MEMOIRS OF SCHOOL STREET VILLAGE

Thanks so much for the great response to this blog!
A special thank you to those who have passed it on to others. We are heading quickly to amazing page visits to this blog! Welcome to folks from all over the country and other countries as well, including Lisbon!!

The "Village", as it was called, is located in the northwest corner of the city of Taunton, Massachusetts U.S.A. It covers about 1 square mile with the center being School Street. A large portion of the Village population was Portuguese when I was growing up.

This blog covers a lot of the history of the Village, much to do with my years as a child there: 1940 through the late 1950's. I do have many wonderful photos and information prior to that that and will share those as well. Always looking for MORE PHOTOS AND MORE STORIES TO TELL.

If you would like to send photos or share a memory of growing up in the Village
e-mail me at spinoart@comcast.net
feel free to comment on the posts. Directions are on the right side of the blog posts. Jump in, the water is fine and it is easy!!!


I will be posting photographs but not identifying individuals unless I have permission or they are a matter of public record. It you wish to give me permission, please let me know.

I am looking for any and all photos of the Village...

Please note: the way blogs work is that the latest post is first. It you would like to start from the beginning of the blog, check out the post labels on the right of the blog and go from there. Thanks.


Friday, August 16, 2013

The Rhythm of Another Village Memory

We wrote of the Taunton Band Club earlier in the blog, and at length.  Now, here is another musical memory interlude...thanks to Arlene Gouvia for the memory description and the photo.
This entire post belongs to her.

.....
The Village produced two marching bands that were quite good.  There was the "Drill Team",  a group of young boys and girls who participated in the religious and patriotic parades.
The group was founded by Charles and Valentino Fostin, and the drillmaster was Wilfred Mador.  They practiced at the end of Winter Avenue, a dead end
 and were quite a sight in their red and white uniforms.

(Wilfred Mador was my classmate Sonny Mador's Dad)


                                                     The Village Drill Team  in the 1930's
                                                             Photo from Arlene Gouveia
                                         

The other group was the Liberty Guards, a group of young men who belonged to the Taunton City Band Club in the early thirties when it was also a social club and not just a practice hall for the band. The Guards were quite a colorful sight as they marched up and down School Street wearing white sailor suits (probably WW I surplus).  They practiced their intricate drills at the School Street Corner (now Braga Square).   The group participated in all sorts of parades and amassed quite a few trophies in competitions in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  Their drill master was Joseph Rose.

Addendum...The head tall girl in the front has been identified as Marie Vincent and one of the houses in back of the team that of Joe and Hilda Vincent.  Thanks to a relative that gave us this help.

Arlene gleaned these memories from Jeanette Nascimento who was a member of the drill team, and
Arthur (Baron) Lopes who was a member of the Liberty Guards. Arthur Lopes
recently passed away at nearly 100 years of age.
.......................


Thanks, Arlene.  The memories you share with all of us help take us back to a totally different time.  These days that is a welcome trip.  Having grown up in the Village in the 50's it is not hard for me to go back just a bit more to imagine what it must have been like.  In a way it was a microcosm of so many villages or small neighborhoods in the U.S. during those years.  Simpler, somehow more intimate and meaningful.  A time long gone but hopefully never forgotten.  It is the reason I began and continue this blog. It is my hope that children and grandchildren and on from there will read these pages 
and try to understand what can be and what once was.

Thank you to so many who have spread the news
about this blog.  At this point the blog has gone international, readers as far away
as Russia and of course, Portugal, routinely check in to read new posts.

Once again I invite readers to comment and share their own stories.
It enriches all of us.

This post has received lots of good notice, and I am especially pleased to
identify a few more members of the group in this picture.

Marie Vincent is in the front.

Also, in the group: Jackie Bernadino Rogers, Jeanette Rose Nascimento 
and Janet Perry Santos.


The group is in front of the Ferreira House with Joe and Hilda Vincent's house in
the background.

Thanks to the contributors including Arlene herself.


                         

6 comments:

  1. That's my mom in front...Marie Vincent..and My Grandfather and Grandmothers house in the background. Joe and Hilda Vincent. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes that's mom...but oops it's the house across the street from my grandfathers on Winter Ave. I have some more parade pictures to send. Dave Costa

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  3. Although living in the village I had never heard of these two groups. Perhaps because they were before my time, but it was nostalgic knowing and reading about them. Thanks, Arlene for your contributions to this blog. Gilda

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sandy, I believe the drill team is lined up on School St. in front of the
    Ferreia house next to the band club. I can see John Santos' first grocery
    store on the left. It was in the three decker.Jackie Bernardino Rogers,
    Jeannette Rose Nascimento, and Janet Perry Santos are in the group.
    They were a sharp looking group., n, n, m ,

    ReplyDelete
  5. awesome, thanks, Arlene. It is great to identify more people...

    ReplyDelete