Serving as queen of Portuguese Festival spans three
generations
Sharon Taylor remembers being crowned queen of Hollister’s
Portuguese Festival as if it were yesterday.
It was 1964, and she was just 15 years old, but Taylor vividly
recalls her white, bride-like dress, the high heels, almost
tripping as she walked down San Benito Street and the pride she
felt at the huge smile lighting up the face of her grandfather,
A.G. Silva, as she was crowned.
Serving as queen of Portuguese Festival spans three generations
Sharon Taylor remembers being crowned queen of Hollister’s Portuguese Festival as if it were yesterday.
It was 1964, and she was just 15 years old, but Taylor vividly recalls her white, bride-like dress, the high heels, almost tripping as she walked down San Benito Street and the pride she felt at the huge smile lighting up the face of her grandfather, A.G. Silva, as she was crowned.
Another past queen, Jennifer Tortorelli, has memories as well, of a beautiful pink dress, being extremely shy about facing the large crowd at the festival and feeling very hot during that 1988 May weekend.
Samantha Lierly, who will be crowned as the 2008 Portuguese Festival Queen May 10, hasn’t yet asked for advice from either Sharon or Jennifer about what to expect this weekend, but she could – simply by walking into her own living room.
Samantha, 17, is a third generation Portuguese Festival queen, picking up where her grandmother (Sharon) and mother (Jennifer) left off. All of the women in Silva’s family have had some role in the festival, including Jennifer’s sister, Lynette, another past queen.
“It’s really important to us to be able to carry on the family tradition and for the kids to be able to experience this for themselves,” Sharon, 59, said, referring to her other granddaughters, who will serve as handmaids and carry the parade’s banner. “They are all going to be in the parade this year. I said ‘if Grammy’s gonna do all this work, we’re gonna get it out of the way in one shot.'”
Hollister’s annual Portuguese Festival celebrates the story of Queen Isabel, born in 1271. She was married to Dinis, a selfish king who so objected to his wife’s constant charity he eventually forbid her to give to the poor. According to legend, Isabel met Dinis on her way to give bread to hungry subjects, so she hid the bread in her apron. Dinis asked her what she was carrying, and Isabel said roses. When her disbelieving husband opened her apron, the bread was transformed into roses.
Although similar festivals are held throughout the world, Hollister’s festival has become more than a way to honor a beloved queen. It is also a celebration of the participants’ strong Catholic beliefs, said Anthony Silva, current Portuguese Lodge president and Samantha’s great-uncle.
“The Portuguese are real believers in the Holy Spirit, and we feel very strongly about it,” Silva said. “Our queen represents the beauty of Isabel, and at this time we make promises to the Holy Spirit about how we will conduct ourselves.”
The Silva family has a long history with Hollister’s Sociedad Divino do Espirito Santo (SDES) Portuguese Lodge. The lodge itself was built in the early 1930s, thanks in part to Sharon’s grandfather, A.G. Silva, and her uncle, Joe Silva. Sharon’s aunt was a festival queen, and her mother, Helen, a handmaid. Sharon, the first granddaughter to be born in the Silva family after five grandsons, said it was expected that she would one day be queen.
“Grandpa was so proud of me that day,” she said.
Sharon had attended the festival ever since she was a toddler, and remembers eating sopas – a traditional Portuguese meal made with roast beef, onions, tomatoes, spices, wine, mint and cabbage, all served over french bread – and watching older family members dance, laugh and have a good time. The two-day event traditionally includes a coronation dance on Saturday followed by the parade, a Mass and the festival on Sunday.
Although she always had fun at the event, it wasn’t until the year she was queen that Sharon said she fully understood the significance of the festival.
“That day was so exciting for so many reasons,” she said. “To learn the true meaning behind the celebration was wonderful. Plus, to be in the limelight of something I’d been going to for years was exciting. I met older people who I had grown up knowing, but with nothing more than a smile, and suddenly, I had a chance to joke with them, talk with them and learn about their families.”
Years later, when Sharon had married and her daughters were old enough to serve as queen, Grandpa Silva came to his granddaughter with a special request.
“When Lynette was about 15, Grandpa came up to me and asked if I would let her be queen. He said ‘this might be my last celebration,'” Sharon said. “So she did it. Then, when Jennifer was old enough a few years later, he came to me and said the same thing! But really, I was so excited my girls had the chance to experience the parade the way I did, because it’s very important part of their Portuguese heritage. And to see the pride on Grandpa’s face, well, to be able to do that for him made me very happy.”
Jennifer also remembers going to the festival as a child.
“Every year I either watched the parade or else I was in it in some fashion,” she said. “If we weren’t busy doing things at the hall, we were out in front of the house watching.”
But while her mother enjoyed every minute of her time as queen, Jennifer was not quite as excited with her role.
“I was stubborn,” she said. “I didn’t like being the center of attention. I was shy, and that shyness came out in snippiness and tears. I wanted to do it so bad, but when it came down to it, I was scared.”
“I practically had to drag her to the hall kicking and screaming,” Sharon remembers.
Samantha is more like her grandmother when it comes to the festival. The beautiful, dark-haired teen has embraced her role as queen, and is looking forward to the dance and parade.
“I’ve always heard Mom and my grandma talk about it and I’ve seen all the pictures,” Samantha said. “I want to keep the family tradition going.”
“I’m glad Samantha has such confidence,” Jennifer said. “Because I knew from the minute she was born she’d be queen one day.”
The festival has helped the three women strengthen their already strong bonds – Sharon and Jennifer took Samantha to David’s Bridal in San Jose, where she picked out “the shiniest, sparkly, glittery dress I could find,” and they have swapped horror stories about the traditional cape the queen wears during the parade.
“My mom made mine, and I made capes for my daughters; Jennifer bought Samantha’s,” Sharon said. “But the one thing they all have in common is how heavy they are.”
“It’s velvet, and the weight hurts my collar bone,” Samantha agreed. “But it makes me feel very regal and important.”
Each year, the queen is expected to represent Hollister at approximately eight other festivals held at nearby Catholic parishes; for Jennifer, going to festivals where she was not the object of attention was one of her favorite parts of being queen.
But the chance to keep a family tradition while celebrating their religion and heritage is what drives the Silva women towards the crown.
“We are truly blessed,” Jennifer said. “My boss once told me that we are rich in what matters in life – family, love and friends. But it’s not just passing on a tradition. It’s passing on the love and the basis of what this family has been built on.”
Laurie Castañeda can be reached at ca******@pi**********.com.
If you go
Hollister’s annual Portuguese Festival will be held this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, May 9-10. The celebration begins with the traditional Queen Coronation and Dance Saturday at 9 p.m. at the SDES Lodge, 695 Seventh St. On Sunday festivities will begin with a parade from the lodge to Sacred Heart Church at 10 a.m., followed by Mass at 11 a.m. Serving of the traditional Portuguese “sopas” will begin at the lodge at 11 a.m. with games, an auction and dancing to follow. For more information, call 801-5584.
