Italian America Magazine - Spring 2018 by ordersonsofitaly

Italy's Tail-Waggers

American Owners Lose Their Hearts in Italian Breeds

How the Vespa Set Imaginations Free

Odd But True Stories of Piaggio's Scooter

Searching Sorrento A Quest for the Perfect Gift

Saving Rosa Di Tufo

How a Young Writer Preserved His Family Home

SPRING 2018

wit ew ! i v e r nich t n I stia 6 e v Ba age 3 i s u cl idia See P x E L

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ITALIAN AMERICA

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VOL. XXIII No. 2

Italian America

T h e O ff i c i a l P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e O r d e r S o n s a n d D a u g h t e r s o f I t a l y i n A m e r i c a ®

Features

10 16

Saving Rosa di Tufo

How a Young Writer Preserved His Family’s Home By Patrick DeVito McNeil

How the Vespa Set Imaginations Free Odd But True Stories of Piaggio’s Scooter By Eric Dregni

22 28

Italy’s Tail-Waggers

American Owners Lose Their Hearts in Italian Breeds By Emily Wade Will

Searching Sorrento A Quest for the Perfect Gift By Miles Ryan Fisher

ON THE COVER: Maremma Sheepdog, also known as an Abruzzese. (Grezova Olga)

D e pa r t m e n t s

8 Pagina Italiana 13 Speakers Bureau 14 Book Reviews 20 Piacere 26 OSDIA Nation

2 High Profile 3 National News 4 Oggi in Italia 5 Regions of Italy 6 Mangia

31 From the National 32 Foundation Focus 33 Fighting Stereotypes 34 Letters to the Editor 35 The Last Word 36 Piacere

Italian America is published by The Order Sons and daughters of Italy in America 219 E Street NE • Washington, DC 20002 • Phone: (202) 547-2900 • Web: www.osia.org Editor-in-Chief: Miles Ryan Fisher mfisher@osia.org Writers: Andrea Bufka; Eric Dregni; Patrick DeVito McNeil; Emily Wade Will; Miles Ryan Fisher Translator: Giuliana Lonigro Proofreaders: Peggy Daino, Marlene Palazzo Graphic Designer: Diane Vincent To advertise: Contact Dave Bayard dave@bayard.com (973) 822-9275 or Laura Lemos laura@boja.com (973) 822-9274

Italian America Magazine is published by the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America (OSDIA), the nation’s biggest and oldest organization for people of Italian heritage. To subscribe, see www.osia.org or call 1-800-552-6742. SPRING 2018

ITALIAN AMERICA

High Profile

Italian Americans making an impact

In Her Father’s Shoes

Denise Baroski Carries the Dream Onward When Denise Baroski was a little girl, her father, Vincent DiSabitino, would come home from a long day laying bricks, his boots caked with concrete. Exhausted, he’d make his way into the den and settle into his favorite chair. Denise would go over to him and take off his boots. Pieces of concrete would fall all over the floor. “He never expected anything,” Denise reflected. “He never said, ‘Give me this’ or ‘I deserve that.’” Her father had emigrated from Sant’Omero, Italy (Abruzzo region) to Jamestown, New Jersey, leaving his homeland in the 1920s as a baby. Less than twenty years later, when he enlisted to fight in World War II, his Italian birth prompted the United States military to question his loyalty. They wouldn’t allow him to carry a weapon. So Vincent joined the Medical Corps and was sent to the European theater, where he stormed the beaches of Normandy as part of the fourth wave. With just an eighth grade education, Vincent began as a bricklayer in Wilmington, Delaware. He mastered the trade, then started constructing custom homes, and eventually became a developer, founding Vincent J. DiSabitino Associates. Again, Vincent’s Italian birth resurfaced. As a developer, he built in neighborhoods that had community deed restrictions, preventing Italians from purchasing the homes. Vincent was allowed to build there, but wasn’t allowed to live there.

As his business flourished, Vincent started to focus on a higher purpose as he thought of a friend who’d lost a child to leukemia. “The heartbreak stayed with him,” Denise said. “When he became successful, he wanted to do something for children.” So, in 1987, Vincent and his wife, Con- Denise with her father, Vincent. cetta, started Delaware Dreams, a foundation dedicated to helping children. At first, he provided support the old-fashioned way. “He would read things in the paper that were upsetting about a family losing a house and their children being deprived,” Denise said. “He and mom would get in the car and he would just write a check and say, ‘Buy the kids clothing and what they need.’” Two years after its founding, Delaware Dreams partnered with the hospital Nemours/A I duPont Hospital for Children and its oncology division. It paid for direct needs, from a wig for a child who’d lost all her hair to a funeral for a family who couldn’t afford it. In 1996, Vincent passed away from his own battle with cancer. That’s when his daughter, the same one who took off his boots after a day of hard labor, stepped into his shoes, assuming the role of charity administrator. Under Denise’s guidance, Delaware Dreams began hosting annual holiday parties and summer picnics as a way to bring joy to children battling pediatric cancer. For many parents, it’s the one day they see their children smile. In carrying on what her father started, Denise certainly doesn’t take her fortune for granted. She remembers her father’s words, “If you’re fortunate in this life, you have to give back.”

Denise (right) joins the festivities at Delaware Dreams’ summer picnic. SPRING 2018

Through her father’s original endowment and a couple strong current supporters, Delaware Dreams continues to do just that. Perhaps that’s what makes Delaware Dreams the finishing touch on the American Dream. It represents the hard labor that leads to success and then comes to fruition by giving it all back—the ultimate way of remembering where one came from. ITALIAN AMERICA

National News

Italian American issues and events

Pop Crooner, Past NELA Gala Performer Vic Damone Dies The son of an electrician and a piano teacher, Vito Farinola was born in 1928 and grew up in Brooklyn, New York, raised by parents who had emigrated from Bari (capital of the Puglia region). He later decided to adopt his mother’s maiden name—Damone—as his stage name. After his father became disabled from an on-the-job accident, Damone dropped out of high school to help support the family as an usher at Paramount Theatre in Manhattan. It was through this job that he found himself in an elevator with Perry Como, who was performing in the theatre. Damone belted some notes and asked Como if he should continue with his singing lessons. “Keep singing!” Como exclaimed.

Thus began his lifelong friendship with Como, who would be the one to give Damone his start in the music business. Como wouldn’t be the only famed Italian-American singer to admire Damone’s singing. When Frank Sinatra first heard Damone’s voice, Damone was performing “Night and Day,” one of Sinatra’s songs, live on radio. Sinatra promptly called the station, asking to be put on the phone with Damone. “This is Frank Sinatra,” he said to Damone, “and I want you to stop singing my songs.” Years later, Sinatra said, “If I had one wish, it would be for Vic Damone’s tonsils. Vic has the best pipes in the business.” Damone recorded more than 2,000 songs and made dozens of movie and television appearances. In 1972, he was offered the part of Johnny Fontane in “The Godfather,” which he declined, stating that the film was “not in the best interests of Italian Americans.” In 2000, Damone performed at the Sons of Italy Foundation’s National Education & Leadership Awards (NELA) Gala, a night when racecar driver Michael Andretti and actress Connie Stevens were being honored. Damone retired in 2002 after suffering a stroke, but nine years later, he returned to the stage for one final performance, which he dedicated to his grandchildren. “I don’t need the money,” he said, “but, you know, my six grandkids have never seen me on stage.”

Vic Damone performs at the 2000 SIF NELA Gala.

Damone died on February 12 at age 89.

Sons of Italy Foundation Helps Rebuild Playground in L’Aquila Answering a call to action by the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute of Queens College (NY), the Sons of Italy Foundation (SIF) donated $4,000 to reach the $10,000 goal toward building a playground at the Wuascaranza pre-school in L’Aquila, Italy (Abruzzo region). The region, which was devastated by the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake, has received significant support from its ItalianAmerican brothers and sisters. The Calandra Institute initiated its fundraising campaign in April 2016 and presented the school with the $10,000 donation in October 2017. The new playground is expected to be built by June 2018. In 2011, the SIF donated $235,000 to help rebuild the Fondazione Il Cireneo Onlus per L’Autismo, a center for autistic children that was destroyed by the earthquake. SPRING 3 ITALIAN 2018 AMERICA

The plaque that will be placed at the playground to memorialize the contributions made to build it. ITALIAN AMERICA SPRING 2018 3

Oggi in Italia

Italy’s news, politics and culture

Auschwitz Survivor Made Senator For Life At age 87, Liliana Segre received one of Italy’s greatest honors when President Sergio Mattarella appointed her a senator for life in Italy. President Mattarella chose Segre for her years of commitment to relating her experiences during the Holocaust to Italy’s schoolchildren. Segre was one of the few Italian Jews to survive a Nazi death camp—only 25 of 775 Italian children survived them. When Italian Racial Laws (leggi razziali) were introduced in 1938, Segre and her family went into hiding for five years before being captured and put on a train from Milan to a deportation camp, which led her to Auschwitz. It wasn’t until 50 years later that Home of the Segre started talking about her experience at the death camp and relating it to students.

NYS OSIA

Convention

“Liliana Segre’s life is testimony to freedom,” Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni wrote. “As a senator, she will point out the value of memory. A precious decision 80 years after the racial laws.”

Segre is the fourth woman to be appointed Senatorfor-Life. (Nadav Levy)

Senators for life vote alongside elected senators in the Italian Parliament’s upper chamber and are appointed “for outstanding patriotic merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field.” They have been comprised of scientists, conductors, writers, and politicians. “I cannot assign myself importance other than that of being a herald, a person who recounts what she has witnessed,” Segre said. “I feel like any other woman—a grandmother—and I never thought about this. Knowing I’ll be among senators for life is an honor and great responsibility.”

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Italian Presidents have the right to appoint five citizens. However, since the first senators for life were appointed in 1949, Segre is just the 42nd individual to receive the honor. She is currently one of five living senators for life.

Chocolate Giant Buys Nestle Ferrero SpA—manufacturer of Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, Kinder, and Tic Tacs—finalized the purchase of the Nestle Corporation for $2.8 billion last February. The deal, for which the Hershey Group also competed for, makes Ferrero the third largest chocolate company in the world and brings them brands like Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, Raisinets, 100 Grand, and—ironically—Wonka. The purchase comes two years after the death of its eccentric owner, Michele Ferrero, who was often likened to the storied character Willy Wonka. Known for its secretive nature, the Ferrero company has never held a press conference and does not permit the media to visit its production plants. ITALIAN AMERICA

Regions of Italy

Italy’s Twenty Regions

Veneto

The Land of Hello & Goodbye Bordered by five regions and Austria, Veneto was an independent state (the Republic of Venice) for more than a thousand years. It was annexed by Italy in 1866, five years following Italy’s unification. Veneto is highly industrialized, making it one of the wealthiest regions in Italy today. However, much of its income can be attributed to the 60 million visitors it attracts, making it the most visited region in the country (and generating an estimated $15 billion annually).

The Grand Canal in Venice. (Pedro Szekely)

Of course, a big reason for its tourism is due to its capital, Venice, whose alluring waterways are known the world over. Resting on a chain of 117 islands that are FUN FACT: The first known casino—called the Ridotto— was established in Venice in 1638 to control gambling during Carnevale. It closed 136 years later. surrounded by 177 canals, the city is connected by 455 bridges. Canals serve as the city’s “roadways,” the most prominent being the Grand Canal, which winds almost two and a half miles through Venice. It ranges from 30 to 90 feet wide and averages 16 feet in depth. Venice is built on a foundation of wooden pilings that sink deep into the bottom of the lagoon, through sand and mud until they stabilize in compressed clay. The wood, since it is submerged in water, becomes harder and stronger due to oxygen deprivation, which prevents it from decaying. Venice is home to St. Mark’s Basilica, known as the Chiesa d’Oro (Church of Gold). The Basilica, located in Piazza San Marco, was named after one of the four disciples after his body was stolen from Alexandria, Egypt, and brought to Venice. In addition to its landmarks, Venice hosts Carnevale di Venezia, an annual festival that lasts for about two weeks and ends the day before Ash Wednesday. Famous for its SPRING 5 ITALIAN 2018 AMERICA

ostentatious masks, Carnevale supposedly started in 1162 when people congregated in Piazza San Marco to celebrate a victory for the Republic of Venice. Although it’s easy to concentrate on Venice when talking about Veneto, many also recognize the city of Verona, known as the land of the Capulets and Montagues. While those families actually did exist, Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet was an entirely fictionalized story. In addition to Verona, the city of Padua prides itself on being the setting of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. It is also home to the second oldest university in Italy (and sixth oldest in the world)—the University of Padua—which was founded in 1222. With millions of tourists coming and going, and the many reasons to visit Veneto, perhaps it is quite fitting that the word ciao finds its origin in this region. People used to greet each other by saying s-ciavo vostro (“I am your slave”). Through time, this evolved into s-ciao until it simply became ciao. Veneto Capital: Venice Population: 4.9 million (5th of the 20 regions) Size: 7,104 square miles (8th of the 20 regions) Provinces: Belluno Padova Rovigo Treviso Venice Verona Vicenza ITALIAN AMERICA SPRING 2018 5

Mangia! Spicy Stuffed Clams Vongole Ripiene

Ask your ﬁshmonger to shuck the clams for you, leaving them on the half-shell, and tell him to reserve ½ cup of the clam juice. Then all you have to do when you get home is stuff and bake them. Ingredients 24 littleneck clams, shucked, plus ½ cup clam juice 1 cup panko bread crumbs

from the italian cookbook

Bruschetta with Prosciutto and Figs Bruschetta con Prosciutto e Fichi Ingredients 1 cup balsamic vinegar 2 teaspoons honey 1 fresh bay leaf

¼ cup grated Grana Padano

6 thick slices country bread, grilled or toasted on both sides, still warm

2 hot pickled cherry peppers, seeded and ﬁnely chopped, plus 2 tablespoons brine from the jar

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

(substitute roasted red peppers or sweet pickled peppers)

Kosher salt

1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

6 ripe ﬁgs, thickly sliced

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

12 thin slices prosciutto

½ cup ﬁnely chopped scallions

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil ¾ cup dry white wine • Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Set the clams on a rimmed sheet pan.

• Combine the vinegar, honey, and bay leaf in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and cook until thick and syrupy and reduced to 1⁄3 cup, about 5 to 6 minutes. Let cool. Discard bay leaf. • Drizzle the warm bread with olive oil, and season with salt. Lay the ﬁg slices over the bread. Drape the prosciutto over the ﬁgs. Drizzle with balsamic reduction. Serve.

• In a medium bowl, combine the panko, scallions, grated cheese, pickled cherry peppers, parsley, and salt, and toss with a fork. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, and toss again to make a moist stuffing. • Press some stuffing over each clam, dividing evenly and leaving a couple tablespoons filling in the bowl. • Stir the reserved stuffing and the pepper brine into the white wine, and pour this into the bottom of the pan. Add ½ cup of the reserved clam juice. Drizzle the clams with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Bake until filling is crisp and golden, about 15 to 18 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

If you liked these recipes, find more in Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali’s Celebrate Like an Italian SPRING 2018

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Pagina Italiana Lezione di cucina

Per chi studia la nostra lingua

“The Cooking Lesson”

Written by Andrea Bufka Translated by Giuliana Lonigro

Emily aveva preferito dormire un po’ in più per assaporare fino all’ultimo il resto della sua vacanza, e quando fece il suo ingresso in cucina, il profumo delle cipolle e dell’aglio pervadeva già l’aria. I suoi cugini, Chiara e Matteo, erano intenti a discutere con la nonna, e le loro voci riecheggiavano nitide dall’alto soffitto della stanza rivestita di piastrelle. In mano la nonna teneva un secondo grembiule da cucina, che Chiara inutilmente provava a spingere via; ma con il suo italiano elementare, Emily non riusciva a decifrare il senso in quel torrente di sillabe. La drammaticità delle loro espressioni e i gesti delle mani potevano tanto riguardare le previsioni del tempo, quanto una questione di vita o di morte. “Oggi Nonna vuole insegnarti a fare gli gnocchetti sardi” disse Chiara in un inglese vicino alla perfezione, forte del suo semestre a San Diego, “ma le abbiamo detto che abbiamo intenzione di andare in spiaggia. Ovviamente.” Nella sua gonnellina di lino bianco ed una canottiera colorata che faceva risaltare ancor di più la sua bella abbronzatura, appariva più curata di quanto Emily non fosse mai stata in tutti i suoi vent’anni. Chiara svitò la caffettiera d’alluminio, ne batté il fondo umido nella spazzatura, la riempì nuovamente, e la rimise sui fornelli. Matteo spinse pigramente la confezione di biscotti della colazione ed un piatto attraverso il tavolo, in direzione di Emily. Emily era rimasta assai sorpresa dallo scoprire che gli italiani mangiavano biscotti per colazione— un reparto intero dedicato al supermercato!—ed anche lei aveva sviluppato una passione per quelli rotondi, croccanti ma non troppo dolci. “Emilia!”, chiamò la Nonna. Quasi piegata in due dall’età, la Nonna ancora trascorreva ore ai fornelli nella sua uniforme di veste da camera stirata di fresco, scarpe stringate dal tacco alto, e calzamaglia. I suoi cugini lo davano ormai per scontato, ma il profumo gustoso dalla salsa che bolliva sul fuoco faceva venire ad Emily l’acquolina in bocca. Quando Emily le fu vicina, la Nonna le strinse la mano con la propria, morbida e rugosa, e le baciò la guancia;

una fragranza floreale veniva dai suoi capelli argentati, piegati in piccoli riccioli. “Ragù alla bolognese” le disse, come annunciando un grande segreto. La Nonna parlava quasi sempre in dialetto; e sebbene comunicassero tramite mimica o traduzione, Emily sentiva che, all’interno del ramo italiano della sua famiglia, la Nonna la conosceva meglio di chiunque altro. La sua figura minuta irradiava un senso inspiegabile di autorità. “Sta cucinando cose fin troppo pesanti con questo caldo che fa, solo per impressionarti!” disse Matteo nel suo inglese ben più semplice, con un vago gesto all’indietro della mano libera. “Io oggi mangio solo anguria.” Emily notò che indossava già i pantaloncini da bagno. A sentire il più smilzo e il maggiore tra i suoi cugini, tre elementi erano necessari per sopravvivere in Italia nel mese di agosto: il mare, il costume da bagno, e l’anguria. Ad appena le nove e trenta del mattino, l’aria della cucina aveva già perso tutto il fresco notturno, e le persiane erano state abbassate completamente, a tener fuori il sole d’agosto. Ma Emily sapeva cosa voleva fare, anche se i suoi cugini non avrebbero capito. Prese il grembiule e se lo legò sopra al pigiama. La Nonna le fece un gran bell’occhiolino, poi scacciò via Chiara e Matteo per sbarazzarsi dei piatti della colazione e stendere la larga tovaglia di cera che usava per fare la pasta in casa. “Sei sicura?” le chiese Chiara. “Ci sarà anche Paolo” aggiunse, e Matteo annuì dietro di lei. A tre giorni dal suo volo di rientro a Pittsburgh, quella era una giornata perfetta da trascorrere nelle acque azzurre di Capo Coda Cavallo, magari con Paolo, i suoi capelli lunghi fino alle spalle e l’aria disinvolta da romano. “Spero che i miei gnocchetti vi piacciano!” disse Emily, in un italiano che tradiva il suo accento. Andrea Bufka has lived in Italy and speaks Italian fluently. She now lives in Washington, D.C. Giuliana Lonigro is a proud Italian-American, born and raised in sunny Napoli. She recently moved to Silicon Valley where she works in the tech industry.

To read the English version, visit www.osia.org and sign in to access the digital copy of Italian America. SPRING 2018

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Pagina Italiana

Per chi studia la nostra lingua

The Cooking Lesson by Andrea Bufka

Emily had slept in a little to savor the last of her vacation, and when she entered the kitchen, the smell of onions and garlic hung thick in the air. Her cousins Matteo and Chiara were deep in conversation with their grandmother, voices echoing off the high ceilings of the tiled room. Nonna had a spare apron in one hand that Chiara kept trying to pull away, but Emily’s rudimentary Italian couldn’t decode the torrent of syllables. Their dramatic expressions and hand gestures could as easily be about the weather or a matter of life and death. “Nonna wants to teach you how to make gnocchetti sardi today,” Chiara said in near perfect English from her semester in San Diego, “but we told her we are going to the beach. Of course.” In a white linen skirt and colorful tank top that showed off her deep tan, she looked more polished than Emily ever had in her twenty years. Chiara unscrewed the aluminum espresso pot, tapped the wet grounds into the trash, refilled it, and placed it back on the stove. Matteo lazily pushed the bag of breakfast cookies and a plate across the table to Emily. Emily had been surprised that Italians ate cookies for breakfast—a whole section at the market!—and she’d developed a taste for the crunchy, not-too-sweet circles. “Emilia!” Nonna called. Folded nearly in half with age, she still spent hours at the stove in her uniform of an ironed housedress, lace-up heeled shoes, and pantyhose. Her cousins took it for granted, but Emily’s mouth watered at the savory smell of the bubbling sauce. When Emily went to her, Nonna clasped her hand with her soft, wrinkly one and kissed her cheek,

a flowery scent wafting from her silver hair coiffed in short curls. “Ragù alla bolognese,” she said, as if she were announcing a big secret. Nonna mainly spoke dialect, and although they conversed through pantomime or translation, Emily felt she knew her best of all her Italian family; a sense of bemused authority radiated from her tiny frame. “She is cooking too much heavy food in this heat, to impress you!” Matteo said in his more simple English, with a backwards wave of his free hand. “Today I eat only watermelon.” Emily noticed he was already wearing his bathing trunks. According to her lanky oldest cousin, three factors were necessary to survive August in Italy: the sea, a bathing suit, and watermelon. At barely nine-thirty, the air in the kitchen had lost its nighttime cool, and the full-length shutters were already closed to block the sun’s August glare. But Emily knew what she wanted to do, even if her cousins wouldn’t understand. She took the apron and knotted it over her pajamas. Nonna gave Emily a big wink, then shooed Chiara and Matteo so she could clear the breakfast dishes and spread out the waxed tablecloth for pasta-making. “Are you sure?” Chiara asked. “Paolo will be there,” she added, and Matteo nodded behind her. Three days before her plane home to Pittsburgh, and it was a perfect day to spend splashing in the azure waters of Capo Coda Cavallo, perhaps with Paolo, his shoulderlength hair and Roman cool. “I hope you like my gnochetti!” Emily said, in accented Italian.

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How a Young Writer Preserved His Family’s Home by Patrick DeVito McNeil

Rosa di Tufo gives writers a scenic view of Italy.

“Chi non accetto, non merito,” my grandfather used to say, pressing a dollar bill into my palm and winking at me. Who doesn’t accept it, doesn’t deserve it. We all called him Tatone, an affectionate name for grandfather in dialect. When we were kids, he used to tell us that one day he was going to take us all to see his older sister in Tufo at the big, pink house he was born in, and how she was going to make us the best pasta fagioli we’d ever tasted. I remember dreaming about the house as a kid, imagining it pink as cotton candy. He died before it ever happened. Then his sister—our Zia Lina—passed away, too. She died childless, and the house I used to dream about was left to my mother and her sisters. In the 15 years since Zia Lina’s passing, we managed to visit Tufo a handful of times, but as SPRING 2018

the family grew older, and it became harder to make the journey, the time between our visits growing longer and longer apart. The house would sit empty for years at a time, and the conversation naturally turned toward the possibility of selling the house, of letting it go. It was a lot of work to hold onto, and maintaining it wasn’t cheap. Inevitably, my grandma butted in, invoking the memory of her deceased husband. “But, we gotta perpetuate it, your father always said. That was his dream. And he was talking about more than just that house, you know. He was talking about your heritage.”

Rosa di Tufo, the pink house in Tufo where the author’s grandfather was born.

Did she mean my heritage, too? As a third-generation, halfItalian with a name like Patrick McNeil, I was never sure how much my Italian heritage was supposed to matter. How much claim did I really have to it? How much claim did we really have to an empty house, half ITALIAN AMERICA

a world away? None of us had ever lived there. Then, last spring, I decided to leave my home and job in Philadelphia to go and live there, in Zia Lina’s house in Tufo, and to see, once and for all, if there really was a viable way to perpetuate it.

One thing I could work with, though, was Tufo’s location. Tucked in the shin of Italy’s boot, Tufo is about an hour drive from Southern Italy’s greatest hits: Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Caserta, Paestum, Avellino, Salerno, Sorrento, Capri.

Writers on retreat share a seafood We also had a few connections, so The idea was to put it to use. pasta dinner after a day of work. I reached out to a family friend, Vito Our family had always loved vacaRago, who runs an Avellino-based tions there, so I thought that if we could open it up to hiking business and developed a few hiking itineraries other families, and if they loved it, too, then we might be able to keep it. I started up an Airbnb account and to offer guests. I partnered with Cantine di Marzo, the listed the house for rent. Rosa di Tufo, we called her. I 400-year-old cantina just up the street from Rosa, which posted pictures of its three bedrooms as well as the whole sits in the base of the 1,000-year-old Castello Longobardo secondo piano, complete with a full kitchen, dining room, and offers historical tours of Tufo and wine tastings to our ping-pong table, and balconies that overlook the vineyards guests. Greco di Tufo, a white wine “with a real length to it”—as the di Marzos put it—draws wine lovers from across the Sabato River. all over Italy. When I made the listing public, I noticed that there were no other listings in town, which at first I figured was a good thing. No competition, right? Then my spirits flagged—the reason that there weren’t any other places in town, I realized, was because my family, the DeVitos, were the only ones who seemed to have heard of the little town of Tufo.

We needed to spread the word. I created a website (www.rosaditufo.com) and a Facebook page for Rosa di Tufo, promoting not only the house but also the town. Tufo is small, with a population of about 800 people, all of whom remember my Zia Lina—and most of whom can’t understand why anyone would ever want to vacation there. With just one restaurant in town, it’s not your typical tourist destination.

Located in the Campania region’s Avellino province, Tufo has a population under 1,000.

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I flooded my Facebook and Instagram accounts with all of these attractions, launching a full social media campaign. Every day I posted something new. It may have even annoyed a few friends back home, but it proved effective—we got a few bites. Reservations from friends, family, and even friends of family started coming in. Still, it wasn’t enough. So I considered how we could further use the house, and my writing came to mind. I had been extremely productive in my writing, which I did on the back porch every morning, and it dawned on me: the very same reasons nobody had ever heard of Tufo—its ITALIAN AMERICA SPRING 2018 11

(The intricacies and small print of Italy’s bureaucracy were dizzying even with her help.)

quietness, its out-of-the-way-ness, its internet-less-ness—made it the ideal place to escape the rest of the world and focus.

When I told Angelo I couldn’t begin to thank his family, he shut me right up. “Stai zitto,” he said. “É niente. It warms our hearts to see Lina’s house open again.”

I dusted off my Rolodex and drafted a mass email to every writer I had ever met, proposing a writers’ retreat. I had been on retreats before and knew just The view as one wakes up in Rosa di Tufo. Now, looking back at Rosa’s how much a new atmosphere guest book, I’m not the only one could jumpstart creativity. The conundrum those retreats the people in Tufo left their mark on. It wasn’t the bicycle presented was whether to focus on the work at hand or rides around Caserta the guests all wrote fondly about, to explore the new city that hosted it. ‘Tufo, on the other or the rubber boats we rented to paddle around Capri, hand,” I assured my prospective writers, ‘takes about an or any other of the unforgettable day trips. It wasn’t the hour to explore. The rest of the time, we work.’ exotic that they held onto, but the familiar. The familial. Since I wasn’t sure how it would go, I offered the It was Tufo, itself. rooms free of charge. My hope was that the writers would do what they did best: they’d write about Rosa, Tufo, and the day trips I organized for the weekends. They’d spread the word. The innovative approach worked. In the month or so after the Writers Retreat in Tufo (WRiT), we had about 20 other guests come through the house, all of whom then shared the experience with their friends and family. As soon as I got back to the States at the end of summer, I called my grandma to give her the news. “Gram,” I said, “we’re perpetuating it.” Of course, none of it would have been possible without the help we received from the people of Tufo. Like Giuseppina, who watches over the house and turns over the rooms in between guests, so we can keep the listing active even when we aren’t there; Franco, who keeps up with the garden; Angelo, who gave me all kinds of help getting the house together in the spring; and Angelo’s niece, Paola, a lawyer in Avellino who helped with the paperwork to register the house as a small, family business.

It was the line-dancing and karaoke nights at Barcollo, the whole town singing and dancing together. It was the Tufese folk songs Angelo taught the guests to play on guitar. It was the time Virginia—the town’s proverbial mother—showed up at midnight with the best pasta fagioli I’d ever had, in a big, silver pot that we all sat around eating from, together, without plates. I’ll always remember the way Kelana, our poet in residence, looked at me uncertainly. “Am I supposed to eat from it, too?” she asked. She wasn’t sure if she was invited since she didn’t know Virginia at all. It reminded me of the feeling from just a few months before when I asked myself whether I had any claim to Tufo at all. I pressed a fork into her palm. Chi non accetto, non merito. Patrick DeVito McNeil is a third-generation Italian-American writer and organizer who splits time between Tufo and Philadelphia. Check out www.rosaditufo.com for more information, and contact him at rosaditufo@gmail.com

Visit Rosa di Tufo as a guest or a writer! Rosa di Tufo is open year-round, can sleep up to eight guests, at a rate of about thirty euros per night, per person. You can visit www.rosaditufo. com for more details on the house and town, and find the listing on Airbnb. SPRING 2018

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Speakers Bureau

learn more about your culture & history

Sons & Daughters of Italy Speakers Bureau Need a speaker for your club meeting or a special event? Contact these experts directly. Some may require travel expenses and/or honorariums. For more speakers see: www.osia.org at “Culture & History.” To apply as a speaker, contact Miles Fisher at mfisher@osia.org • CALIFORNIA Author Christine Evelyn Volker speaks about drawing on your roots for a first book and also on her grandfather’s wine cellar. Last summer, she published her first novel—Venetian Blood: Murder in a Sensuous City (She Writes Press). Book signing. Contact: (510) 496-0660 (c/o Stephen Volker) Email: christine@christinevolkerauthor.com Website: www.christinevolkerauthor.com Will also travel to: New York; Chicago; Seattle; Washington, D.C. • ILLINOIS Author Tony Romano speaks about his life as a first-generation Italian American growing up in a family who did not read but produced a son who became a writer. He is the published author of the novel Where My Body Ends and the World Begins (Allium) and the story collection If You Eat, You Never Die: Chicago Tales (HarperCollins). He has received the Norman Mailer Award and has been named “Illinois Author of the Year” by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. Book signing. Contact: (630) 201-2497 Email: aromano211@gmail.com Website: tonyromanoauthor.com Will also travel to: Neighboring States; New York; Washington, D.C. • NEW JERSEY Author William Torsiello (aka Billy Terrell) speaks about his book The Other Side of Rock and War and the humanitarian deeds of U.S. service men and women. He served in the Vietnam War from 1966-1967 and is highly decorated, receiving the Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal, and many others. He also has over 2,000 commercially released songs and recordings, and was a songwriter and music producer for the past 54 years. Book signing. Contact: (856) 7649434 Email: billyterrell01@gmail.com Website: www.thestrangebrew.co.uk/articles/Billy-terrell • NEW YORK Author Carla Gambescia speaks about her published book, La Dolce Vita University: An Unconventional Guide to Italian Cuture for A to Z. She gives a presentation called “The Alchemy of Italy”— which includes all things Italian: food, wine, history, architecture, art, style, and anecdotes—that even the most sophisticated Italophile can enjoy. Carla has written about and toured every region of Italy either on SPRING 13 ITALIAN 2018 AMERICA

foot or by bicycle. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School of Business. Book signing. Contact: (914) 443-9892 Email: acgambescia@gmail.com Website: www.LaDolceVitaU.com Will also travel to: Anywhere in the U.S. & Canada • NEW YORK Historian & author Salvatore LaGumina, noted scholar of Italian American studies, speaks on Italian Americans in WWII as well as their response to the earthquake of 1908 in Messina, Sicily. He also speaks on his recently published book—The Office of Strategic Services and Italian Americans: The Untold History— that explores the contributions of Italian Americans employed by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. Will do book signings. Contact: (516) 798-8256 Email: sallagumina@yahoo.com Will also travel to: Anywhere in the U.S. • PENNSYLVANIA Director of Marketing and Communications at the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce Stephanie Longo speaks on Italian-American history, particularly the Italian community of Northeastern Pennsylvania. She also conducts a workshop on trying to piece together a region’s history (having done so on Campania). She is the author of The Italians of Northeastern Pennsylvania, The Italians of Lackawanna County, and Dunmore. She holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Italian studies and runs SIAM, an Italian-American heritage society based in Scranton. Book signing and/or writing workshop. Contact: (570) 815-7401 Email: StephanieALongo@gmail. com Website: www.stephanielongo.net Will also travel to: Anywhere in the U.S. • ITALY Civil Lawyer and Writer Carmine Paridiso speaks on topics related to Italian and Italian-American history, literature, culture, and heritage. He lives in Bari (Puglia region) and recently released his novel ANIMA: Everything is relative to E = mc2, which is a lesson dedicated to young people who face contemporary life with its many difficulties. Contact: (328) 067-3393 Email: c.paradiso@liber.it Will also travel to: Anywhere in the U.S.

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The Sons of Italy®

Book Club

LA DOLCE VITA UNIVERSITY: An Unconventional Guide to Italian Culture from A to Z

By Carla Gambescia with Michael Stein A vast assortment of all that Italy and Italian culture encompasses, La Dolce Vita University is a class every reader will enjoy taking. It strikes an ideal balance between fun facts and education. Author Carla Gambescia, who has traveled by foot or bike to every region in Italy, organizes her subjects in alphabetical order, each varying in length from one to three pages long. This not only makes her book quite readable, it also makes for a book that you can pick up at any time. You will get a sampling of everything in this guide, from an understanding of the bridge between Greek and Roman culture to a variety of peeks into places to visit and relics to see (and why you should see them) in every crevice of Italy. In La Dolce Vita University, you will have as much fun discovering the origin to common sayings like “the dog days of summer,” “all roads lead to Rome,” and “worth their salt” as you do discovering the origin of jeans, eyeglasses, and tomatoes. (Hint: Tomatoes didn’t originate in Italy, though Italians brought them to the United States.) Perhaps the true pleasure of reading La Dolce Vita University is that it immerses you in different times and places to the point where you’ll find yourself sitting at the computer and researching the topics even further (how can you not google pictures of the Blue Grotto?). And once you finish Gambescia’s class, with the wide breadth of knowledge and understanding you’ll acquire, you will have become a Renaissance man or woman in your own right.

DID YOU KNOW? When actor Anthony Hopkins offered the famous cinematic line “with fava beans and a good Chianti” in The Silence of the Lambs, he was improvising on the original line from the novel: “with fava beans and a good Amarone.” Visit www.osia.org to find a selection of recent books written by OSDIA members! SPRING 2018

SPRING 2018 Selections

BASEBALL ITALIAN STYLE: Great Stories Told by Italian American Major Leaguers from Crosetti to Piazza By Lawrence Baldassaro

The author of Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball, Lawrence Baldassaro now brings readers Baseball Italian Style, a collection of lengthy interviews with many well-known Italian Americans in professional baseball. The book’s interviewees span every decade back to the 1930s, where it leads off with the first prominent Italian-American ballplayer: Frankie Crosetti of the New York Yankees. In Baseball Italian Style, the list of interviewees reads like an All-Star lineup and includes Dom DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Ron Santo, Larry Bowa, Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Joey Votto, and Anthony Rizzo. In addition to players, there are managers (Joe Torre, Tommy LaSorda, Tony LaRussa), owners, and even an umpire whose interview and story is perhaps the greatest of all. These men speak freely about their upbringing in Italian households, talking about where their parents/grandparents came from in Italy and what led them to being paid to play baseball (to the astonishment of many blue collar fathers). They talk about their careers and the relationships they had with other Italian Americans in the game. Of note is the degree to which the players “tell it like it was,” using little, if any, embellishment when describing the past. While the recollections are peppered with priceless anecdotes, there is an overall evolution to the experiences over different decades that shouldn’t be ignored—an evolution which is, more or less, the path Italians took to assimilation. There is one name that recurs time and again—Joe DiMaggio—as the interviewees make it apparent just how much larger-than-life he was and that what he did to help Italians become a part of American culture was unparalleled.

DID YOU KNOW? When Billy Martin managed the Detroit Tigers, he brought a lineup card to the umpires the day after a bench-clearing brawl. On it, he listed a couple extra players: Rocky Marciano and Carmen Basilio. ITALIAN AMERICA

On The Bookshelf Books by and about Italian Americans

-- A testimony to parents, family, community in a small West Virginia coal town.

Award-winning author John Bessler

-- A girl brimming with ambition yet over-protected and restricted by her Sicilian father.

tells the story of the Italian who inspired America’s founders and framers.

-- Costs and benefits of seeking independence and a professional career. “written with love, deep feeling, candor, and much courage” “beautiful story” “helped me to understand why I also think and feel as I do”

The Celebrated Marquis

Details: amazon.com/dp/1977666280

Available on Amazon.Com

Bulletin Board

What’s new: discounts, services and events (Advertisements)

Pennsylvania Filial Lodge President Wins SIF 2018 T-Shirt Design Congratulations to Emilia Sammartino #2831 Lodge President Clentin Martin, who submitted the winning artwork for the 2018 Sons of Italy Foundation® T-shirt Contest. Clentin has been a member of his lodge since 2006 and served as its president since 2009. The Emilia Sammartino #2831 Lodge is located in Crabtree, Pennsylvania—an hour east of Pittsburgh.

Up To 80% On Over 93,000 Products! Learn more with our educational webinar! Date: Wednesday, June 13th, 2018 Time: 2:00 pm EST

Clentin’s winning design SPRING 15 ITALIAN 2018 AMERICA

OSDIA Members Can Save

For more information and to register, visit: www.osia.org/members-only ITALIAN AMERICA SPRING 2018 15

By Eric Dregni

It became as much a symbol of all things Italian as the Leaning Tower and the Colosseum. After Enrico Piaggio commissioned Corradino d’Ascanio in the mid-1940s to create the Vespa, D’Ascanio was so pleased with his design that he proclaimed, “The Vespa will always look like it does—even when it is atomicpowered and riding on the moon.” More than 70 years later, the shape is the same. What scooterists have chosen to do with the Vespa, however, is another story. Somehow Vespisti consider themselves invincible atop the ten-inch wheels. Much as Julius Caesar crossed the English Channel to spread the Pax SPRING WINTER 2018 2018 1616

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now working on a couple of collapsible pontoons and a propeller drive,” the do-it-yourselfer said about riding a scooter across the lake. “So this summer, when I ride the scooter up to the lakeshore, I’ll just keep on going. And maybe—souped up a little and equipped with rotor blades—it’ll lift off the ground.”

The Vespa could do anything, so the French (Eric Dregni) foreign legion stuck a bazooka through a Vespa’s leg shield as a secret weapon in its (failed) attempt to hold on to Algeria. “France mounted 75mm cannons on Vespas for mobile troops,” reported American Mercury

Armed with a bazooka in the Piaggio Museum. Romana, Georges “Jojo” Monneret hooked up his 125cc Vespa to a pair of pontoons with a glorified bathtub in between that held his scooter upright. The engine powered a little two-blade propeller that pushed the scooter through the waves. His first trial run to reenact William the Conqueror’s attack on Britannia failed when he ran into a rascally tree stump. He tried again in 1952 with a three-blade prop and successfully crossed “La Manche” in five and a half hours—a record never beaten (or attempted) by other scooterists.

Troops on Two Wheels

in 1957. The kick from a bazooka blast would surely send the driver safely into the ditch. Enrico Piaggio assumed that Italian Vespa troops couldn’t be far behind. He halted any such talk when he was fed up with two years of futile discussions with the Italian Carabinieri and NATO about using Vespas. “I am ever more convinced that the ‘military’ are not worth the time of day,” he lamented. In 1949, however, the Carabinieri fought back with the Vespa Forze Armate (Vespa Armed Forces) to round up the petty pickpockets ruining visitors’ Roman holidays. Mexico City followed suit with its fuerzas armadas policiales and New York set up its S.C.R.A.M.B.L.E. patrols (Scooters in Communication with Range and Mobility for Better Law Enforcement). In 1967, Time poked fun at the NYPD subduing evildoers in Gotham on scooters as “beefy

While most scooterists park their ride for the winter, a 1957 article in Popular Science advised Vespa riders that “snow … is navigable if you know your stuff.” That is, as long as you weld skis on the front for a Vespasnowmobile crossbreed. The Finnish Ski Patrol took this advice and used Vespas across the frozen northern tundra to protect its border from the Soviet Union. In 1961, Popular Science interviewed an ambitious Vespa rider who wanted to conquer the clouds. “I’m SPRING 17 ITALIAN 2018 AMERICA

A Vespa driver negotiates an obstacle on a “gymkhana” course. ITALIAN AMERICA SPRING 2018 17

men to practice battle maneuvers, and Vespisti have even dressed in full armor and lanced fellow scooters at a rally for gleeful spectators.

(Eric Dregni)

Equipped with a helicopter chopper in the Piaggio Museum. cops on dainty putt-putts.” The article called up the cliché of donut-munching cops who needed a Vespa to fight crime. “The putt-putting noise daunts would-be lawbreakers; the potential speed (60mph) and mobility enable wheezy cops to outrun juvenile delinquents.” Four years later, though, an article by United Press International profiled how a Vespa possibly saved a cop’s life when a “New York City policeman duck(ed) behind a police scooter” as dozens “of city policemen, several armed with shotguns, poured into the building.” Two people were killed, but not the cop hiding behind the Vespa’s leg shield.

Ve s p a c l u b s around the globe promoted wild gimmicks to build ridership. Popular Mechanics ran an article in 1947 about a new sport: “Scooters have invaded the sporting world and ‘scooter polo’ has been played as a stunt to large crowds.” Ironically, the same magazine featured scooter polo in 1939 as “A bit faster than bicycle polo, the motorized sport brings occasional spectacular spills, but it’s easy to jump off and the injuries to players are few.” Still, do not try this at home! Not to be outdone by the Italians, the Spanish attracted even bigger

crowds for Vespa bullfighting. “In Spain, there has emerged a new style comic art,” declared by American Mercury magazine in 1957. “A garishly costumed toreador ‘fights’ the bull on a Vespa between acts of an orthodox bull-fight.”

Miss Vespa Darling

By the mid-1950s, the Vespa was a hit. Thanks to all these bizarre uses of the Vespa, the Piaggio company was no longer advertising a product; it was promoting a lifestyle.

Obstacle Courses and … Bullfighting?

Civilians viewed the Vespa as the perfect vehicle for daredevil stunts. Vespa rallies often ended with a “gymkhana” scooter obstacle course testing riders’ agility around orange cones, over wooden teeter-totters, and off jumps. Gymkhana began in India for mounted Bengali horse-

Piaggio promoted a culture, one that very much focused on le donne. (Getty Images)

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Vespas have even been modified to traverse water. (Getty Images) Piaggio financed massive campaigns to promote “scooter culture” in general, and the Vespa in particular. Designer Corradino d’Ascanio imagined donne in dresses as the Vespa’s main market. With Italian women on his mind, he made lusciously curvaceous side panels covering the engine to avoid grease splatter, and a protruding front shield to keep rain and sand from splattering the latest Milanese fashions. Piaggio & Co. sponsored international beauty contests, which weren’t just about the female driver looking her best but promoted a tidy scooter decked out with accessories. In Britain, glamorous movie stars awarded the Silver Rose Bowl to Miss Vespa Darling to much fanfare. Vespa ad men knew that hopping on a Vespa would forever change Italian teenagers who could be freed from the shackles of mamma and papà and allow them to mingle with their peers in the piazza. By altering Dante’s beloved Tuscan dialect, Piaggio told Italians to “Vespizzatevi!” (“Get Vespaed!”) and throw off the shackles of the puritanical past. Riding a Vespa was SPRING 19 ITALIAN 2018 AMERICA

more than just a trip to town—it was a two-seated matchmaker that would let these hormone-crazed youngsters taste the sweet fruits of youth.

Piaggio succeeded in making the Vespa more than a scooter. It was a statement of style, of rebellion, of women’s emancipation. “Vespa” became a verb to executives who wrote ad copy boasting, “Chi ‘Vespa’ mangia le mele (chi non ‘Vespa’ no).” In other words, “Whoever ‘Vespas,’ eats the apples, (whoever doesn’t ‘Vespa’ doesn’t).” Catholic Italy would never be the same as teenagers could take a bite from the tree of knowledge. Everything a teenager wanted, sex and sin, were dangling from the apple tree and who cares if they were banished from the Garden of Eden since they could zoom around on a Vespa. Eric Dregni (dregni@cord.edu) is the author of Never Trust a Thin Cook and You’re Sending Me Where? Dispatches from Italian Summer Camp. His latest is Life Vespa, a cultural history of the iconic Italian scooter.

The Piaggio Museum

(Graeme Maclean)

In 2000, Piaggio opened the doors to a museum dedicated to the history of its company. Located in the company’s former tool-shop in Pontedera (a half-hour drive from Pisa), the museum explores the evolution of its Vespa, displaying models that take visitors from the 1940s into today. To find out more about the museum, visit www.museopiaggio.it/en ITALIAN AMERICA SPRING 2018 19

Piacere!

PLEASED TO MEET YOU, lidia

(Interview continued from page 36)

bles in the garden, picking fruits from the trees, animal husbandry, smoking the prosciutto from the pigs, milling the grain, making the wine. There was a simplicity and a freshness in the flavors and aromas of those food products that influenced me greatly and are forever embedded in my flavor memory. When I cook today, I still search for those flavors.

with the construction. The situation got so bad that there were days when we almost did not have enough money to eat. My son, Joe, took a job making bagels before school and continued his paper route to help pitch in. By April 1981, four months past our target date, exhausted and fully leveraged, we had used up all the money generated from the sale of our two restaurants plus a bank loan and some of my parents savings. But we opened and are still thriving 37 years later!

My Aunt Nina in Trieste took me under her wings when I arrived in Trieste at the age of ten, and allowed me to help her cook. Lidia’s Memoir Now Available! Since she was a personal chef, her flavors were Tutti a Tavola a Mangiare! Your tagline! very different. There was a sophistication and How do you believe it influences the international flare to what she created, and I loved includ- development of children growing up in a family ing those techniques and diversity of spices and herbs in who eats dinner every night together? my growing passion to cook. The table is the perfect place for the family and friends During my stay in the refugee camp, I had the opportu- to gather, eat, and talk. While enjoying and sharing food, nity to work with the nuns in the kitchen where I attended the table is the best place to communicate and share ideas school and understood for the first time how producing and emotions as well. At the table between one good bite meals in large kitchens for many people had to be done. and another you can find out what happened at school with your children, what their friends might be doing, a problem All of these experiences helped to shape me and my they might be having, and the information keeps on coming. interest in the culinary arts. Children like stability, and establishing a ritual each evening Do you ever listen to music while cooking, and if of simply sitting together for dinner is an important one. so, what music do you prefer? If you could go on a culinary tour of any country I love opera, and I love to listen to it while I cook. other than Italy, what would you choose and why? Cooking takes time and I can listen to a whole opera while I actually am heading to India with my granddaughter preparing a meal. Some of my favorites are La bohéme and next month and look forward to experiencing the flavors of L’elisir d’amore. Often, I choose one that I have not heard the country with her. I have been to India twice, but this in a while and have a good time. It enlightens me. particular trip will be all about the culture. And the basis What was the most difficult lesson you learned of any culture is food, so we will be having a lot of culinary experiences. The people of India have a relationship with when opening a new restaurant? Although we opened two restaurants in Queens, it food that is similar to the Italians; there is a strong family was my flagship restaurant in Manhattan—Felidia—that bond and a lot of tradition. Yet, the flavors are so exotic presented the biggest challenge. Little did my husband and different than in Italy. I just love it there and look and I know how over budget the project would go or how forward to exploring ever more their spices. close we would come to not being able to afford to open If a person walked up to you in a bookstore and our doors to customers. asked you to recommend one book – just one book We were about one month in when we discovered – what would you tell them to read and why? that the foundation was unstable and needed costly I read a number of memoirs prior to writing my own underpinning—a major expense that we had not planned and really enjoyed The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen on. My mother and father had pulled money from their by Jacques Pepin. His childhood was happy and somewhat personal retirement account to help; I couldn’t sleep at similar to mine—very simple and full of food memories. night; we had two young kids, and my father ended up Jacques recalls his American dream story with a tenderness passing away when we were going through all of the stress that is just like his personality. An enjoyable read. SPRING 2018

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Explore

your world 175+ tours across 7 continents

Join Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America® on:

Sicilian Ancestry Tour: Palermo to Taormina October 29–November 8, 2018 Starting from $3,659* SPRING 21 ITALIAN 2018 AMERICA

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Spectacular landscapes, enduring culture, mouthwatering flavors—experience the best of Sicily on this one-of-a-kind trip, created with Ancestry. You’ll journey from Palermo to Syracuse and Taormina, uncovering pieces of your genealogy along the way. As you gain new perspective on the place your ancestors came from, the country just might start to feel like home to you, too. ITALIAN WINTER 2018to change. 21 *Prices are per person, before flights, and based on double occupancy. All prices and itineraries areAMERICA subject To view Go Ahead’s complete Terms & Conditions, visit goaheadtours.com/terms.

Italy’s Tail-Waggers American Owners Lose Their Hearts in Italian Breeds

By Emily Wade Will Cindy Benson with Tessa and Centurion, two of her Maremma Sheepdogs. (Cindy Benson)

They’re named Moxie, Hooligan, Massimo, Enzo, and Tanti Baci, and they perform such diverse tasks as hunting gourmet truffles, protecting livestock, and filling empty nests. What do they have in common? They are Italian canine immigrants, loping their way into the hearts and hearths of U.S. owners. Cindy Benson breeds mini-donkeys and mini-cattle and raises sheep and chickens on a ranch in Gold Hill, Oregon. In 2013, she lost a mini-donkey worth $5,000 to a mountain lion. “I had named the foal Flawless and what an animal she was!” Benson said. “I was going to keep her.” “The common response to predators in this area is to drink a beer and shoot a gun,” she explained. “But mountain lions are magnificent creatures. I don’t want them to die on my watch.” So Benson went online to buy not a gun but a guard dog. She found Moxie, a Maremma who made sure that Flawless became the third—and last—mountain lion victim on the property. Maremma Sheepdogs have guarded herds for centuries in Italy’s Apennine Mountains. In the mid-1970s, Hampshire College (Amherst, Mass.) imported this breed to reintroduce livestock guard dogs as an alternate to lethal predator-control methods. With training, Maremma protect animals of any species within their fence line, Benson said. They bond with their charges, from cattle to chickens, rubbing up against them, touching and smelling them, even sleeping with them. Mama Bears of the dog world, they don’t tolerate threats entering their “cubs’” territory. Benson works her 12 adult Maremma in pairs, in locales within some 70

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14 of the 360 dog breeds recognized by the Federation Cynologique Internationale (World Canine Federation) trace their roots to Italy. Another dozen are acknowledged either within Italy or one of its regions. of the ranch’s 360 acres. One dog scent-marks and checks the perimeter while the other stays with the livestock. “They’re happier working together, and a predator is less likely to take on two dogs than one.” Families often visit Benson’s minidonkeys. The Maremma look to Benson for guidance; if she gives the dogs the okay, they’re fine with guests and even show an affinity for children. “I think they like children’s unpredictable energy. I’ve had little teeny people go charging across the pasture in reckless abandon to play with the donkeys, and the dogs will escort those kids. They’ve never knocked one over. They just decide to take care of them, too.” At the same time, Benson stresses that Maremma are work dogs—nocturnal, at that—and not suitable as house pets.

Mike Madrid (left) and a friend out truffling with Massimo. (Mike Madrid)

Benson sleeps well with Maremma on duty. One recent midnight, Hooligan persisted with his chirpy “things are not right” bark. Benson went out to find an open gate and the cows in the orchard. “I would have lost a lot of tender fruit trees.” “It’s a real privilege to live with these dogs and I’m in awe of them,” Benson said. “I did not expect to give my heart away like this.” * * *

A Maremma Sheepdog with a minidonkey at the Benson ranch. (Cindy Benson) SPRING 23 ITALIAN 2018 AMERICA

Mike Madrid of Portland, Oregon, had pet Labradors for 45 years. After he lost his last one, he sought a smaller, non-shedding replacement. Newly interested in mushroom hunting, when he met a Lagotto Romagnolo at the Oregon Truffle Festival, he paid special attention. The Lagotto (“lake dog”) originated in Romagna, his grandmother’s home region. Like Labs, they are working dogs. So he contacted a breeder in Arizona.

Madrid got Massimo in 2013, just as the Willamette Valley’s first European truffles were ready to harvest. An orchard of hazelnut trees inoculated with French Perigord and Italian Alba truffles had been planted a decade earlier. Ripe truffles “outgas” and dogs can detect the odor. Italians begin to train truffle dogs as they’re weaned. By rubbing truffle oil on mama’s teats, pups learn to associate the scent with pleasure. Because Massimo came home already weaned, Madrid brainstormed other ways to engage the ten-week-old pup with truffles. He dripped truffle oil on Massimo’s food and made trufflescented toys, later hiding the toys in the house for Massimo to find. Madrid progressed to half-dollarsize scented pouches, which he scattered in the yard and made a game of finding. Next, he buried three pouches. “Massimo’d work the yard and boom, boom, boom, he’d find all three right away.” ITALIAN AMERICA SPRING 2018 23

Massimo sniffed out 15 ounces of truffles in 45 minutes at the 2014 Oregon Truffle Festival, the record for that year. Although Perigords and Albas are nicknamed “black diamond” and “white diamond,” Madrid is not into truffling for the money. He gifts most of Massimo’s finds to “culinary friends.” Madrid simply treasures being outdoors with a joyful dog. “As we leave the city and get into an area of gravel roads and big fir trees, Massimo paces in the back of the pick-up because he knows we’re going hunting.” Only about 500 Lagotto currently live in the United States, but they’re growing in popularity. “I fell in love with the breed,” Madrid said. * * * Many Italian dog types edged to extinction during World War II. In 1984, the Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana, Italy’s kennel club, sought survivors in order to restore

Enzo the Volpino takes best Italian Dog trophy at the 2017 May Madness Car Parade in San Rafael, California. (Rowena DeMayo)

disappearing breeds. Among them was the Volpino Italiano (“little fox”) believed to have been Michelangelo’s pet as well as companion to Italy’s Renaissance-era elite. On farms, it served as a first-alert, warning burly guard dogs of possible danger. Its coat blended in with both sheep and snowy surroundings.

These days, enchanted Volpino owners in the U.S. and Canada gather to chat about their 8 to 10 pounds of white fluff, with sweet foxlike faces and curly tails. Some 400-plus Volpini find warm laps in North America. One of those laps belongs to Rowena DeMayo. She and her husband, Ed, of the San Francisco Bay area, used to make an annual trip to Sorrento to visit Ed’s relatives. “We’d see these little white dogs everywhere. In restaurants, in bars, on the road with parents and kids.” Then, in just a single month, DeMayo lost her two dogs and a cat to old age. Seeing his wife devastated by the loss, Ed suggested she try to find one of the Italian dogs, so DeMayo went online and located two Volpino breeders in the States. That’s how she found Enzo. “Everyone has the same story to tell about their Volpini, that they’re really easy to train and groom,” DeMayo said. “They always look like they have a smile on their face and their goal for the day is to make you happy.” The DeMayos hosted the eighth annual North American Volpino Club

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when visiting cousins in the Dolomites Mountains. Tanti Baci fits well into Collioni’s lifestyle. He works from home, where the two enjoy one another’s companionship. When visiting young grandchildren, he knows Tanti Baci will be gentle. Like the Volpini, the Bolognese found favor with Italy’s aristocracy. Diplomats presented Bolognese as gifts to their foreign counterparts, Collioni said. Now, centuries later, the Bolognese and other Italian breeds are valued presents from Italian ancestors to their descendants here.

Milo and Mia Belle, three-year-old Bolognese owned by Clint and Terri McDonald of Petal, Mississippi. (Terri McDonald)

reunion at their home one September 2017 afternoon. * * * Another white fluffball, the Bolognese belongs to the bichon family. Marsha England, of Cedaredge, Colorado, met breeder Alberto Veronesi at his villa in 2001 while touring Italy with her daughter, who was seeking breeding stock for the Cane Corso, the Italian mastiff. A life-long “critter keeper,” England came to the point where she found large dogs challenging. Veronesi suggested she breed Bolognese. He would fly a male and two females from Rome to Denver. When Veronesi arrived, however, he had only the male—authorities had not let him bring the females. What was England to do? Her daughter thought she remembered seeing a Bolognese at the clinic in which she had worked as a vet tech several years earlier. In a bow to serendipity, Dorothy Goodale, the first American to bring Bolognese into the country in 1986, lived just 40 miles away. England purchased two females SPRING 25 ITALIAN 2018 AMERICA

from Goodale, the sole breeder at the time, and soon midwifed a litter.

Emily Wade Will’s (eswadewill@gmail. com) maternal grandparents—Matilde Farago and Dominic Falcone—independently left Zagarise, a mountainous village tucked in Calabria’s Catanzaro province. In 1909, they settled into an arranged marriage in Rochester, New York.

“I’ve never had a connection with an animal like I have with the Bolognese,” England said. “They are so intelligent and so intimate. There’s not a rebellious bone in their body. All dogs were created for a certain job, and the job the Bolognese were created for was to be a comfort for their owners. They want to be with you, and that is the very speCOME HOME TO ITALY cial thing about Join us for a 7 Day, 6 Night Food and Wine Tour them.” R i c h a r d F. Collioni of Mansfield, Texas, purchased Tanti Baci (“Many Kisses”) from England five years ago. He had seen Bolognese

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OSDIA Nation

OSDIA LODGES AT WORK

In Memoriam

illinois The Americo Vespucci Lodge #1722 of Kankakee had its 20thAnnual Dinner Dance in March 2017 and continued the tradition in March 2018. The event is attended by nearly 200 people, who enjoy an antipasti station, a sit-down dinner, and a dolce table. The restaurant allows the lodge to set up its own dolce table with Italian cookies and sweets baked by our members—which takes up four banquet tables! Frank Rossi played accordion, strolling around before and during dinner. Then his trio provided music for dancing. Kathryn Mantoan

LeMear, a trained opera singer, commenced the dinner hour with beautiful versions of the Italian National Anthem and the United States National Anthem. As part of the fundraising efforts, there was also a baskets raffle. Every year a different community agency is chosen to receive a donation from The Americo Vespucci Lodge. Their representatives are invited to the dinner and presented with the donation. Last year, the lodge chose the Fox Developmental Center, a local facility that cares for adults with developmental disabilities.

In Memoriam 1931 – 2017

Joseph LaBanca Commendatore dell’Ordine della Stella SIF Trustee (2015 – 2017) OSDIA National Trustee (2009 – 2013) Grand Lodge of California State President (2007 – 2009) In Memoriam 1943 – 2018

All members of the Americo Vespucci lodge: the Panozzo/Mantoan cousins, whose ages range from one to 93 years old!

Mac Comparetto Grand Lodge of Ohio State President (2015-2017)

rhode island Members of the Renaissance–Alliance Lodge #1966 of Providence joined many past members (now retired) in Davies, Florida, for their annual “Cannoli Open” Golf Tournament. More than 60 players battled for the Cannoli trophy at Grande Oakes Country Club. Afterward the members met for a traditional Italian Sunday dinner at Anthony’s Runway 84.

Renaissance–Alliance Lodge #1966: Lodge members at the 2018 “Cannoli Open” Golf Tournament. SPRING 2018

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OSDIA Nation

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

new york/california

rhode island

After the recent wildfires ravaged Northern California, Vincent Linguanti Lodge #2212 of Suffern, New York, went in search of lodges that may have been affected. They soon found out that a lodge in Santa Rosa, California— Loggia Santa Rosa #1898—lost their banner and other ritual items in the blaze. Upon learning of this, the Vincent Linguanti lodge members embarked on a mission to replace Santa Rosa’s banner. “No lodge should be without a banner, but we knew Santa Rosa would have other priorities,” said Past President of the Linguanti Lodge Joe Gregory.

Ladies of the Maria Lodge #2406 of East Providence celebrated their lodge’s 40th anniversary last fall. Established as one of the first women’s lodges (before lodges were co-ed), the Maria Lodge is believed to be the last all-women lodge still standing, with 50 members and 6 charter members. Every year, the lodge adopts a family for the holidays, buying each family member a gift for Christmas. They also assemble turkey baskets for families in need every Thanksgiving. In addition to this, they award an annual scholarship to a deserving high school senior.

Gregory spearheaded this effort, securing a banner vendor and managing the redesign to be as faithful to the original as possible. Upon seeing the finished product, he said, “May this banner always be the symbol that no matter what pain or hardships you go through, the blood of Italians is strong and we are there for each other.” Santa Rosa Lodge President Joan Acquistapace unveiled the new banner to her members at their recent meeting. “We are thrilled beyond belief that our Brothers and Sisters across the states came to us and asked to help during the wildfires of October 2017,” Acquistapace said. “I will be taking the banner to our State Convention in Ontario this summer, and we will be the talk of the state!” On the base of the banner stand is an engraving that reads: To: Santa Rosa Lodge 1898 “Da una famiglia Italiana ad un altra, siamo qui l’uno per l’altro” “From one Italian family to another, we are here for each other” Presented this day Jan 1 2018 By the Brothers of the Vincent Linguanti Lodge 2212 Suffern NY

The belle donne of the Maria Lodge celebrate their 40th anniversary.

Have a Festa Approaching?

Let Us Know! Have your festa listed on www. OSIA.org to let Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America members and Italian America magazine readers know about it.

Members of Loggia Santa Rosa #1898 with their new banner. Have you or your lodge done something remarkable that makes a difference to your community or promotes our heritage and Italian studies? If so, send details including your lodge’s name/number, a brief write-up, and digital photos of 300 dpi to Editor Miles Fisher at mfisher@osia.org

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And if you’re promoting your lodge at a festa and would like OSDIA brochures and/or back issues of Italian America magazine to give away, please let us know! Email: ItalianAmerica@osia.org ITALIAN AMERICA SPRING 2018 27

Searching Sorrento A Quest for the Perfect Gift By Miles Ryan Fisher

From the cliffs overlooking Sorrento.

I shifted into low gear and pulled the silver mini-Fiat off the winding road, onto an overlook that sat at the edge of the cliff. I got out and stood before the cement barrier. Hundreds of feet below, the Bay of Naples splashed against rock. Miles in the distance, colorful houses speckled Sorrento’s picturesque coast. After four days in Rome, walking on its stone-paved roads among Bernini’s sculptures and Fellini’s films, I’d driven three hours south to Sorrento. There, I’d spend four days hiking to hidden beaches and grottos, eating fresh seafood dishes1, and discovering just how prominent lemons can be. It was an ideal balance between ancient history and intrinsic beauty. As I took it all in, I knew that though 1 And almost committing sacrilege by putting Parmesan on seafood.

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Sorrento would be a more relaxing time than Rome, I had one mission while I was there: I needed to find my nieces—Harper (8) and Reilly (6)—a gift. What I ended up finding wasn’t simply just any gift. What I found was the perfect gift. I walked along Corso Italia, the road that took me from my hotel directly to Piazza Tasso, the heart of downtown Sorrento. A web of several narrow roads—Via S. Cesareo, Via Luigi de Maio, Via Sant’Antonio— spread from the piazza, some heading south to the bay, some continuing parallel to Corso Italia. Restaurants and stores lined each road. I strolled down one of the roads, peering in the shops to see if anything struck me as potential gifts for the two little girls. What did strike me, however, were Sorrento’s lemons.

Ones that ranged from the size of raquetballs to the size of softballs. Ones painted on the bottles of limoncello. Ones on prints and postcards and magnets and bottle openers and shot glasses and just about any knick-knack you could think of. Everywhere I looked—lemons, lemons, lemons. But I didn’t want to get these girls lemons. Besides, they were far too young for a bottle of limoncello2. I walked in a jewelry store thinking that maybe I’d find a bracelet or a necklace, nothing expensive or ornate, just something that a little girl might enjoy wearing. I found a couple I thought they might like, but I decided to wait—maybe I’d find something better than jewelry. I walked out of the store and headed down Via S. Cesareo, past a street artist with paint2 Which I got for my mom, who then used it to bake sweet limoncello cakes.

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some of his artwork, the ones of Sorrento’s coast, and a thought sprouted: Maybe I could commission him to paint what I wanted. What if, I thought, I asked him for one with two little girls standing in front of that coast? I turned and walked straight back to Via S. Cesareo, back to the street artist. When I tried asking him if he’d paint two little girls with Sorrento in the background, he couldn’t understand me. His English was as limited as my Italian.

ings of Sorrento’s striking coast. The paintings were quite well done, but at $45, I vacillated between this and a simple print. Later, as I walked along Corso Italia back toward the hotel, I thought about the Italian artist. I imagined

Due ragazze, I said. Due ragazze Eight-year-old Harper (left) and six-yearold Reilly on the beaches of Alabama. in Sorrento. I got out my phone and showed him a picture of the two girls again—he wanted to take a two girls. We used Google Transla- picture of it as a point of reference. tor to type in the very basic things This way, I thought, at least the girls we wanted to say. “Could you paint in the painting will appear as young two little girls with Sorrento in the as Harper and Reilly. I held my phone background?” I asked. steady as he took a picture of the picWe agreed on a price: $70. Though ture with his own phone. this was much more than I’d planned on spending, I knew there was something special about this gift. I handed a down payment—twenty dollars—to the lady in the store across from where the artist set-up every day. He asked to see the picture of the

Since I had only three days left in Sorrento, we arranged for me to pick up the painting in two days. Then I’d be driving to Naples Municipal Airport and flying home. The following day, he wasn’t on the street at all.

EXPERT ITALIAN VACATION PLANNING, CUSTOMIZED FOR YOU. A lemon orchard in Sorrento, where lemons grow as large as softballs. (neirfy) SPRING 29 ITALIAN 2018 AMERICA

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On the day I was to pick it up, after a long morning of driving to the small town of Nerano and hiking to a hidden beach on the Bay of Ieranto, I walked into town and saw the artist on Via S. Cesareo. His paintings were propped up, lining the stone wall along the narrow road. He was talking with someone, so I searched the paintings, thinking that the one he’d painted might be on display. I skimmed the wall for a painting with figures that resembled two little girls, just outlines of what could be any little girls. Then my eyes stopped. It took a moment for me to realize that

foot on, a land they could one day set foot on as well. With this in mind, I thought about the message I’d write to them on the back of the painting, a little inscription they could read for years to come. I contemplated it for weeks before finally turning the painting over and writing my message to them. Because I wanted to see what the two most beautiful girls look like in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Anthony Bosa’s rendering of Harper and Reilly in Sorrento.

and Reilly to Sorrento, placing them among the pastel houses, the Tyrrhenian Sea, the softball-size lemons. I looked at the bottom right corner of the painting, where he’d signed his name. Anthony Bosa. This whole time, we hadn’t even known each other’s names—the agreement done on a handshake.

The author with Sorrento street artist, Anthony Bosa, who holds his artwork proudly.

who I was looking at weren’t just any little girls—who I saw were my nieces. Harper and Reilly. Painted with precision. Their likenesses reflecting the picture I’d shown to him, the one he then worked from to paint not just two girls, but those exact girls, all the way down to their poses, their expressions, even their accessories (including Harper’s bracelet). He hadn’t simply painted two girls in Sorrento, he brought Harper SPRING 2018

I thanked him for work that captured the essence of Italian craftsmanship. He typed into his Google Translator to tell me, ‘This was very challenging.’ He pointed to the curves of their faces that formed their expressions. “Very, very difficult,” he said. As difficult and challenging as he found it to be, he had accomplished something far greater than painting their likenesses. He showed them what they looked like in a faraway land, a land that their uncle had set

When they first saw the painting, it took them a moment—the same time it had taken me—to realize that they are the girls in the painting. They brought it home to Boston, where it now hangs by their bedroom. They see it when they wake up. They see it when they go to bed. And I suppose that one day when they’re older, they might read this inscription back to me and say, “If you really want to see what we look like in Sorrento …” Miles Ryan Fisher (mfisher@osia.org) is the Editor-in-Chief of Italian America magazine.

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From the National

WHAT NATIONAL DOES FOR YOU

From the President’s Desk

By Vera Ferrara Girolami

We have accomplished a great deal since this journey began six months ago! Honoring traditions while staying open to unprecedented challenges is a difficult balancing act. We have become the “Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America.” Preserving the essence of “L’Ordine Figlie d’Italia” is as important as recognizing our women members! The website in the National Office has finally launched. We are now competitive and have better functionality and branding opportunities. Hopefully you have been able to familiarize yourselves with the amazing things you can do on the website. The office staff is readily available to assist you if you have difficulty navigating it. The objective of this administration is to expand the methods of communication among our membership. Social media will help to increase our online presence and add a new generation to our OSDIA family. Our monthly conference calls—which include a State & Subordinate Lodge Presidents call, a Membership Commission call, and a Commission for Social Justice call—have certainly helped all who are participating to realize our shared concerns and objectives.

Di Fiore Quinn presented her “October 2018 Calendar Program.” Please make every effort to support this fundraiser. Be sure to check the Online National Store. Carly Jerome, Operations Manager at the National Office, launched this website, www.cafepress.com, where you can find many items for sale. I must commend Dr. Mark DeNunzio and the Membership Commission for the amazing work they are doing. You will soon be hearing some interesting ideas and new ways to promote membership. The Gold Membership Program was created as a way for individuals to support many Supreme Lodge efforts. This wonderful magazine is one of the entities supported in part by these memberships. These individuals, at a cost of $100 per year, are dedicated and have a passion to ensure that our Order continues into the future. Please see the list of our generous Gold Members below. I was very honored to be “Honored” by the Grand Lodge of New York in January during their 25th Anniversary Winter Ball. I will never forget the generosity, fraternity, and kindness shown to us by this amazing group of true brothers and sisters of the Order. Fraternally,

This past February a very successful Plenary Session was held in Atlanta, Georgia. First Vice President Nancy

Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America® Gold Members (as of April 1, 2018) Tony J. Bisceglia Anderson (C) Victor Baldi Pete Barletto John C. Barbo Anthony Beshara Ronnie Beyersdorf Rosetta Beyersdorf Robert A. Bianchi, Esq. (C) Gregory A. Bianchini Mary Bianchini Joseph A. Boncore, Esq. John J. Burzichelli Nick Burzichelli Ken Carani John Carochi Anthony Cianciotta Carolyn Cianciotta Frances A. Cipriotti (C) Sos Codispoti Peter Comer Susan Comer Anthony Corbo Frank J. De Santis (C)

Gregory D. DeCola Gregory J. DeCola Richard R. Della Croce Mark S. DeNunzio, DDS (C) Joseph DiTrapani (C) Robert Ferrito Carmelina Ferrito Lorraine Fitzgerald R. Adam Forno (C) Verne Foss (C) Karen Gallo Frank Gattuso Bob Giannuzzi Al Girolami (C) Vera Girolami (C) Thomas Herrera Biagio Isgro (C) Eleanor Jobbagy Elia R. Kress Annette Lankewish Salvatore Lanzilotta Terry Lattavo (C) Lynn Lawrence-Murphy (C)

Daniel J. Longo (C) Thom A. Lupo (C) Ernest Magliato Joseph Marino Marie Marsalli Louis Marzullo Carlo Matteucci (C) Michele Ment William (Bill) Murphy Dominic Muscella Arlene M. Nunziati (C) Arline Panaggio Frank J. Panessa (C) Patricia Russo Anthony J. Perfilio (C) Eldora B. Perfilio (C) Maria Fassio Pignati (C) Charles Pisano Paul S. Polo (C) Michael G. Polo (C) Dominic Pucci (C) Marianne Principe-O’Neil (C) Nancy A. Di Fiore Quinn (C)

Walter “Sonny” Robak Frank Sammartano Cristina Santoro Louis Santoro Richard Sanvenero Vincent Sarno (C) Joseph Sciame Antonio Sestito Marieanne Sestito Catena M. Spiritosanto Joanne L. Strollo (C) Sadie Koehler Tamburine Dan Titi Joe Traina Steven Trent Amelia Jean Varni Nella Bianca Varni Kurt W. Weis, Jr. Keith Wilson Thomas Zaccaria Vincent Anthony Zaccaria, Sr. Paul Zanobelli “C” denotes Charter Member

If you are interested in becoming a Gold Member, please call (202) 547-2900 or email noffice@osia.org SPRING 31 ITALIAN 2018 AMERICA

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The Sons of Italy Foundation

HELPING THOSE IN NEED

A Tribute to Our Heritage

By Joseph DiTrapani, President

Our 30th Annual National Education & Leadership Awards (NELA) Gala on May 24 looks to be as wonderful an evening as the Gala has ever produced. We will recognize a group of highly accomplished honorees that includes the founder and president of a company that provides aviation and tactical systems support for companies who conduct business with the U.S. Government in the Defense, Security, Aviation, and Medical Sectors; the oldest major family-owned producer of pasta sauce in America; and the chemist who developed the cure for Hepatitis C.

been a part of for many years. You can read more about the donation below.

At the Gala, the SIF will, as always, present more than $50,000 in scholarships to several of the most promising Italian-American students across the country. The SIF will also commemorate a recent donation to Help Our Military Heroes, a remarkable organization whose mission we’ve

For more information about the NELA Gala, see the inside back cover page (next to the interview with Lidia Bastianich) or visit www.nelagala.org

An evening like the NELA Gala makes all of this possible. It marks the achievements of fellow Italian Americans. It helps students pursue higher education. It affords disabled veterans the ability to be independent. I hope that many of you are able to attend as every ticket sold gives us that much more ability to give back. But even if you are unable to attend, you can still be a part of the evening! The NELA Gala will be streaming live on the Order Sons of Italy in America’s Facebook page. Last year, we had more than three thousand viewers!

Sons of Italy Foundation Donates to Help Our Military Heroes On St. Patrick’s Day, the Sons of Italy Foundation presented a donation of $25,873 to Help Our Military Heroes (HOMH), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing fully equipped, adaptive minivans to our country’s most severely wounded, injured, and ill service men and women who sustained their injuries while on active duty since the start of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. HOMH works with each individual to provide a minivan with modifications specific to his or her needs.

USArmy COL (ret) Greg Gadson with (L. to R.) Ted Hollander, Eleanor Panessa, SIF Trustee Emeritus Frank J. Panessa, and Laurie Hollander.

The organization was co-founded in 2009 by Laurie (née Serricchio) and Ted Hollander and Marybeth Vandergrift. Since then, they have awarded nearly 100 adaptive minivans to deserving veterans. With all non-program expenses being paid by

its founders and board members, HOMH ensures that 100% of its public donations go toward the purchase of such minivans. This year’s USNavy MCPO (ret) Austin Reese and donation marks his daughters with (L. to R.) Eleanor Panessa, SIF Trustee Emeritus Frank the fourth time J. Panessa, Laurie Hollander, Austin’s in five years that wife and USNavy veteran Charity the Sons of Italy Reese, and Ted Hollander. Foundation has donated at least $20,000 to Help Our Military Heroes. The donation provided minivan grants for two veterans. “The beauty of the friendship with SIF is our shared Italian spirit!” said Laurie, co-founder of HOMH. “Thanks to all at SIF for blessing the HOMH mission with your continued love and generosity.”

(Photos Courtesy of Ben Crosbie, Eidolon Films)

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The Commission for Social Justice

The CSJ Perspective By Kevin Caira, President

In the past few months, we have been facing an attack on Columbus Day in both Colorado and California. In Colorado, a bill to remove Columbus Day as a state holiday and replace the holiday with Election Day has passed in Colorado’s Local Government Committee. It now moves on to the House and then, if it passes, to the Senate. While it is expected to pass in the House and die in the Senate, we will need to continue supporting our brothers and sisters in Colorado. Clearly, this attempt to eliminate Columbus Day and replace this federal holiday with Election Day demonstrates a bias by certain State legislators in Colorado against Italians, Italian Americans, and our culture and heritage. Meanwhile, a state senator in California is proposing a bill (CA SB1490) that would replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day. The bill is going to the California Senate’s Governmental Organization Committee on April 10. I realize you will not be receiving this magazine until after the first hearing date, but it is important for you to express your displeasure. Please contact: State Senator Henr y Stern, State Capitol, 1315 10th Street, Sacramento, CA 95914; henry.stern@sen.ca.gov; (916) 651-4027 As we move forward, CSJ has been focusing on developing alliances with other organizations that support the preservation of Columbus Day. By working with organizations like the Knights of Columbus, the California Italian

fighting defamation

American Task Force, and the Columbus Heritage Foundation of New York, an even stronger voice will be heard. One of the keys to growing stronger as an organization is communication. The more we communicate—and the better our communication is—the greater impact we can have. This is why the CSJ has recently begun to host monthly conference calls that are attended by its Board of Directors and its State Chairs. On these calls, we share pertinent information, such as strategies for resolution that have been effective elsewhere in the country and local issues that need national exposure. Part of this national exposure are CSJ “Call to Action” memos that are sent out to all State Presidents and Subordinate Lodge Presidents, along with National Officers and CSJ’s Board of Directors and State Chairs. This way, when one city or state is facing the replacement of Columbus Day, all states and lodges know to get involved. To be included on these memos and to stay updated on Columbus Day issues across the country (including the current situations in Colorado and California), you can add your email address to the recipient list by sending a request to csj@osia.org In addition to forming alliances and fostering communication, the CSJ will be running Save Columbus Day Public Service Announcements in the coming year and designing promotional flyers and talking point cards to be distributed. Please consider sending a donation to the CSJ to help fund this mission! Commission for Social Justice, 219 E Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Sempre Avanti!

“Jersey Shore Effect” Documentary Exposes Pop Culture When MTV debuted the “Jersey Shore” reality show in 2009, Dean Tridente felt its effect. As an Italian American and a New Jersey native, he experienced how the show’s popularity influenced the way others behaved toward him. People began calling him “The Situation,” a nickname for one of the show’s characters. They got his attention and yelled, “Jager Bombs!” The show, which depicted what Tridente calls “selfproclaimed guidos and guidettes drinking, cursing, partying, fighting, and looking for easy sex,” had ill-effects on him. However, it wasn’t until he began teaching physical education at a middle school that he saw just how much SPRING 33 ITALIAN 2018 AMERICA

influence popular culture has on youth in this country. So Tridente decided to do something about it. He filmed a two-part documentary called the “Jersey Shore Effect.” In the first part, Tridente explores pop culture’s influence on today’s youth—and just how destructive its influence can be. In the second part, Tridente’s family recollects its pursuit of the “American Dream.” He uses these recollections to create a mock reality show about three teenagers who go on a journey in which they discover how fortunate they are to be American. To watch Dean Tridente’s “Jersey Shore Effect” documentary, visit www.jerseyshoreeffect.com ITALIAN AMERICA SPRING 2018 33

The Perfect Gift Looking for a unique present for family or friends? Give the gift of Italian-American heritage with a oneyear subscription to Italian America magazine, the most widely read publication in the U.S. for people of Italian descent. We will contact your gift recipient to tell him/her of your present and also send them a complimentary copy of the most recent issue.

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Letters to the Editor As usual, another great issue. Mount Rushmore’s Chief Carver is finally recognized. The man who actually transformed Borglum’s models into reality. I read somewhere that they made Washington’s nose an inch longer so it would last another 50,000 years, or is it a half inch longer? Don’t like the idea of the head transplant. Better off with the giant meatball. My father always made good wine, by the way. Some 150 gallons a year. Also turned some of it into the best vinegar ever. After I had my salad, my lips would be white. I used to crank the press and squeeze out a few more drops. We had an actual wine cellar with the press cemented into the floor. Great opera article! Keep up the excellent work. Joann and Ed Giuffre Constantinople Brumidi Lodge #2211 Deer Park, NY This guy who wants to transplant someone’s head needs to be locked up in a facility for the criminally insane. Besides the legal, moral, and ethical issues, what happens when a bereaved widow or a new divorcee wants to go on a blind date and meets a guy wearing her past husband’s head? Chuck Fazio Quincy, MA SPRING 2018

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Corrections for Winter 2018 issue Regions (page 7) Umbria boasts what is thought to be the oldest olive tree in Italy, not the world.

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Italian America Magazine is produced by the national headquarters of the Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America®, 219 E Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 202/547-2900. Email: nationaloffice@osia.org Editor-in-Chief Miles Ryan Fisher Bookkeeper/Administrative Assistant Adam Jacobs Director of Programming & Operations Carly Jerome Project Coordinator Katie Vivian Italian America® is the official publication of the Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America® (OSDIA), the largest and longest-established organization of American men and women of Italian heritage. Italian America provides timely information about OSDIA, while reporting on individuals, institutions, issues, and events of current or historical significance in the Italian-American community nationwide. Italian America (ISSN: 1089-5043, USPS: 015-735) is published quarterly in the winter, spring, summer and fall by OSDIA, 219 E St. NE, Washington, DC 20002. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C., and at additional mailing offices. ©2015 Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America. All rights reserved. Reproduction by any method without permission of the editor is prohibited. Statements of fact and opinion are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily imply an opinion on the part of the officers, employees, or members of OSDIA. Mention of a product or service in advertisements or text does not mean that it has been tested, approved or endorsed by OSDIA, the Commission for Social Justice, or the Sons of Italy Foundation. Italian America accepts query letters and letters to the editor. Please do not send unsolicited manuscripts. Italian America assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Annual subscriptions are $20, which are included in dues for OSDIA members. Single copies are $4.95 each.OSDIA MEMBERS: Please send address changes to your local lodge. Do not contact the OSDIA National Office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Italian America, 219 E St. NE, Washington, DC 20002. Subscriptions are available through the OSDIA National Office, 219 E Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. OSDIA membership information is available at (800) 552-OSDIA or at www. OSDIA.org. Archives are maintained at the Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minn. Printing by Printing Solutions Inc., Sterling, Va. To advertise: Contact Dave Bayard at dave@boja.com (973) 822-9274 or Laura Lemos at laura@boja.com (973) 822-9274. Also see www.osia.org for advertising rates, specs, demographics, etc. SPRING 35 ITALIAN 2018 AMERICA

By Miles Ryan Fisher Editor-in-Chief, Italian America Magazine

Part II of II (Continued from the Winter 2018 issue) A member of the East Hill Flying Club, a local flying club in Ithaca, read this article and contacted my grandfather about honoring him at their Fall Harvest Breakfast. At the breakfast, they made him an honorary member and offered to take him for a ride-along in one of their planes. When they were airborne, they asked if he’d like to man the controls. At the age of 95, Captain Joseph F. Daino took control of a plane. For the first time in 50 years, he was doing what he loved most: flying. So for Christmas, my mom and my uncle got him a gift certificate for an hour-long flight with an instructor. “Let me know when you decide to use it,” I told him. “I want to be there for it.” My grandfather, ever-practical, replied, “But you won’t be able to see much from the ground.” “I don’t care,” I said. “I just want to be there.” He called me a couple of weeks before take-off to tell me that the plane he’d be flying was a four- Captain Joseph F. Daino flies one last seater Cessna. If I wanted to, I time, bringing his grandson along for the ride. could ride along. “But don’t tell my mom,” I said. I’d let her know that I was in the plane after we returned—safely—on the ground. The day we took off was a sunny, cloudless June morning. I climbed into the back, as my grandfather settled in the cockpit alongside Ryan, the instructor. With my grandfather manning the controls, we flew over Cayuga Lake, circled Cornell University’s campus (where I’d gone for undergrad), and returned to Ithaca Airport. While we were in the air, the instructor leaned back, enjoying the flight in a way that he couldn’t with the novice pilots he taught. After we landed, I asked my grandfather how the experience was for him. “It wasn’t like flying a P-47,” he said. Still, I knew it returned him to what he’d loved most in his life. It was through his passion for flying that led to the opportunity I have with my passion for writing—which then, half a century later, took him back to his. It placed him back in the pilot’s seat, returning him to the skies. He flew once more. Less than a year later, he passed away. Yet our lives remain intertwined. Though he is gone, he is still very much alive. In every issue of this magazine—and in anything I write as my writing continues to grow—he is there, a part of my journey. In me, he lives. ITALIAN AMERICA SPRING 2018 35

Piacere!

PLEASED TO MEET YOU, Lidia

Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Lidia Matticchio Bastianich is an Emmy Award-winning television host, best-selling cookbook author, and prominent restaurateur. She and her husband, Felice, opened their first restaurant, Buonavia (“good road”) in 1971, and it was there that she began training to become a chef. In 1981, they opened their popular New York City restaurant, Felidia. In 1998, she became a mainstay on Public Television when she hosted her first television series, Lidia’s Italian Table. She has since hosted series that include Lidia’s Family Table, Lidia’s Italy, Lidia’s Italy in America, and Lidia’s Kitchen. In addition to this, she has authored numerous cookbooks, many which serve as companions to her cooking shows.

I also got to spend time cooking with Zia Nina, and being with her in the kitchen was great fun. She was working as a personal chef, and I happily assisted her with food purchases and preparations. In retrospect, I now realize I was learning so much about cooking from her.

Lidia was born in Pula, Croatia (Yugoslavia at the time). When she was just ten, she and her family fled communism, finding refuge with family in Trieste, Italy. Two years later, the family immigrated to the United States.

Talk about the influence Catholic Relief Services had on your family when you arrived in NewYork City in 1958. The Catholic Relief Services were the ones that took care of us during our stay in Campo San Saba in Trieste. Once we arrived in America and landed in New York City, the U.S. Catholic Charities would be the lead agency in charge of our welfare. They temporarily put us up at the Hotel Wolcott at 4 West 31st Street in Manhattan. Their headquarters were only a few blocks away at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue. I recall our first meeting with them; their concern was our welfare and that we would be fed until they placed us in a home.

Your family left Yugoslavia and sought refuge in Trieste, Italy when you were just ten years old, and you lived there until age 12. What memories do you have of Trieste? I arrived in Trieste in January 1956 by train with my mother and my older brother, Franco. Before entering San Saba, the refugee camp outside of Trieste, we spent two months with my Zia Nina in a small, but well-furnished apartment in the city. Trieste was an embracing, cosmopolitan city. There was an interesting blend of architecture and many houses of worship for all different religions. I remember the produce market in the Piazza Ponterosso, a beautiful old square just off the Canale Grande. I recall the vast Piazza Unita d’Italia where my brother and I would run and chase the pigeons. Just off the Piazza Ponterosso was the Church of Sant’Antonio Nuovo, the largest church in Trieste, where we would go to church on Sundays. I vividly recall exploring the open market on Piazza Ponterosso with Zia Nina. No matter what the season, its stalls were always full of fruits and vegetables. It was in Trieste where I had my first experience with fruits like blood oranges and dates. And the aroma of coffee permeated the air on the streets of Trieste, wafting from the multitude of bars throughout the city. There also was a lightness of spirit in Trieste that I had not experienced under communism in Pula. People seemed to smile at one another when they passed on the street, and everyone was so stylish. SPRING 2018

(Photo Courtesy of Diana DeLucia)

However, my mother immediately began inquiring about jobs for her and my father. She wanted to begin earning money to feed us, but they assured her that there was plenty of time. They helped us with money to buy food and other needs, and eventually our meetings went from once a day to once a week to once a year. They were instrumental in finding our first house in North Bergen, New Jersey, and spreading the word about my parents needing a job. They were always kind and helpful and always made us feel wanted and accepted in our new home America. They kept assuring us that everything was going to be okay. I am still in contact with the Catholic Charities, but now I try to help and contribute so that they in turn can continue to help the new immigrants in need. Who was your biggest influence convincing you to pursue the culinary arts as your life’s work and why? There were several big influences. My Grandmother Rosa gave me a love for procuring food—growing vegeta(Interview continued on page 20) ITALIAN AMERICA

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