Name/Title
Celeste Freitas (Silvas), 1938 Holy Ghost QueenDescription
From the book, “The Holy Ghost Festas: A Historic Perspective of the Portuguese in California.”
The Portuguese community in Pinole was mainly composed of vegetable growers and dairy farmers.
Celeste Freitas Silvas, the Pinole Holy Ghost queen in 1938, recalls that many of the properties along Pinole Valley Road were mostly dairies owned by old-time Portuguese farmers such as Antonio Simas, who donated all the beef for the Holy Ghost festas for many years.
They also found employment in the seasonal harvest work and the hay presses. Many worked at the nearby California Powder Works or Hercules Powder Company.
The church and the religious festivities were the center of the values, social life, and cultural traditions of Pinole’s Portuguese citizens.
They were great supporters of St. Joseph's Church, as is testified by many of its stained-glass windows — historical markers of the Portuguese presence in Pinole.
I.D.E.S. Council No. 12 was established in Pinole in February 1898, but it took quite a few years before the Holy Ghost celebration was held in Pinole.
It was only in 1907 that the local I.D.E.S. council representative requested permission to hold the festa, in conjunction with the Rodeo, Crockett, Martinez, and Benicia councils. One should keep in mind that this was the year right after the San Francisco earthquake and it is understandable that the atmosphere was not one conducive to great festivities.
The council never had its own hall, and none of the Portuguese newspapers at the time ever mention the Pinole festa, but the I.D.E.S. convention records show that the celebration took place from 1908 onward, at least until the late 1910s.
Celeste Silvas believes that the first public, large-scale celebration took place in 1911, and that May Vincent was the first queen, at age 14.
In order to be a queen, the parents had to sell the most tickets, and Celeste says, "My parents sold the most in two years, when my sister Arlette and I were queens."
The first celebrations took place at St. Joseph's Church in Pinole. The festivities took place on the church grounds at the side of the church. Later, they started being held at the Holy Ghost Hall, on Tennent Avenue and Park Street, now an Episcopal church.
For many years the Portuguese or Holy Ghost Hall was used during the celebration for the chamarrita dances, and another hall across the street, the Eagles Hall, was used for dancing with American music.
It is not known when the celebrations stopped being sponsored by the I.D.E.S. Council and became the responsibility of the Pinole Holy Ghost Association, which promoted it until its dissolution in 1959, when “the old timers were to old to work that hard, and the young people were not interested,” according to Celeste.
The crown used for the celebrations is kept at the I.D.E.S. museum in Hayward.
Celeste remembers that until the early 1940s the celebration was a two-day event, with a small parade on Saturday, followed by fireworks and dancing. Sunday was the big celebration day with mass and crowning of the queen, parade, serving of the sopas, and auctions of varied homemade items and donated livestock. Sopas were served for lunch and there were several seatings. Usually about 2,000 people were served a delicious sopas. There was no charge for the sopas.
Celeste also recalls new tremocos (lupine beans) beings being distributed during the festa. She also remembers that the crown was kept in one of the members’ homes.
“The persons to have the crown in their homes were supposedly people who had made a promesa (vow) to the Holy Spirit on behalf of a family member who was ill and needed divine intervention. They also made a sizable donation to the coroa (crown) which I suppose was a big determining factor if there was any competition for who would win out to have the crown.”
People would go to that home the week prior to the festa and pray the rosary every night.
In 1993, a group of former San Pablo and Pinole queens gathered to reminisce about the early queen days during a “revitalization” celebration organized by the San Pablo Association.Copyright
Copyright Holder
Pinole Historical Society
