Thomas and Filomena Barcelos Interview
Item
Title
Thomas and Filomena Barcelos Interview
Creator
Barcelos, Thomas
Barcelos, Filomena
Contributor
McCoy, Kelley Campos
Language
ENG
Relation
Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute
Date
3/25/2022
Identifier
SCUAD_pbbi_00042
extracted text
Kelley Campos McCoy: Thank you very much for meeting with me. I'm Kelly
McCoy with the Portuguese Oral History Project. So, I'm gonna start
off by asking you some questions about your beginnings. Tom, where
were you born?
Thomas Barcellos: Uh, I was actually born and raised, I was born in uh
Porterville at the hospital, but I was raised in this home right here
where my mom and dad lived all their married life.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And when were you born?
Thomas Barcellos: I was born in 1955.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And what is your full birth name?
Thomas Barcellos: Um, Thomas Barcellos. And strangely enough, when I
was little, I thought my middle name was NMN because on a lot of legal
documents, they actually put NMN for no middle name. So, it was kind
of weird.
Kelley Campos McCoy: What are you named after anyone?
Thomas Barcellos: Uh, nobody in the family. But uh you know; I was
named after Saint Thomas.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And what is your full birth name?
Filomena Barcellos: I'm Filomena Pires Barcellos.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And were you named after anyone?
Filomena Barcellos: No, my mother was just petrified of childbirth and
Saint Filomena was the patron saint of expectant mothers.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, when and where were you born?
Filomena Barcellos: I was born in Visalia, California. And uh I was
born in 1956.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, how does a Visalia girl and a Porterville boy
meet?
Filomena Barcellos: I was actually raised in Tulare. I was just born in
Visalia, but I was actually raised in Tulare. West of Tulare, yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So where…
Thomas Barcellos: We’re Portuguese, where do Portuguese people meet?
They meet at the festa.
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: And I was introduced to her by her best friend, who
was my aunt's goddaughter.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And was this like immediate, did you know right
then?
Thomas Barcellos: I did, I don't know if she did.
Filomena Barcellos: I don't know. I, I liked him hahaha.
Kelley Campos McCoy: What year was this?
Filomena Barcellos: Oh, my gosh. I was um, sophomore in high school.
Thomas Barcellos: The summer of 1973.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And were, you was, what year were you in high
school? I I, you were a sophomore?
Filomena Barcellos: I was a sophomore. I, it was the end of my
sophomore year when I met him. Yeah, the end of my sophomore year. And
then, yeah, we dated for a total of three years. And, yeah, then got
married in 1976.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And you brought her here to, this area.
Filomena Barcellos: To Tipton, yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: She, she came to where I was raised. Um, I had
started farming the same year we got married. Um, I rented uh, some
property that my mom and dad had, and I left the so called family
business where we were with my uncle and grandparents and whatnot and
started on my own.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, did you know, uh, how, when did you realize
that you wanted to work in agriculture?
Thomas Barcellos: Probably when I jumped in the first mud puddle when I
was maybe two. It's, it's just something that, uh always intrigued me.
I loved my little toy tractors and, and, you know, I had a little
garden and I had little toy tractors to garden with. And, uh, I
started driving a tractor at the age of five for my dad to feed cows.
And, uh, it just went from there.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, is the business um exclusively then dairy?
Thomas Barcellos: No, actually when uh I started on my own, I was
strictly farming, because my uncle and his boys had the dairy that was
here. And sometime later, about six years later when my grandparents
passed away, uh my uncle and his boys kind of went on their separate
way and the dairy facility as part of the family estate, I had the
opportunity to come back and, and buy some of the family members out.
And a few years after that, I started. We rented the dairy for a few
years to an outside person. And then uh 1989 I decided, you know, the
only way to do this right is to have my own cows here. So that's when
I went into the dairy business along with my farming operation.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, do you still have a farming operation in
addition to the dairy business?
Thomas Barcellos: Yeah, the farming operation that I started with
Barcellos Farms uh in 1976 and it's still going and uh T-Bar Dairy was
started in 1989. And then uh we started White Gold Dairy in 2012,
which is a partnership with uh my daughter Bridget and her husband
Matt.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So now I understand that working in agriculture,
primarily dairy has, has been a very big part of the Portuguese
American kind of legacy especially here in California. Um when you
were growing up Tom, and then I'll ask you Bridget when you were going
Bridget, I'm sorry.
Filomena Barcellos: That’s the daughter, that’s good. My mother does
that too.
Kelley Campos McCoy: I should have, I should have had uh alcohol maybe
[inaudible] or something. Um, so when you were growing Tom, did you
have a strong sense of your Portuguese identity?
Thomas Barcellos: Oh, absolutely. Um, we spoke Portuguese at home until
my older brother started grammar school because we, he only spoke
Portuguese and goes to grammar school and had to learn English. Uh,
that's when we started speaking English in the home. And my
grandparents who lived next door, which is now my home, um, you know,
spoke only Portuguese in their home, even though I know grandma could
do much better she could go to town and get whatever she needed in the
right color and the right size and pretended like she couldn't speak
Portuguese, I mean, couldn't speak English. Yeah, I don't think so.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, in addition to the language, what were some
other traditions that were practiced in your home growing up?
Filomena Barcellos: Well, we went to church every Sunday in Tipton at
Saint John's. And right across the street is the SPDES Hall, which is
the Portuguese uh hall. The SPDES, stands for Spiritus Portuguese do
Spirito Santu. Um and my dad was a part of that uh committee that put
on the celebrations each year. Later on, when we got married, I was
very involved in that as well. Um, I was secretary for many years
president in 1989 when, uh my daughter Bridget was little queen. And
uh so, yeah, it's, it's been a very, very big part of our family.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And when you were growing up, was it a big part of
your family as well?
Filomena Barcellos: Oh, yes. Oh, yeah, we went to all the celebrations
and, um, you know, we're in the parades every year you know, and,
yeah, I was little queen also for Tulare for the TDS in Tulare when,
um, yeah. So, it was yeah, it was a big deal.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, why do you think, um the Portuguese primarily
those from the Azores, why do you think they've been so successful at
maintaining their identity when so many other groups have become so
assimilated that they've lost that?
Filomena Barcellos: Well, I mean, those traditions, I'm sure are part
of it because, I mean, everybody likes a good dance, everybody likes
to eat, you know, everybody likes a parade. So here you go.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Yeah, what do you think?
Thomas Barcellos: I think it has a lot to do with the fact that there's
a certain work ethic and you know, everybody had a lot of the same
interests. A lot of them that came from the Azores, my dad was three
years old when they immigrated. Uh, they went in the dairy business
because they had a relative that was in the business is where they
worked and, you know that kind of carries on. But in the process of
doing that, um, there were immigrants that came and worked here for my
grandfather that then when they left was to start their own business.
And so, there's a, just a night, uh, a tight knit community that has
the same interests and it's all based on the heritage. You know we're,
we're American, we're nationalized, but at the same time, we don't,
are, you can be a nationalist and, and still never forget your
heritage and we like it, you know, as Filomena said, who doesn't like
a good dance or a or a nice celebration where you can get a big plate
of sopas, it's hard to beat.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, when the two of you had children together, how
many kids did you have?
Filomena Barcellos: We have three daughters.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And was it important to you to have that be
carried on with them? And the language and the tradition?
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah, they all spoke Portuguese at home. You know,
the, the older two still speak Portuguese pretty well. My youngest is
kind of, you know, she kind of slipped a little bit there. But yeah,
because then when they were all in school. It was just so hard to keep
them all speaking Portuguese at home. That poor Delinda kind of got
the short end of the stick there. But yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: I think a lot of that came too also that, uh, even
though we spoke English here, my mother-in-law uh speaks very little
English. In other words, she is a Portuguese speaking person and, you
know, my in-laws were, were more ingrained in the cultural activities
than my parents, even though, you know, we were all involved. Uh, you
know, but since my mother-in-law was born in the old country and came
in her teens, my father was three. So, there was something missing
there, even though we've gone back, I've seen the house that my dad
was born in and, uh, you know we really enjoy the culture. Um, you
know, it's just the fact that we're familiar with it and got to see
some things. It's, it's really amazing and we still have some
relatives there in the Azores islands on Terceira.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Yeah, I'm gonna ask you actually some questions
about your impressions, like when you first went there. But let's talk
a little bit about your parents. So, your mother as Tom said, she came
over when she was a teenager when she was…
Filomena Barcellos: She was 19.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Oh, ok.
Filomena Barcellos: So, my, my dad had family in Terceira, an uncle and
he would go, he went to go visit him one summer and met my mom and
four years later, I mean, he spent quite a while, he spent quite a few
months there and actually got to know my uncles because the, his, his
uncle and my grandfather were neighbors. And so, he got to know my
uncles and before you know it, he gets to know my mom and before you
know, it, you know, they're kind of courting or whatever. And before
he left, he actually proposed and four years later went back and they
got married and they honeymooned there and then came here, uh, came to
California.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Yeah, did you ask your mom what it was like
leaving at 19 to start over in a new country where there, was there
anxiety?
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah, there was I, I remember her saying there was
anxiety, but my grandfather, her father had been in this country for a
few years and actually had a dairy in, in the Los Banos area. And so,
he, and he loved this country and, you know, made money here, sold his
share to two of his brothers and went back and started his business
there, got married, had five children and, and live there ‘til, um,
‘til they were elderly actually and then came back to California and
finished the rest of his life in Gustine. And so, yeah, so he loved
this country and he really, really wanted that for my mom. He, he knew
he would be, she would be happy here. And he, he really, really liked
my dad's family too. So, he knew that the family really well and knew
she would be fine. Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And she was.
Filomena Barcellos: And she was, and she was.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Did you ever encounter, do you recall her saying,
did you ever encounter, like discrimination or?
Filomena Barcellos: Oh, no. Oh, no, no. Uh uh.
Kelley Campos McCoy: I would imagine one of that, that's one of the,
um, advantages of moving to a place where there is a strong immigrant
community already.
Filomena Barcellos: Yes.
Kelley Campos McCoy: You know, there's that, that kind of tight knit.
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, you had mentioned that you were a little
queen? Was, was this um something that you aspired to when you were
little?
Filomena Barcellos: I mean, no, it just, you know, my father was on the
TDS committee, you know, and I don't know, one year they needed little
queens and there was three of us that got thrown in the hat and I
ended up little queen and the other two were my attendants. So that's
just how that happened. Yeah, it's, yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Can you guys tell me now um about the festas, have
they changed at all over the years since the time when you were young?
Have you noticed any changes?
Filomena Barcellos: Well, I mean, things always change a little bit.
Thomas Barcellos: What's interesting to me uh And I'll just speak here
to Tipton. Um, it's actually on a, not a push because we've never
departed much from how it's been for as long as I can remember. And I
can remember quite a ways back. But, uh we have some additional things
now that we're doing, you know I mean, we've always tried to have
events where the Portuguese dancers would come and different things.
But Tipton is kind of special because, you know, we have the little,
the, the bull fights, you know, little bull on a rope. We have the
vacata, you know, where they have the, the calves, you go out and play
with the calves. I was part of the group that built the arena that we
put up and take down for these events. And, uh, you know, we have on,
uh, right before Ash Wednesday. Uh, we have a [inaudible] where we
cook tomos [assumed spelling], I mean, uh cook queijems for 1000
people.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And what is that?
Thomas Barcellos: It's, uh when you take the pig and you butcher the
pig and, and then of course you uh marinate it and you cook it in
these big cauldrons, you know, the pots and, uh, you serve them, and
they eat it up and…
Filomena Barcellos: It’s really good.
Thomas Barcellos: And we have young younger people now that are loving
it and getting involved in it and…
Filomena Barcellos: It's marinated like in a vinho de alho, with the,
with the Portuguese say which is wine and garlic. And, and so it's,
it's, yeah, they call it vinho de alho.
Thomas Barcellos: And it doesn't stop there. We also do a lamb feed to
feed a lot of people and, you know, my son in law even though he's not
Portuguese, Bridget's husband. Um, I mean, he is in this thing and
it's, he's part of the culture in terms of what we do there. Uh, and
there's others that are coming along. There's, uh, still some other
immigrants, you know, who were young in the Azores and are here now
and they want to carry on the tradition. They're in their twenties and
thirties and, and, you know, becoming involved. It's, it's a cultural
family, fun thing to do.
Kelley Campos McCoy: That's excellent. Sounds multigenerational then
that there are younger ones coming in, learning how to do the things
taking over.
Thomas Barcellos: Very much so.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Yeah, excellent. So, um about the festas, we've
spoken a little bit about this um dairy. You actually have had a
pretty large role in terms of giving cows to the local festa. Is that
correct?
Thomas Barcellos: Yeah, matter of fact, if I think back how many years,
I don't know if we should have gave that many away, but it's, it's
once a year. Uh you know, and then we also donate to the uh Tulare or
Visalia celebrations because they're all part, we don't compete
against one another we compete with, in other words, who can put on
the best celebration.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, can you give us an idea about how many cows
are involved each year in terms of the donations?
Thomas Barcellos: Well, if you go back to 1989 the year that I was
president in Tipton, we took in 93 cows that were donated. And um out
of those, we only end up uh cooking about 18 all the rest are sold,
and the money comes in fundraising you know, to help feed, you know,
surrounding communities and anybody can come and eat. You don't have
to be Portuguese. And if they're sick in the community, we take and
deliver sopas to them on, on the days that we do that.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, what happens? Um, there are fewer Portuguese
dairies now, there are fewer dairies now, right than there have been
in the past? So, what does that mean then? For the festas and the
donations does the pressure fall on whatever it-
Thomas Barcellos: It does a little bit. Uh, but you know, when it comes
time, uh it's amazing how people step up. Um, and in particular, the,
the dairies that are around here and, and we say dairies, not all
dairies are Portuguese. You know, there's a lot of Dutch dairymen they
donate cows because it's a community thing and they come and enjoy it
as well. Um, you know, we don't we don't define anybody by what their
heritage is, you know, come and join us. I think they also like the
fact that it's a religious event also, you know I think that.
Kelley Campos McCoy: What do you, what do you mean?
Filomena Barcellos: Well, it's in honor of the Holy Spirit. So is how
the, the from what, from what my Portuguese grandmother told me that
the first celebration uh Queen Elizabeth of Portugal is the one that
started it. And it was in honor of the Holy spirit and she, that she
would feed the poor. And like Bridget said earlier, she made a promise
that if her husband and her son did not go to war against each other,
that she would continue to feed the poor. And that's where that, you
know, so it's a religious thing too. I mean, everybody believes in the
Holy Spirit. So, yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: My grandmother, my mother's mom on, on that, that
side of the family. Uh, she came from Serreta on Terceira, and I know
that it was in the early sixties that she had made a promise when they
came, when she came here that if they were successful in business that
she would go back and feed the town. And in the early sixties, she
went back to the, to, to, to her hometown of Serreta and bought a cow
bull. I'm not sure of the exact details, but they butchered it and had
a big little mini festa to feed the, the people of the town. And you
know, that's, that's religion, that's a belief that's what you did it
for. And if you don't believe, you won't understand. But if you
believe and we believe a lot, there's a lot of things that uh we can't
explain, but we understand.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, would you say that if you really wanted to
understand the heart and soul of the Portuguese people one way to do
that would be through their faith, from understanding that?
Thomas Barcellos: Yes.
Filomena Barcellos: I believe so. Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, you actually, Tom, you actually, you, you
started your business, and it has grown tremendously. How many cows do
you have? Now?
Thomas Barcellos: We milk, milk, uh 750 here at uh T Bar Dairy and then
in partnership with our kids at White Gold, we milk 900.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And you started with how many?
Thomas Barcellos: Well, when I was little in the early sixties, we were
milking 280 cows here.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, as you look at how much of the business that
part only and not even including the farm side, when you look at how
successful you've been as, as a businessman how does that make you
feel? What do you attribute that success to?
Thomas Barcellos: I attribute that to faith. Believing. My good
neighbors who helped me when I needed to start. Um, my uncle Manuel
Martin, uh who married my dad's sister, um Manuel and Danny Ferreia uh
loaned me equipment to get my first crops planted, because I couldn't
afford to just go buy a tractor. And once the crops were planted, then
I had really not a lot to do equipment wise for 6 to 8 months. Um, we
actually cut our honeymoon short because I had to come back and start
irrigating. But that being said, uh you know, Portuguese community
came together to be sure I was successful. Um, and I've tried to
return that same to, to people. Um, somebody needs a hand like it's
not just me, it's our culture. People are there to help. And, uh, I'm,
I'm just blessed that, uh, that we live where we live.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Filomena, you feel the same way?
Filomena Barcellos: Exactly. Yeah. My, um, my parents, I forget the
year, but I was probably 10 years old. Um, our cows were accidentally
poisoned. Um, the neighbor, the crop duster. And then the following
day my dad goes chop you know; alfalfa feeds the cows. The next
morning, we wake up to, you know, dozens of dead cows and sick ones
and it might, the neighbors were just amazing. The neighbors were
amazing and helping. I mean, the cows needed all IVs and just, yeah,
but the neighbors and I'll never forget. There was two neighbors in
particular there was an Italian on one side of us and a Portuguese on
the other side of us and because our calves still needed milk to be
fed Henry Verismo brought a cow and my dad just wouldn't take it,
wouldn't take, he said sorry, I'm, I'm not giving it to you. I'm
giving it to your kids. You can't tell me no, if I'm giving it to your
kids and, and the Italian neighbor on the same thing, you know,
brought us this big. I can still see her being unloaded out of the
trailer. Yeah, it was it's amazing how neighbors. Yeah. And family.
And, yeah, it's amazing.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, speaking of family, it, it looks like
certainly with your family there's interest in maintaining the
traditions and, um, including the business. How does that make you
feel like you did something right?
Thomas Barcellos: I think Filomena has done a lot right, because she
raised the girls and, uh, you know, I was working. There was a lot of,
a lot of, uh, nights that I was bailing hay, and she was home, taking
care of the kids. And…
Filomena Barcellos: It’s what you do.
Thomas Barcellos: Um, you know, it's, uh, it's a blessing and, you
know, with my, uh, parents close and my in laws not all that far away,
but everybody pulls together and, um, you know, we were taught to make
good choices and I think we were able to pass that on to our kids. Uh,
all three of them became teachers. Uh, one is an, a, one was an Ag
teacher, one is a special education teacher, and one is a band
director. That's a pretty broad uh spectrum of capabilities. But
growing up they all ran farm equipment.
Filomena Barcellos: They all know how. They all know how, there was one
Summer that the girls and I were the, the swathing crew. We cut all
the hay. Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Because you don't really hear that much about the
girls being actively involved.
Filomena Barcellos: Our, our oldest um, ran a harvesting crew when she,
what? She was a freshman in college?
Thomas Barcellos: When she was a freshman in college. She ran the, the
combines, um, and the boys that were out there were kind of laughing
until she showed them that she could outwork them. And then it was a
little competition, but, yeah, we had four machines out there and, uh,
she actually ended up running the whole show.
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah, it's crazy.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Well, so I understand that you guys, you said that
you went to the Azores. What was it like when you first went?
Thomas Barcellos: Stepping back in a time warp. Uh, you know, little
cobbles, you know, some cobblestone roads. Uh, you could pick a spot
where you think. Wow this is way back and then you go down a little
bit farther and real nice asphalt, paved roads and beautiful homes…
Filomena Barcellos: Beautiful homes. It’s beautiful there.
Thomas Barcellos: And everything else. But, um, it's just amazing. It,
it's, uh, it's, it's everything’s there.
Filomena Barcellos: It's kind of what I expected only because I'd seen
so many home films, home movies from, from back there. But yeah, it's
beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Tell me what the people were like.
Filomena Barcellos: Oh, so friendly, so friendly. We got lost on the,
when we rented a car, you know, we landed, rented a car, shoved all of
our luggage in there, barely had room for us and got lost. And I don't
know, ended up like two aldeias from where we were supposed to be, two
villages from where we were supposed to be. And I got out of the car,
and I says this is where we're supposed to be, you know, in Portuguese
because I'm fluent. And, um, and she says, oh, I know exactly where
you need to go past you, you gotta pass two churches you know one on
the right one on the left and then make it to make a right hand turn
and you're right there. And so, it was just, but, but so, so, so
friendly no matter where you went, no matter where you went. Yeah,
they were. Yeah. No matter what restaurant. Yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: The real…
Filomena Barcellos: Village you were from. It didn't make any
difference. Yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: Kind of the real challenge there is not overeating
because everybody, you go, you go visit family, you go visit friends,
you go visit strangers. Here comes the food and they're…
Filomena Barcellos: Insulted.
Thomas Barcellos: They're insulted if you say no.
Filomena Barcellos: They're offended. And then when you go to these
restaurants, I mean, they just start bringing it out and it's, uh, the
food is so good there. It's amazing.
Kelley Campos McCoy: How often have you, have you gone back?
Filomena Barcellos: Oh gosh, I don’t know.
Thomas Barcellos: We’ve been back four times.
Filomena Barcellos: I don't know. I was gonna say five. But I mean…
Thomas Barcellos: Four or five.
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah, it's, yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: Yeah, we're ready to go again.
Filomena Barcellos: We still have, uh, we still have the house that my
mother grew up in, that my mother was born in. Yeah, in Santa Barbara.
Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: It's still, it's still in the family?
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah, it's still in the family. So, we still have
the house there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, wow.
Filomena Barcellos: And it's so cute because it, um, the, the house,
the main house is still there. The house that my grandfather was, was
raised in is right next door and the house that his grandfather is in
is right. You know, is right, right there too. So, it's just amazing to
see. Yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: And then one is hard to call a house. It looks more
like a rock hut.
Filomena Barcellos: I mean, and it's got it still has dirt floors and
yeah, and it was three rooms and they raised nine children in that
house. So, yeah. Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, I, I just have like a couple more questions
that I want to ask you. We always like to tie it up by asking
questions about what does being Portuguese or Azorean mean to you and
how has it kind of shaped who you are as a person? So, ladies first.
Filomena Barcellos: Oh, my goodness. I don't know. I can't imagine
being anything else. Um, I don't know. I just can't really imagine
being anything else. I mean, I, I remember, you know, being in school,
what are you? Well, I'm Portuguese. Oh, you know. Yeah, it was, I
don't know, it was just important…
Kelley Campos McCoy: How do you think it has shaped you?
Filimena Barcellos: Oh.
Kelley Campos McCoy: The woman that you are? See now, Tom. Tom's having
time to think about it.
Filomena Barcellos: I know. I know. Right. Right. That's really not
fair. He should have been first.
Thomas Barcellos: But, yeah, what she said?
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah. Oh, I don't know. I think, I think it
instilled really good work ethics, you know, we're, we're hard workers
you know, we really are, you know, and we're good moms, we're good
homemakers, you know. Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: what makes a good mom?
Filomena Barcellos: Well, somebody who swats their kids when they need
to be swatted number one. But, um, somebody who's just there, you
know, we did, you know, we, we didn't, we did without a lot, you know,
because, you know, I could have went to work but it was important to
stay home and raise my girls and that's what he wanted too. And that's
what I wanted. I wanted to be home and raise my kids. I didn't want
someone else telling me. Oh well, guess what, you know, Bridget took
her first step today or, or Delinda did this or Theresa did that you
know, and if I couldn't do it, I wanted their grandmothers you know,
to be the ones, you know, not, not a stranger. And, yeah, and I know
my mom felt that way too, you know, and I'm sure my mother-in-law did
too.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Tom?
Thomas Barcellos: Well. First, she did work it just, she worked at
home. But she also many times came out and got on equipment and drove
tractors. She was driving a tractor disking when she was expecting
Bridget. So, yeah, she worked, uh, but being Portuguese, um, what it
means to me is that we represent something. We have a heritage um,
that we try to pass on that we live, you know it's, it's part of us.
Um, and I have, I have friends that don't have anything like that, you
know, their, their family members you know, were all over the country.
Um, not close knit. It's, it's almost like they're alone and, you
know, being Portuguese you're never alone. You have. And, and again,
you know, we have, uh, a close-knit family. Um, we have a lot of the
same interests. I'm not a soccer player, but I know a lot of
Portuguese love soccer. Um, but you know I, I like certain sports, uh,
but we have just a lot of things in common that carry on. Um I love to
work on things. Um, things that have some value to me. One thing that
I have that has value to me, that I was pretty involved in over a long
period of time. About 14 years was getting my mom and dad's 1949 Buick
honeymoon car restored to like-new condition and to watch them see it
for the first time, not knowing it was being done. Um, I have, uh the
1963 Jeep that my dad bought new, and I got in ‘69 when he got another
pickup. I drove to high school. Uh, I drove it when I started farming.
I still have it. I took it back to my 40-year reunion. Um, there's
things that, that I see Portuguese people, we hang onto things. Um,
that, that means something to you. And again, like I said, I have some
friends that have that hell, we got another, we got rid of this and
that it doesn't matter to them, and we have things that we just value.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Wow. Do you think that that's unique to the
Azores? Do you think that, that there's kind of an island mentality
because life was harder there than it was on the continent, or do you
think that's?
Thomas Barcellos: I don't know, I, I know people that are not
Portuguese that value certain things, but not maybe as deeply or you
know, it, it's, it's.
Filomena Barcellos: There's a sentimental value and I don't know, even
in, with raising my girls here on this farm that I know that their
father was raised on and that it belonged to their grandfather and
their great grandfather. You know, I look at that barn and there's a
lot of sentimental value in that, just that barn. You know, I, I, they
talk about, they've talked about, you know, doing this and I'm like,
no, you're not changing the front of that barn. You can do whatever
you want, but the barn stays the way it looks. I, I love it. I love
the way it looks. Yeah, it's old. I don't care. I like it.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Yeah, I, after interviewing Bridget, it seems, I,
I think you, you could be pretty confident that the barn is not gonna
change for a long that…
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah, leave the bar alone.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Well, is there anything that we did not touch on
that you guys would like to share?
Thomas Barcellos: I just really number one is like to say thank you to
you guys who are putting all this together because again, it kind of
falls back to our heritage, something that can be shared. Um I know
that you get, I can't imagine how many different perspectives you get,
but I think they all come back to the same basic love of where we came
from and, and who we are.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Um, you, you are, you are. So, you are so right.
There have been so many common threads. Um, you all mention work
ethic, you all mention family, you all mention language even though
some may speak it better than others. And you all mention the church,
you know, as being those elements that hold you together, you know,
and it's, it's beautiful to see. I mean, as, as I've said to Diniz,
this has been an utter and complete blessing to have been brought on
to this project, you know, to be able to meet folks like you and to
have you open your, your homes and your hearts because it's so obvious
that you speak from the heart, you know, and, and I deeply appreciate
that, so thank you.
Filomena Barcellos: Thank you.
Thomas Barcellos: Thank you.
McCoy with the Portuguese Oral History Project. So, I'm gonna start
off by asking you some questions about your beginnings. Tom, where
were you born?
Thomas Barcellos: Uh, I was actually born and raised, I was born in uh
Porterville at the hospital, but I was raised in this home right here
where my mom and dad lived all their married life.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And when were you born?
Thomas Barcellos: I was born in 1955.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And what is your full birth name?
Thomas Barcellos: Um, Thomas Barcellos. And strangely enough, when I
was little, I thought my middle name was NMN because on a lot of legal
documents, they actually put NMN for no middle name. So, it was kind
of weird.
Kelley Campos McCoy: What are you named after anyone?
Thomas Barcellos: Uh, nobody in the family. But uh you know; I was
named after Saint Thomas.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And what is your full birth name?
Filomena Barcellos: I'm Filomena Pires Barcellos.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And were you named after anyone?
Filomena Barcellos: No, my mother was just petrified of childbirth and
Saint Filomena was the patron saint of expectant mothers.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, when and where were you born?
Filomena Barcellos: I was born in Visalia, California. And uh I was
born in 1956.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, how does a Visalia girl and a Porterville boy
meet?
Filomena Barcellos: I was actually raised in Tulare. I was just born in
Visalia, but I was actually raised in Tulare. West of Tulare, yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So where…
Thomas Barcellos: We’re Portuguese, where do Portuguese people meet?
They meet at the festa.
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: And I was introduced to her by her best friend, who
was my aunt's goddaughter.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And was this like immediate, did you know right
then?
Thomas Barcellos: I did, I don't know if she did.
Filomena Barcellos: I don't know. I, I liked him hahaha.
Kelley Campos McCoy: What year was this?
Filomena Barcellos: Oh, my gosh. I was um, sophomore in high school.
Thomas Barcellos: The summer of 1973.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And were, you was, what year were you in high
school? I I, you were a sophomore?
Filomena Barcellos: I was a sophomore. I, it was the end of my
sophomore year when I met him. Yeah, the end of my sophomore year. And
then, yeah, we dated for a total of three years. And, yeah, then got
married in 1976.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And you brought her here to, this area.
Filomena Barcellos: To Tipton, yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: She, she came to where I was raised. Um, I had
started farming the same year we got married. Um, I rented uh, some
property that my mom and dad had, and I left the so called family
business where we were with my uncle and grandparents and whatnot and
started on my own.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, did you know, uh, how, when did you realize
that you wanted to work in agriculture?
Thomas Barcellos: Probably when I jumped in the first mud puddle when I
was maybe two. It's, it's just something that, uh always intrigued me.
I loved my little toy tractors and, and, you know, I had a little
garden and I had little toy tractors to garden with. And, uh, I
started driving a tractor at the age of five for my dad to feed cows.
And, uh, it just went from there.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, is the business um exclusively then dairy?
Thomas Barcellos: No, actually when uh I started on my own, I was
strictly farming, because my uncle and his boys had the dairy that was
here. And sometime later, about six years later when my grandparents
passed away, uh my uncle and his boys kind of went on their separate
way and the dairy facility as part of the family estate, I had the
opportunity to come back and, and buy some of the family members out.
And a few years after that, I started. We rented the dairy for a few
years to an outside person. And then uh 1989 I decided, you know, the
only way to do this right is to have my own cows here. So that's when
I went into the dairy business along with my farming operation.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, do you still have a farming operation in
addition to the dairy business?
Thomas Barcellos: Yeah, the farming operation that I started with
Barcellos Farms uh in 1976 and it's still going and uh T-Bar Dairy was
started in 1989. And then uh we started White Gold Dairy in 2012,
which is a partnership with uh my daughter Bridget and her husband
Matt.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So now I understand that working in agriculture,
primarily dairy has, has been a very big part of the Portuguese
American kind of legacy especially here in California. Um when you
were growing up Tom, and then I'll ask you Bridget when you were going
Bridget, I'm sorry.
Filomena Barcellos: That’s the daughter, that’s good. My mother does
that too.
Kelley Campos McCoy: I should have, I should have had uh alcohol maybe
[inaudible] or something. Um, so when you were growing Tom, did you
have a strong sense of your Portuguese identity?
Thomas Barcellos: Oh, absolutely. Um, we spoke Portuguese at home until
my older brother started grammar school because we, he only spoke
Portuguese and goes to grammar school and had to learn English. Uh,
that's when we started speaking English in the home. And my
grandparents who lived next door, which is now my home, um, you know,
spoke only Portuguese in their home, even though I know grandma could
do much better she could go to town and get whatever she needed in the
right color and the right size and pretended like she couldn't speak
Portuguese, I mean, couldn't speak English. Yeah, I don't think so.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, in addition to the language, what were some
other traditions that were practiced in your home growing up?
Filomena Barcellos: Well, we went to church every Sunday in Tipton at
Saint John's. And right across the street is the SPDES Hall, which is
the Portuguese uh hall. The SPDES, stands for Spiritus Portuguese do
Spirito Santu. Um and my dad was a part of that uh committee that put
on the celebrations each year. Later on, when we got married, I was
very involved in that as well. Um, I was secretary for many years
president in 1989 when, uh my daughter Bridget was little queen. And
uh so, yeah, it's, it's been a very, very big part of our family.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And when you were growing up, was it a big part of
your family as well?
Filomena Barcellos: Oh, yes. Oh, yeah, we went to all the celebrations
and, um, you know, we're in the parades every year you know, and,
yeah, I was little queen also for Tulare for the TDS in Tulare when,
um, yeah. So, it was yeah, it was a big deal.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, why do you think, um the Portuguese primarily
those from the Azores, why do you think they've been so successful at
maintaining their identity when so many other groups have become so
assimilated that they've lost that?
Filomena Barcellos: Well, I mean, those traditions, I'm sure are part
of it because, I mean, everybody likes a good dance, everybody likes
to eat, you know, everybody likes a parade. So here you go.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Yeah, what do you think?
Thomas Barcellos: I think it has a lot to do with the fact that there's
a certain work ethic and you know, everybody had a lot of the same
interests. A lot of them that came from the Azores, my dad was three
years old when they immigrated. Uh, they went in the dairy business
because they had a relative that was in the business is where they
worked and, you know that kind of carries on. But in the process of
doing that, um, there were immigrants that came and worked here for my
grandfather that then when they left was to start their own business.
And so, there's a, just a night, uh, a tight knit community that has
the same interests and it's all based on the heritage. You know we're,
we're American, we're nationalized, but at the same time, we don't,
are, you can be a nationalist and, and still never forget your
heritage and we like it, you know, as Filomena said, who doesn't like
a good dance or a or a nice celebration where you can get a big plate
of sopas, it's hard to beat.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, when the two of you had children together, how
many kids did you have?
Filomena Barcellos: We have three daughters.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And was it important to you to have that be
carried on with them? And the language and the tradition?
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah, they all spoke Portuguese at home. You know,
the, the older two still speak Portuguese pretty well. My youngest is
kind of, you know, she kind of slipped a little bit there. But yeah,
because then when they were all in school. It was just so hard to keep
them all speaking Portuguese at home. That poor Delinda kind of got
the short end of the stick there. But yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: I think a lot of that came too also that, uh, even
though we spoke English here, my mother-in-law uh speaks very little
English. In other words, she is a Portuguese speaking person and, you
know, my in-laws were, were more ingrained in the cultural activities
than my parents, even though, you know, we were all involved. Uh, you
know, but since my mother-in-law was born in the old country and came
in her teens, my father was three. So, there was something missing
there, even though we've gone back, I've seen the house that my dad
was born in and, uh, you know we really enjoy the culture. Um, you
know, it's just the fact that we're familiar with it and got to see
some things. It's, it's really amazing and we still have some
relatives there in the Azores islands on Terceira.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Yeah, I'm gonna ask you actually some questions
about your impressions, like when you first went there. But let's talk
a little bit about your parents. So, your mother as Tom said, she came
over when she was a teenager when she was…
Filomena Barcellos: She was 19.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Oh, ok.
Filomena Barcellos: So, my, my dad had family in Terceira, an uncle and
he would go, he went to go visit him one summer and met my mom and
four years later, I mean, he spent quite a while, he spent quite a few
months there and actually got to know my uncles because the, his, his
uncle and my grandfather were neighbors. And so, he got to know my
uncles and before you know it, he gets to know my mom and before you
know, it, you know, they're kind of courting or whatever. And before
he left, he actually proposed and four years later went back and they
got married and they honeymooned there and then came here, uh, came to
California.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Yeah, did you ask your mom what it was like
leaving at 19 to start over in a new country where there, was there
anxiety?
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah, there was I, I remember her saying there was
anxiety, but my grandfather, her father had been in this country for a
few years and actually had a dairy in, in the Los Banos area. And so,
he, and he loved this country and, you know, made money here, sold his
share to two of his brothers and went back and started his business
there, got married, had five children and, and live there ‘til, um,
‘til they were elderly actually and then came back to California and
finished the rest of his life in Gustine. And so, yeah, so he loved
this country and he really, really wanted that for my mom. He, he knew
he would be, she would be happy here. And he, he really, really liked
my dad's family too. So, he knew that the family really well and knew
she would be fine. Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And she was.
Filomena Barcellos: And she was, and she was.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Did you ever encounter, do you recall her saying,
did you ever encounter, like discrimination or?
Filomena Barcellos: Oh, no. Oh, no, no. Uh uh.
Kelley Campos McCoy: I would imagine one of that, that's one of the,
um, advantages of moving to a place where there is a strong immigrant
community already.
Filomena Barcellos: Yes.
Kelley Campos McCoy: You know, there's that, that kind of tight knit.
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, you had mentioned that you were a little
queen? Was, was this um something that you aspired to when you were
little?
Filomena Barcellos: I mean, no, it just, you know, my father was on the
TDS committee, you know, and I don't know, one year they needed little
queens and there was three of us that got thrown in the hat and I
ended up little queen and the other two were my attendants. So that's
just how that happened. Yeah, it's, yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Can you guys tell me now um about the festas, have
they changed at all over the years since the time when you were young?
Have you noticed any changes?
Filomena Barcellos: Well, I mean, things always change a little bit.
Thomas Barcellos: What's interesting to me uh And I'll just speak here
to Tipton. Um, it's actually on a, not a push because we've never
departed much from how it's been for as long as I can remember. And I
can remember quite a ways back. But, uh we have some additional things
now that we're doing, you know I mean, we've always tried to have
events where the Portuguese dancers would come and different things.
But Tipton is kind of special because, you know, we have the little,
the, the bull fights, you know, little bull on a rope. We have the
vacata, you know, where they have the, the calves, you go out and play
with the calves. I was part of the group that built the arena that we
put up and take down for these events. And, uh, you know, we have on,
uh, right before Ash Wednesday. Uh, we have a [inaudible] where we
cook tomos [assumed spelling], I mean, uh cook queijems for 1000
people.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And what is that?
Thomas Barcellos: It's, uh when you take the pig and you butcher the
pig and, and then of course you uh marinate it and you cook it in
these big cauldrons, you know, the pots and, uh, you serve them, and
they eat it up and…
Filomena Barcellos: It’s really good.
Thomas Barcellos: And we have young younger people now that are loving
it and getting involved in it and…
Filomena Barcellos: It's marinated like in a vinho de alho, with the,
with the Portuguese say which is wine and garlic. And, and so it's,
it's, yeah, they call it vinho de alho.
Thomas Barcellos: And it doesn't stop there. We also do a lamb feed to
feed a lot of people and, you know, my son in law even though he's not
Portuguese, Bridget's husband. Um, I mean, he is in this thing and
it's, he's part of the culture in terms of what we do there. Uh, and
there's others that are coming along. There's, uh, still some other
immigrants, you know, who were young in the Azores and are here now
and they want to carry on the tradition. They're in their twenties and
thirties and, and, you know, becoming involved. It's, it's a cultural
family, fun thing to do.
Kelley Campos McCoy: That's excellent. Sounds multigenerational then
that there are younger ones coming in, learning how to do the things
taking over.
Thomas Barcellos: Very much so.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Yeah, excellent. So, um about the festas, we've
spoken a little bit about this um dairy. You actually have had a
pretty large role in terms of giving cows to the local festa. Is that
correct?
Thomas Barcellos: Yeah, matter of fact, if I think back how many years,
I don't know if we should have gave that many away, but it's, it's
once a year. Uh you know, and then we also donate to the uh Tulare or
Visalia celebrations because they're all part, we don't compete
against one another we compete with, in other words, who can put on
the best celebration.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, can you give us an idea about how many cows
are involved each year in terms of the donations?
Thomas Barcellos: Well, if you go back to 1989 the year that I was
president in Tipton, we took in 93 cows that were donated. And um out
of those, we only end up uh cooking about 18 all the rest are sold,
and the money comes in fundraising you know, to help feed, you know,
surrounding communities and anybody can come and eat. You don't have
to be Portuguese. And if they're sick in the community, we take and
deliver sopas to them on, on the days that we do that.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, what happens? Um, there are fewer Portuguese
dairies now, there are fewer dairies now, right than there have been
in the past? So, what does that mean then? For the festas and the
donations does the pressure fall on whatever it-
Thomas Barcellos: It does a little bit. Uh, but you know, when it comes
time, uh it's amazing how people step up. Um, and in particular, the,
the dairies that are around here and, and we say dairies, not all
dairies are Portuguese. You know, there's a lot of Dutch dairymen they
donate cows because it's a community thing and they come and enjoy it
as well. Um, you know, we don't we don't define anybody by what their
heritage is, you know, come and join us. I think they also like the
fact that it's a religious event also, you know I think that.
Kelley Campos McCoy: What do you, what do you mean?
Filomena Barcellos: Well, it's in honor of the Holy Spirit. So is how
the, the from what, from what my Portuguese grandmother told me that
the first celebration uh Queen Elizabeth of Portugal is the one that
started it. And it was in honor of the Holy spirit and she, that she
would feed the poor. And like Bridget said earlier, she made a promise
that if her husband and her son did not go to war against each other,
that she would continue to feed the poor. And that's where that, you
know, so it's a religious thing too. I mean, everybody believes in the
Holy Spirit. So, yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: My grandmother, my mother's mom on, on that, that
side of the family. Uh, she came from Serreta on Terceira, and I know
that it was in the early sixties that she had made a promise when they
came, when she came here that if they were successful in business that
she would go back and feed the town. And in the early sixties, she
went back to the, to, to, to her hometown of Serreta and bought a cow
bull. I'm not sure of the exact details, but they butchered it and had
a big little mini festa to feed the, the people of the town. And you
know, that's, that's religion, that's a belief that's what you did it
for. And if you don't believe, you won't understand. But if you
believe and we believe a lot, there's a lot of things that uh we can't
explain, but we understand.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, would you say that if you really wanted to
understand the heart and soul of the Portuguese people one way to do
that would be through their faith, from understanding that?
Thomas Barcellos: Yes.
Filomena Barcellos: I believe so. Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, you actually, Tom, you actually, you, you
started your business, and it has grown tremendously. How many cows do
you have? Now?
Thomas Barcellos: We milk, milk, uh 750 here at uh T Bar Dairy and then
in partnership with our kids at White Gold, we milk 900.
Kelley Campos McCoy: And you started with how many?
Thomas Barcellos: Well, when I was little in the early sixties, we were
milking 280 cows here.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, as you look at how much of the business that
part only and not even including the farm side, when you look at how
successful you've been as, as a businessman how does that make you
feel? What do you attribute that success to?
Thomas Barcellos: I attribute that to faith. Believing. My good
neighbors who helped me when I needed to start. Um, my uncle Manuel
Martin, uh who married my dad's sister, um Manuel and Danny Ferreia uh
loaned me equipment to get my first crops planted, because I couldn't
afford to just go buy a tractor. And once the crops were planted, then
I had really not a lot to do equipment wise for 6 to 8 months. Um, we
actually cut our honeymoon short because I had to come back and start
irrigating. But that being said, uh you know, Portuguese community
came together to be sure I was successful. Um, and I've tried to
return that same to, to people. Um, somebody needs a hand like it's
not just me, it's our culture. People are there to help. And, uh, I'm,
I'm just blessed that, uh, that we live where we live.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Filomena, you feel the same way?
Filomena Barcellos: Exactly. Yeah. My, um, my parents, I forget the
year, but I was probably 10 years old. Um, our cows were accidentally
poisoned. Um, the neighbor, the crop duster. And then the following
day my dad goes chop you know; alfalfa feeds the cows. The next
morning, we wake up to, you know, dozens of dead cows and sick ones
and it might, the neighbors were just amazing. The neighbors were
amazing and helping. I mean, the cows needed all IVs and just, yeah,
but the neighbors and I'll never forget. There was two neighbors in
particular there was an Italian on one side of us and a Portuguese on
the other side of us and because our calves still needed milk to be
fed Henry Verismo brought a cow and my dad just wouldn't take it,
wouldn't take, he said sorry, I'm, I'm not giving it to you. I'm
giving it to your kids. You can't tell me no, if I'm giving it to your
kids and, and the Italian neighbor on the same thing, you know,
brought us this big. I can still see her being unloaded out of the
trailer. Yeah, it was it's amazing how neighbors. Yeah. And family.
And, yeah, it's amazing.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, speaking of family, it, it looks like
certainly with your family there's interest in maintaining the
traditions and, um, including the business. How does that make you
feel like you did something right?
Thomas Barcellos: I think Filomena has done a lot right, because she
raised the girls and, uh, you know, I was working. There was a lot of,
a lot of, uh, nights that I was bailing hay, and she was home, taking
care of the kids. And…
Filomena Barcellos: It’s what you do.
Thomas Barcellos: Um, you know, it's, uh, it's a blessing and, you
know, with my, uh, parents close and my in laws not all that far away,
but everybody pulls together and, um, you know, we were taught to make
good choices and I think we were able to pass that on to our kids. Uh,
all three of them became teachers. Uh, one is an, a, one was an Ag
teacher, one is a special education teacher, and one is a band
director. That's a pretty broad uh spectrum of capabilities. But
growing up they all ran farm equipment.
Filomena Barcellos: They all know how. They all know how, there was one
Summer that the girls and I were the, the swathing crew. We cut all
the hay. Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Because you don't really hear that much about the
girls being actively involved.
Filomena Barcellos: Our, our oldest um, ran a harvesting crew when she,
what? She was a freshman in college?
Thomas Barcellos: When she was a freshman in college. She ran the, the
combines, um, and the boys that were out there were kind of laughing
until she showed them that she could outwork them. And then it was a
little competition, but, yeah, we had four machines out there and, uh,
she actually ended up running the whole show.
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah, it's crazy.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Well, so I understand that you guys, you said that
you went to the Azores. What was it like when you first went?
Thomas Barcellos: Stepping back in a time warp. Uh, you know, little
cobbles, you know, some cobblestone roads. Uh, you could pick a spot
where you think. Wow this is way back and then you go down a little
bit farther and real nice asphalt, paved roads and beautiful homes…
Filomena Barcellos: Beautiful homes. It’s beautiful there.
Thomas Barcellos: And everything else. But, um, it's just amazing. It,
it's, uh, it's, it's everything’s there.
Filomena Barcellos: It's kind of what I expected only because I'd seen
so many home films, home movies from, from back there. But yeah, it's
beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Tell me what the people were like.
Filomena Barcellos: Oh, so friendly, so friendly. We got lost on the,
when we rented a car, you know, we landed, rented a car, shoved all of
our luggage in there, barely had room for us and got lost. And I don't
know, ended up like two aldeias from where we were supposed to be, two
villages from where we were supposed to be. And I got out of the car,
and I says this is where we're supposed to be, you know, in Portuguese
because I'm fluent. And, um, and she says, oh, I know exactly where
you need to go past you, you gotta pass two churches you know one on
the right one on the left and then make it to make a right hand turn
and you're right there. And so, it was just, but, but so, so, so
friendly no matter where you went, no matter where you went. Yeah,
they were. Yeah. No matter what restaurant. Yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: The real…
Filomena Barcellos: Village you were from. It didn't make any
difference. Yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: Kind of the real challenge there is not overeating
because everybody, you go, you go visit family, you go visit friends,
you go visit strangers. Here comes the food and they're…
Filomena Barcellos: Insulted.
Thomas Barcellos: They're insulted if you say no.
Filomena Barcellos: They're offended. And then when you go to these
restaurants, I mean, they just start bringing it out and it's, uh, the
food is so good there. It's amazing.
Kelley Campos McCoy: How often have you, have you gone back?
Filomena Barcellos: Oh gosh, I don’t know.
Thomas Barcellos: We’ve been back four times.
Filomena Barcellos: I don't know. I was gonna say five. But I mean…
Thomas Barcellos: Four or five.
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah, it's, yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: Yeah, we're ready to go again.
Filomena Barcellos: We still have, uh, we still have the house that my
mother grew up in, that my mother was born in. Yeah, in Santa Barbara.
Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: It's still, it's still in the family?
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah, it's still in the family. So, we still have
the house there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, wow.
Filomena Barcellos: And it's so cute because it, um, the, the house,
the main house is still there. The house that my grandfather was, was
raised in is right next door and the house that his grandfather is in
is right. You know, is right, right there too. So, it's just amazing to
see. Yeah.
Thomas Barcellos: And then one is hard to call a house. It looks more
like a rock hut.
Filomena Barcellos: I mean, and it's got it still has dirt floors and
yeah, and it was three rooms and they raised nine children in that
house. So, yeah. Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: So, I, I just have like a couple more questions
that I want to ask you. We always like to tie it up by asking
questions about what does being Portuguese or Azorean mean to you and
how has it kind of shaped who you are as a person? So, ladies first.
Filomena Barcellos: Oh, my goodness. I don't know. I can't imagine
being anything else. Um, I don't know. I just can't really imagine
being anything else. I mean, I, I remember, you know, being in school,
what are you? Well, I'm Portuguese. Oh, you know. Yeah, it was, I
don't know, it was just important…
Kelley Campos McCoy: How do you think it has shaped you?
Filimena Barcellos: Oh.
Kelley Campos McCoy: The woman that you are? See now, Tom. Tom's having
time to think about it.
Filomena Barcellos: I know. I know. Right. Right. That's really not
fair. He should have been first.
Thomas Barcellos: But, yeah, what she said?
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah. Oh, I don't know. I think, I think it
instilled really good work ethics, you know, we're, we're hard workers
you know, we really are, you know, and we're good moms, we're good
homemakers, you know. Yeah.
Kelley Campos McCoy: what makes a good mom?
Filomena Barcellos: Well, somebody who swats their kids when they need
to be swatted number one. But, um, somebody who's just there, you
know, we did, you know, we, we didn't, we did without a lot, you know,
because, you know, I could have went to work but it was important to
stay home and raise my girls and that's what he wanted too. And that's
what I wanted. I wanted to be home and raise my kids. I didn't want
someone else telling me. Oh well, guess what, you know, Bridget took
her first step today or, or Delinda did this or Theresa did that you
know, and if I couldn't do it, I wanted their grandmothers you know,
to be the ones, you know, not, not a stranger. And, yeah, and I know
my mom felt that way too, you know, and I'm sure my mother-in-law did
too.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Tom?
Thomas Barcellos: Well. First, she did work it just, she worked at
home. But she also many times came out and got on equipment and drove
tractors. She was driving a tractor disking when she was expecting
Bridget. So, yeah, she worked, uh, but being Portuguese, um, what it
means to me is that we represent something. We have a heritage um,
that we try to pass on that we live, you know it's, it's part of us.
Um, and I have, I have friends that don't have anything like that, you
know, their, their family members you know, were all over the country.
Um, not close knit. It's, it's almost like they're alone and, you
know, being Portuguese you're never alone. You have. And, and again,
you know, we have, uh, a close-knit family. Um, we have a lot of the
same interests. I'm not a soccer player, but I know a lot of
Portuguese love soccer. Um, but you know I, I like certain sports, uh,
but we have just a lot of things in common that carry on. Um I love to
work on things. Um, things that have some value to me. One thing that
I have that has value to me, that I was pretty involved in over a long
period of time. About 14 years was getting my mom and dad's 1949 Buick
honeymoon car restored to like-new condition and to watch them see it
for the first time, not knowing it was being done. Um, I have, uh the
1963 Jeep that my dad bought new, and I got in ‘69 when he got another
pickup. I drove to high school. Uh, I drove it when I started farming.
I still have it. I took it back to my 40-year reunion. Um, there's
things that, that I see Portuguese people, we hang onto things. Um,
that, that means something to you. And again, like I said, I have some
friends that have that hell, we got another, we got rid of this and
that it doesn't matter to them, and we have things that we just value.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Wow. Do you think that that's unique to the
Azores? Do you think that, that there's kind of an island mentality
because life was harder there than it was on the continent, or do you
think that's?
Thomas Barcellos: I don't know, I, I know people that are not
Portuguese that value certain things, but not maybe as deeply or you
know, it, it's, it's.
Filomena Barcellos: There's a sentimental value and I don't know, even
in, with raising my girls here on this farm that I know that their
father was raised on and that it belonged to their grandfather and
their great grandfather. You know, I look at that barn and there's a
lot of sentimental value in that, just that barn. You know, I, I, they
talk about, they've talked about, you know, doing this and I'm like,
no, you're not changing the front of that barn. You can do whatever
you want, but the barn stays the way it looks. I, I love it. I love
the way it looks. Yeah, it's old. I don't care. I like it.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Yeah, I, after interviewing Bridget, it seems, I,
I think you, you could be pretty confident that the barn is not gonna
change for a long that…
Filomena Barcellos: Yeah, leave the bar alone.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Well, is there anything that we did not touch on
that you guys would like to share?
Thomas Barcellos: I just really number one is like to say thank you to
you guys who are putting all this together because again, it kind of
falls back to our heritage, something that can be shared. Um I know
that you get, I can't imagine how many different perspectives you get,
but I think they all come back to the same basic love of where we came
from and, and who we are.
Kelley Campos McCoy: Um, you, you are, you are. So, you are so right.
There have been so many common threads. Um, you all mention work
ethic, you all mention family, you all mention language even though
some may speak it better than others. And you all mention the church,
you know, as being those elements that hold you together, you know,
and it's, it's beautiful to see. I mean, as, as I've said to Diniz,
this has been an utter and complete blessing to have been brought on
to this project, you know, to be able to meet folks like you and to
have you open your, your homes and your hearts because it's so obvious
that you speak from the heart, you know, and, and I deeply appreciate
that, so thank you.
Filomena Barcellos: Thank you.
Thomas Barcellos: Thank you.