FILO - Winter 2015

FILĂ’

A Journal for Tyrolean Americans Winter 2015

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FLEXIBILITY, PRECISION, CONTROL.

An Introduction . . .

The Filò is to be published and distributed on a quarterly basis and is targeted to the children of our immigrant parents. The Filò (pronounced fee-lò) was the daily gathering in the stables of the Trentino where the villagers met and socialized. The intent is to provide a summary of our culture, history, and customs in plain English to inform and provide you with the background of your roots and ancestry.. If you wish to contact us, call Lou Brunelli at 914-402-5248. Attention: Your help is needed to expand our outreach to fellow Tyrolean Americans. Help us identify them, be they your children, relatives or acquaintances. Go to filo.tiroles.com and register on line to receive the magazine free of charge. You may also send your data to Filò Magazine, PO Box 90, Crompond, NY 10517 or fax them to 914-734-9644 or submit them by email to filo.tiroles@att.net.

Front Cover: Mosana di Giovo

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Introduction to the Val di Cembra

known as the 'omeni (men) of Segonzan'. They look like primitive men with a large stone for a hat. This phenomenon was caused by thousands of years of erosion - wherever there was a large stone, water ran around it washing away the clay which was less dense.

he Val di Cembra takes its name from that of its main town, namely Cembra. It is one third of a long valley traversed by the Avisio, a river which rises on the slopes of the Marmolada in Val di Fassa. From there, the Avisio runs through the Val di Fiemme and flows into the Adige, that great river which bisects the whole Trentino-Alto Adige region (also known as the Sudtirol) from north to south. The Cembra valley is deep and about 33 kilometers in length.

On the right slope are small terraced vineyards, held up by stone walls. Here Folk Costumes of are cultivated the grapes from which two good wines are made - the white Mueller Thurgau and the red Schiava wine. The left side of the valley is one vast open quarry, where porphyry is excavated.

Porphyry is a red stone used in paving blocks for roads and courtyards. At the end of the valley, the Avisio enters a deep 'throat' or canyon which Pyramids of Sengonzano at many places is less than 4 meters wide. The widest spots are 20 meters across.

The mountains along the Avisio in the Cembra valley reach a maximum height of 1800 meters. In a side valley which unites the Cembra Valley with the Pine` plateau, soar the earthen pyramids

The towns of the valley lie on flat areas at mid altitudes. They are crossed by two roads which join Trento with Cavalese.

On the right slope a road starts at Lavis and traverses Giovo, Lisignago, Cembra, Faver, Valda, Grumes, Grauno and Cembra’s History Capriana. On the left flank, another road leaves Civezzano, entering the valley at the lake of Lases, and then proceeds toward Molina di Fiemmes-Cavalese, passing through the towns of Lona, Sevignano, Segonzano, Sover and Valfloriana. The Cembra Valley has a population of 11,235 people with a median age of 40.8 years. Of these, 3601 are 29 years or younger and 1490 citizens are 70 or older. To these must be added 70 'ancients' ranging in age from 90 to over 100. Of the 11 communities in the valley, only four have more than 1000 residents - Giovo, Cembra, Segonzano and Albiano.

For many years, the smaller villages have been home to foreign workers. In those towns where porphyry is quarried and worked, there is the largest concentration of emigrants in the whole Alpine range. In the community of Lona-Lases, the foreigners make up 23% of the population!

Written by Alberto Folgheraiter, originates from the Val di Cembra and writes extensively about the Trentino, its history and people.

Castle of Sengonzano and the valley’s vineyards

Terraced Vineyards

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Land of Immigrants

etween 1871 and 1900, 21 million persons left Europe, bound for the Americas, both North and South. Another 80 million left between 1915 and 1945, at the rate of 700 thousand a year. Between 1870 and 1887, about 24 millionn left from the Tyrol alone.Notwithstanding this drain, the population of the province exceeded 315,000 in 1880 and grew to 349,000 ten years later. But with the growth in population came the scarcity of arable land. And this was true for the Val di Cembra. There were seasonal Silverton, Colorado-1800's-Destination of Cembra Immigrants migrations to the Adige valley to work as peasants and contracted in the mines. But there were also many who others went to work in the cotton mills of Voralberg in Austria. But the men soon turned to the United States, succumbed to the great epidemic of 1918, the 'Spanish" and to Colorado in particular, where there were jobs for flu. This epidemic spread from a county in Texas and miners and lumberjacks. Like links on a chain, one emi- was carried to Europe by the American troops fighting in grant called for another - a brother, a relative, or a friend. the First World War. At Silverton, in the Red Mountains They would take the train at Lavis to the ports in north- of Colorado, there are dozens of tombs of miners from ern France or in England, then embark on ships bound the Val di Cembra who died in the great epidemic which caused millions of deaths around the for New York. From there, there world. Other miners emigrated would be more days of travel to between the Wars to the Lorraine valColorado or New Mexico or ley in France. There, in the village of Pennsylvania. In the cemeteries in Fontois the descendants of the minthose areas, one can find the crosses ers from Grumes and Valda still live. bearing the names of the men from The gravestones there bear the names Cembra who died and were buried far of their fathers and grandfathers from home. At Silverton, Ouray, Faustini, Zendron, Pedot, Cristelli...

Telluride and in the ghost towns left There is not a family in the whole after the mines closed, the tombTrentino region, and particularly in stones read Andreatta, Mattevi, the CembraValley that cannot recall at Dallapiccola, Della Valle, Nones, Antonelli, Giovannini, Moser, Ellis Island Display of Immigrants' Baggage. least one relative who emigrated. For What stories they could tell!!! that reason, lately, in addition to monFranchini, Giacomozzi, ... all family names still common today in the Val di Cembra. Many of uments to those fallen in war, monuments to the emigrants are being erected. At Grumes a monument these died because of diseases wrought of iron from France, was erected in memory of the emigrant miners. It is similar to a memorial erected twenty years ago at the entrance to the cemetery in Silverton, Colorado. These memorials serve to remind the people not only of who they were and who they are, but also remember those who went away but left a legacy of generosity and nostalgia for their land.

Cembra Minor- Tomboy Colorado

Written by Alberto Folgheraiter who traveled extensively in the Colorada area detailing many of the history and stories of his fellow Cembrani in his Beyond Time

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Remembering them . . .

he Tirol remembered their emigrants with great love and affection while its sons and daughter kept the Tirol in their hearts, souls and memories in their kitchens…and even at their grave sites where they were buried in fields and pastures with wooden crosses and no longer along side their village churches with stone markers. The Coro della Valle sings of this sadness of the miners who were taken out of the Tirol but the Tirol was never taken out from them. The song will be found on the Filò website.

1907-Silverton-House & Family of Egidio & Maria Bazzanella –Val di Pinè

Ellis Island- Portal of Immigrants-where they were often quarantined

Silverton Cembrani Residents 1907

Silverton-1907-Maria Gloseffi Bazzanella – Cook of Cembrani & Pinetani miners

Silverton-Cembrani Coal Miners

Salvatore Nones di Maso Bait di Sover , 25, died in a mining accident. This picture is all that the family had in the Tirol

Silverton Cemetery

Monument to Tyrolean Miners

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Our Music: El Ceston: The Basket he “gerlo” or the Ceston is the large basket carried on their backs by the people of the Val di Cembra as they pursued their work not on plain and level fields but the steep inclines where the grapevines were grown. It represented the only way to pursue the arduous and fatiguing work. The song relates the reluctance of a young girl to rise from bed and perform the difficult work of the day. As she leaves the house, she encounters friends and neighbors all carrying their “gerlo”. She encounters her young man (so moros) without a gerlo, an indication that he is about to depart as an emigrant or is pursuing a non-agricultural work with no need for a gerlo. He does not even greet her and in his dissociation, she grieves with her heart ache. The song and singing until WWII was very part of a every day life be it in their homes, fields, at work or the osteria. It was concluding part of the nightly filo` in their stables. In Cembra, there were special choirs at Christmas singing carols. Emigration was also a theme: Silverton dobiamo rivar, a destination of so many Cembrani. There were songs recalling their Tyrolean history of 1796: Tirolesi, Tirolesi venite all`armi;ecco i francesi...Tyrolean to arms...the French are coming. Finally, there were many love songs tender and spirited: Vieni biondina e companieme.

EL CESTON: THE BASKET

Su ragazze alzatevi dal letto che è ora!

C’è la mamma che vi chiama ad uscire dal letto Per andare in campagna con la gerla In campagna o in montagna a lavorare con la gerla.

Get out of bed, girls. It is time!

There’s your mother who calls you from bed To go to the fields with the basket.

To the fields or mountains to work your basket.

Incontro una prima persona e mi saluta: ha la gerla Incontro una seconda persona e fa lo stesso: ha la gerla Incontro una terza persona: è il mio innamorato, moro di capelli, e senza gerla Non mi ha neppure salutata: che sofferenza al cuore!

And everyone goes to work with the basket.

The first person I meet: he has his basket The second does the samedoes the same

Benedetta Val di Cembra con la gerla Non si vede mai nessuno senza la gerla.

Tutti al mattino presto si avviano con la gerla E vanno a lavorare tutti con la gerla

O blest Valley of Cembra with the basket One never sees anyone without the basket.

Everyone in the morning quickly goes forth with the basket.

CORO LA VALLE Coro la Valle was formed in 2003 at Sover in the Val di Cembra. They have performed in over 400 concerts throughout the Trentino, France, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria and Brazil. They have often appeared on Italian television and radio. They research the folk customs of Cembra and publish books about Cembra’s legends and folkways. Website : www.corolavalle.com.

Conducted by Roberto Banzanella, the choir has 30 choir members as well as young people’s section. The song is on the Filò website: filo.tiroles.com.

I meet a third person: he is my boyfriend, dark haired and with no basket.He did not even greet me: how my heart aches.

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Coro la Valle

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Minestra d’Orzo . . . Orzet

here is nothing more characteristic of the homes of ancestors than i profumi dela cuzina…the aromas of their kitchens which typically included a pot of minestra’s e minestrone’s simmering on the stua, stove.

Into these soups went their vegetables, grains, the crusts of their hard cheeses..mmmmmmmm. Well, among these minestra’s of these poor peasants was the Minestra d`orzo…barley soup also called Orzet.

Today still you can find this wonderful combination in rifugi up in the mountains as well as formal restaurants. Let’s enter the virtual kitchen… let’s make Minestra d`Orzo. It is relatively easy to make. Time is needed to prepare each of the individual ingredients.

Soak the barley in water for 2 hours.

Ingredients: Rinse. Use a 100 grams of speck or 250 Grams of Pearled Barley substitute several slices of thick 1 Leek bacon. Cut into cubes. Slice the link Thick Slice of spaeck* into thin disks. Cut the zucchini Half Onion into disks. Chop the onion, garlic, 2 Carrots the carrots, celery, the potatoes, and 2 Potatoes the parsley. Place the ingredients in Clove of Garlic a pot, cover with water and cook 2 Zucchini until the barley is tender. Drizzle Parsley some olive oil and add grated Olive Oil parmesan cheese

Renata Bazzanella, Proprietor and host of the Pensione Mariaturismorurale

Pensione -Mariaturismorurale

The Cembrana Renata Bazzanella. was our consultant for the Minestra d`Orzo as well as the, host and proprietor of the lovely Pensione Maria Turismo in Piscine of Sover. Besides the Pension with its lodging and culinary hospitality, she manages the “bottega storica del Trentino” 1840…the history food store of the Trentino that offers a great variety of local food products. Visit her website: mariaturismorurale.it 10

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I Popi I Giuga…Kids at Play es, indeed the kids..those ancestors of ours… despite their poverty and a multiplicity of tasks and chores to survive…played. Here are some glimpses of them at play…The Museum of the Customs of the Trentini, at San Michele all'Adige has but one small toy on display - a small balancing figure of wood and wire in the shape of a ballerina. It is discolored and slightly the worse for wear, it just rocks and spins. But many years ago, it was probably a source of wonder for a little girl, inspiring her dreams and all without batteries or electricity!

of traffic then! One game was a sort of bowling, with wooden cylinders as pins, to be struck down by balls made of rags. And there were tambourines, usually played by the bigger boys. Another game, requiring at least one partner and favored by the girls, required two small sticks per player and some rings made of twisted willow branches. The rings were tossed by one player to the other who attempted to catch them with the sticks, only to toss them back to the first player, round and round. There was skipping rope and a variation of hopscotch, in which the players hopped along a pattern drawn on the pavement, while reciting the days of the week. Marbles were shot along the ground, as were metal caps which had to be launched along the ground with two fingers, earning points as the rules specified. A similar game involved shooting nuts or peach pits along the ground until a given target was reached. One simple toy was a rough wooden stick with a wooden propeller at the end. The object was to run with the stick so as to start the propeller whirling. More technologically advanced toys were wooden airplane models or boats made of bark.

And then there were the games involving many players, divided into squads, who staged battles among themselves. The weapons were bows, slingshots and fake guns (known as'sciopet'). There was also a sort of squirt gun, made of a hollowed out branch of elderwood into which was inserted a piston made of wood from a hazelnut tree.

This toy illustrates the peasant's and shepherd's knowledge of his environment. In fact, the elderwood was impervious to water, but the hazelnut wood swelled up, thus allowing the spraying action at one end without dribbling from the other end. Some toys were constructed by the children themselves, often with a sharp pocket knife which the boys received as gifts. They had observed the knife being used by adults or their older brothers, and the possession of their own knife was a 'rite of passage', making them independent and capable of creating their own small treasures.

There were many other such simple toys, most carved from wood by parents or grandparents - tops, small figures of domestic animals, dolls, small versions of utensils and tools. These last served to familiarize the youngsters with everyday tasks. The toys and games of the past were few and simple, but they were treasured by the children, precisely because of their rarity. Some toys might be acquired from itinerant peddlers who went door to door, selling them along with other wooden objects such as bowls and large spoons. Indoor entertainment included card games. The museum has one game, dating from 1929, which belonged to a girl who had received it as a prize for her excellent school work. The interesting aspect of this game is that the backs of the cards were inscribed with the words of 'great Italians', praising the new Italy as a unique people - the purpose being to instill a sense of being Italian in these young who just a few years earlier had been students in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Another indoor game was one called 'Die fliegende Hute' or the Flying Hats. It consisted of a number of fragile vellum 'hats', each with a small metal button, which were to be tossed onto a grid of metal pegs a sort of target practice. Other games were played outdoors, in the courtyards, piazzas and roads - no fear 11

Written by Daniela Finardi, Museo dei Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina

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The Castle at Segonzano he ruins of the Castle of Segonzano lie on an outcropping of rock in the center of the Val di Cembra. It is all that remains of the castle, built in 1216 by Rodolfo Scancio de la Curte, a vassal of the Prince Bishop of Trent. The castle was the outward sign of the power of the Prince, who strictly tithed his peasants. In fact 10% of the harvest had to be carried to the representative of the Prince Bishop. In the course of the centuries, ownership of the castle passed from the Rottemburg family to the Liechtensteins, and finally, in 1535, to the barons of Prato, who had acquired the castle, along with the title of 'baron' for 100,000 Rhenish florins - about $ 1 million today

Water color of Castle of Albrecht Durer-Nuremberg Germany

Castle at Segonzano

A few years prior, Napoleon had beseiged the castle and after bombarding it from on high with their cannons, had set it on fire. On November 2, 1796, there was a battle between the French and the Austrians for possession of the castle. A group of German sharpshooters, volunteers who had pledged to defend the Tyrol against foreign invasions, joined in the Austrian defense.

The battle is memorialized by a votive painting in the ancient church of the Immaculata in Piazza di Segonzano, the village which had risen next to the castle during the Middle Ages. A wooden statue may also be found in the church.This statue is a late Gothic sculpture of the Madonna holding a bunch of grapes, symbol of the productivity and the labor of the local peasants.

The barons of Prato were the 'Lords of Segonzano' until 1803, when the Prince Bishop's domain became just a For a long time, there lived in the castle, a short man, a Tyrolean territory and, after eight centuries, the bishop Swiss dwarf who was a tailor and professed to be a lost his title of Prince of the German Empire!

Calvinist. In the local dialect, he was known as 'el pecin de castel'. When he died, falling from the branches of a fig tree, he was buried beneath that same tree. The superstitious populace said that because he had not been baptized, he would bring disaster to the castle. And, in fact, not long afterward a fire ravaged the castle roof! The roof was rebuilt, and soon after, the French returned and completely razed the castle. Today only the ruins remain.

But some watercolors of the castle may be viewed at the museum of Nuremberg. They are the work of a celebrated Renaissance painter, the German Albrecht Durer.

On a trip from Germany to Venice, Durer was forced to detour because of flooded rivers, and so came through the Cembra Valley. He was so intrigued by the Castle that he made several paintings of it.

Written by Alberto Folgheraiter.

Watercolor by Albrecht Durer

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The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Help

t Segonzano, in the Cembra Valley rises the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Help, a church built in the woods about two kilometers from the town. It all began in the second half of the seventeenth century, when a painting of the Madonna of Help (Mariahilfe, in German) was brought to the Cembra valley from Bavaria. It was a copy of a 1518 work by the famous German painter Lucas Cranach. The painting was hung on the branch of a tree. But it soon disappeared from the tree and was found inside the local church. This relocation was, of course, declared a miracle and not the decision of some local devotee who wanted to worship the image in the shelter of his church.

Our Lady of Help-Mariahilfe

When, in the second half of the nineteenth century, the great migration to the United States began, dozens of the emigrants would go first to the sanctuary, to beseech the aid of the Madonna on their voyage into the unknown. During the 1800's and into the twentieth century, those emigrants sent money to the Madonna of Help to thank her for keeping them safe and to satisfy promises they had made to her. And so, with time, a nice little bundle of cash had accumulated, and in 1957, work began on expanding the chapel. In 1962, the chapel had become a large church with a capacity of 300 worshipers and it was inaugurated by the bishop of Trento.

Until 1972, a hermit lived nearby and acted as caretaker. But with the death of Lorenzo Vicenzi, known as 'Bepo remit,' that era ended and, as had been happening at other isolated locations, care of the sanctuary was relegated to video cameras and surveillance tapes!

At any rate, a small shrine was erected to house the painting. A century later, the shrine became a small chapel where the local priest said Mass on the first Sunday of September. Processions of citizens came from the whole valley to Today, Mass is celebrated every attend that Mass. The cholera epiSunday at the Sanctuary. But the first demics of 1836 and 1855 brought Sunday of September is still celebratmasses of frightened pilgrims to the Procession to the Sanctuary chapel. They sought relief from the dread disease which ed as a special feast day and congregants gather from the was ravaging Europe, causing 6210 deaths in the whole valley.

Trentino alone.

Written by Alberto Folgheraiter, who has written extensively about the shrines throughout the Trentino detailing the history, the culture and the piety of the people who have had a devotion to this Madonna.

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Help

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Geological Wonders

he Trentino..once the Tyrol is a geological canvas full of geological wonders. From the Dolomites rising from the ancient seas and being pushed up to the skies, to the glacial lakes and deep valleys, to the majestic towering mountains, to the Adige Valley, geology is so much in evidence…as are the Piramidi di Segonzano, the Pyramids of Segonzano, and they are truly geological wonders.

These earth pyramids in the municipality of Segonzano are a masterpiece of nature: towers, crests, pinnacles arranged like organ pipes, tall columns towered by a huge porphyry rock.

They are one of the most well known and studied geological phenomena in the world. They are a work of art forged by elements about 50 thousand years ago, when glacial sedimentation was eroded by the combined action of running water, rain and wind, thus creating these impossibly balanced natural pinnacles.

Their composition is very special. . It is a mixture of earth, small pebbles of various sizes and composition. They have a gold yellow color and rise together like organ pipes. These cone-shaped natural sculptures topped by a rock resemble giants with fancy hairstyles and are called by locals omeni da tera (earth men).

The site features different types of pyramids: spiked pyramids, without the cap rock, or ridged pyramids, with the typical jagged profile. At the feet of the pyramids grows a thick bed of moss, leaves and roots slowing down water erosion. The Piramidi attract many visitors each year.

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Where Wine is King here is no doubt about the preeminence of wine production in the Cembra Valley. So much so that grapes are depicted conspicuously and with pride on its very coat of arms. The very topography of the Cembra Valley has invited viticulture… vine cultivation for centuries from the Romans to today. In Cembra Valley today, wine production is a major activity. Cembra produces many varieties of grapes: the Pinot white and red to Chardonnay, from Merlot to Sylvaner to Schiava; but the lion's share is the Müller Thurgau: a vine particularly suitable for growing at higher levels. Müller-Thurgau is a white grape variety ( Vitis vinifera) which was created crossing crossing of

wider terraces. The Valley is shaped as a U with the fertile shoulders separated by the Avvio River deep in the valley. The valley sides lent themselves to the terracing for the cultivation. Although there are similarities in the way in which viticulture is practiced in Cembra Valley and other areas of the Province, Cembra has its uniqueness.

Viticulture in Cembra Valley, in fact, is called the "walls", "heroic" or "vertical" because the cultivated plots are located on slopes impassable to other crops. The special climatic conditions of valley and the mineral wealth of the land combine in the production of these grapes. The impossibility of using mechanical means imposes a great use of manual labor also during the harvest. Before being placed in the appropriate boxes and then be taken to the cellar where the winemaking processes take place, the clusters, deposited in tubs, are in fact carried on the shoulders of farmers to climb the steep vineyards have to test all their qualities of strength and balance.

Where wine reigns as king, grappa shares the regal status, often clandestinely manufactured in homemade stills.

Until the reign of Maria Theresa of Austria, it was permissible to produce grappa in one’s home using a lambico and its producing is referred to as lambicàr.

Among so many of our families made grappa in their homes after they will have made wine. I have a vivid memo of Greenwich Village and how 90 cases of grapes were delivered from the market (where the Twin Towers were eventually built) to the curbside of our tenement house on Becker St. Until the wee hours of the morning, There are vineyards on both sides of the valley, especial- my brother Nino turned the wheel of the wine press as I ly in the central area, where it widens allowing put the grapes in, pushing them into the tines with a wooden mallet while my dad, Agostino…supervised with a cigarette and an enormous smile of accomplishment.

Look forward to narrative of grappa by our emigrants…in cities, in small towns…saluting their product of grappa with its other name…aqua vitae…the water of life.

Riesling with Madeleine Royale. It is considered the wine of the mountains. It is used to make white wine in Germany, Austria, Northern Italy, Hungary, once the Austrian Hungarian Empire. Cembra also produces a Cabernet, the delicate Schiava, the intense Pinot Nero.

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Family Stories: The Andreatta’s t is said if you are in Southern Colorado for more than 15 minutes, you will hear the Andreatta name. Bortolo and Maria Andreatta immigrated to the United States from Austrian Tyrol in 1893.

Their hard work, vision and thriftiness made them one of the most prominent families in Southern Colorado. In the past 122 years, the family has amassed 60,000 acres of prime mountain property. They also held several prosperous businesses in Walsenburg, Colorado that included houses, an apartment building, a pool hall, a coalmine and a grocery/butcher store. They raised ten children who continued the family ranching heritage, and passed it on to their great- grand children.

The family would keep a lookout at the top of a hill where they could see for miles into the valley. When they saw the Guardsmen coming, they would hide the miners in the heavy forested hills and valleys.

Bortolo and Maria not only raised their own ten children, they took in others. When Maria’s sister died, they took care of her children. They also raised several other children that had been orphaned. The Andreatta family was very blessed by God, and was always quick to help others. Tony (one of their sons) told his widowed sister Cora, “If I have something to eat, you have something to eat.” This same attitude was spread throughout the community. Many people made it through hard times because of the generosity of the Andreatta family.

The Andreatta family has been awarded for their historical contributions to the region and still holds the original one hundred year old homestead ranch on the The Andreatta family was self-sufficient. They raised Spanish Peaks. chickens, pigs and cattle. At times there would be hundreds of cows waiting to be branded, castrated and Bortolo and Maria were married in Tyrol, Austria in dehorned. They also had beehives, an apple orchard and 1888. Bortolo worked in Argentina for three years and a large garden. The women would gather together to then returned to Italy where he made plans to immigrate make cheese and preserve many food items to last all to the United States. Upon arriving in Colorado, Bortolo year. They also made salami with a secret family recipe worked in the coalmines for nine years. They began that is loved by everyone. homesteading land and building their empire. Many families would come to Colorado to start a new life, but The Andreatta family worked hard to raise a family and would decide to return to Italy. When this happened, become upstanding, productive citizens of the United Bortolo would buy their property from them. Maria States. They loved their Colorado home, but never forworked very hard to keep the ranch going when Bortolo got their Tyrolean roots. They maintained their stories, was working in the mines. She would sell eggs, milk, but- their language, their wonderful recipes and their Italian ter and honey to the miners. She also washed clothes for pride. the coal miners.

Written by Barbara Delzer, Colorado Springs, Colorado The Andreatta family became heroes in their day by supporting the coal miners of Colorado against the National Guardsmen. The miners were striking because of low wages and unsafe mining practices. President Roosevelt sent in the National Guard to force the miners back to work. The events turned tragic with many deaths, including the deaths of women and children at the Ludlow Massacre. The Andreatta family offered refuge to the miners. Maria would laugh in later years when she told her stories about the National Guardsmen. The Guardsmen would force their way into the house searching for miners and ammunition, but could never find anything. They would stir the flour barrels looking for bullets, but Maria had them hidden in her long heavy skirts. She also hid bullets in the beehives in the yard.

Back (L to R): Louis (son), Guerino (son), Corina (daughter), Celeste (daughter), Antonio (son), Giuseppe (son) Front (L to R): Caterina (daughter), Bortolo (father), Maria (mother), Louis (son),Rosina (daughter) & Emma (daughter)

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Leggende: El Piceno, Little Guy hen the Barons from Prato were still very powerful, the bridge of Cartilaga was overseen to defend the valley from contrabandist, brigands. and unfriendly Castle Lords. In reality, there was little to do. One night, the guards were taken by surprise by strange little man riding on a donkey who was descending from the left side of the River Avisio, called Corvaia in dialect. All the guards went on alert even for this little man. The chief of the guards asked the stranger a hundred questions. But when he tried to respond, no one understood a thing. This frightened everyone so that everyone thought it was a language of Beelzebub. The guards took him into custody and brought him in front of the Baron de Prato.

The Baron interrogated the unfortunate man and he realized that he was not from the devil but simply German.

The man was ugly, small, deformed, hunch backed but an excellent tailor seeking adventure and his good fortune.

The Baron of Prato had married a most beautiful woman who adored wearing elegant gowns that were magnificent but which the seamstresses of the Val di Cembra had not the ability to make. The Castle of Sengonzano baron immediately called for his wife, who arrived quite angry for having been awakened in the middle of the night. But once he explained why she was called her eyes lit up. The Baron sought to test the ability of the stranger. It hardly seemed real to the Baroness and she asked her ladies in waiting to immediately bring material, silk, laces, lacework, trinkets, scissors and thimbles. The Swiss tailor had to submit immediately to the test even though he was tired and hungry. Nonetheless, he created a gown so beautiful that had never been seen in court.

At that point, the Baroness quite satisfied, invited the man to remain and be his guest in the confines of the castle. The guards therefore led the tailor into a grotto (il Bus Piceno) where, as a prisoner, he was obliged to create gowns day and night for all the women and girls

of the castle. After a while, the tailor became quite exhausted and when he would see someone from the village approaching, he would flee cursing fearing that the women of the village would order him to create new dresses for them as well. Such an attitude rendered him quite hostile to the paesani of Segonzano who began to believe that he had been sent by the devil due to his extraordinary skills and his ugliness and his deformities (ugly, hunch backed and foreign). Every person who met him whispered in dialect ..Dai segnadi da Dio, tre passi endrio.. Those signed by God, three steps back! (Stay far away at least three steps from persons that God himself regarded as cursed or stricken with a deformity. (A politically incorrect statement but the mindset of the people of times past.)

Soon the tailor began to hide even when the Baroness came to visit. And it happened one day while he was trying to flee from the Baroness He climbed up a fig tree and wound up falling dangerously to the ground. He injured himself critically. His curses and imprecations captured the attention of the castle’s guards who found him dying and brought him to the Baron and the Baroness. The Baroness knowing that he was a Protestant tried in vain to the very end to have him confess his sins to the chaplain of the castle. But the tailor would not yield and died uttering a tremendous blasphemy. From that day, it is said that his soul could not find peace and therefore roams in the area of the grotto of the castle in search of the serenity and peace to find the way to heaven. Even to this day. “El Picena”…the Little Guy.. when there is a full moon roams from ruins to ruins seeking a priest that can absolve him and release him to enter paradise.

Written by Verena De Paoli, Terlago, Val dei Laghi.

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Tyroleans of the Iron Range

ntil iron ore was discovered in northeastern Minnesota, the area was sparsely populated with loggers, prospectors and voyageurs, that all changed in the late 1800s when the 3 veins of rich iron ore were discovered. Upon this discovery, mining companies began gobbling up land along the ore deposits to start their operations and the need for laborers became desperate. Many of these new companies began stealing workers from existing mining operations in Michigan and Canada and they also started to advertise for workers in Europe. As a result, immigrants began to flood into the area and towns and mining locations started to sprout all along the edges of the ever growing mines. In just 10 years, from 1900 to 1910 the population of the Mesabi Iron Range grew from about 15,000 to almost 70,000 and 80% of that new population was not born in the United States. Eventually, people from 43 different nations would settle here, at the time, very few places in the United States had the diversity of cultures that the Iron Range had.

Immigrant Iron Miners

Some of the first immigrants to arrive were skilled laborers from northern Italy, many from the Trentino/Tyrol area. Some of these workers had started working in the iron mines of Michigan where they had gained experience in mining and stonework but when word of the growing number of new jobs got to them, they began to come to Minnesota where they could offer more work to family members that were not work was available and land for large and growing families was plentiful. Soon, many more relatives of those first to arrive would come to the Iron Range to yet able to come to America.

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Open Pit Iron Mine - Mesabi Range

Once established, word would be sent back to their hometowns in Italy that start their lives in the United States. As the towns began to grow, and the mining business boomed, the mining companies started to put large amounts of money into the growing communities to keep workers and their families happy. Public buildings such as, schools, churches, arenas, and libraries were created with unrivaled size and craftsmanship by the immigrants who brought their talents with them, none more so than that of the Italians. To this very day, beautiful stonework, plaster work, paintings and architecture bear the stamp of those talented and skilled workers that first arrived from northern Italy. These structures were unique in size and grandeur to like buildings in towns of similar size across the rest of the country, as the resources of the mining companies were unmatched.

Many buildings are still stamped with Italian surnames and many family businesses that were begun by Italian immigrants still thrive today, run by the descendants of those that arrived so many years ago.

Workers in the Pit - 1900

Top: Iron Workers in the Pits & Mines

As more Tyrolean immigrants and their families arrived, the need to help them assimilate grew, and as a result, many of those that had been living on the Iron Range for a while decided to create a Mutual Aid Society to help those who were unsure of how to adapt to this new culture. And so, the Societa di Mutuo Soccoroso Tirolese de Chisholm (Tyrolean Mutual Aid Society of Chisholm) was born. As we know, the health and welfare of the family is paramount in the Italian culture, so one of the first things this new organization did was to become a fraternal health insurance provider to their Tyrolean brethren and their families. As more and more Tyrolean immigrants arrived, the society flourished, no one of Italian, descent ever went hungry, widows and children were taken care of in times of illness and tragedy, and people could find assistance to obtain a job or a place to live. The lodge provided a place for all to relax, play games, hold social events and devel-

Left: The Iron Man

up for night classes to learn English, and assist in the naturalization process as well.

The original society was established in Chisholm, Minnesota in 1913 and was disbanded in the 1950s. Then in 1994, a group of descendants from the original Societa, got together and started a new club, Trentini Tirolesi del Minnesota; Stella del Nord, (Trentini Tyroleans of Minnesota; The Star of the North), with the same spirit of community and friendship as the original society in mind, this new club survives to this day and holds Trentini and Tyrolean related events throughout the year, they actively seek to assist community organizations and gives scholarships to those of Trentini and Tyrolean descent moving on to higher education pursuits. These are but a few of their ongoing activities.

The influence of our Trentini and Tyrolean ancestors still shows in the communities of the Iron Ranges of Minnesota, most notably in the architecture, the food and the folkways that extend across the area and in the Tyrolean descents and the folkways that extend across the area and in the Tyrolean descents that work in the iron mines today. Thanks to the sacrifices and influences of these early Italian immigrants this is a place unique unto itself and the northern Italians have left an indelible mark not only on this one area of Minnesota, but on the entire culture of the United States and no one is prouder of that than the surviving Trentini and Tyrolean family members still living and thriving on Iron Ranges of Minnesota.

Written by Stefanie (Gentilini) Carlson is a op bonds of friendship in their new environment. The freelance artist and writer from Hibbing, society also helped children enroll in school and they Minnesota would help sign the Societa di Mutuo Soccoroso Tirolese de Chisholm

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Val di Cembra

I

A Cembrana Remembers

was born in a beautiful town called Lona, Lases in 1923. Our town was part of the Cembra Valley.

My father left for America right after I was born . He couldn't earn enough to support his family under the Mussolini regime. He had served 3 years in the Austrian army. The n WWI broke out and he was captured after 3 months and spent 4 years as a prisoner of war in Siberia. He was not told the war was over, but they told him to go home. It took him 3 months to walk home. Italy was not kind to Austrian soldiers and they taxed everything they had: his animals and small families.

Mussolini helped larger families, especially if they had boys. My mother did everything to keep us from starving. She took care of the fields, cut the hay and raised silk worms to keep us going. We went for brise (mushrooms) blueberries, chestnuts and gathered wood for the stove. I remember my nonna. She kept filo in the evenings, roasting chestnuts and drinking wine. She taught the young people how to make nets (bratedei) and teaching them how to catch fish in the river Lavisio which we called Lavis, which was flowing at the bottom of our valley just across Cembra. They had beautiful grapevines in Cembra Valley because it faced the sun all the time. In 1934, we arrived in America, me, my mother and my brothers. My mother found work cleaning houses for one dollar a day, plus carfare of 10 cents. My father had not worked for a long time and owed money to all of his friends. We paid it all back as soon as we were able. He used to make a little grappa as well as sausages to sell to his friends. It was hard during those years, not knowing the language and children always making fun of us. We made it through the depression. My father was sickly all the time, died of leukemia. We could not go to high school because we had to go to work. We took all kinds of jobs. My father’s friend, Rose (who later became my mother-in-law) helped my mother, Oliva, get a job at Mama Leone's in Manhattan on West 47th St. Rose was from the town of Serraia, Baselga di Pine. She married Massimo Roccabruna in 1921.They had 3 boys together. Mario (who later became my husband) Albert & Tullio. They came back to America in 1922 and moved back to Italy in 1931, after Massimo was diagnosed with Black Lung Disease. He died in 1936 & Rose & her boys came back to America. When the war broke out, WWII, all 3 were called to duty. My brother Aldo was also called to serve.

Before Mario left with the Army, we got married. Three months later, he was in Africa. He fought in Italy until D Day, when he was sent for special training. It was a 22

My village-Lona Lases of the Val di Cembra

surprise landing on August 15th, 1944 in St. Tropez, in southern France. He received the Bronze Star for bravery, saving 3 wounded soldiers from a mine field. A month later he was wounded, shot in the leg. Thank God for penicillin, 88 shots of it. He was discharged in late 1945. Our son, Robert, was born in NYC in 1946 and we moved to the Bronx, where our daughter, Linda, was born. We bought a house in the country where we lived until Mario passed away, Dec. 2013. We had 70 wonderful years together. We made many trips together and enjoyed a few trips with our grandchildren. We visited our beloved valleys and towns and visited some relatives we never knew. Our towns were rich in porfido, which they send all over the world. They cut it into small squares and it makes beautiful sidewalks. We still have our memories of our beautiful mountains, vineyards and towns...and, of course, our beloved Tirol.. Written by herself, Giuseppina Valentini Roccabruna, now of Boynton, Florida.

Giuseppina's Family-Top-Brother- Aldo Valentini, Giuseppina, Mario Roccabruna, husband; Bottom Giacomo Valentini, Younger brother Remo; Oliva Valentini, mother

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Family Stories: Noni Andreatta

y Nono, Attiglio Andreatta was born on February 7, 1891 in Quaras, Segonzano, Tyrol, Austria to Erminio and Maria Andreatta. Not long after his birth, his father Erminio and his fatherwent to the Americas to find work and send money home to his family. When Attiglio was seven years old, Erminio was killed in a coal mine explosion in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Maria was left a widow with four young children to raise. At age 21 Attiglio was drafted and served as a member of the Austrian ski border patrol. In 1913, he deserted and came to America on the Majestic. Attiglio settled in Walsenburg, Colorado where he started a ranch with his Noni Andreatta: Attiglio & Corina cousin Emilio. As Emilio’s family grew, Attiglio sold his share back and worked as a ranch hand and coal miner. duties and Nona would work the ranch with Fiore. Until During his time as a ranch hand and in the coal mines, Fiore grew older and stronger, Nona would do all the Attiglio met another Andreatta family and fell in love heavy work or hired someone to help. When Fiore was with one of the daughters Corina Andreatta, On April eighteen she made him a partner in the family ranch.

22, 1921, Attiglio married Corina Andreatta. Attiglio and Corina had many suitors, but wouldn't consider a marCorina had three children, Josephine (Pina), in 1922, riage until her girls were married and settled. She finally Fiore in 1925, and Angelina in 1928 (my mom). From his remarried in 1954. No one ever left an Andreatta home time in the coal mines, Attiglio was able to buy his own without an offer of coffee or wine (vino) or coffee with ranch. He continued to work in the coal mines of south- vino. To feed the family, they made homemade salami, ern Colorado and also worked as did some bootlegging cheese, fresh bread, and chokecherry jelly. They shared to support his family. With strong family traditions, the these family meals with anyone who was hungry. Family Andreattas always helped family members in need. dinners consisted of polenta and stew, salad with vinegar Attiglio continued this by helping his widowed sister, and oil and chocolate cake with a chocolate cream to Lucia, on her ranch and gave a hand to anyone who pour over it. Many of these recipes from Tyrol are still asked. He always told his children to “be polite, even in being used by the family today. Homemade salami will the house of the devil”. You could disagree with some- always be a family favorite. With all the hard work, one without being rude, to always be courteous and Nona's knees became arthritic and she was confined to a polite, no matter the circumstances. This was his greatest wheel chair. In 1987 she went to live in a nursing home. legacy to his family. Walsenburg was a small town and in She always had a good attitude and a tremendous faith.

1935 many people still relied on horses and wagons for Many people would visit their relatives in that home and transportation. On October 13, 1935 Attiglio was work- would get depressed on leaving them. They would stop ing with a young horse he had raised from a colt. The in to see my Nona in the last room on the way out. She horse got spooked and started to run. The rope was would joke and laugh with them, give them a piece of around the horse's neck and coiled on the ground. As the candy and maybe a snort of brandy. They always left the horse ran, the rope uncoiled and caught on the heel of nursing home happier. Corina would have someone Attiglio's boot, dragging him. Attiglio suffered severe wheel her around the nursing home so she could bless all injuries and died later in the day. Over 1000 people from the doors to all the rooms and pray for the people in the miles away attended his funeral. Like Attiglio’s mom rooms. Nurses, friends and relatives would come to her Maria, Corina had three hungry children in the middle of for prayers for their health and problems. Corina passed the depression with a crop in the field and a ranch to run. away in December 1993 leaving behind her three chilMany years later Corina, my Nona, would relate to a dren, their spouses and many grandchildren and great Kenny Rogers song about Lucille leaving him with four grandchildren. Written by Janet Wilson, daughter of hungry children and a crop in the field. From that time Angelina Springer Andreatta, Granddaughter of Attiglio on thirteen year old Josephine took over the household and Corina Andreatta.

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Family Stories: The Mattivi’s

Ben was an accomplished accordion player y mother and grandmother and played the instrument throughout his told me many colorful famlife. He is believed to have been self-taught ily stories of my great and was unable to read sheet music. He grandfather, Ben and other fellow immigrant musicians (Beniameno) Mattivi, over the years. I was played for many public and private celeamazed at how a young man of 18 from brations over the years. During the Tyrolean village of Baselga di Pine in Prohibition, Ben produced his own wine the Valley of Cembra could board a ship and beer and was arrested by law enforcealone in Le Havre, France and arrive in ment officials for producing/possessing New York in 1907 with only $28. Ben alcohol in his residence, where he had declared that he was going to join his alcohol hidden all over the house including brother, John (Giovanni) Mattivi, in the interior of walls. Ben served an indeSilverton, Colorado where there was work terminate term in custody at the Kirksville, in the gold, silver, and coal mines around the area. Ben moved to Novinger, Young Ben Mattivi ca. 1907 Missouri Jail and was said to have been Missouri, where he met Rosa Girotti who was also living allowed to play his accordion on the front porch of the there with her extended Girotti family. Novinger had a jail, where he collected money for his efforts. In later years, he played with the KMBC orchestra and the pergrowing Italian immigrant community of coal miners. formances were broadcast on a local radio station in the Ben and Rosa married in Novinger in 1909 and had their Kansas City, Missouri. Ben died in 1955 of throat cancer first child, James. Around 1910 or 1911, Ben Mattivi at his home in Gashland, Missouri. Ben’s old accordion moved his small family to Dawson, New Mexico where is in the family possession of his great grandson, Michael the company coal mining town of Dawson was booming Mattivi. It was in 1992 that I was able to visit for the first under the ownership and direction of the Phelps Dodge time my great grandfather Ben Mattivi’s village of Company. It was in Dawson that Ben and Rosa’s second Baselga di Pine. My mother and I traveled there and met child, Evelyn, was born in 1912. In the following year, many of our Mattivi and Anesi cousins who still lived in one of the worst mining disasters in the nation struck the this small community. While sharing old family photos, Dawson coal mines when on October 22, 1913 a huge my cousins showed me a photo that Ben Mattivi had coal mine explosion killed 263 miners plus 2 rescuers. mailed to his family in Italy in 1952 of him holding me Today, over 200 white crosses that represent the graves in his lap as a baby. I could not believe that I had brought of the miners killed can be seen in the small Dawson a copy of the same photo with me to share with them. It cemetery as evidence to the many immigrant miners who was such a beautiful moment to be with my Tyroleanlost their lives. Rosa’s sister, Lena (Girotti) Merlo, was Italian cousins after all these years even though Ben was also buried there after dying of food poisoning in 1911. never able to return home again after leaving home. My mother and I will always cherish this experience. A few In November, Ben moved his family back to Novinger, years later, my cousin, Michael Mattivi, along with his Missouri. He and his brother, John, worked in Novinger, eldest son, Joey, cousin, Chris Mattivi and cousin, Melissa Missouri and in various mining operations in the area of Mattivi McWilliams visited Baselga di Pine and met those Radley – Pittsburgh, Kansas. By 1920, Ben and Rosa set- same family relatives. Our Mattivi family is now recontled again in Novinger where Rosa became ill with what nected to our land of origin. Written by Cynthia Speed., appears to have been an ectopic pregnancy that devel- Amarillio, Texas – great granddaughter of Ben oped into a severe infection. She died in 1921.After (Beniameno) Mattivi and Rosa Girotti Mattivi.

Rosa’s passing, Ben married 4 more times over the years and had two daughters and another son. The daughters For more information and family history see the Michael were Corine and Joselyn and the son was James (Bud) Mattivi’s web page at: http://www.mattivifamily.com/ Mattivi. More details about these families and children can be found on the Mattivi family web link at: http://www.mattivifamily.com/ 24

A

The Past Comes Alive

s Americans, we must go to places like Colonial Williamsburg or Storrs Connecticut or Colonial Jamestown…or Civil War reenactments…while the Val di Cembra has made its history and folklore come alive. Hardly Halloween costumes, Roberto Bazzanella, the choir master and cultural research specialist conducted extensive research into documents uncovered in private, communal and ecclesiastical archives uncovering not only the shapes and uses of the ancient wardrobes but their very fabrics as well. Uncovering documents between 1790 and 1846 from tailor’s assemblies, households and municipal records, Roberto recreated this fascinating wardrobe. The male costume was referred to as being “dressed to the gambarola”, the ancient name of male jacket. It was worn on special occasions until 1850, when they all adopted an international fashion. There was a linen shirt with collar clamp Roberto Bazzanella camisa with turquoise waistcoat giledo and a heavy green jacket with waist cut gambarola.

There were black pants to the knee colotes with white stockings wool calzeti and black shiny shoes with slight heel Lustre. The shirt is protected on the neck by a black collar colarin. The hat half tuba (similar to an American derby) mezacana is decorated with a flower …la fior for the unmarried, or with nothing or with more decorum the bozol by the married. For the cold season is the tabard pastran. The female costume in the period of 1700 to the early 1800’s was called "CIANT from La Granda" because dress ciant used only on special occasions granda. The research examined ancient receipts tailoring, and dozens of "gift cards", lists of dowries and a detailing account of them that fathers carefully maintained for the future son-in law of the marriage of their daughters. It was worn in high Cembra Valley until mid-nineteenth century, when the gown was substituted by the international fashion. The gown includes a linen shirt camisa with an embroidered bodice with velvet and green ribbons (corsage). It had a petticoat sotocianta and skirt black vesta with a turquoise apron gromial. Decorations were a turquoise handkerchief around the neck fazol dacol, a shawl decorated with turquoise fazol da spale), earrings of shells or coral recini, a series of stone beads granete, and the little bag bolgata. For the cold season, there was a cape mantela. The hair is arranged in the braid drecia or crik placed around the head with one or more turns. The white socks in wool calzeti, while red for married women, and glossy black shoes Lustre complete the costume.

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Nos Dialet . . . Our Dialect # 10

n the past several months, there have been reports and presentations regarding the rapid disappearance of languages and dialects throughout the world. In my travels throughout the Trentino-Alto Adige, I observed that the dialect is diminishing especially among the young. This is paradoxical since the vaunted and treasured “autonomy” of the Province was justified and argued for on the basis of the many linguistic minorities found throughout the area. There are German and Ladin minorities that hold strongly to their languages customs and culture. Since I regard myself as a Tyrolean loyalist and a stubborn-in your face New Yorker, I declare in the villages, restaurants and shops…no capiso il talian…parlame in dialet. I do not understand Italian, speak to me in dialect. The Filò will be exploring these pockets of diverse languages in subsequent editions. Do consider going to the web site of the Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina (The Museum of the Ways and Customs of the Trentino People) to hear film clips of the sounds and intonations of our people in the Province speaking the dialect…Here is their website http://www.museosanmichele.it/alfabeto-delle-cose/ It’s time for another tense of the verb to be…its future perfect tense…First the dialect in red, Italian in blue, the interogative also in dialect..also in red and the English in black.

Mi sarò sta Ti te sarai stà Lu el sarà stà Noi sarem stadi Voi sare` stadi Lori I sarà stadi

(io sarò stato) (tu sarai stato) (egli sarà stato) (noi saremo stati) (voi sarete stati) (essi saranno stati)

Mi saronte stà?

Ti sarat stà?

Lu saralo sta?

Noi sarente stadi?

Voi sarè stadi?

Lori sarai stadi?

I will have been You will have been He will have been We will have been You will have been They will have been

DIALECT SHOW & TELL #3 La Camera da Let-The Bedroom

Let’s look to the illustrations on the opposite page, observe their labels of the items. Starting from the top and going left to right…We will cite the dialectal word in the illustration and literally translate it into English. The Italian equivalent will not be cited. These words and nomenclatures are derived from the dialect around Tione.

Quadro-picture Cornis-frame Spec- Mirror Statuete-statues Madona-Our Lady* Candeler-candle holder Crocifis-crucifix Stopin/stupin-wick Casabanch-chest of drawers Centrin-doliey Manecia-handle Fornel-stove Portela dal bus dal fornel-stove door Tubo/canon-stovepipe Crocis-crucifix Corona dal rosario-rosary Bambinel-bambin Bazin/lavaman-basin Portabazin-basin stand Sugaman-towel Broca-pitcher

aquasantel-holy water font omin/omet-hanger quadro dela madona-picture of Our Lady let-bed testera-head board porta-door caset-drawer cusin/cosin-pillow linzol-sheet fodreta-pillow case querta/coerta da let-bed blanket sponda-bed board/railing comodina/comodinpaiment/paviment-floor as-floor planks lucerna-lamp tubo-lantern globe lucerna a mur-wall lamp lumin a oio-oil lamp scaldalet-bed warmer monega-frame for the bed warmer Bocal-bed pan

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Schoolroom in Rango (Giudicarie)

*Note: Madona in our dialect has only one N…the same with nona and nono.

“Doubles” are not used.

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Cembra’s Red Gold

hat the Melinda Apple was to the Val di Non, porphyry became to the Val di Cembra…its “red gold”. Both turned around the fortunes of their respective valleys in dramatic ways. It was thanks to its extraction and the related industries in the last century, the valley has developed and unprecedented prosperity.

as well as Italy, one finds the bolognini, paving stones that embellish and enhance of cities and historic villages.

One such villages is my father’s village of Rango in the Val delle Giudicarie declared Uno dei Bei Borghi D`Italia, one of the most beautiful hamlets of Italy.

What is porfido…porhy. Porphyry is a textural term for an igneous rock consisting of large-grained crystals. The term "porphyry" is from Greek and means "purple."

Purple was the color of royalty, and the "Imperial Porphyry" was a deep purple igneous .The rock was the hardest known in antiquity and was prized for monuments and building projects in Imperial Rome and later.

Its use continued through the Byzantine empire and the Middle Ages.

Porphyry is currently the most important industry of the Cembra Valley. . The first porphyry quarries of TrentinoAlto Adige were opened in the Alto Adige in 1880. In the Cembra Valley activities began in the early years of the twentieth century but the cultivation of porphyry Cembrano has experienced its greatest growth especially after World War II: this reddish stone, used in construction, is extracted in the form of large slabs, particularly suitable for processing into cubes for paving or large stones flat; much of the stone extracted is exported. In the municipalities of the so-called district of porphyry such as Albiano, Fornace, Baselga and Lona-Lases, all on the left bank of the valley), the majority of non-agricultural workers is now engaged in activities related to this industry. The need to transport this mineral, raw or semifinished, has also provided the impetus for the construction of new roads, helping to break the age-old isolation of the valley. Throughout the Trentino-Alto Adige

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Porphyry Quarries

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The Schutzen Rescue Cembra!

apoleon Bonaparte’s campaign in Italy and the Tyrol lasted two years between 17961797. He invaded the Kingdom of Italy successfully advancing and conquering all that stood in his path. In 1796, his invasion met a historic turning point as he faced his first major defeat that blocked the advance of his usually invincible army. In autumn of 1796, the French troops had conquered the territory of Northern Italy up to Trento and were advancing towards the South Tyrol through the Val di Cembra. That route was considered easier route than the marshy Val D`Adige. In October, there were several clashes near Segonzano but they were merely a prelude to the significant battle of Segonzano on November 2, 1796. The French General Vaubois assaulted San Michele, Lisignago and Segonzano with three several divisions. The Val di Cembra had no regular prepared army. At best, they had a militia with no trained military.

Their militia was recruited from the local inhabitants and were called up on an ad hoc basis. Since the majority was resident farmers, not every one was called up. In emergencies, there was a universal call to arms, leva in massa, (German: Lansturm) so that all the able bodied men were call to defend the valley’s borders even with pitch forks. The critical difference was the additional presence of the Schutzen. They were marksmen and helpers when fires broke out. The French forces out numbered the Tyrolean forces five to one. Nonetheless, in the assault of the French General Vaubois, the marksmanship of the Schutzen and their valor in battle, managed to repel the French forces who abandoned their positions. There followed four more days of fierce fighting so that on the fifth day, the Tyrolean forces entered triumphantly into the city of Trento to the celebrations of the people. On the final battle of November 6 and 7 in 1796, the Schutzen commander Felice Von Riccabona conquered Castelpietra finally forcing the French out of the entire Trentino.

Who were these Schutzen sizeri who went head to head with Napoleon’s great army? From the sixteenth century until 1918, the Tyrol has had the privilege of being defended by local volunteers. In our dialect, they were called sìźeri or scìźeri,

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Schutzen of Stenico 1918

an adaptation of the pronunciation Tyrolean Schitzen .

The German ord Schütze means shooter: they were therefore "sharpshooters". They, in fact, in peacetime practiced the sport of target shooting: in the eighteenth century used a handgun rifle, the Stutzen, which at the time was endowed with incredible precision. In the Austro Hungarian Empire, they were called Kaiserschutzen, the marksmen of the Emperor. This victory had a special impact on the consciousness of the Tyrolean people. It has been compared to the defeat of Napoleonic Bergisel (Austria), in 1809, through the work of the Tyrolean patriots led by Andreas Hofer , so much so that sometimes Segonzano is called the Bergisel von Welschtirol (Bergisel of the Italian Tyrol, ie Trentino). In times of peace, as well as working at the shooting range, the sizeri held activities which today are concerned civil protection and fire services. In the Trentino of our times, there are very many groups of Schutzen who enhance the celebration of the Province’s events with their traditional costumes and marching routines.

Schutzen of Tre-Pief Judicarien delle Guidicarie Esteriori

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Cembra’s Landscape

The mountains of Cembra start at the Pass of San Lugano and extend southwesterly to the plain of Lavis. The deep canyon of the Avisio river separates them from the Lagorai peaks, the largest group of the Trentino. The Cembra Mountains are not very high, the highest being Monte Corno at 1781 meters, and are of volcanic origin.

They are mostly porphyry, which, because of its physical characteristics, is widely used in making paving blocks or in ornamental stonework. The quarrying of the porphyry has transformed the landscape, but it is still an important source of income for this area. Another major contributor to the local economy is the cultivation of vineyards on the sunnier slopes. The rest of the territory consists of thick woods where a large variety of mushrooms may be found. In spring and autumn, these mountains are perfect for tranquil family excursions. The gentle terrain is also ideal for winter activities such as snowshoeing, and there are trails for mountain bikes, as well as bridle paths for exploring on horseback.

The Sauch Shelter, at 916 meters, offers a good view of the Roccolo Mossaner, the very old locale for trapping birds. The highest shelter of the zone, at 1708 meters, is the Rifugio Malga Corno which lies within the borders of the Monte Corno natural park, a preserve of the autonomous province of Bolzano. It is a birdwatcher's paradise where many rare birds may be observed - grouse, woodcocks, owls, woodpeckers and sanderlings, among others. Lower in altitude, at 1294 meters is the Potzmauer refuge, established on the site of a former mountain dairy (malga). It may be reached in a pleasant two-hour walk through dense forest from the refuge at Lake Santo.

Along this path, there are openings which permit a panoramic view of the Adige Valley. The manager of this refuge, Roberto Leonardi, often entertains his visitors with his accordion playing. In addition, he organizes an accordion festival every September.

The adjacent zone of the Pine` Plateau boasts the higher mountains of the Lagorai group, with Monte Croce, at 2490 meters being the highest. This area has traditionally thrived on tourism in every season, beginning with the Prince Bishops of Madruzzo who vacationed at Vigo, near Baselga, from the seventeenth century onward.

Hiking trails of moderate difficulty and length, mountain bike and bridle paths are among the attractions of the area. And, in the summer the Lakes of Piazze and of Serraia offer all the aquatic sports. The Pine` area is rich in history, legends and traditions. Now it has become a center for winter sports with many new tourist facilities, such as The Ice Rink at Pine` which lures the ice skaters.

Higher up the mountains is the Tonini refuge at 1903 meters. Easily reached on foot it offers spectacular views, the camaraderie of the staff, and their expertise in the kitchen.

There are not many shelters, but since the distances are not great, one can always count on a rest stop in a small hotel or a center for agri-tourism. The refuge/hotel Alpino is situated at 1208 meters near Lake Santo, a characteristic little lake, 15 meters deep, formed by erosion of the porphyry rock. This refuge is a good starting point from which to hike the Durer trail (Durerweg). In 1494, Albrecht Durer, the young artist from Nuremberg, was traveling to Venice. But when he got to the Adige valley, he found the road ahead blocked because of flooding. In fact all the roads at the lower altitudes were impassable, so he had to take the high roads to the hospice at San Floriano, then on to Pochi di Salorno, the pass of Sauch, the Santo Lake and Cembra, finally arriving at Segonzano where he saw the famous 'earth pyramids'.

Based on this historic journey, a few years ago a 'cultur- Written by Riccardo Decarli-Biblioteca della Montagnaal' hiking trail was established - the Durer Path. It is SAT. about 40 kilometers in length, from Bassa Atesina to the Cembra.

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The Great War in the Mountains

P

To best understand this commentary, review Editor’s notes at the end of this article.

rior to the outbreak of hostilities, the Imperial Army had been preparing its defense position for some time. In 1908, extensive maneuvers had been held; barracks were constructed at Stav, Vel, Vermiglio, as well as at Fucine and Peio Fonti.

A road had been carved on the flank of the Val Presena almost as far as the Paradise Pass. Earlier there had been construction at the head of the Val Vermiglio, with obstructing fortresses at Pozzi Alti, Zaccarana, Tonale, Mero, Val Del Monte and Barbadifiori. In addition, the Archduke Charles reviewing the Imperials fort at Strino, dating from 1864, had been reinforced and group. On August 21, the Edolo battalion, under subintegrated with the one at Vel. lieutenant Sora, seized the peak of Torrione d'Albiolo at The Austrian military command was established at the the head of the Strino Valley. But on September 23rd, the Zanella Hotel in Fucine. From there emanated all direc- Imperials returned, in force, and proudly retook the peak. tives concerning what was known as the Second Rayon, Still in August, while an intense and well-aimed boma defense line of circa 36 kilometers from the Cevedale bardment from the Italians at Corno d'Aola rendered the Pass to the Segni Pass, with its most strategic position at fortifications at Pozzi Alti and at Zaccarana useless, the the Tonale Pass. On June 9th, 1915, the first encounter Italians took Passo Paradiso and also the whole border between the Italian Alpini and the Imperials occurred on zone from Castellaccio to Como Bedole, dominating the Presena glacier, in the vicinity of the very same Presena and Mandrone. But they were unable to gain Paradise Pass which the Italian forces had so hastily aban- hold of Monticelli. doned at the start of hostilities. Reclimbing the Narcanello valley and crossing the Pisgana glacier, the Other attacks served to demonstrate the stalemate at the Morbegno battalion had reached the Maroccaro Pass and front and showed what an atypical military situation it had started its descent to the glacial fields of Presena and was - a war fought at high altitude, among dangerous the Paradise Pass. But they were spotted by the Austrians boulders and altogether untenable conditions. With the at Tonale, and these, though few in number, were able to approach of winter, it became clear that it would not be pin down the Alpini in the snow, leaving dozens dead and at all easy to maintain an army isolated at an altitude of over 3000 meters - an army still deprived of all technical wounded. devices to help it sustain the torment, the ice, the solitude, the cold, the falling ice and the howl of avalanches.

In the meantime, the general situation of the civilian population was becoming harder and harder. In essence a third front opened - the internal front of deprivation, fear, physical toil and even hunger. As if these were not enough, on August 22, 1915, a peremptory command from the Captain at Cles mandated that the entire population of Vermiglio was to abandon the village and transfer to Mittendorf in Austria. For months thereafter, the Our People - The “Imperials� at the Front other communities in the valley lived with the anguish, That whole summer of 1915, there were a series of skir- the uncertainty and the fear of suffering the same fate. mishes, incursions and small advances on both sides. On July 4th, it was the Imperials who pushed as far as the On December 15, almost the entire village of Dimaro Forni Hotel in Valfurva, descending from Vioz; several was destroyed in a furious fire. The life of the remaining civilian population of the valley became subject to a days later, the Italians pushed back against the same thousand restrictions and conditions. The Austrian 32

only sustained activity was the erection of cable ways to supply both munitions and living necessities to the front line troops high up in the mountains.

military authority, which had assumed power over the whole territory, had become preoccupied with the possibility of acts of espionage on the part of the Italians and even feared acts of sabotage on the part of the local Irredentists (of whom there were very few!) A constant, iron grip was exercised over all aspects of the cultivation and harvest of foodstuffs and other products of the earth. The aim, of course, was to permit all useful output to be confiscated and distributed to the soldiers at the front. All grains were taken, as well as butter. Almost all the forage which had been gathered during the summer had to be taken to Mal, where the Office of Provisioning had been established.

In the winter of 1915-1916, it was the cold, the unpreparedness, the avalanches, rather than firearms, which caused the major number of deaths on the Tonale front, both among Italians and among the Austrian Imperial troops. The military cemeteries of St. Rocco at Peio and St. Antonio at Ossana were the final resting places for these soldiers, whether fallen to enemy fire or to the forces of nature and the impossible environment. War operations were at a complete standstill, reduced to brief sallies among the rocks and scattered gunfire.

The situation of the civilian populations along the front certainly got no better - hunger became a fact, not just a fear. Austria had entered into the war certain that it would quickly settle its Serbian problem. Instead, it found itself embroiled in a difficult political, social and economic upheaval. Material goods could no longer be stretched to supply everyone. It was necessary to make choices so as to cover the troops at the front lines. The harsh economy of war caused a complete disregard for the legitimate needs of the local population. It was indeed a brief step from hunger to utter misery.

Late in 1916, an historic event had a profound psychological effect on the people. On November 21, 1916, the emperor Franz Joseph died at the age of 86. The sorrow of his humble subjects, peasants and mountain men, was genuine, not forced. But with the sorrow, there was also fear and apprehension. With the death of the old monarch, the people saw the death of a myth, and the end of an era. Franz Joseph was succeeded by Archduke Carl, popularly known as Carletto, or 'Charlie'. And the war continued...

Uldarico Fantelli has served in both local and Provincial Governance and Educational Administration. He is a noted scholar of World War I and our people.

Editor’s Notes: The narrative of the war and the identity of who defended the Tyrol against the invading Italians is history, not ideology. In this article, our relatives were the “imperials”, the army of Austria-Hungary and its Emperor.

While Italy annexed the Tyrol without a plebiscite, ideology justified the annexation: Irredentism. Here is its definition: Irredentism (Italian irredento for "unredeemed") was a political or popular movement intended to restore a “lost homeland.” As such, irredentism based its claims on the basis of (real or imagined) historic and/or ethnic affiliations. It is adopted by nationalist movements and featured in identity politics, cultural and political geography. An area that may be subjected to a potential claim is sometimes called an irredenta, unredeemed.

This inactivity continued into the spring and summer of 1916 all along the Alta Noce line. The war continued, but all eyes were focused on activities beyond the horizon especially on Monte Grappa on the high plain of the Seven Communities. Only here and there, some small skirmish erupted, a constant give and take between the Alpini and the Kaiserschutzen, each side in defense of its boundary line: The Alpini, under General Cavaciocchi and Colonel Giordana pushed up the slopes of Adamello; the Imperials failed in an attempt to retake the peak at Passo Castellaccio; there were some changes in Errata: In the last issue, the word Tiroler Kaiserjaegger the line of command in the military groups, etc. At Valle, should have been translated as the Tyrolean Hunters of the first appearance of surveillance and fighter aircraft the Emperor and not the Czar. caused a stir. But that summer and well into autumn, the 33

I Proverbi: Wisdom Stories

Marz sut, gran da par tut. Marzo asciutto, grano in abbondanza. A dry March, grain everywhere.

Colazion bonora, disnàr a la so ora,a zena ‘n pochetòt, se te vòi viver tantòt. Colazione presto, pranzo alla solita ora, cena leggera se vuoi vivere a lungo. Early breakfast, a punctual lunch, and light supper for a long life.

Con l’ucia e la pezòta se mantèn ‘na familiota. Con l’ago e la pezzuola – sartoria e pulizie - si mantiene la famigliola. With a needle and dush cloth—tailoring and household maintenance—one maintains a proper house.

Val de pù na bona polsada che na gran magnada.Vale di più il riposo che la pancia piena. Rest is worth more than a sumptuous meal.

Se ‘l gàl canta fòr de ora el temp ‘l va en malora. Se il gallo canta durante la giornata, il tempo è destinato a peggiorare. If the rooster crows during the day, things will get worse.

Quando ‘l sol ensaca ‘l zòbia, no ghè sabo che no piovia. Quando il sole tramonta al mercoledì fra le nuvole, entro sabato pioverà. If the sun sets on Wednesday among clouds, it will rain on Saturday.

En pare ‘l mantèn dese fiòi, ma dese fiòi no i mantèn el pàre. Un padre mantiene dieci figli, ma dieci figli non sono in grado di mantenere il padre. A father maintains 10 children, but 10 children are not able to maintain one father.

Here is a saying. It is only with the “permission and encouragement” of both Nonesi and Solandri that the following popular saying is offered. It represents the mutual kidding from valley to valley while the prayer has a history…uttered by the Prince Bishop in the 1500’s when the farmers from the Valleys of Non and Sole litterally attacked Trent unhappy with a recent tax levy.

Se l’è en Nones, dài, se l’è en Solandro, còpel! Da Nonesi e Solandri libera nos Dòmine ! Se è uno della Val Di Non, picchialo, se è uno della Val di Sole, uccidilo ! Da Nonesi e Solandri, liberaci o Signore!

If it is a Nones, hit him; if he is a Solandro, kill him. Spare us, O Lord, from Nonesi and Solandri. If he is one from the Val di Non, hit him; if he is from the Val di Sole, murder him. O Lord, spare us from Nonesi and Solandri

The Origins of Tyrolean Names

ANDREATTA derived from the name of the Apostle Andrew.1793, Domenico Andreatta-Bolentino; 1803, Giacomo Battista Andreatta, Bosentino MATTEVI-from the name of the Apostole Matthew signifying “gift of god”.

ROCCABRUNA derived from ROCCA, fortress, castile; Roccabruna, name of a castle bought in 1357 by the men of Pine` to destroy it. 1368, Niccolao da Roccabruna, a canon (priest) in Povo.

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Our Partners are . . .

Alberto Chini, Presidente of Father Eusebio Chini Museum, Segno Italy Alberto Folgheraiter- Author, journalist and specialist in Trentino culture, Trento Christian Brunelli. Teacher & Technical Consultant, Peekskill, NY Tomaso Iori, Museo della Scuola, Rango, Val di Giudicarie Giorgio Crosina-Director-Phoenix Informatica Bancaria, Trento Ivo Povinelli, Director- Federazione Trentina delle Pro Loco e loro Consorzi . TrentoJim Caola Genealogist, nutritional counselor, macrobiotic chef, Philadelphia, PA Daniela Finardi, Communications Dept.- Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina. San Michele Manuele Margini-Phoenix Bancaria Informatica, Trento Ricardo di Carli -Biblioteca della Montagna-SAT, Trento Renzo Grosselli-L`Adige, Journalist, Author, Trento Alexander DeBiasi Trentino Sviluppo SpA Verena Di Paoli.Writer, Researcher, Scholar, Terlago Veronica Coletti, Teacher, Bronx, NY Stefano Miotto, Phoenix Informatica Bancaria, Trento Andrea Rella, Phoenix Informatica Bancaria, Trento

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Roberto Bazzanella, choir director, historian, research specialist Renata Bazzanella, Piscena, Italy Lorenza Biasetti, APT Val di Cembra Maria Pia Dall'Agnol, APT Val di Cembra Stephanie Gentilini Carlson, Hibbings, Minnesota Barbara Delzer, Colorado Springs, Colorado Uldarico Fantelli, Dimaro, Val di Sole Cynthia Matevi, Amarillo, Texas Giuseppina Roccabruna, Boynton, Florida Janet Wilson, Denver, Colorado

Photo Credits

Trentino Sviluppo; APT Cembra; Mueso dei Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina; Roberto Bazzanella;Giovanni Cuvulli; Marco Debiasi; Giorgio Deflorian; Alessandra Enrica; Flavio Faganello; Alberto Folgheraiter; Giuseppe Gorfer; Ronny Kiaulehn; Daniela Lira; Luciano Lona; Graziano Panfili; Giorgio Sartori; Gianni Zotta

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