For decades, a group of women in Brownsville have been getting together for a holiday tradition.

Once a year, Beatrice “Chickie” Samano brings together a group of ladies for a tamalada––a party dedicated to making tamales.

As they dust off their aprons, they're reminded of where it all began back in 1949.

"They say Celia's Kitchen because it was my mother that started everything,” Samano said. "In her death bed she told me, 'You promise me that you're going to keep on with the tamales?' and I said, 'Yes.'"

It's a promise she's lived up to––even when it meant a socially distant tamalada last year.

"COVID really put a damper on it, but we're back,” said Sandra Dreumont Maxwell. “We're back."

Chickie says being together is what it's all about. Now, they hope the tradition will live on for generations to come.

"Once you're in, you're in until death do you part,” Samano said. “That's it, that's the mafia, that's the tamale mafia."

Though it wasn't the entire group of 23 ladies, it was just as enjoyable.

The group says they’re already looking forward to next year's gathering, hoping they can all be together again under the same roof.