Party Time in the Village

We have already talked about Sunday music in the air .  There were other musical sounds, too, like the singing of Happy Birthday. The Village met its own needs. It did not need to go out of it and get all fancy with its parties. They were homespun, relaxing, inexpensive and made for terrific memories. Today folks spend hundreds of dollars on elaborate and competitive birthday parties.
                                               
                                                Hands down, I bet ours were more fun.

Birthday parties were a staple of get togethers for kids.  We learned early on to socialize with our little friends from the comaraderie of grownups around us and their willingness to celebrate birthdays. First Communions and so forth.  Remember pin-the-tail on the donkey,
and waiting for the ice cream and cake?

        

                                                          Photo from the Internet

Below is a  1944 photo of a birthday party in my Aunt Mary and Uncle Joe Souza's kitchen.
The birthday girl is the little girl, mu cousin Carolyn, in the middle.
The doll was her birthday present and it had wandered from her lap.

 How many kids can you fit on top of a table....a whole lot!
 I am third in from top row looking at my sister Kathy...I think. My late cousin,
Jack Bernadino is bottom left. Cousins and friends.
We were a parcel of cousins so that made a party all on its own.  Here friends were invited, too.

My family was a party family.  Cynthia says she recently came upon a note she had written:"I was invited to a party at Sandra's.  I won a prize."  That would have been in the 40's so kudos to you Cynthia for keeping that moment!

See some folks you recognize in the photo below?

 Must have been a Christmas thing as three of us

                        are wearing velvet which was the thing for little girls in that season.

circa late 1940's

             

 Finally, as we got older, the parties got a little more sophisticated....

but still took place at home.

  My Aunt Alveda in the background, my Aunt Eleanor making the calls
for this Square dancing party:

myself top left with Anthony Butler, Elaine Farinha far right...
My Mom and aunts had removed all the furniture from my parent's bedroom on Blinn's Ct.
to make room for this one.  You can bet that there were lots of homemade goodies, too.  

No need for clowns and pony rides...who could afford that anyway?

Like I said.....homespun.

What kind of parties do you remember ?

AND THE BAND PLAYED ON...

Working on this last Band post, I was seeking a good photograph. I need not have worried. Along came this wonderful photo of two youthful band members in the late 1950's.  Here are first cousins David and Norman Rose in their band uniforms.  Love the loosened ties.  This photo emphasizes again the strong family  aspect of the band.  We go on with that legacy now. Thanks Arlene once more for completing the stories in words and in pictures.

Leaving their Rose house School St. location in 1959 only after it was needed for the growing  Rose family, the Band went next to the Ward 5 on Winter St.  James Walczak tells us that he played trombone with the band during those years in the Ward 5 basement.  He said it was grand to play somewhere every weekend, especially at the Portuguese Festas.  Later practice took place at the Eagles Club on Lawrence St. in Taunton, the Gun and Rifle Club on E. Brittania, back to the Ward 5 and then to the Veteran's of Foreign Wars on Engle St.  Someone will have to take on the more recent history of the Band which still plays today.

We know that young musicians were nurtured By John Gonsalves and the band. Often they went on to make their names in bigger venues.  Here are more of them and their stories.

Joe P. Silvia, a trumpet player with the Band later played with the Billy Mays Orchestra and the J's with Jamie (he married Jamie).  Joe excelled in commercials and in 1964 was nominated for Best Group New Artist losing only to Peter, Paul and Mary.  After he died, a Grammy was found in one of his suitcases.

Darrly Bayer played with the Boston Pops under Harry Ellis Dixon, also with Destiny's Child, The OJ's, The Temptations and the Four Tops as well as Michael Bolton. His grandfather, Mr. Schine, ran the little variety store that my Uncle John Bernadino once ran on School Street.

John Gonsalves himself had a son, Jack, whom he taught to play the trumpet. After years following his father's footsteps in the band  he form ed the Jack D'John trio with two other musicians, brothers Dan and John Majkut.

The Trio went off to Las Vegas to make their name, playing in all the big hotels: The Sands, The Flamingo, Cesar's Palace.  Often they opened for big name acts such as Bill Cosby. Once Bill Cosby was very late, so the Trio played nearly the whole evening wowing the crowd. Headlines the next day read "Unknowns Outshine Cosby".  The Trio is still familiar to all of us.

Jack also had a son who followed in his father's and grandfather's footsteps.  Jay Gonsalves is known for the BaHa Boys who began 20 years ago.  The Brothers have played in Las Vegas, Treasure Island, Puerto Rico, Bermuda and for 14 years in their beloved Key West. Last year they were invited to play with their idol Jimmy Buffet in Newport, RI.

Here is where the big circle closes and I come in.  Carol Souza, my sister-in-law, wife of my brother Frank, is former wife to Jack and mother to Jay.  Certainly when I listened and danced to the BaHa Brothers....I had no idea of the legacy that I was tapping into.

Village ties run deep and far and wide. The Taunton City Band was born in the Village and will always belong to it in a special way.  May the Band play on...and on....and on....

A Famous Son of the Band

Little did we realize when we heard the band tuning up on School St. that its sounds had traveled far beyond our little village.  Travel they did: as far as the bright lights of
Las Vegas and New York.

This bit of Village folklore is brought to you by the late Joseph Rose, Arlene's father.
 She had recorded his story that now it reaches out to us.
This is a story of dreams and a belief in one's talents.

Mr. .Rose said that the greatest musician that the
 Taunton City Band produced was
 Joseph Crovello.

 Joseph's father, although non-musical himself,  encouraged him to take up the violin. He immediately excelled in it. When he became a part of the Taunton City Band he could play any instrument he picked up.  He gravitated, however, to the trombone. All his fellow band members recognized that a very special talent was among them.

In the twenties Joseph went to New York City seeking his musical fame and fortune.  He played in pit orchestras for many Broadway shows.  For a time he played with Phil Spitalny before Phil switched to an all girl orchestra, something more common in those years (Phil'sAll Girl Orchestra

 highlighted Evelyn and her Magic Violin if you would like to seek it on You Tube 

that,too is quite a story).

Joseph played in orchestras that broadcast live from ballrooms atop hotels such as the Astor.  He always sent Mr. Rose postcards alerting him as to when the broadcasts would take place.

 Her father, writes Arlene, stayed up very late to listen.  From little School St. to atop places like the Astor a strong and lasting link....  

   Listen in and get a flavor of it all. 

 It is very possible we are hearing the sound of Joseph's trombone.

                                                               Our tale continues.

Joseph married a beautiful Zeigfield follies girl named Sonja.  He adopted her son who became a well known artist in his own right.  The Taunton Gazette ran an article on his son some years back.  Try watching this YouTube video to get a taste of the world in which Joseph Crovello found himself....probably pinching himself to be sure it was true.

In reality, it was too good to be true. Tragically, in the early thirties, at the height of his career, Joseph Crovello died suddenly of "walking pneumonia".  Joseph died unexpectedly while talking to his mother in his apartment.  His mother was visiting from Taunton.

The Village was devastated.  Mr. Rose was heartbroken.  All the Taunton City Band could do was to play for Joseph at his funeral.

                                    Joseph Crovello had just formed his own band in New York.

                                                                  ..............................

Next post: more about the Taunton City Band and its history.
 Meanwhile, is it possible that there is

someone who recorded the early sounds of the Taunton City Band?  Hope springs eternal!