What does one hundred years of history look like? Imagine a hotel converted into a museum whose hallways proudly display the history of the San Diego Portuguese Community's Festa do Divino Espirito Santo showcasing beautiful, ornate dresses and capes worn by former Festa queens and photos from as early as the 1910s up to present day. That was the Centenial Gala held Saturday evening, October 24, 2009 and it was a sight to see! A gathering of almost 700 guests was dazzled by this amazing collection of historical artifacts. To preserve this event for posterity, I arrived early and photographed each item on display. There were so many, it took me almost two hours and close to 300 photos to capture everything.
Organizers Lynn Guidi, Mary Alice Gonsalves, and countless committee members have good reason to be proud. This event was special right from the start. Guests arrived, dressed to the nines, greeted by beautiful historic photos and check-in tables laden with rose petals. As the guests oohed and ahhed over the wonderful collection of crowns, dresses, photos, and other artifacts, they were treated to a medley of Portuguese songs played by Paulo Da Rosa, Zé Duarte and Sal Freitas. Everyone enjoyed hors d'oeuvres while hugging, smiling, shaking hands and catching up on old times with friends and family members.
Just when we thought we had seen it all, we were encouraged to enter the main hall. This large, beautiful hall contained 60+ tables, each of which seated 10 guests. The outer fringe of the room was lined with yet more beautiful, historic photos from our community. The front left-hand corner wall was covered with over 100 photos from previous Festas. Giant screens on both sides of the room featured slideshows of yet more great photos. In addition, blazoned across the center of the room, a silhouette of the Coroa (Crown) was projected onto the dance floor. Each table was beautifully accented with a bouquet of red roses. A small gift box wrapped in gold paper was provided to each couple attending. Inside the box was a delicate, commemorative plate with the logo of the centennial Festa on the front side. In gold lettering on the back of the plate was the inscription, "Centennial Gala Sheraton harbor Island, October 24, 2009."
The Heroes played background music as guests settled in for the evening's festivities. S.E.S. President Manuel Leal officially started the program by giving opening remarks in both English and Portuguese. He then handed the microphone over to the masters of ceremonies, Lynn Guidi and Mary Alice Gonsalves. Honors were given out to the oldest living former Festa Queen, oldest living former Festa President, recognition of all the former festa queens in attendance, former festa presidents, former and current festa board members, special thanks to the committee for organizing the Centennial Gala and recognition of the four priests who were able to attend: Father Fox, Father Nick Dempsey, Father Dan, and Father Creighton. Father Fox led the opening prayer. Were there an award for the person who travelled the farthest to attend, Father Fox, from Ireland, would definitely have been in the running.
On top of the exquisite decorations, the Gala guests were treated to a sumptuous repast. During the honors, guests munched on fresh fruits, crackers, bacalhau frito, and queijo São Jorge accompanied by the first course of the meal, pumpkin soup. The main course was a tender pork loin with stuffing and figs, mashed potatoes and vegetables. For dessert, we were served a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream with fresh fruit inside of an edible almond shell.
Entertainment included appearances by our very own Portuguese-American dancers, led by Daniel Silva. The dancers arrived in colorful costumes indigenous to various regions of Portugal. Their energy was contagious and was a great way to start out the evening. Later, the Chamarrita was called by Zezinho Garcia. A large circle of participants gathered together in one of the biggeset Chamarritas I've ever seen. A video, made by Rod Guidi, featuring community members such as Belmira Gonsalves, Manuel Silva, Ernestine Jurek and others was met much applause. Dance music was provided by The Heroes. The seven member band (guitar, drums, bass, keyboard, woodwinds, singers) had so much depth and talent that they were able to play a huge repertoire of classic hits and most of the time, sounded just like the original. They played until 12:30am and there were still about 50 people on the dance floor even after their last song. Some dancers chanted for more in hopes of an encore. No luck there but everyone left on the floor walked away smiling.
When it was all over, each family that had displayed a photo or dress or other artifact packed it away and took it home. This was when I realized that this event couldn't have been so successful without the participation of our community. It takes a village...and we have a great one! Thanks to everyone who pitched in and made the Centennial Gala so memorable!
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