The club has boasted a rich history, full of passion and remembrances, since its inception 80 years ago. But with the risk of being forgotten, Alvaro Pinto has penned a book about the club's main occurrences and experiences illustrated with plenty of photos.
"It is a great joy remembering the wonderful history of Clube Recordações," said Pinto. "I am very happy to contribute to the elevation of the Clube Recordações de Portugal."
Every year is meticulously detailed in the book filled with accounts of the club's activities and photos, some of them in black and white. The reader travels through time and is guided on a voyage of nostalgia and remembrances of the Rec, as the club is commonly referred to.
The book starts by telling how the Club came to be.
"Instituted in January, 1924, the orquestra Recordações de Portugal was the entertainment for dances and shows of the Portuguese community in New Bedford and its members and respective relatives would take part at the hall of the Pérola do Oceano Sporting Club by paying 15 cents dues. Then in the year 1929, they decided to build a collective institution for the purposes of recreation and sporting events to which the friendly name of Clube Recordações de Portugal was given," reads the opening paragraph in Portuguese.
The Portuguese manuscript was presented to a large crowd last Saturday night at the club located on Coggeshall Street. In the hall, were many of the members who contributed to club's successes over the years, as well as many friends and public officials.
Lino Quadros, the club's president, said he and the members were very proud of the "magnificent work" done by Pinto.
"If it was not for Mr. Álvaro Pinto, it would not have been possible," Quadros said. "We can thank him, and it is with great pleasure to have people like him to do these good deeds. It is to show the community and the people the beautiful 80 years of history that this club has."
Mayor Scott W. Lang conveyed his good wishes to club members for the publishing the book.
"To have an 80-year culture, heritage, camaraderie, socializing is something that is extremely important in our city," said the mayor. "It shows continuity. It's something that we know we can count on. This is a tremendous tribute and memorializes in the form of a book, which will be taken home, which people will rely on. I would urge each of you to keep your family diaries and histories in the book that will pass on from generation to generation. These books will go around another 80 years, and people will pass them on from generation to generation. I think that's terrific."
Mayor Lang also praised how the club welcomes other city's groups.
"Many of our communities use this club as their home in order to put forth the type of events that they think are important for their communities," said the mayor. "We love the idea that you have the club open and available for the entire city of New Bedford, and I thank you for that."
The Consul of Portugal in New Bedford, Dr. Graça Fonseca, congratulated both the club and the author for his effort in the "compilation and the investigative work of the history of this organization."
"It is in fact in the frame of a long living history that the club has preserved its memories of Portugal," she said.
City Councillors-at-large Debra Coelho, Linda Morad, Steven Martins and David Alves were also in attendance. Alves recalled how his father was one of the club's founding members.
"I learned much here," he said. "I used to come here when I was little and the people would teach me how to say words in Portuguese. I want to say thank you for what the club has taught me."
State Representative Antonio F.D. Cabral also congratulated the club on this important date and praised Pinto's initiative.
"The dedication and work that takes to finish a job such as this is something that we all know the Clube Recordações appreciates," he said. "It is with books such as this, a living history, that our children and grandchildren can pick up and know exactly what happened in 1929, or in 1932 or in 2009."
Finalizing the ceremonies, a special recognition was extended to the author for his dedication and work involved in the compilation of the book.
Pinto has been a director of the club since he arrived in the United States from Mozambique in 1965. He was teacher in the two Portuguese schools in the city. He taught Portuguese to children after eight hours of work as an inspector in a manufacturing plant of surgical equipment.
Now retired, he has started another crusade: To write the history of the Portuguese associations in New Bedford. Pinto thanked all who helped him, including his daughter Jennifer in compiling and preparing this work.
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