ONCE UPON A TIME PINOLE HAD A BAND
John “Johnny” Catrino passed away on August
15, 2015. He was 90. John was the last known
surviving member of the old “Pinole Municipal
Band.” John and his twin brother, Orland, were
both long-time band members. John played the
clarinet and Orland played the saxophone.
The “Pinole Band” was the pride of the city,
leading town parades for the Fourth of July, the
Portuguese Holy Ghost celebrations as well as
many other social events.
The origin of the Pinole Band goes back to the
early 1900s. Young eighth-grader Willie “Bill”
Lewis, of Portuguese descent, was a notable
figure in early Pinole because he had founded
the “Pinole Boys’ Original Brass Band.”
In 1909, the town newspaper reported Willie
Lewis had “bought a new horn and was blowing
it down town.”
Lewis had been an honor student of the old
Plaza School in downtown Pinole, where the
post office is today. In 1906, his band held its
practices at the one-room Plaza School.
Imperial Order
of Red Men,
Shenandoah Tribe
Lodge #121 and
ladies auxillary at
Alhambra Springs
recreational
resort in the
Alhambra Valley,
approximately
1906. Ignacio
Martinez was the
club’s cook. Photo
from the estate of
Joseph Mariotti.
32 MARKETPLACECONTRACOSTA.COM FEBRUARY 2018
By 1914, the band was playing at the local
Rink’s movie theatre as well as at Sunday
baseball games. Pinole was an avid baseball town.
Lewis, on trombone, was the talented bandleader
and teacher of brass instruments to other band
members.
His brother, Frank Lewis, played solo cornet.
Other early members were Victor Pedro and
Elmer Christian. George Vincent, my father, was
on baritone and Manuel Santos played snare
drums.
By 1938, the band had grown to 20 pieces. It
was still led by bandmaster Willie Lewis, who
was now a local grocery store merchant on San
Pablo Avenue and Pinole Valley Road.
In 1937, the band held its practices in the quiet
Pinole Valley at the Adobe Ranch, where there
was a wooden dance floor. In 1938, the band
held a community picnic there with Harold
Silvas playing accordion and “providing excellent
dance music,” according to the newspaper. The
Pinole Boys’ Band entertained Pinoleans in town
social affairs as well.
By George R. Vincent