Join the fun

As I read the stories and comments I get really excited. I see that Bob, Marge, Scott, Jim, Liz, Jennifer. Randy, Steve and me are really into it. Now, for you who may feel funny about what you have to write, STOP.. You may think , that my story is not interesting...... You are wrong, we want to know you.......It's family.......We are getting to know each other. Tell us about you, your family etc. Also, if you know of another family member that does not know about the family blog, TELL THEM TO JOIN. Until the next story.................

Family photos reformatted

For those of you new to the blog, you might have missed some of the old family photos that I received from my dad, Jim Vigallon, and posted. I have taken many of those photos and created what's called a PhotoShow out of them. A PhotoShow is a package of photos set to music and containing neat effects. Hopefully, it will work on your computers.

After you click the link below, click the Watch button on the page that appears. Make sure your speakers are on, too.

Click to see PhotoShow.

A house, a hole and Uncle Ralph

This story really starts out as a Uncle Ralph and Uncle Joe Vigallon story. In 1973, with a new daughter (Jennifer) it was time to look for a house. Looking all over and not finding any place we would like to call home, I found a new tract of homes in Union City Ca with all the things desirable in a first home.

After looking at the model homes, we approached the salesman and began to talk. This guy was polite, but let us know that at that stage of development there was a "small" waiting list. He opens this desk drawer and what seemed like a thousand slips with prospective buyers names jumped out. Talk about feeling bad! Anyway, this guy says let me take your name, we will be building more homes.

As he wrote down my name, he says... Vigallon huh? - you any relation to Joe and Ralph Vigallon?? I said yes, my uncles. This guys says, "hell, these guys have been plastering for me for years"! He hands us a piece of paper points to an area on the map and tells us to go for a ride and come back. We went for a ride and came back. He asks us, which model do you like? We said this one...Then he says, how many do you want?? He said if I was a Vigallon, he could help move us up the list - to the top! Wow, the power in a name!

Oh yes.......... and the hole.

After moving in, I quickly discovered that picking the largest lot isn't always a blessing, now I had to do something with it. Being a struggling new home owner, getting in on the G.I. Bill and not having many nickels to rub together I rented this cool tractor to move some dirt in my new back yard. As luck would have it, the house also had the tree from which the court we lived on was named, Oak Tree Ct. Not a problem, how hard can it be driving a tractor?? Yes the tree was big and it was fairly close to the house.

Well, to make the rest of the story fairly short, It didn't take me very long to poke a hole in the side of my new house with the back hoe that happened to be on the tractor. I figured I would call my dad and try to explain this one, and naturally get some advice. My dad was never short on advice. After he stopped laughing, he suggested I call Uncle Ralph and tell him about the stupid thing I had done and ask for his help.

Uncle Ralph to the rescue! I don't remember him even laughing at me. Now that I hear the John story about hitting the house and calling in a family plastering specialist it probably brought back memories of days gone by! When Uncle Ralph finished plastering the house it looked brand new - again. Lucky me!!!!!!

A car,a house and Uncle Pepe

You all have had great stories about Uncle Pepe........Well, here is mine. I was about 16 years old. I wanted to drive the family car. It was a 47 Olds. This day, I went with my Mom to the store. On the way back I convinced my mother to let me drive home. I got behind the wheel and started up the street, it was great, no problems........ I made a little turn and was getting ready to turn into our drive way. It so happened that on our drive way were to older woman, I saw them and so did my mom. The next thing that happen was a blur..........Mom tried to get the wheel to turn it.........I think I was trying to turn the wheel,....I was trying to get to the brake and my Mom was trying to get to the brake with her foot........... Welllllllllllll when it was all over, we both put our foot on the gas petal....... The car went into compound low, the car went full force into our house.....the wheels dug into the lawn about 6 inches. From the outside it did not look too bad. We went inside and that was another story.......I had the entire wall cracked, moved my mother dresserl across the room and actually moved the mud sill off the foundation, Needless to say I thought that my life was over........ My Dad was coming home for lunch.....He came home , I told him that I hit the house. He said I have to have lunch first. My heart was going 100 miles an hour. After lunch he took a look at the room.......Still did not say a word.....Then said to me. "come with me and get into the car" All I could think of was, what is he going to do to me. With out getting mad, he said, next time this is what I should have done and talked to me about being safe in the car. He said, always know where you are and how to protect yourself and the people around you. That was my Dad , what a great guy. What a great teacher.

Dad called Uncle Pepe and you guessed it......He came over, moved the mud sill back to where it wa suppose to be, plastered the wall and the house was back in good shape. Pepe was always there if you needed him. We have a great family ...........

Scott Vigallon family

Since cousin John gave me a copy of his family history video from Spain at the Cousins' Reunion 11 years ago (though he might not remember), the least I can do is write a little something about me and my family for his 70th birthday.

I am Scott Vigallon, and I'm the guy who has been posting lots of old family pictures on behalf of my father, Jim Vigallon. I felt a little stupid about posting pictures of people whom I couldn't identify, but my dad told me to post them, then let other people "comment" on them and tell me who is who. It has actually worked.

Anyway, I am 40 years old and live in Pleasanton, CA, along with my wife Janet, daughter Karen and son Kevin (more about them later). I work at Las Positas College, which is located nearby in Livermore, as an instructional designer. Essentially, I train the faculty there how to use technology for instructional purposes, and I also run our Distance Education program.

It's the best job I've ever had, though nobody believes me because I spent the first six years after graduating from San Jose State University as a sportswriter. I actually hated that job (not enough space in this blog, or the entire Internet for that matter, to get into details) and went back to school to get my teaching credential, which I received in addition to a master's degree.

When I am not at home with my wife and family, I am usually working out at the gym, playing ball with my son, messing around on the computer, or trying to learn about history. My latest history kick is trying to get inside the heads of the Nazis, so I've read a few books and watched some documentaries on the subject. What I'm really good at, though, is turning on the TV to watch a ballgame and falling asleep 5 minutes later.

I used to play a lot of basketball, but I "retired" from playing competitively about 6 years ago because I was tired of getting hurt. I will make my return to the hardwood in a few days because the college where I work just built a new gymnasium and is starting up a weekly staff basketball game. I couldn't resist the peer pressure from the guys at work to begin playing again. If I don't post to this blog for a very long time, it's because I got hurt again :)

I've been fortunate that my immediate family has always lived close by. My brother, sister, father, and I all live within 45 minutes of each other, so we get to see each other relatively often. My grandparents, Ralph Vigallon and Gloria Sanchez Vigallon, also lived in the area. Prior to my grandfather's death in 1991, he and my grandmother lived in Fremont, so I would often go over there to visit. My grandmother is currently in a convalescent hospital in Fremont.

I have nothing but fond memories of my grandparents (the laughs, the card games, the food, the reaching into the coin jar after good grades on report cards, etc.). However, I don't think they were too thrilled with me the Christmas when I piled some firewood too close to the window near the living room and smashed the very large window. But as badly as I felt about it, I was probably doing my grandfather a favor by giving him something to fix (he had a reputation). OK, that's a weak way of rationalizing a forgetful event.

Here's a picture of my grandfather and I many years ago. He's probaby using his fingernails to rip the tape so he can open the box (he probably wouldn't have considered using scissors or a knife). Notice my white pants, open-collared shirt and sporty hat (hey, it was the '70s after all!).

OK, a little about my wife and kids. My wife Janet has been a stay-at-home mom for the past year after spending many years as a physical therapist. Yes, she would fix me up after my various basketball injuries. She also fixes up my son Kevin (age 9), who currently plays basketball, baseball, and soccer, and has inherited my talent for getting hurt. Kevin is about 2 years away from being bilingual; he has been in a Spanish language immersion program since kindergarten. Most of the instruction he receives in school is in Spanish. It's strange seeing all of these blond-haired, blue-eyed kids in suburban Pleasanton speaking Spanish to each other.

My daughter Karen is 11 and begins middle school tomorrow. Karen enjoys science, particularly animals. In fact, we took her and Kevin to the Monterey Bay Acquarium yesterday, and she had a great time seeing all of the ocean creatures! She's currently taking care of her pet hamster, which comes on the heels of some of her other critters (frogs, newts, salamanders, fish). Karen also enjoys reading, collecting rocks, and collecting coins.

Here's a picture of us at the Alameda County Fair a couple of months ago:

Now, I'm going to try something tricky here. I made a short video using my wife's cell phone that is a supplement to the introduction of my family above. It might or might not work for you. It's a little blurry, too. In my web browser, the clip opens up in QuickTime. You'll have to increase the volume on your speakers when my wife and daughter are talking (again, it was taken from a cell phone, and a cheap one at that). Hopefully, it will work in your browser. If not, just imagine the four people above talking.

Click to see video

So that's about it. Keep the blog going.

Scott

Jennifer Vigallon's memories of Grandpa Vigallon

Hello,
My name is Jennifer Vigallon, and I am the daughter of Randy Vigallon.
I also live out in the Sacramento area now like my dad, he in Folsom and myself and my son in Roseville.
I am now 33 years old and my son Trevor is 11.
I moved out to the Folsom area after graduating from Irvington high school in Fremont in 1990.
In late 1990 Started going to the community college to begin what I thought would be my career in nursing.
However, I took a minor detour when I got married at the ripe old age of 19 in 1992. I was married for 7 years, and we had a son Trevor in 1994 (who resembles his grandpa Vigallon's elementry school pictures very much).
After a few years of taking a break from school I did finally return, and now work for Sutter Neuroscience Institute in downtown Sacramento in the Neurosurgery department for two very wonderful Surgeons.
Trevor and I love to visit my dad in Folsom although with all of our very busy schedules it is sadly not as often as we would all like.
But Trevor already has great stories of riding on the back of Grandpa Vigallon's Harley, and going up and doing some Gold panning with my dad. So I am sure he would even have some funny memories to share.

Myself I have too many wonderful memories to list of My Grandpa Tony Vigallon and Grandma Vigallon.
So I will just share 1 or 2 of them.
One that sticks out the most is when I would get to spend the weekends at their house, and Grandpa and I would get up and have our morning coffee together. Sometimes in the kitchen, or sometimes out in the backyard. He had a favorite chair out there where a small table sat, and he would always have a jar on it with leaves and a branch. Inside would be some large bug, spider or somekind of 6 to 8 legged creature.
His favorite thing to do was to get two peices of white wonderbread from Grandma's kitchen and he would pretend to take the bug out (at the time I thought he really did) and place it between the two pieces of bread and eat the entire sandwich bug included.
He would get a big kick out of us grandkids freaking out at what we thought was his famous "Bug Sandwich"......
He was always a jokester with us. If you had a coin he would always do his magic trick with the elbow, and you were sure to be amazed everytime that coin ended up behind your ear. (We were little, we believed everything he did... haha) My brother Vinnie now does this very same trick four our kids. Vincent has two little boys, Brenden is now 8 and Torin
Well there are many more stories, and I look forward to reading more from you all as well. I am going to try to attach a picture of my son, but I am still not as computer savey as most, so we will see if it even works.
Jen

Johnnie's pictures

I thought that I would start with a picture of me then as time goes on I will add Mary Ann. I will let Becky, Jenny, Liz and Kevin do their pictures as they feel the urge. Here is what I looked like as a child.

I always wanted to be a professional accordionest like my Uncle Manuel.


I was playing my accordion on the road in california

I really want to see pictures of my cousins........So I started by showing pictures of me. This is to let you know that I am starting this "show and tell"

I just finished talking to Liz and I acutally did the blog my self .....words and pictures. Liz is a great teacher. Don't feel funny to ask for help. Shel is very willing

Thanks for my presents

The response has been great. We are getting to know our family. Jennifer Vigallon, you were the first to tell us about you and your son Trevor. Thanks.....I have a thought, if someone does not want to use their last name, maybe you could use just a letter for it. "V" for vigallon, "C" for castro.

I would like everyone to know that you have an open invitation to see Mary Ann and I anytime that you are in the San Diego area. We do have the room and would love to see you.

Thanks again for the bio's of you. I am getting the best presents that I could ask for. ..........

Maria del Rosario Muñoz Velarde

Randy just sent me this cool picture of Mama Concha's mother, Maria del Rosario Muñoz Velarde:



The man in the upper right corner is Mama Concha's brother, Antonio Aguilar Muñ. I have it written down somewhere that he wanted to be a bullfighter and that he died in an accident but I don't know how I knew that. Anyone have any other clues?

Thanks Randy!

I'm also posting (finally!) what I think is another picture of the same woman, perhaps earlier? This one came from Margaret Castro Dambley:



The inscription on the back says "Dedico este recuerdo a mi queridísima nieta Rosario, su abuela, Rosario Muñoz, 17/3/30", which, loose translated, says "I dedicate this remembrance to my beloved granddaughter, Rosario. From her grandmother, Rosario Muñoz, March 17, 1930."

What I don't know is who the younger woman in the photograph is. Perhaps the granddaughter Rosario? Still in Spain?

Writing your own posts

Here's how you write your own posts on the Spanish Family blog:

1. Go to http://www.blogger.com/

2. If you already see the Dashboard, this means you're already signed in. Go to step 4.

3. If you see Blogger's public homepage, that says "Create your own blog", you need to sign in. Type your username and password in the upper right corner of the screen and click the Sign In button.



4. You should now see the Dashboard, with the "Our Spanish Family Stories" blog listed.

5. To create a new post, click the green plus sign next to the "Our Spanish Family Stories" blog.



6. A new window appears with space for your new blog entry. Type in the title.



7. Next, write your story in the bigger box in the middle of the window.



8. When you're ready to publish your story on the blog, click the Publish Post button below the main entry box. It's orange. (If you haven't finished your story and want to work on it some more before posting, click the "Save as Draft" button.)



9. You should see a message that says your blog entry is being published. Your new story will appear on the Web site (http://spanishfamily.blogspot.com/) and will also be mailed to all the people on the list (about 25 cousins currently and growing). If you respond to the blog entry through the list, that response also goes to all the cousins on the list, but it doesn't go on the Web site.

And if you need any help, just let me know. I am more than happy to help. And if it all seems too complicated, just send me your stories in an email and I can post them for you. This goes for folks without computers too... if you know someone who wants to participate but doesn't have a computer, tell them to send me the stories in the mail and I'll put them up for them. (I'm working on the reverse trip too... that is, getting print copies of the Web site out to those people not on the Internet.)

If you have any photos you want to add, I'd be happy to scan them for you and then add them into your story. If you'd rather do it yourself, Blogger does have a new "add picture" feature that makes it a bit easier (though it's still a little complicated). (Click that thing that looks like a photograph above the main message box.)

Thank you all for sharing these stories. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. I am really loving getting to know all of you. My Dad wants me to introduce myself properly... I'll get there soon.

love,
your cousin, niece, sister, and daughter,

Liz

70 years old

On September 4, I am going to be 70 years old. I can't believe it. 70...........that sounds so old. Yet, I feel really good. Now, why am I telling my family about my birthday.????? I will tell you why. I would like a birthday present from each and every one of you. Of course that is if you feel like giving the present that I want. So here goes.......

So far, we old timers have been doing a lot of the writing. Yes, Jenny and Scott have had input to the blog. I have a feeling that you young ones feel like you might not have a story of interest. Well, you are wrong. I hate to say it, but I don't know many of you. So, what I would like from my great family is a story of you and your family. Where do you live?, how many children do you have? How old are you? What do your children like to do? what do you like to do? I would then get to know you and so would the rest of our family. I WOULD THEN HAVE THE GREATEST PRESENT THAT YOU COULD GIVE ME. I WOULD THEN GET TO KNOW YOU ALL BETTER., Who knows, maybe we could have another cousin party. Note that the last and only cousin party pictures will be on the blog shortly. It was 12 years ago that we had that party.

Now, if you feel that it would not be a good idea, or you would rather not talk about yourself and your family, I would understand. But, if you like the idea, what fun. I would be able to see Scott's children, Randy's children, and all of you who like this idea.

I will start it off. I am the son of John and Rose Castro. They both passed away 13 years ago. I have been married two times. From my first marriage, I have three children - Becky, Jenny and Liz. From my second marriage I have a son. His name is Kevin. I have been married to Mary Ann for the past 37 years. We used to live in the Bay Area. When I retired 14 years ago, we decided to move to San Diego. We now have been here 9 years. I was a musician; I played the accordion. For work I was in real estate, and in financial planning . I did not talk about my children or my grandchildren, of which we have 7. I hope that my children will let you know about them and their children.

I can't go to bed at night until I read the family blog. What great fun to get to know my family again..............

Grandma Concha's Other House

My dad, Tony Vigallon seemed to be among the group that didn't consider visiting family as something real high on the totem pole of priorities, or so it seemed. Visits to Grandma's house in San Leandro seemed like the other side of the earth. I was a happy guy to find out that Grandma Concha was going to move in the old tank house at Aunt Josie and Uncle Frank Delgado's house in Irvington.

The tank house sat off of main street, (now Fremont Blvd) between the gas station that Uncle Frank owned and their house in the back. This tank house was the real deal with a huge wooden container on the roof to hold water. I suppose at one time the wind mill really pumped water but I don't remember the tank filled. It was however a place cousin Richard Delgado and I would go hide out and smoke up some of Uncle Frank's or (someone's) cigarettes.

The good news was Grandma was coming... I don't remember a lot, but it seemed like all of the family with their individual skills chipped in to help. Naturally, the part I remember most was cleaning up, one of my main jobs in life working with my dad. T-J Cabinets was not open for business yet, but I remember the cute little kitchen and the cabinets they built as you entered. There was new wiring by one of our neighbors Everett Staley and the smell of newly plaster walls and fresh paint. I'm sure the plumbing got help as well. To me, it seemed that all of the family was there working. Time frame... maybe 1957??

Grandma finally moved in. I don't really know how happy she was being separated from the rest of the family, and I'm not sure if she tried to tell me I would have cared. I got to stop by and see her real often after school. My Spanish is almost as bad now as it was then, but we communicated real well with the goodies she always had ready, especially the peanut butter cookies she never seemed to run out of. Does anyone have a picture of the old tank house??

Playing Army

Once in a while, when I was at Mike and Bob's home, Tony would come over and play with us. He was 2 years older than me. We would always try to think of games that we could play.

Well........... we all decided that we would play Army. We needed guns, so we would make up our own. In the "old days" the car tires used to have tubes in them. We got a couple of them, cut them into strips. We then made a gun out of a stick. At the end of the handle we put a close pin. If you place a rubber tube strip onto the point of the gun, pull it back and have the closepin hold it, you had your weapon.

We also wanted to make sure that if we hit the "enemy" they would feel it, so......... we would put a knot on the strip. We were now ready for war. In Mike and Bob's home, they had the upstairs bedroom. So we would pick sides and have two of us downstairs and two of us upstairs. We would shoot our guns for a long time. We never got really hurt, and we had a lot of fun.

I am sorry that I don't have a picture of our days, but try to imagine the four of us playing together. .................

Trains

One day, my Dad said to me, "Son, I want to buy you a present. I want you to decide weather you want a train or a radio."

I decided on a train, because Mike and Bob each had a train of their own. We started to play with our trains. They would go round and round. Finally after this went on for awhile we all got bored........ So we decided that we would put the ends of each track as close as we could so that they would touch each other. Needless to say, the game was on. Who would get knocked off the track. I did have an advantage for I had a Lional set. But, Mike and Bob would get together and gang up on my train. We would play for hours on end. Kevin, my son, has the train set in his home. I can still see the trains hitting each other. I wish that I had a picture of those trains...........

My second Mom

I have to tell you about my "second Mom". She used to say that I was her third son. Of course Mike and Bob were her first love. Families always were helping each other. My Mom & Dad were both working long hours. So, on Monday morning I was with my Aunt Connie until Friday night when I was picked up by my Mom and Dad. She was there to take care of me and make sure that I was a good boy. Mike, Bob & I were always together. We had more fun together. I also have to say that Uncle Mike was very special to me. If it were not for my Uncle Mke, I would not have had the toys that I had. My parents thought that toys were expensive and not important so it was Uncle Mike where I got most of the toys that I had.

I will never forget and can still remember a day in my life that I wet my pants. My "Connie" was so upset that she took my wet pants and put them on my head. I must have wet my pants a few too many times...............But, then when it was over, she would hug me and give me a big kiss. Oh, as you think about the past, that you know how important our family is in having a healthy life. My second Mom is now in her own world, but oh how she is loved by me...............I miss her..........

More memories

(this is by Jim Vigallon)
seeing the castro gas station really brought back memories, cousin tony castros 48 plymouth, george sanchez 39 plymouth, joe vigallon jrs 49 chevvy with their hot pinoli paint jobs, i would just drool seeing those cars

my first car was purchased from frank (the portigee) nunes a brother in law to the alga family that lived across the street from the castros for $35..wow now i had wheels, i heated the front springs to lower the car,installed two carbs and dual exhaust...a sucession of cars,trucks and motorcycles had followed... 47 to be exact i still have a hot rod, as ralph said, "arent you ever going to grow up"

seeing that photo of the villalon dealership in spain, i guess i was following in somebodys footsteps

True Love

Here's another photo that Marge Kuzmicky so generously shared with me. It's my grandparents, Rose and John Castro. They look so happy. Since my parents divorced when I was very young, I was always so impressed with my grandparents' marriage. They made me believe marriage could last. They started dating, as Margaret told in The Ties That Bind, when my grandma was 14. They went together for eight years. And they were married for almost sixty years.

When I was young, I could only see the traditional parts of their marriage: like the fact that my grandma always cooked and my grandpa never did. What took me longer to realize was how much they did everything together, how much they did for each other, how much they depended on each other, how much they loved each other. I never heard them exchange an unkind word. Not once. I imagine there must have been some, but I don't have any proof.

The other thing they never did was compare who did more. I don't think it was that they didn't care who did more, but rather that they both did their best, and they assumed (but didn't check) that the other was doing their best. They trusted each other and took care of each other.

I'm only just beginning my second decade of marriage, but I still look to them for guidance. Even though I don't know how to cook.

More from Jim's photo album

Here are some more pictures that I have posted on behalf of my father, Jim. Enjoy!

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3

Cherry Street Gang

I want to get in on all this fun......... When I saw all of our family members that were in the service I knew the picture that I wanted to add to our family blog.

I got the picture from my Mom & Dad's collection. This is probable is my favorite picture of what I call the "CHERRY STREET GANG" They were all the men from around the cherry street area that were in the Second World War. The front four were of course our family. George, is the only one left. I just read that 1100 men a day pass on from the Second World War.

I just know that Frank Galvin and Mike Luciano are no longer with us. Need help, what about the other men?

More stories to come. .......Little johnnie

Castro Brothers

Here is the business card from the Castro Brothers Filling Station on Washington Avenue in 1945-1946. Marge Kuzmicky just sent it to me:

Pepe And The Casa Peralta

In 1971, just before the San Leandro Centennial (1972) I was on a committee to interview people who knew some of the history of our city. I interviewd Pepe for information on the Casa Peralta.

When Uncle Joe (Pepe) Vigallon was around 22 years old, he was hired to do the tile work and plastering of the Casa Peralta. (He had learned his trade in San Francisco), but during the 18 months that he worked at the Casa, he also did some carpenter work, which included helping to build the dome on top of the tank house, next to the home. He even helped the gardener plant trees and a lawn on the property.

This property was part of the Estudillo and Peralta land grants from the early 1800's. A home was built there around 1869. Around 1901 a widow built a 9 room home on the property, and when she passed away, in 1926, it was purchased by Herminia Peralta Dargie. Mrs. Dargie spent a lot of time traveling throughout Europe, and especially Spain. She brought a Spanish architect to America to remodel the house to look like a Spanish Villa.

The archiitect, Captain Martin, hired 4 workers for the remodeling. A painter, a carpenter, Pepe, for tile work and plastering, and Papa Vigallon as a helper. They were paid $5.00 a day. Pepe said that Captain Martin was always hovering over the workers, watching every move they made. Because of this, Pepe quit 3 times, but then he always came back.

Captain Martin was a little tough to work for, but he was also a compassionate man. When Pepe's two year old brother died, knowing that the family could barely make ends meet, the Captain paid for all the funeral expenses. Another time, he bought identical red sweaters for Pepe's 10 year old twin sisters, Dolores and Josi.

The tiles on the outside of the home, tell the story of Don Quixote, and in the home, the fireplace and bathrooms are tiled. In the courtyard is a tiled fountain, and the wall surrounding the house was plastered by Pepe and Papa. Before the front steps of the home was completed, Papa got permission to bury a gallon of home made wine under those steps, which are also tiled.

During the preparations for the 1972 centennial, I worked on a committee to save the Casa Peralta, after I read that it was going to be sold to a contractor. He was going to build an apartment building on the property. We tried to raise money to save the house, and 5 of us formed the "Casa Peralta Foundation". We couldn't raise enough money, but my employer, who was also born in San Leandro, helped us out by buying the house and donating it to the city of San Leandro.

Just before the centennial, we held an Arts Festival on the Casa Peralta property. Those of us on the committee wore costumes. Pepe came to the festival and took a picture standing by his tile work. My mother and I also took pictures along side his work. When visitors found out that Pepe had done all the tile work, he was inundated with questions about the owner, and the architect.

Our Casa Peralta Foundation, wrote to the Registery of Historical Places, in Sacramento, filled out all the necessary papers, and it is now listed on the National Register of Historical Places.

The interview with Pepe is on tape, and is now in the San Leandro main library, as part of the city's history. The Casa Peralta is on Estudillo Avenue and is open for visitors on week-ends.

Wedding pictures

Here's another nice photo, courtesy of my dad. It's a picture of Antoinette Vigallon and Tony Sanchez's wedding. My grandfather, Ralph Vigallon, and grandmother, Gloria Sanchez Vigallon, appear to be the best man and maid of honor because they are standing next to the groom and bride. Forgive me if I don't know who the other people are.

Here's a family picture at my wedding in 1991. This was taken a month or so before my grandfather passed away. Aside from my grandparents, the others in the picture are Amy Vigallon (daughter of Bernie Vigallon) and from left, Jay Vigallon (son of Jim Vigallon), Bernie Vigallon (son of Ralph and Gloria), Charlene Vigallon (wife of Bernie), Jim Vigallon (son of Ralph and Gloria), Janet Vigallon (wife of me - Scott), Scott Vigallon (son of Jim), Jill Vigallon (daughter of Jim), Jeremy Nunes (son of Carole Vigallon), Stacey Vigallon (daughter of Bernie), Ernest Nunes (husband of Carole), and Carole Nunes (daughter of Ralph and Gloria).

Sanchez photos

My dad (Jim Vigallon) gave me more photos to upload. Here are three pages' worth from the Sanchez side. Of course, because of the intermarriages of the families, there are many Vigallons in these photos, too.

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

TALENT

My brother Mike and I were around eight or nine years old. Mom said that we could actually do it. We could pick out the wall-paper for our bedroom, when we lived on Williams Street. This is a big deal when you're a kid. And, Mike and I knew exactly what we wanted...wall-paper with cowboys and indians......come on, didn't every boy want that. Would Mom and Dad let us have that? Yes !

We picked it out and then had to wait until Saturday for the men to come over and put it up. When you are a kid, every day seems like an eternity. Anyhow, on Saturday morning in came the Talent, Uncle Joe Vigallon (PePe) and Uncle Ralph Vigallon. Both Uncle Joe and Uncle Ralph's trade was being a plasterer. But, plasterer doesn't describe them. They were creative men that perfected their trade and were able to plaster and stucco homes with various textures and design. Depending what room they were plastering, they could put a different look to it. Hanging wall-paper for us was just a labor of love by two Uncles. When it was finished, we were the envy of our neighborhood buddies.

About ten years later the Talented Uncles returned to plaster the walls in our first business endeavor (a smoke shop) and returned again a few years later to plaster our enlarged building. This larger building is where we opened a billiard parlor. This time they not only plastered, they blew acoustics on our ceilings.

Interestingly, Aunt Antoinette Vigallon married Tony Sanchez who was also a plasterer and multi talented. Tony had an eye for design as well as the talent to make it happen. In 1965 I married and bought a house. The house had a porch in front and lawn in front of that with a cement path down the middle leading to the sidewalk. The only problem was that there were two steps when you got to the porch and of course with my wheel-chair I couldn't get in. I asked Uncle Tony if he could build me a ramp that wouldn't make the house look like an convalescent home. He designed and built a a long flower box about two feet high along the length of the porch starting not from the sidewalk, but instead from the driveway side. He left the path from sidewalk to porch the way it was so that everybody would come in that way. He then built the ramp and completed it with another flower box paralell to the first one. The two flower boxes with the ramp between them were all done with red brick that he layed. Not only did I enjoy the ramp, but the bonus was having family that were always willing to give me a hand.

The other two Vigallon Brothers, Uncle Tony and Uncle Johnny were also in the trades.
They however enjoyed the smell of saw-dust over the smell of plaster. Good guess, but no they were not carpenters. Both Tony and Johnny were Cabinet makers. And, true to family, they both helped out me and my brother Mike. At the time that PePe and Uncle Ralph were wall-papering for us Tony came by. He noticed in our room that we had our electric trains and many feet of track stored in a cardboard box. Two weeks later Uncle Tony came by with a special wooden box he had made for us to store our trains. And when the brothers were plastering the walls of our first business, Uncle Tony and Uncle Johnny built us the counter for the cash register, bags, etc..
When we opened the Billiard Parlor and needed a different kind of counter to store racks of balls, etc., OK, you guessed it, It was Uncle Tony and Uncle Johnny again.

Hey, this Blog thing has sure jogged my memory and reminded me how lucky we are to be part of a big family that have so many different talents. Tell us about your memories while we all can share and enjoy them together.

What I just read lately is that "Life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer you get to the end the faster it goes."