Building a Memory – BDES Building 100 Year Anniversary

If you give a building enough time, it will develop character, and its significance will grow beyond the wood and bricks that hold it together. Take, for example, the Benicia Divino Espirito Santo Hall—or BDES Hall, as it’s known. It has been a part of Benicia since 1915 when it opened as the permanent home for Benicia’s Holy Ghost Society, but has served many other functions since then. It was an ice skating rink at one point, a place for American soldiers to hold dance functions during wartime at another, and for some, it was even a place to find love. As a matter of fact, Dyanne Vojvoda of the Benicia Old Town Theater Group met her husband there and, more than 30 years later, she still regularly comes back to the building to do what she can to help preserve it.

“A friend suggested I join the theater group when I moved to Benicia in 1981, so I went to the hall,” Vojvoda said. “And when they were performing, I noticed this gentleman—he played this Italian character and it attracted my attention, and that was it. We started dating.” Thirty-four years later the two are still together.

The nonprofit group that Vojvoda belongs to is called the Benicia Old Town Theater Group, having rented this space since 1964. This has been their space for 52 years here and counting, slightly more than half of the Hall’s history, Vojvoda said. The theater group rents the Hall from the Benicia Holy Ghost Society, which is the same group that had the Hall built a century ago.

“The Hall is actually in pretty good shape for a building its age,” said Ken Gonsalves of the BDES—or Benicia Holy Ghost—society. “We’re quite happy to have it.”

The Holy Ghost Society is a group that celebrates Portuguese heritage, with their primary focus being the Feast of the Holy Spirit, an annual celebration of the sainthood of Queen Isabel of Portugal. The Holy Ghost society was founded in 1907, and found a permanent home in 1915, when the hall was constructed.

“This area has a rich Portuguese tradition; we’ve been here for quite some time,” said Gonsalves. “To have a permanent home meant everything to the society.”

When it’s not being used for the feast, the Hall is usually being used for some sort of celebration or another. During its 52-year history, the Benicia Old Town Theater group has been throwing two performances annually, and creating a lot of fun times for locals who have been turning out to the hall for all that time. They also help out with the parade and put on talent shows for kids, and put on ghost walks, cemetery tours, and more!

“We do some stuff other than the performances, but we always like it to be artsy. We really mix it up and try to reach the community educationally and also to have some fun,” Vojvoda said. “It’s a big job, and everybody’s invited. Benicia’s a great art community, so it fits in nicely.”

Aside from the Holy Ghost ceremony and the theater group, there have been countless events at the Hall, including trivia nights, dinner, and more. Most folks in town, if they’ve lived here long enough, have darkened the doors of the hall at one point or another.

“It’s always been a happy place, so it stands to reason that it’s very appropriate for the theater group to perform there,” Vojvoda said.

Back in 2007, the Holy Ghost Society celebrated its 100^th birthday, and this year, the building is turning 100, so it would appear that another party is in order. This August, the BDES committee plans to celebrate the hall’s 100^th birthday, and in honor of the occasion, the BDES society and the theater group are going to team up and do what each group does best. The BDES society will host a dinner for everyone who attends, and then the theater group is planning to put on a vaudeville show. This event will be held at the BDES hall on Saturday, August 15, with a 6:30 p.m. opening, costing $40 per person, and is intended as a celebration of the Hall’s history, Vojvoda said. She added, “We just thought that for the 100-year anniversary, people might enjoy seeing what might have gone on 100 years ago inside the building.”

As mentioned, the theater group sometimes puts on ghost tours, but what about the Hall itself? It has been here 100 years, is that enough time for a spirit to maybe find its way in? The answer depends on who you talk to. “I will go to my death knowing I’ve seen a ghost inside the theater,” Vojvoda said.

It was 15 years ago, Vojvoda said, when she was a manager and she happened to be alone at the theater. Most of the lights were off and the doors were locked. Vojvoda was planning to leave after she finished cleaning a couple things off, when she said she felt some kind of presence.

“I thought, ‘I’m not alone here,’ and just collected myself and looked around,” she said. “I grabbed my purse, grabbed my keys, and decided to exit as fast as I could.”

A few moments later, she built up the courage to leave and started to head out the door.

“As I was heading out, I happened to look towards the stage, and there is an ‘Exit’ sign that always stays lit, and it illuminated just a small portion of the stage,” Vojvoda said. “There was a strong image of a man with a top hat and a cape of sorts, very lifelike. I stared at it for quite a while, maybe a minute. And I somehow didn’t feel afraid.”

While Vojvoda continued to stare at the image, she says it evaporated in front of her eyes, “like smoke.” At that point, she made her way out.

“That was absolutely real,” she said, adding that others have reported hearing singing from behind the stage when no one was there. “But hey, if there is someone who inhabits it, it’s a happy place!”

But others, like Ken Gonsalves, say they’ve never seen anything out of the ordinary at their time in the hall.

“I’m not going to doubt Dyanne, I believe her that she saw what she saw,” Gonsalves said. “But I’ve never seen anything like that, personally.”g

The BDES Hall is located at 140 West J Street in Benicia. For more information, call 707-747-1865 or 707-746-1269. For more information on the hall and the Holy Ghost society, visit: www.beniciaholyghost.org.

If you want to go to the vaudeville show and dinner (hey, maybe you’ll find love there like Vojvoda and her husband), you can buy tickets by calling 707-745-1393. For more information, visit: www.beniciaholyghost.org/bdes-fund-raiser.html.

Nate Gartrell grew up in Benicia, studied journalism in college, and has written for a handful of media outlets since age 15. He aspires to visit all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums and to hit the trifecta at the horse track. 

Prost! The Clayton Oktoberfest returns

When the Clayton Business & Community Association was looking for another fundraising event, member Mary Ann Lawrence came up with a masterful idea: “I thought that an Oktoberfest would be unique to Clayton and would be a great way to embrace the community with a wonderful, fun atmosphere,” she said. And she was right! Now in its 12th consecutive year, the Clayton Oktoberfest has become an event that the community looks forward to every Fall.

Averaging 20-25,000 attendees, this event offers plenty of festivities to keep the whole family entertained. Held in downtown Clayton at Main St. and Marsh Creek Road, it starts with a carnival Friday night, with the Oktoberfest officially beginning the following Saturday morning, closes for the evening (of course) and finally ends Sunday night. A large tent in the biergarten can seat up to 550 people at German-style benches, just like those at the traditional Oktoberfest in Germany. “They’re identical to those exactly,” said Lawrence. Then there’s street performers, Bavarian dancers, beer, brats … by the end of the day you might end up crossing Germany off of your destination bucket list as Clayton pretty much offers the next best experience.

Compared to the historic Munich Oktoberfest, Lawrence says, “some people say that they actually like our event better.” It’s not overly crowded, you can comfortably enjoy all of the festivities, and it’s family oriented, as it has been since the beginning, she said. “Kids have always been invited.”

There’s no “kids area” or “adults area”—it’s an equal playing field for the whole family. “The wonderful thing about the biergarten is it’s for everyone,” said Lawrence. “Parents are in there dancing with their children, everybody is sitting together at those long biergarten tables enjoying the music, raising their stein, holding hands, singing to the music and just having a great time,” she said. “It’s just a wonderful sight to see.”

Another part of the Clayton Oktoberfest tradition is the band: The Internationals will be making their return. “They’ve been there since year one,” said Lawrence. “Their music energizes the crowd, keeps the dance floor full—they’re the consummate entertainers. The crowd loves this band.” Specializing in “Dance Music from Everywhere,” The Internationals are performing in several Oktoberfests this year. They must be kept busy the rest of the year so you might hear them play a hint of their other styles including music from France, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. The Internationals are a big draw for the Clayton Oktoberfest—rivaled only by the food and drink.

“We provide a great selection of food including German-style brats and wienerschnitzel, and we serve a selection of Hofbräuhaus beers, hard cider, schnapps and wine,” said Lawrence. “We also have a good selection of art vendors.”

So the carnival kicks off the event on Friday night from 6-10 p.m. and continues throughout the festival on Saturday and Sunday. “There is a carnival in Munich,” said Lawrence. “Initially we thought: wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a ferris wheel and a merry-go-round? It’s very difficult to get a carnival that small to get into any venue.” But they found one! As of about year 3 the carnival has been part of the event. “They bring about 12 rides, plenty of rides for the tots,” she said. “Friday evening businesses are full, the kids are just running down the street to get to the carnival. It’s so fun.”

The festival begins the following morning at 11 a.m. “On Saturday we have a little parade and we have a keg tapping—that’s what they do in Munich!” said Lawrence. “We have the mayor tap the keg and we have a little parade with the band playing. A dog pulls a little wagon with a keg inside, we tap the keg … it’s a lot of fun.” The keg tapping will occur on Saturday at 12:30 p.m., but don’t worry, you can purchase beer as early as 11 a.m.—hey, it’s 5 o’ clock somewhere! And it’s Oktoberfest, so no judgment allowed.

Over the last few years they’ve welcomed the street-performing team known as the Sardine Family Circus. You may have seen them performing on Pier 39, as Lawrence did years ago. “That’s where we initially saw them and they’re just absolutely fantastic,” she said. Who better to entertain than a family of performers at a family event? They’ve also had jugglers, comedians and other fun characters making an appearance, even Jack Sparrow. This year the Sardine Family Circus may or may not return, at this writing it’s too early to tell. What we can tell you is to expect to find the next best Oktoberfest outside of Germany.

“We strive to offer an authentic experience, and that’s what people say: that it feels authentic, similar to the Munich Oktoberfest but on a smaller scale,” said Lawrence. And having it in Clayton makes it feel even more authentic. “The downtown venue offers a beautiful ambience under Mount Diablo; it just has that Oktoberfest feel. The setting actually adds a lot to the experience of the event.”

People do show up in costume and you’re certainly encouraged to do so. Start looking around at specialty costume shops or place your order online now so you’ll be ready to arrive in your dirndls and lederhosen. Don’t know what those are? Let the research begin!

The Clayton Oktoberfest is fully sponsored by the Clayton Business & Community Association. They are staffed predominantly by volunteers and all the money raised at the event goes right back into the community via scholarships, beautification projects in the city, sponsorships for the boy scouts and Meals on Wheels, and much more. The City of Clayton is actually not involved in this event so make sure to give the business association full credit!

“We have free admission, a free shuttle, free onsite handicap transport,” she says, but it’s not all free! “Patrons will purchase their glasses and [food and drink] tickets.” There’s also an ATM so there’s no excuse not to have the time of your life at this event. Designated drivers are highly recommended. “We will call a taxi for anyone who may need the service.”

Tickets for the event are better off being purchased beforehand if you can make it out to any of the following Clayton establishments before 5 p.m. on October 2nd: Ed’s Mudville Grill, Hair’s the Place, Skipolini’s Pizza and The Royal Rooster. Pre-sale tickets are $10 for 20, whereas at the event the cost is $20 for 24 tickets. With each ticket valued at $1, it’s definitely worth it to purchase ahead of time and show up ready to indulge.

After 12 years of success Lawrence still looks forward to the event more and more every year. “I just love seeing the community come together and really enjoy themselves,” she said. “People are together, young and old, people that don’t even know each other, having a good camaraderie … it’s a meeting place. And the band is absolutely fantastic; they entertain for the entire weekend and you can hardly get people to leave. Some people come in with their tablecloths, set up and stay there all day long.”

As far as planning for the future, Lawrence is pretty content with sustaining the event how it is now. “We might add things to it as we see fit, but in my opinion there’s nothing to change.”

Honed to perfection after more than a decade of hard work, come join your neighbors at one of the best events of the year. The Friday carnival hours are from 6-10 p.m. and the Oktoberfest lasts from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. For more information visit www.ClaytonOktoberfest.com or call (925) 672-2272.

Matt Larson is a writer/actor/comedian native to Vallejo who travels back and forth from Los Angeles way too much.He’s desperate for attention and urges you to follow him on all social medias @MarsLegstrong. He lives for likes, please keep him healthy.