Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute Collection

Mark Nunes Interview

Nunes, Mark

Borges, Diniz

ENG

Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute

5/12/2022

SCUAD_pbbi_00056

Diniz Borges: The Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute, California State
University, Fresno Oral History Project uh interview. What is your
full birth name?
Mark Nunes: My name is Mark uh or Mark Luis Nunes.
Diniz Borges: And uh Mark, were you named after anyone that you know
of?
Mark Nunes: Yeah, so um well, not my first name. Um but uh my middle
name is my, is my dad's uh, uh first name and that was his
grandfather's name. Um So, yeah, it's uh.
Diniz Borges: Third generation.
Mark Nunes: Yes.
Diniz Nunes: Is there a nickname that the family was known by, or no?
Mark Nunes: Um Yeah. So, my, you know, my parents, uh my dad, you know,
of course, last name was Nunes, my, my grandfather but what his
nickname was [inaudible] uh which-Diniz Borges: Okay. Um So where were you born?
Mark Nunes: I was born in Artesia, California, um Empire Boulevard,
which a hospital that no longer exists.
Diniz Borges: And uh when were you born?
Mark Nunes: Uh January 21st, 1976.
Diniz Borges: And uh what early memories uh Mark do you have of um as a
child? Uh from your childhood in the Portuguese American community, in
this case first years in Artesia?
Mark Nunes: Yeah. So, my dad was really involved in the Portuguese
community. There's a lot of memories that I have uh just going to the
hall and, and just playing with other friends of, of kids that were uh
the parents are also involved. So, I always remember being around. So,
I always remember um uh you know, being, being around the uh the
festas, the Carnaval, you know, at the time, even Artesia ‘til to this
day they do March de San Juan and, and, and they do a lot of different
stuff. My dad actually had um I don't know if you remember this, but
Casa Soriena [assumed spelling] uh my dad actually bought that
business, that building. He was uh I can't remember his name. He was a
San Miguel, he actually moved back to São Miguel, so my, my dad bought
that in 1981. Uh no, I take that back, 1983. And he had half his
business was a fish, cheese and bread and the other half was
Portuguese ceramics and had uh you know, Portuguese music. So, my dad
had a lot of and also Portuguese jewelry. So, my dad had a lot of
Portuguese people come in and, and, and do a lot of that. Uh you know,
just being part of the Portuguese community, which I remember my dad

even started back in Artesia. You had to call in to get the news of
the Portuguese uh community, which they would call in to his office.
And he had these um like answering machine and you listen, you know
for 20 minutes. Uh I think it was 20 minutes more or less and used to
have interviews with, uh, interviews or people discussing what was
going on in the community that I remember. Remember. I don't know if
you remember Mr. Borges, but um [inaudible], which I'm pretty sure who
that is. Um those are certain people that would come to our office
and, and, and use our office and have those recordings and my dad
would, uh would be part of that. He wouldn't do none of the
recordings, but he was there to always assist the community and he was
really, um he was an asset to, to the community there at the time that
we were there. And those are the kind of things that I remember just
going to the hall a lot and, and, and being part of the community uh
on that side also.
Diniz Borges: So, people would tune in to this or call in this
telephone number that would serve almost like a daily radio station of
news?
Mark Nunes: Um yeah, I would probably, I don't know how often, um
probably a weekly. Um but it would be, you know news of what's going
on in the community. I mean, now we have, I mean, well, now it's
different, of course but this is back in the early ‘80s. Um so my dad
yeah, my dad was part of that, and they used his office.
Diniz Borges: And so, Mark, when did your family, your mom and dad,
when did they immigrate to the United States?
Mark Nunes: So, they both, um, immigrated, they met here, uh, actually
in California. My, uh, my mom moved in, uh, oh, boy, ‘67. And then my,
my dad came in ‘69. Um, and they met in Tulare, and they got married
in Tulare. But at the time, um, my dad came, of course, like all of
them they came to Tulare to milk cows of course, he started with
Hoffman. But my dad, uh, and my grandfather were never really had an
avô, which they never had animals, or they weren't raised with, with
cows. So, they were milking cows, but it wasn't the greatest thing for
them. So, they ended up moving to Artesia, but my parents were
already, um, I don't know if they were engaged or not, but they were
going out and that's, that's how my, when my parents got married, my
mom got married, they got married in Tulare and then actually started
a family in Artesia.
Diniz Borges: And so, um, did your mom and dad ever talk to you, um,
and I know your dad's passed, but your mom, in life they ever talk to
you about um, why their family left the Azores? What was the main
reason that they talk about?
Mark Nunes: Well, just like a lot of other Portuguese, you know, um,
American dream. Um, just, you know, because if you look back, they

probably thought they were rich but, you know, a lot of people weren't
rich, you walk into their houses they had a couple of rooms. I
remember my mom saying that they had a couple of rooms, but the floor
was dirt, right? So, you swept the dirt and you kind of, that's kind
of it. Um, so, you know, and there was a family of six, you know, six
kids on both sides of my parents' family. Um, so both of them have
told me, you know we came um for a better future for, for, for, for
them, I mean, my grandparents came with them, of course, and it was a
better future for them and then also their grandkids, which means me
and then hopefully for my grandkids and hopefully it's, uh you know,
hopefully it continues and I always tell my dad, you know, my dad
would always say sometimes, you know, try to make a point. Well, you
know, I didn't grow up with fact two, you know, [inaudible], these,
right? You don't need that because you don't go. I said dad, why did
you come to America? Right? You came for better for us. And that's
kind of, that's kind of the idea.
Diniz Borges: So, and uh did you, um, so the family settled in Tulare
although your, your, your father's from your father's side, they moved
to Artesia. But um what made him that, you know of uh come to Tulare,
uh both families, do they have family here or what? What brought them
to Tulare first?
Mark Nunes: Well, I think it was jobs just like any other one because
they had, you know, they still had dairies down in Artesia but didn't
have a lot and, and, and, and the Portuguese people, that's where they
gravitate to, that's what they know. Of course. So, I know a lot of
them came to Tulare, um, to, well, them, they came to Tulare because
they had jobs already lined up when they landed. Um and that was why
they came here. Um, you know, my, my grandpa on my mom's side, you
know, he had a [inaudible] there. So, he had cows. He had animals that
they, they were, they even swats, right? They were used to it, so they
were, they stuck around, they, and then this is where they, they
stayed, of course. But, uh, again my parent, my, my dad's side, I
just, it wasn't for them, right? And they had some, um, actually when
they moved to Artesia, my grandpa and my father, um, had jobs lined up
and they would make furniture, uh, you know furniture, chairs and
tables. Uh, they did that for about three months. Um, and then they
went to Knotts Berry Farm and become landscapers at Knott's Berry
Farm. Um, and, and, uh, that's, yeah, that was a job that they liked,
they thought that was an upgrade. Um, and then my dad ended up
starting his own business well, he worked for a company in ‘78. And
then started his own business that I still do today in ‘81. So, yeah
that's, uh, yeah.
Diniz Borges: So,
your parents, um,
you stories about
country? And, uh,

for jobs and for opportunity, well, did you, um, did
and even your grandparents, did they ever, uh, tell
um, what it was like to adjust to a new life in the
and, and, and, uh, if they told you some of these

stories, what, what stories, uh, will you, uh, believe that were
passed down to you regarding their early experiences here before,
before they were married and even their first years being married
before you were born?
Mark Nunes: Um, really not, not a whole lot. I mean, you, you you come
from an island where it's small and you see the ocean and, and then
you come out here in the country and there would be weeks where they
wouldn't come to the city limits. So, you know, especially on a foggy
day. You're, you know, sometimes you think, and I, I, I could, you
could put yourself in, in their shoes going. Oh, my gosh. I came to
America to be in the middle of a, you know, a dairy and work every day
and don't have a car to go to town. So, you know, you don't know,
it's, you know, those is foggy days. I mean, I, I, no pun intended
here but there's those, those, those days where you're going “All
right, did we do the right move?” And that's a lot of, I, I could bet
a lot of Portuguese immigrants did that. Um, now what they passed
down, I know a lot of people, uh, can, can attest to this because
that's how my parents were. It was a work ethic is, um, you are what
you are today because of your work ethic. And that's how my dad was.
My dad always said, you know, you become what you are because your
work ethic and you're honest with people. Um, so that's one thing that
he did, uh teach me that I still do today um, is, is, is my work
ethic. So, you know, because my dad took a chance too in starting a
business with not having no school here in, in, in the United States.
You know, he had his class class, which is only four classes there in
Terceira in, in, and the Azores and he came here and milked cows at,
you know, the age of 17, um, and became something. But that's, you
know, that's not very common. I mean a lot of them do work; they milk
cows forever. Right, but they'll save every dollar, and they'll work
very hard, and they'll live well after they've, you know they, they've
retired, a lot of them have bought homes. Um, but my dad had bigger,
uh, bigger ideas and, and that takes a lot. I mean, I learned a lot
from that because again, he has no, no education.
Diniz Borges: As a um as a first um generation of your family to be
born in the United States uh with both parents being immigrants, um
how important was it to your parents that you were raised with a
strong Portuguese identity?
Mark Nunes: So, they never put pressure on me, they never did. Um but
just for my, my talk on my dad's side, my dad was a a very big, a good
example to me uh of what his Portuguese culture, his Portuguese
traditions, his Portuguese, Portuguese community, how important it was
because even it, even when, when we were, I was young, like I, I spoke
a lot about Artesia. He did come up here to work to Tulare in 1988 and
he was part of the uh he was President of a PPAV celebration at one
time. He was president of [inaudible], he was part of the band. Um so
just, but he never put pressure on me again. He just by example um of

how important it is uh to have a community, you know, and, and you can
see it even when I went back to school, when I was in school, when I
was in high school, um people were proud to be Portuguese. Um even the
people that had a and, and I, I know you're on campus a lot. Um you
probably saw a lot of those young kids if they were, especially in
Portuguese class. And I don't know if it was, I'm pretty sure it was
at your time also. Uh, if they were maybe 10% Portuguese, they were
proud of that 10%. Um, at least that's how I felt because everyone
wanted to be Portagee right? Or they call us greenhorns. But they all,
you know we, we took it as in fun and it was actually an honor for us.
For me it was because, you know, you ask a lot of people that weren't
Portuguese, you know what you do on the weekend? Oh, we have kind of
hung out and then we, I got the chance to go to the hall to go to a
festa to go to a dinner and I got to hang out with my Portuguese
people. So, you know, it was um, it was a big deal for me and that's
how important it was to me, but my dad never put pressure on me. It
was more by example.
Diniz Borges: But what about the language? Uh did uh was Portuguese
spoken at home?
Mark Nunes: Yeah, I started kindergarten without knowing any English.
Um, and, and the, the, the main part of that because, um, my grandma
died before I was born, uh 1974. I was born in ‘76 and my grandfather
lived with us. He ended up passing away in 1986. So, we're actually
roommates right with my grandpa because, uh, you know, the houses were
small. You know, my dad was, um, I didn't have the biggest house,
biggest house at the time. So, he didn't speak no English. So that's
all we spoke in the house uh was, was Portuguese. So, I started
kindergarten at Elliott School uh which benefited my Portuguese
because uh uh because of the program they had there. But yeah, so
Portuguese was very important. They didn't put pressure on me to speak
Portuguese. Um but it was just, that's just the way we were brought
up.
Diniz Borges: So, the identity, there was no pressure, but it was part
of um part of everyday living. Uh wow would you say that identity was
expressed in your home? Of course, you just said with language. Was
there certain foods? Were there traditions? And of course, would you
say also the involvement in the festas? But were there certain foods
and traditions that the family itself kept up even if there was no
celebration, you know, for it? You know, I'm thinking about uh
[inaudible], Carnaval, uh you know, or this kind of stuff.
Mark Nunes: Yeah. One thing that we kept that my dad loved as a kid was
açorda uh sort of um not as common. A lot of people, people won't
bring, you know, bring that up. But that, that was our main thing.
That was a big day for my dad when my mom made me an açorda, and every
once in a while, I know my dad's been gone for almost 13 years now.

Every once in a while, we'll have an açorda as a family because that's
what my dad loved and that was kind of our um every once in a while,
tradition of, of having açorda. And also, when my grandpa was alive,
he made caldo verde every day. So, we kind of grew up with, with caldo
verde. So those are kind of the two.
Diniz Borges: And what's uh what cultural traditions um that you lived
as a child and that you lived, you know in your teenage years with
your parents, what cultural traditions have you maintained yourself uh
in your, as you establish your family? And um why has it been
important for you to maintain these traditions that you have
continued?
Mark Nunes: Now so, um my dad was real big in Luso American which is
not really a community, it's more of a statewide. Um I learned a lot
from Luso American. Luso American gives uh young adults uh
opportunities to become leaders. They have a youth, um they have a
board of directors, they have a president, and you get to work with
other people your age. Um just, you know, little, small stuff but you
get to work together and that's how you become a leader. And then I
was president of twenty thirties back in uh ‘03 and ’04, which that
was in my early twenties, I got to be on a board. And again, you know
you become a leader, a young leader and, and I always told myself that
um what I'm learning here, I'm gonna bring back to my own community
and I've done that, I believe. Um, I do think that's important for my
kids. I don't think it's gonna be the same, which is fine. Um, you
know, everything does change as long as we adapt to everything that's,
uh, that's going on. Um but I have been um President also of the Festa
de Espírito Santo 2018. I, uh, I've been a director now, uh for six
years. Um, this is my fourth year as President of the Board of Board
of Directors of T.D.E.S. Um, so I still do think that it is very
important to me. I still have some things that uh that I'm very uh
that I would like to do being part of the board. Um now when my time
is over, I probably, you know, I'm just gonna do my time and what I
think is right for our Portuguese community and I'm hoping that from
my, by example, and other people that are on my board, of course, um I
hope that they take it as if they take it as an importance, it is for
me and they can continue it because um you know it, it's, it's gonna
decrease every year. We all know that we have less Portuguese
immigrants coming. But I think we can adapt to the, the 2nd and 3rd
generations, you know 1st, 2nd, 3rd generations that are still here. I
think we could still adapt and, and still make our Portuguese
traditions, um, for, you know, years to come.
Diniz Borges: A little bit about, uh, the Azores itself. Uh, first of
all, have you been to the Azores, uh, since you didn’t immigrate here.
You were born here. Have you been there?
Mark Nunes: Yeah, I've been probably about seven, seven times yeah.

Diniz Borges: Talk a little bit about your experience, especially if
you can remember the first time. Uh, what was it like to go there? The
the land that your parents had come from, uh young, but um tell us a
little bit about if you remember the first time and, and the other
experiences that you going back?
Mark Nunes: Yeah, I mean, the first time was right after the
earthquake. Um So, you know, you didn’t get to see a lot of stuff, it
was just a lot of rock everywhere. It was pretty bad. But uh from my
experiences um were you know, no restroom, right? You had to go to the
outhouse outside. So, you, you kind of thought, you know, as a kid you
look back going. Wow, what they were poor. I mean, they have a, you
know, running facility inside the house. Um So, you know, uh it was a
very interesting to see, but now if you go, I mean, I went last time I
went for, for Festa de Espírito Santo and all the floats and
everything. It's like a little mini-America. I thought it was like I
was, I thought I was at Disneyland seeing all those floats and stuff
like that. So, they've come a long way, um, from what the Azores was
back then to what it is now. I mean, if you, if you think back to the
people when they immigrated, they wanted to the American dream uh, to
America because they can make more money and, and live better. But you
don't see them coming anymore because, uh, they live as well as we do.
Um, you know they have jobs, they have educations and, um and, and uh
that's how I see it. Um I could be wrong.
Diniz Borges: And do, do you feel that these experiences of having gone
back at least a half a dozen times uh throughout your life? Um have
they kind of strengthened uh your Portuguese identity in any way?
Mark Nunes: No, it's exactly what I thought it was. I'm, I'm from an
island that I am proud to be from and they still hold their
traditions, you know, with Carnaval I'm real big on Carnaval and, and
they still believe the Holy Spirit and the, the, the nucleus of each,
each village is the church and, and that is the, the main thing. Um so
from what I remember way back when, even though it was smaller scale
to now, I believe it's still the same. Just, you know, more
Americanized, I guess.
Diniz Borges: Would your bond to the culture and to the Azores be the
same had you not had the opportunity to go back? Do you think it
affected you at all?
Mark Nunes: I mean, not going back. Not, no.
Diniz Borges: If you had never visited the, if you had never visited
the Azores at all, would you think you would feel the same connection
to your culture and to your language?
Mark Nunes: That's an interesting question. I would not know that. Uh
that's a good question because I remember Tony Nunes. Um you know,
Tony Nunes of course, Tony Nunes the [inaudible] Carnaval uh then did

everything didn't go, uh didn't go to Azores until I wanna say until
his thirties, I believe. Um and he's real big in the Portuguese
community. And it's amazing to me that he was very strong regarding
Carnaval and, and his Portuguese traditions without ever stepping
foot. Uh another guy that's in there is Dan Rebello, who's my Vice
President, he's very strong in [inaudible] Carnaval and bull fights
and um so I would think I would fall under that. I think I'd be strong
just because of the way my upbringing and the way my family brought me
up and how involved they were. Um, but um I don't I don't, I don't
know if I, if I would not, yeah.
Diniz Borges: Sure. Um so trace uh if you will some of your experiences
growing up as a, in the Portuguese American community, uh whether it
be your early years, we talked a little bit about your years in
Artesia, but then coming to the Valley um and your involvement, uh,
talk a little bit about how, from high school and thereon how you
became involved in the community, what, uh, lead, as you said, by
example, from your father. Uh, but, uh what, uh, what areas drove you
because your father was involved in many different things?
Mark Nunes: Yeah, Carnaval. Um, you know, I've been, uh, I'm, I'm 46
now. I've probably been in, uh, 46 of my, er, probably 28 years, 25
years of, of, of years, I have been in Carnaval. So that's been a big
part of, of, of me growing up my, when we moved here, that was one of
the first things my dad got me involved was, was uh, was in Carnaval.
Um the other thing is when I became president um of twenty thirties, I
always said that this, this will, um this will build me to become a,
you know, a leader in my own community because I think if you, if you
think of Luso America, you know, then they're a state they're a state
organization. I think if they build they build leaders to our own
community, I always felt I was built um to, to, to work with other
people and, and so forth and bring it back to my community. So, I did,
I came back to my own community, um started getting involved with the
Festa Street Song [phonetic]. Um and from there, I was approached by
uh Rosemary, actually Rosemary Caso who was president, I believe in
2016 she asked me to be her secretary. Um, and then I would move up um
and become a vice and then president. So those are just a couple of
things. Um and, and also which I think is important because I do the
same thing. Um there's older guys that don't want the young people
involved, but there are some older, older generations that are looking
for the future and they go and talk to younger generations like myself
and they invite them go, hey, come show up to a meeting, help me out
here and I think that's very important because that's how they start
become involved. If you never ask, they'll never be involved because
they feel they're not wanted or it's that they’re out of their place.
But I think if once you start coming in, um, I think it's very
important um, that, that you get involved, but again, someone needs,
sometimes needs to ask you, um, because I did show up in my early

twenties and I asked the question one time and, uh, they told me not
to worry about it. So, you know, even though it's a public number or
public whatever, right? I asked, I'm kind of discouraged, but I did go
back a couple of years later and I says well, no, I can't let that
person discourage me. And, and I hope, um, a lot of people feel that
way, because if if everyone feels that way, then we're never gonna go
anywhere, then we're, we're just gonna let this go and then we're
gonna say, right? It's too bad, but it is too bad. And that, I think
that's why we have to stay strong as a community, especially if you
have a, a strong, um, like I like myself. I, I feel strong about our,
Portuguese community. I think we just need to find more people to, to
help us out and, and give them confidence that they can help out and
and guide them and this is how it's done and maybe they'll fit in
place. Um, some people don't have to be presidents, but sometimes you
need someone just to buy tickets. Sometimes you need, uh you know,
someone just to help out, you know serve beer or something like that,
just, you know, smaller scale. I think we need a little bit of
everything to make it a Portuguese community.
Diniz Borges: Of all that you've accomplished and of all the different
things that you've been involved in, in the Portuguese American
community, what um which one are you most proud of? What uh what proud
moments you remember of your involvement in the Portuguese American
community here in the Valley?
Mark Nunes: Well, growing up, um you know, you're, you know, I was in a
grand march, right? You go to the Grand March you go to the Festa de
Espírito Santo and for some reason, we, we live not too far from the
church. So, we all went to my house, you know, go swim in the pool
between either you know, because it was a hot summer day in June. We
all went to my house, we swam after the parade and everyone in the
parade and then grandma, I mean, we’d do that for, I don't know how
many years. Um, so just to be um, part of the Espírito Santo, and
being president um, that was the biggest honor for me as far as the
Portuguese community, just growing up with the Festa Espírito Santo,
and that it's kind of the of our, of our, of our uh of our Portuguese
community. But being um being president that one year and then
standing in front uh getting crowned in mass with my family around me,
that, that was my biggest, that was the best moment out of the out of
the biggest moment, yes.
Diniz Borges: To um to what extent do you believe that being Portuguese
American has shaped the way you have moved through life uh in your
professional life and in your personal life, even outside of the
community, how big uh to what extent has been being Portuguese
American has shaped who you are basically?
Mark Nunes: Yeah, I mean, being Portuguese gives you, especially when
you're involved, and my dad knew a lot of people. I think it gives you

confidence, it gives you confidence to approach people and confidence
that there's good people that that will help you if you just need to
ask and, and how strong a good, uh if you get a good crowd around you,
you can do anything. Um I think, and all in all, I think being
Portuguese and what it has established me as being just confident um
and giving me strength. Uh if I had to choose anything that would,
that would probably be it.
Diniz Borges: What, so what does it mean to you though to be Portuguese
American? What does that mean? What is if someone asks as I am? You
know, what does it mean to be Portuguese American? How would you
explain that?
Mark Nunes: It's hard to explain. Um because you, you, you don't want
to say because you, you, what you're doing is someone's asking that
doesn't have the benefit of being Portuguese because I did say in high
school everyone wanted to be Portuguese or on a weekend, you know,
what did you do? Oh, we went to the park and played in the swings
while I went to the hall and I hung out and I played soccer, you know,
while my parents were decorating and, and we went to a festa, you
know, we played a bunch of stuff. Uh you know, and it's just uh it's
almost like bragging and I don't wanna brag, you know, it's just, it's
just really an honor to, to be Portuguese because we're a culture that
is, and I know this might be bad, but we're, we're, we're all proud
we're [inaudible] of and I'm not trying to, you know, again, brag too
much about it, but it's, it's really an honor to be Portuguese. We
have a very good, um, culture. We have very good people that are
respected if you look around the state of California and there's a lot
of Portuguese people and a lot of them are respected. Um, we're, we're
a respectable, a respectable, uh, co, uh, community Portuguese people
are, are. Um so for me, it's I, I, I don't, I don't know how else to
explain it other than proud to be Portuguese for sure.
Diniz Borges: Do, how do you see in the just one the last part before
well, last question how do you see uh because of your involvement and
you touched upon this a little bit already, how do you see the commu,
and you said it will be different because it has to be because of the
way immigration um has changed in the last 40 years or so, how do you
see the community in your perspective, let's say 7 to 10 years from
now or even 10 to 15 years from now?
Mark Nunes: Well, we're gonna have less people at [inaudible] Carnaval,
I can tell you that. So, you know, because the, the and those are the
people that we're gonna be missing um are, are, are the older people
thatDiniz Borges: So, because of the, of the language barrier?
Mark Nunes: Right and, and because I mean, if you go to one of our
meetings now it's, it's in English. Um, meetings are no, no longer in

Portuguese, like at, at, at one time it was, um, and we have to,
because the majority of the people um speak English and don't know
Portuguese and some of the older people, well, they, they kind of,
they have to live here so they, they got, they, they have to adapt but
um, I just see us moving on and just with the Portuguese language,
people doing Carnaval um people, you know having meetings in
Portuguese that much longer. I, I don't know who else is doing that.
The only one I know around here that's having meetings and plays a
Portuguese band and they're already starting to, to move already
towards speaking English because you get a lot more of those younger
people that are coming in. Um and they want to get involved too and
you're gonna have to start speaking English to try to bring them in um
to at least learn the culture, at least they'll know the culture, they
don't want know language as well, Um but I think a lot of my, my
generation got a little bit skipped. Um, that's how I feel. Um, just
because you still had those immigrants that came over and they says,
uh you know, and they want to do it their way and I think that they
didn't let some of the young ones come in and that's where some of my
generation you know, I'm 40, I'm in the forties that, uh, they said,
well, then if you're not gonna want me to include me, I don't think I
wanna be involved because you're starting to see a lot more younger
than I am in the thirties, even in the twenties, getting more involved
than I've seen my, um, uh, my generation. You know the guys in the
forties and the girls in the forties getting involved. And, well,
that's, you know, again, that's just, that's how it's been. But, you
know, for me being in a position down in, um, as far as the T.D.E.S.
board president, board of directors. Um, and I said it earlier, I, I
approach everyone and anyone just for opinions and because this is all
ours, this is not one person, this is, this is, this is all our
community um, and we have to go forward as a community and I want
everyone to have their input as long as they're being, um, you know,
it, it it's a, it's a good input, you know, some people have issues
and that's fine. Um, but as long as they're, they're, they're giving
you good influence to, to move on and what, how can we get better now
if they're gonna put you down a well, then, then you and I always tell
them we're gonna put you down and then once you come in elections in
October, you're more than welcome to run for the board and you can
make those changes too. But I, I, you know, if, if there's some people
don't want to be part of it, but they always have an opinion that
says, hey, you know, I'm, I'm always okay for opinion because we do
have to think about, uh, not only the older people because this, this
is what they brought. This is how they started, but also the younger
people because this is gonna be theirs one day to become leaders and
we want them to, to be part of it too and, and put their two cents. I
think that that's very important.
Diniz Borges: So, as we come to at the end, is there anything that uh,
we didn't cover that you'd like to share?

Mark Nunes: No, I think we covered, we covered everything. But you, but
you see that, uh I am a, a proud Portuguese guy that I, I'm, I'm
involved, and I think it's my time now to be involved and, and, and,
and I hope when I leave that it continues. That what I've done and
what I've, um, what, what I've, whatever I've done, um, whatever I
leave behind, I hope they continue. I'm not that old yet. Um, but, uh,
I feel, I, I hope, and I feel that there's younger people coming up
and I hope they can still continue with, with what everything um,
everything that, that, uh, they did before me and they're doing and
what we're doing now. Um, because we're doing some things there,
especially at the hall. Um, and if you, I know you've been around
lately, I think we've had some younger people do some good stuff um to
our Portuguese community that brings more involvement and more, more
involvement brings more people and it brings more money and then you
could do more stuff at our, you know, at our hall and improve our
facility. Um, so we have it for years and years to come. I, I think
that's, that's, that's very important. And as far as my family, like I
said, they never pressured anyone uh of my brother, my sister and
myself. Um this is just something, by example, my dad was um a big
influence for me. Um, you know, I married a Portuguese uh girl from,
from Chino. Um and coincidentally my, my uh my brother married a girl
from Artesia. Uh and then my sister married a, a guy from Artesia. So,
we all married down there, and we all brought them up um to Tulare,
but we’re a real proud Portuguese family that too, we're still gonna
continue and help in every way we can. Um, but I, I, I appreciate you
Dr. Borges for, for giving me this opportunity to, to share a little
bit of uh my family and, and, and where I stand on the Portuguese
community and how I feel about it. So, I appreciate this.