2021 Queen Jaquelyn Victoria Neves releasing the dove – her Uncle Jose Virissimo in the background (Sunday)
By Colleen O’Connor
As a trained historian, I am sometimes pushy about the need for every family to collect, retain and write about their own history.
That is the most valuable (real time, real participants) version of history. It is no accident that “Find Your Roots” and “Ancestry.com” are popular. They are also valuable chronicles of the past, taken in the present, and preserved for the future.
The evidence is captured in all the cell phone videos, snapshots, tweets and formal portraits. Historians need these gigabytes, first-hand memories, and old fashioned black and white photos to create an honest narrative.
2018 Queen Makenzie Lucas (center), her sidemaids Taylor Virissimo (left) & Natasha Bier (right)
That is the long way of saying, the photos in my original Festa column (taken by me on the run, with no training on the iPhone) were less than perfect, but valuable just the same.
2021 Queen Jaquelyn Victoria Neves, Sidemaids: Victoria Jorge, Berlyn Balelo; Queen Saint Isabel Danielle DaSilveira (On Sunday) Rose petals being thrown upon them as in the miracle of the Queen the bread under her cloak turned to roses
However, even more valuable and more fascinating are those taken by one of the members of the Portuguese Historical Center, Teri Simas.
2021 Queen Jaquelyn Victoria Neves, Sidemaids: Victoria Jorge, Berlyn Balelo (On Friday)
The contrasts, alone, are amazing. Beautiful and memorable. Look at them. Read the faces as well as the fabulous gowns.
2015 King Daniel (left) Jr. King Chad Medeiros (center) and Prince Consort Jaegar Heathman (left)
So, the Festa History lesson is this: There are unique people, images and stories in every snapshot. Collect them all. Cherish them. They are not just Portuguese History, but San Diego history as well.
2021 Queen Jaquelyn Victoria Neves, Sidemaids: Victoria Jorge, Berlyn Balelo; Queen Saint Isabel Danielle DaSilveira & The UPSES Board of Directors (On Saturday)
Remember: Every family has a photograph. And every photograph tells a story.
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