instilled by our forefathers – not just in the Portuguese community – but all: Italian, Mexican, German, American, etc. Where we came from and what we were will be in the rearview mirror soon enough. Nationalities blend, the old school ways become new school and people forget, but we should all try our hardest to pass on the history of our cultures to our upcoming generations.
See you Sunday
This year’s MRPS presidents are my cousins Mike and Cheryl Pires, and Cheryl will kick my behind if I don’t mention the thousands of “Thank Yous” she wants to give everyone for helping this year. The parade starts at 9 a.m., with the first public feeding happening around 11, followed by a live auction and more food. After all of that, there’s a dance where you can find me continuing my search for “Not a cousin.”
You have all been invited. Now let’s make this the greatest Festa ever ... until the next one.
“It’s not Where ya do, It’s What ya do.”
