THE PINOLE SWINGERS PERFORMED AT DISNEyLAND IN 1978. THE SENIOR BAND PLAyING MAKESHIFT INSTRuMENTS WAS POPuLAR THROuGHOuT THE BAy AREA. TThe Pinole Swingers Band By Marcia Kalapus, president - pinole Historical society hey called themselves the Pinole Swingers. And boy, did they swing! They were a band of 18 senior citizens ranging in age from 61 to 84. They got together for a little instrumental enjoyment at the Pinole Senior Citizens Center at 2220 Pear Street, and a musical legend was born. They entertained people all over the Bay Area — playing standards such as “Peg O’ My Heart,” “Bye, Bye Blackbird,” and “Swanee” — at schools, city halls, shopping centers, Masonic lodges, senior centers, and restaurants, among other venues. They played at Mi Place Pizza in Tara Hills on the last Tuesday of every month. The Pinole Chamber of Commerce sponsored the group. The bandleader was Irene Minassian. It was started by pianoplaying former music teacher June Erfert. The Pinole Swingers started out as a small group in November 1976 and soon bloomed into a 17-piece orchestra. It had one professional musician and lots of energy and a lot of talent. They played an assortment of instruments: washtubs, horns, kazoos, pianos, cellos, harmonicas, electric guitars, banjos, maracas, and fiddles, and had a drummer who doubled as a chorus girl. The kazoos looked like funnels, trumpets, and trombones. Pete Singley played a homemade bass viol made out of a washtub, broom handle and a stout cord. Marie Dutra played washboard. Frank Dutra played sticks. Paul Trudhung was a professional banjo player, and his wife, Lillian, played spoons. Eva Sanders was on kazoo. Marion Jackson, age 84, played a mean maracas. Edwina Silva was great on a trombone kazoo. Everett Lilly, 83, had been playing a harmonica since he was nine years old back in West Virginia. Rose Gilligan was known as the “swingier” swinger; she played drums, but she closed out each song and was the band’s premier dancer. The rest of the band members were Richard Doyle, Sam Appleton, Pat Stewart, Estelle Costa, Lucy Busciano, Charlotte Dodd, Deana Warren, Lillian Carroll, Alice Irwin, George Ramsey, April Carmelich, and Pauline Faulkner. The women wore bright red pantsuits and the men something appropriate. All wore straw hats with a red band around the crowns. They made their first television appearance in early 1977 on AM San Francisco, where they were a big hit. They were invited to Disneyland on May 24,1978, to play at the annual Pioneer Week for two shows in front of thousands of spectators. After their performance there, they were invited by Marion Knotts to perform at Knotts Berry Farm. They held many fundraisers to help pay for their bus trip, meals, and lodging. The Pinole McDonald’s franchise provided a “Big Mac” coach to transport them to Anaheim. They played for many years and entertained a lot of people. This city had a wonderful, diverse, and talented group of citizens in the past, and continues to have people who make Pinole a vibrant small community.
Contra Costa Marketplace - Feb 2015
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