Gregorio “Greg” Dionisio Tabasa interviewed by Una Lynch
Dublin Core
Title
Gregorio “Greg” Dionisio Tabasa interviewed by Una Lynch
Description
In this interview, originally recorded over the phone, Gregorio “Greg” Dionisio Tabasa speaks with Watsonville is in the Heart team member, Una Lynch. Greg begins the interview by talking about his father, Jesus Torrente Tabasa, who immigrated from the Aklan Province in the Philippines to Hawai’i and eventually to the Pajaro Valley where he worked as a labor contractor. Gred also discusses his mother, Rosita “Rosie” Dionisio Tabasa who also immigrated from Aklan and eventually owned and operated a restaurant in Watsonville. Her restaurant was first called Oriental Cafe and later Philippine Gardens. Greg explains the restaurant's significance to the Watsonville Filipino American community. He describes it as a “gathering place” for the Filipino community to connect and eat together. Greg also discusses his parents’ roles as community leaders and their participation in organizations like the Caballeros de Dimas-Alang and the Filipino Women’s Club of Watsonville. He also reflects on the personal impacts of his father’s and how other Filipino men helped to raise him and his brother, Danny. He explains that after Jesus’s death Rosie continued community and restaurant work through the 1980s. Greg closes the interview by reflecting on a housing and public art project titled Tabasa Gardens that honors his mother and her impact on the Filipino American community. Tabasa Gardens is an apartment community located on Freedom Boulevard in Watsonville. Half of the apartment units will be reserved for farmworkers. In addition to being named for the Tabasa family and their restaurant. The complex features a mosaic mural depicting Rosie Tabasa and her eldest son, Jess Tabasa.
Creator
Gregorio “Greg” Dionisio Tabasa
Una Lynch
Date
February 28, 2023
Rights
Watsonville is in the Heart (WIITH) is a community-driven public history initiative to preserve and uplift stories of Filipino migration and labor in the city of Watsonville and greater Pajaro Valley. All oral history interviews are donated to WIITH by the narrators. Copyright is held by WIITH. Oral history interview recordings and transcripts are available for unrestricted use and reproduction by educators and researchers. Please note that the recordings on this website are provided via Soundcloud. For access to oral history audio files, please contact the project director at wiith@ucsc.edu. If you are an oral history narrator and would like to remove your interview from the archive website, please contact the project director.
Language
English
Type
Oral History
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Interviewer
Una Lynch
Interviewee
Gregorio “Greg” Dionisio Tabasa
Original Format
.m4a
Duration
1:59:00
URL
Link to audio recording on escholarship: Greg Tabasa interviewed by Una Lynch
Collection
Citation
Gregorio “Greg” Dionisio Tabasa and Una Lynch, “Gregorio “Greg” Dionisio Tabasa interviewed by Una Lynch,” Watsonville is in the Heart: Community Digital Archive, accessed November 7, 2024, https://wiith-archive.ucsc.edu/items/show/1236.
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