Filo -- Spring 2012

FILĂ’

A Quarterly for Tyrolean Americans Spring 2012

Photos Trentino Marketing S.p.A. - A.Trovati, Orlerimages.com, R. Magrone, N. Angeli

Sport, Fun and Sun The key to your holiday.

Skimming over the snow in the magic of the Dolomites, sailing caressed by the winds of Lake Garda, cycling up and down natural slopes, hiking along the paths to the mountain refuges, walking through history and culture in museums and castles, enjoying the performances of great artists in international festivals, tasting excellent food and wines in a fascinating convivial atmosphere.

All this and much more in Trentino, your perfect holiday resort in all seasons!

WWW.VISITTRENTINO.IT 2

An Introduction….

Hi Fellow Tyrolean American…

Your letters, e-mails, and faxes have poured in thanking and praising us for the Filò. The r e g i s t r a t i o n h a s i n c r e a s e d a m a z i n g l y t o 4 0 0 0 . Memories have been revived, knowledge increased and pride enhanced. Rather than compliments for the magazine, the response has been a loud and strong affirmation for the need and desire to reconnect to our heritage.

The fulfillment of this need is the mission of the Filò and you are its missionaries as I see how parents are enrolling their children, relatives enrolling other relatives , friends enrolling other paesani…Keep it up! We want to be of service…reviving memories…increasing the knowledge of our wonderful culture and enhancing our pride in our people and for our lands…Like Indiana Jones, when asked what he will do, his response was..”I don`t know; I’m making it up as I go along . . .” We, too, are trying to present the multi-faceted aspects of our ancestry as best we can. As rosemary’s fragrance is revealed when rubbed, so too, we are trying to capture so rich a culture and so wonderful a land…

Behind the scenes, across the ocean, we are being embraced and helped by the various partners in the Trentino who are sharing their knowledge and expertise as they too reach out to us. We would like to think of our ancestors…who from their place beyond us have th eir own special and provid ential hand i n k e e p i n g o u r m e m o r i e s , k n o w l e d g e a n d p r i d e … a li v e an d w e ll .

The Filò Staff 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 submit them by email to filo.tiroles@att.net.

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Tyrol before the Romans . . .

The Romans used the term “Terra Incognita” to describe the lands beyond their domains to suggest that little of value existed beyond their frontiers. However, the Tyrol Region, extending from German Bavaria in the north to the southern reaches of Lake Garda boasts a proud pre-Roman heritage. As detailed in the previous installment, early Paleolithic settlements of hunter-gatherers wandered the region. Later, these early occupations gave rise to permanent settlement during the Meso- and Neolithic Periods (5000 – 1500 BCE) such as the “palefitti” found near Fiave in the Val Giudicarie.

Some believe that this elevated architectural motif gave rise to the “chalet” style found throughout the region with living quarters of houses often suspended above stables, woodpiles, or drying hay bales.

Reconstruction of the Palefitti

Gianna and Lou

Beginning in the Mesolithic Era (4000 – 3000 BCE), the archaeological record reveals more than animal-skin clad hunters pursuing the native herds of ibex, chamois, and roebuck of the area. The first sedentary Tyroleans became known for their distinctive square-mouthed pottery produced in the region around Lake Garda. An example of this pottery can be seen below. By the next millennium, ore smelting including iron and bronze, but particularly copper due to native deposits in the area became common. The remains of kilns and casting deposits have been discovered in the Adige Valley near the entrance to the Fersina Valley. The development of metallurgy led to trade with settlements further afield and archaeologists have discovered artifacts ranging from Etruscan civilization to northern Hallstatian civilization in the tombs dating to this period. As one historian notes, these developments in the material culture “began to take on a distinctive shape, a process that became even more marked between 1100 and 900 BCE . . . so that the Trentino, Alto Adige, the Engadine, Vorarlberg and East Tyrol constituted a recognizable cultural unit.”

At first, the Lucan-Melaun cultural zone centered around the upper Tyrol (Alto Adige) and into the region around Innsbruck and lower Bavaria, but in the last century BCE, it was supplanted by the more advanced and extensive Fritzen-Sanzeno (also known as Rhaetian) culture. The locus of this new cultural unit was further to the south, but also extended further into German Bavaria, unifying the whole of the modern Tyrol region. The region’s natural copper deposits made it a valuable trading partner with many of the early European and Mediterranean civilizations

Pottery from the Lucan-Melaun Period

Traditional Pre-Roman Rhaetian Costume

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Fritzens-Sanzeno Artifact

Naturally, the region incorporated influences ranging from Greece (through trade through the Adriatic and Danube) and with Etruscan culture located in modern Tuscany. Rhaetian script is thought to be derived from Etruscan. The Rhaetians were mainly of Celtic ethnicity, independent, but open to surrounding cultures. They, among other Celtic tribes of the Alpine regions, resisted the southward Invasion by Hannibal of the Italian peninsula.

Over time, the region began to trade increasingly with the rising Roman power to their south. Inscriptions dating before the Roman Wars against the Rhaetians indicate that extensive commercial, legal, and administrative exchanges occurred in the last century BCE. The Po Valley to the south constituted the Roman province of Cisalpine Gaul proper and the city of Verona developed as a Roman garrison at its northern frontier.

In 16 and 15 BCE, during the reign of Augustus Caesar, the Roman generals Augustus (Caesar), Tiberius (later Emperor), and Drusus (Father of Claudius and grandfather to Emperor Nero), successfully conquered the areas south of the Danube. They divided the area into three major provinces with the northeastern zone united with Austria as Noricum, the northwest with modernday Switzerland as Rhaetia, and the south as a set of four municipalities, including Trento.

Gianna and Lou

Trento was the center of Roman influence during the early period.

Its Veronensis Gate was built during this period over the road leading to the provincial city of Verona to the south. The remains Tabula Clesiana (The Clès Tablet) of several Roman villas can be found around Trento. Medicinal baths – such as the one at Comano – took advantage of the mineral deposits of the dolomite rock and became popular spas for many elite Romans. The region was also able to establish itself as a prized wine-producing region as inscriptions from the period attest, such as a monument to the vintner Tenatius Essimnus. Its high level of civilization made the area an early candidate for Roman citizenship and in 46 AD, the Emperor Claudius extended citizenship to the regions inhabitants, issuing the famous Tabula Clesiana (the Clès – Val di Non – Tablet) to this effect. Still, Roman citizenship remained optional to the Tyroleans, not compulsory.

The decline of Roman influence came with the waves of Barbarian invasions of the Huns, Longbards, and Goths during the 5th and 6th centuries AD. Attila used the Garda region as a launching point for attacks throughout Italy, ranging from the Po Valley to the Brenner Pass. Theodoric, one of the Longobard (Lombard) leaders helped bring some stability to the region and fortified some of the cities, giving the area its first “castellani. Christian Brunelli In the next installment, we will discuss the early medieval history of the Tyrol.

Left: Map shows the extent of the LucanMelaun Cultural Area (1100-900 BCE) Right: Map shows the extent of the Fritzens-Sanzeno Cultural areas (500 – 100 BCE)

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Castel Toblino…

The Trentino-Alto Adige is punctuated with castles on so many of its hills, mountains and valleys. They served as fortifications of strategic areas as well as the domiciles of the nobility, Prince Bishops and the Counts of the Tyrol. Castel Toblino in the Valley of the Lakes is undoubtedly the Trentino’s jewel and possibly the jewel of all Europe. Situated on the aquamarine lake waters of Toblino, its stands literally in and on the lake with a backdrop of the imposing cliffs of the Monte Casale….and at the end of Limarò, the great and deep gorge referred to as the Grand Canyon of the Trentino.

With its pyramidal trees, it is a picturesque masterpiece that attracts tourists, photographers and painters.

Castel Toblino is an example of a lake dwelling from prehistoric times. Built on a plot of land that is either an island or a peninsula according to the rise and fall of the waters. There is evidence that there had been a small temple dedicated to the Fates venerated by the Tublinates , the ancient tribe of that area. It was transformed into a specific fortification in and around the third century…hence Roman. Attila the Hun, lingered romantically on its turrets admiring the lake waters while his hordes sacked and pillaged the nearby valleys. In 1300’s the Counts of Castel Campo of the Val di Giudicarie appropriated it and extended their legerdemain to the area. In 1459, the Church took charge under the creative and energetic hand of the famous Cardinal Clesio who was instrumental in managing the Council of Trent and contributed so very much to art and culture of the city of Trento. The restructuring was rendered in the art and appointments of that time period and became the residents of the nobility that escaped the intense heat of Trento for the cooler and gentle breezes of the Valley of the Lakes. In 1703, it was sacked by the French troops of the Vendome.

At the turn of the twentieth century, it became a tourist attraction profiting from the sale of the Vin Santo and Vino Nosiola, a vaunted product of that immediate area that also suggested what might be called the Legend of Castel Toblino….Specifically, in the middle of 1500, the Prince Bishop Charles Emmanuel Madruzzo and the noblewomen Claudia Particella had their romantic encounters. A child was born and their courtesans seeking to avoid the scandal and preserve the reputation of the Madruzzo family, contrived to take the lovely Claudia, tie rocks to her and drown her at the end of the lake. The place for this murder is referred as the Valle della morte…the Valley of Death. It is said that at a full moon…the restless soul of the lovely Claudia rises from the lake to revisit the Castle seeking her lover…

The Castle offers a beautiful view of the lake and a very fine restaurant while from the heights of Monte Casale hovering over the castle, there can be seen base jumpers and gliders.

The noblewomen Claudia Particella

Gianna and Lou

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Il Contadin….The Farmer The way of life of our ancestors was none other than to live and function as a contadino… More than a way of work , it was indeed a way of life, a total involvement with his lands, crops, animals and community to secure his survival and that of his family. To understand this interplay, one needs to understand the lands. The Trentino is 70% above 3280 feet, 21.5 % between 1640 feet and 3280 feet and only 8.5% is under 1640 feet and sea level. The major part of the productive surface is encumbered by woods and pastures that belong collectively to the individual towns. What remains of arable land was divided into small plots of the individual contadini.

The fortunate coupling of the raising of grains along with animal husbandry allowed the Tyrolean communities to remain independent and self sufficient.

There was a commonality in such practices up and through the Tyrol and Bavaria.

It was indeed the way of Alpine peasant-farmers. They reserved the less desirable land for the pasturing of their live stock. The smaller plots closer to the villages were dedicated to haymaking as well as wheat, corn, barley, rye, buckwheat, oats and potatoes. There were family gardens that produced legumes and other vegetables as well as grape vines and for some families mulberry bushes to produce silk. To cultivate the grains, the lands needed to be plowed and the plow would be drawn by oxen or their cows or horses or a mule. The fields were planted and fertilized with manure of their livestock. When mature the various grains were cut with a hand sickle, gathered into sheaves and then beaten by hand to separate the grain from the chaff. The corn were woven into clusters and placed under the eaves of their houses or in their “attics” or “ere” since their houses combined their domicile with a functioning barn. They were placed there to be stripped at a later time. With grains separated, they brought them to the mulino, the miller, who used water driven wheels that had been in use in Tyrol since 800.

Water wheel-Museo-San Michele These water wheels drove the grinding stones transforming the wheat into flour while the barley was striped of its core to make barley for orzetto or for minestrone or roasted to make a barley coffee. The array of the tools of the contadino are on display at the Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina at the village of San Michele all`Adige. Their website is www.museosanmichele.it Gianna and Lou

Grain separating tools-Museo San Michele

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A Tyrolean Prince . . .

A Cardinal in ecclesiastical church language is regarded as a Prince of the Church and there has never been a greater and more distinquished prince in American church history than our very own, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, the late Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago…Here is a brief introduction….

Joseph Bernadin, whose parents, Joseph and Maria, emigrated from Primiero…to South Carolina….His dad Joseph dies when he is six years old and his mother supports him and his sister as a seamstress. Young Joseph purses a career in medicine, changes his mind, enters the seminary and is ordained a priest in the Diocese of Chalreston. This diligent, talented and enthusiastic young priest becomes a superstar…for fourteen years he serves as the chancellor, vicar general, diocesan counselor and administrator. His talents are recognized by Pope Paul VI and in 1966 appoints Fr Bernardin to become the bishop of the Arcdiocese of Atlanta, the youngest bishop in the United States. first General Secretary of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference (NCCB/USCC). He was instrumental in shaping the Catholic Church in the United States according to the vision of the Second Vatican Council. Bernardin’s evenhandedness and compassion made him well suited to act as a mediator, and he was called to reconcile diverging parties in the changing Post-Conciliar Church.

Primiero, Family’s Home

Gianna and Lou

On November 21, 1972, Bishop Bernardin was appointed Archbishop of Cincinnati by Pope Paul VI, where he served for 10 years.. While Archbishop of Cincinnati, Bernardin was named to the Sacred Congregation of Bishops, was elected to the permanent council of the World Synod of Bishops, served as president of the NCCB/USCC, worked to improve relations between Catholics and Jews, strove for better understanding between the Catholic Church and Protestant denominations, and made pastoral visits to both Poland and Hungary.

Pope John Paul II appointed the promising Archbishop Bernardin to perhaps the preeminent See in the United States – the Archdiocese of Chicago. Archbishop Bernardin served as head of the NCCB/USCC Ad Hoc Committee on War and Peace, which drafted the pastoral letter The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response. This book-length pastoral letter challenged the morality of nuclear deterrence, and sparked a decade’s long debate in both the United States and abroad. Perhaps the most well know of these discussions on nuclear morality played out in the November 29, 1982 issue of Time, entitled "God and the Bomb," which featured Bernardin on its cover.

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin worked diligently for social justice in a changing world. Beginning in 1983, Cardinal Bernardin called for a "consistent ethic of life" in an age when modern technologies threatened the sanctity of all human life at every turn, be it abortion, euthanasia, modern warfare, or capital punishment. Cardinal Bernardin consistently spoke out against the increasing violence in Lebanon, Israel, Northern Ireland, and elsewhere. Additionally, Cardinal Bernardin was the first to offer a Mass for divorced and separated Catholics at Holy Name Cathedral. In 1985, Cardinal Bernardin established an AIDS task force to determine how the Archdiocese might best care for those stricken by the AIDS crisis.

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In 1989, the Cardinal dedicated Bonaventure House with the help of the Alexian Brothers, a residential facility for people suffering with AIDS. Ardently adhering to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, Cardinal Bernardin, first in Cincinnati, then in Chicago, was committed to ecumenical and interfaith dialogues. While Archbishop of Cincinnati, Bernardin maintained dialogues with local congregations of Jews, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Lutherans. In Chicago, this dedication led to the formation of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago in 1985. Cardinal Bernardin served as the council’s first president. Subsequently, under his leadership, the Archdiocese of Chicago established official covenants with both the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and the Evangelical Lutheran Metropolitan Synod. Cardinal Bernardin participated in the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1993. During his interfaith pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1995, he met with Israeli, Palestinian, ecumenical, and interfaith leaders, and urged peace and mutual respect between Israelis and Palestinians.

Cardinal Bernardin also adapted a strong stance on sexual abuse cases within the clergy by implementing the strongest, most comprehensive policy concerning priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors. Bernardin’s reforms concerning this painful issue soon served as a model for other dioceses across the nation.

Bernardin served the Universal Church having been elected as a delegate of the NCCB/USCC..the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (now USCCB) to the Synod of Bishops, and was on the Council of the Secretariate of the Synod for sixteen years. From 1983 to 1989, Bernardin served as chair of the NCCB/USCC Committee for ProLife Activities, and from 1989 to 1993 was Chairman of the Committee for Marriage and Family Life. Bernardin was also a founding member and co-chair of the Religious Alliance Against Pornography, a member of the Catholic Charities USA National Development Taskforce, and the Board of Trustees of the Catholic Health Association.

In a September 1996 ceremony at the White House, President Bill Clinton awarded Joseph Cardinal Bernardin the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor bestowed on individuals who have made significant contributions to their communities and the nation. The President lauded Bernardin for his dedication to racial equality, arms control and social justice.

Joseph Louis Bernardin invested the whole of his life showing the way of peace and conciliation to the world. He worked for justice, he strove for peace, and he gave all his strength to make life better for whomever he could. Through his many homilies, addresses, and pastoral letters, Cardinal Bernardin insisted that action be taken to preserve human life, dignity, and security by showing us that there is no other moral alternative. Even facing death, Bernardin showed us the gift and joy of life.

Gianna and Lou

A personal memory…I had received several letters from Cardinal Bernardin and in our correspondences we joyfully…and proudly referred to ourselves as Tyroleans…He was truly our brother…

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Le Rogazioni…The Petitions Springtime…nature and love awaken!. From ancient times, there occurred the rites of spring, the seeding and the planting of the fields followed by the invocations and petitions to God to bless them, the farmers, his animals and his fields. In the Tyrol from Palm Sunday to Pentecost, there would be le Rogazioni or litanies or petitions carried out in liturgical splendor with processions, vestments, processional crosses.

There were usually three days in duration. There were the Major Rogations and the Minor Rogations. Every family contributed minimally one member to participate in these processions that proceeded through their immediate territory with invocations against pestilence, storms, hail and whatever else impacted on their agriculture while at the same time there were invocations for abundant harvests. The prayers were said and sung in a choral manner alternating the petitions with responses. “From pestilence …deliver us, O Lord.” At the conclusion of the procession and the visitation of the fields, the priest would impart a final blessing…“ai quattro angoli della terra”…to the four corners of the earth. Bells were frequently run not just for the liturgical activities but also to ward off the demonic spirits.

Gianna and Lou

These rituals as so many others had their roots in pre-Christian times. St Virgilius began the evangelization in the IV Century and the transition to Christianity proceeded slowly for centuries. Bishop Virgilius had sent several missionaries to the Val di Non where they were martyred by Anauniesi farmers since they had disturbed and interrupted their spring rite of Ambarvalia. This ancient Roman rite was conducted to honor the Roman deities of Mars, and Saturn, the deity of Agriculture for the purpose of preserving their fields form harmful things and to achieve an abundant harvest. These ambarvali rites were conducted three times proceeding reciting “litanies” through the fields leading a sow, a sheep and a bull. These animals were then sacrificed to deities to purify themselves and bless their agriculture. Christianity simply transformed these rites into their liturgies. Just before the millennium, in the Trentino, these rites became days of fasting and expiation with penitential and propiatory processions to petition God to enhance the fertility of the fields and their animals and their homes.

At the dawn of 19th century in the Trentino, crosses of stone or wood were placed on the mountain peaks, in the fields as votive offering to avoid pestilence, diseases to to their animals and the memory of calamities and natural disasters. They were also erected to mark Jubilees that were celebrated by the Church. In some areas the acolyte placed a wooden cross to mark the passage of procession. In the Bleggio, with its Pieve church, the Church of the Holy Cross, every home had a cross on their front door. Keep in mind that houses in the Tyrol combined their domiciles with their barns.

After the Council of Trent, these practices were modified to control some of the abuses of the merrymaking consistent with the many ancient fertility festivities. Vatican Council II further modified the ancient practices while allowing them to go on. However, the new fertilizers and insecticides have become the real conclusion of these traditional agricultural/liturgical practices.

Alberto Folghereiter is a prolific writer who combines a profound scholarship with a passion for the Trentino, its culture, history and people in over 15 books, newspaper articles, radio and speaking engagements. His most recent book in English is “Beyond the Threshold of Time” - Available at Amazon. This article is drawn from “La terra dei Padri” Curcu & Genovese, Trento 1998.

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Our Cuisine…Strudel By far there is nothing more Tyrolean than Apple Strudel and it remains the typical if not the quintessential dessert of Austria and the Trentino. Apfelstrudel in German, strudel means whirlwind in German. Some say that is derives from the Byzantine Empire and its closest relative is Bakvela. It is made with an elastic dough composed of butter or lard, oil and water. It is not as often made with puffed pastry in the Trentino Alto Adige. Besides its pastry history, it is an example of yet another food . . . in this case a dessert . . . made out of the practicality of using everything…in this case an excess of apples. It is simply rolled dough stuffed with apples. There are many versions of strudel and what follows is a relatively easy recipe by hand or in a Cuisinart. Femte il strudel. Let’s make strudel.

The Dough…Assemble 200 grams of flower. Integrate with your fingers 50 grams of butter, then integrate 4 teaspoons of vegetable oil and finally 80 mi of lukewarm water. This can be prepared with a Cusinart. Allow to rest for an hour.

Gianna and Lou

Filling…4-5 yellow delicious apples, Half cup of plain bread crumbs, 3 tablespoons of butter ,2/3 cup of raisins, chopped walnuts (optional), lemon peel, ½ cup of sugar (preferably raw sugar) cinnamon. Peel, core and slice apples into thin wedges. Place them in a bowl and add all the ingredients except the butter, bread crumbs and sugar. Heat the butter in a small sauté pan and add the bread crumbs. Cook, stirring over low heat for about 5 minutes until the bread crumbs turn a deep golden color. Cool and add to the bowl along with the sugar.

Roll out the dough to a 20 x 15 square. Transfer to a large towel or, preferably, a large piece of parchment paper

Place the filling opposite you, to pull the dough over the filling sealing the edges

Paint the strudel with an egg wash: one egg-pinch of salt

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Make at 375 for 45 minutes…and enjoy!

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INVEST YOUR TALENT IN A CREATIVE CONTEXT STUDY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TRENTO! Young, dynamic and student-centered. Settled in the peaceful context of Trentino, the University of Trento offers an ideal environment for studying as well as services designed to cater for the needs of the individual.

One of the leading Italian universities, according to authoritative national rankings, such as the Censis survey, yearly published by La Repubblica newspaper and the classification of the Italian Ministry of Universities.

Excellent undergraduate and graduate courses, some of them held entirely in English.

7 faculties, 3 schools, 13 research departments.

MASTER COURSES IN ENGLISH Cognitive Science Computer Science Economics European and international studies Innovation Management International Management Management-EMBS (European Master in Business Studies) Materials Engineering Mathematics Mechatronics Engineering Physics Telecommunication Engineering

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Office of Emigration: Who’s Who The Autonomous Province of Trento (PAT) has for many years devoted itself to its emigrants throughout the world through the Emigration and International Solidarity Service headed by Dr. Carlo Basani. Within that service, the Office of Emigration manages the implemention of its outreach to its emigrants. Cesare Cornella coordinates and manages the staff and activities of this office. Here is an introduction of its individual operatives: Gianna and Lou

Francesca Baldessarelli-handles the promotion and development of scholastic and professional development for Trentino communities as well as the development and enhancement of socio-economic conditions for Trentino communities when and if in difficulties; she oversees the funding of the Trentino emigrant outreach and service organizations who are located in Trento: The Association Trentini nel Mondo as well as the Union of Trentino Families abroard. Contact: francesca.baldessarelli@provincia.tn.it Roberto Baldessari - manages the database of emigrants abroard and oversees the mailing of materials for the promotion of culture for specific progects. Contact: roberto.baldessari@provincia.tn.it Lorenza Fracalossi - manages the scholarships dedicated to the descendents of Trentino emigrants for the pursuit of post-secondary degrees as well as coursework at the University of Trento; she manages the on-line course offerings for Italian language and culture education of emigrants living abroard; handles the web sites of the Office of Emigration: www.mondotrentino. net and www.natitrentino.mondotrentino.net.

Contact: lorenza.fracalossi@provincia.net Antonela Giordani: coordinates cultural and development initiatives both in the Province and abroard; manages the promotion and implementation of exchange programs for students of Trentino descent with Trentini students in the Province. Contact: antonella.giordani@provincia.tn.it Gianna and Lou

Sabrina Moser - serves as the office assistant and offers information and client support to the public.

Contact: Sabrina.moser@provincia.tn.it Luciano Passerini - manages the administrative and fiscal accounting of the Offices’s expenditures and contract disbursements. Contact: luciano.passerini@provincia.tn.it Martina Saltori - provides information, consultation and support for Trentini wishing to repatriate themselves as well as for those seeking temporary stays in the Province. Contact: martina.saltori@provincia.tn.it Chiara San Giuseppe - collaborates with the Center of Documentation for Emigration, pursues related research projects and manages the progect: Born in Trentino (database progect-1815-1923) Contact: chiara.sangiuseppe@provincia.tn.it Provincia Autonoma di Trento Servizio Emigrazione e Solidarietà Internazionale Ufficio Emigrazione Via Jacopo Aconcio, 5 - 38100 Trento (Italia) tel. ++39 0461 493177 fax. ++39 0461 493155 website: www.mondotrentino.net Website: “Nati in Trentino” www.natitrentino.mondotrentino.net

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Our Valleys…the Val dei Laghi..

The Valley of the Lakes is the creation and foot print of the ancient glaciers that formed a fascinating and breathtaking valley of lakes and high mountains, grottoes and geological marvels. Its climate fosters both sub-mediteranean to subalpine fauna from olives and lemons to alpine conifers. It is the bridge or passageway between the city of Trento and Arco and Riva del Garda and, therefore, the very gateway to Italy. From the city of Trento, one enters the Valley through a narrow passage way…now a vehicular tunnel . . . il Bus de Vela. Vela is a torrent that historically created this “bus”. . . dialect for hole and Lago di Toblino the opening to Trento and the Val d`Adige. The valley proceeds forward nestled between the towering mountain giants: Monte Bondone and the Paganella…passing one lake after another, eventually reaching Arco. The lakes of the valley include the Lago di Lamar, Lago Santo, Lago di Terlago, Lagolo, Santa Massenza, Toblino and Cavedine. There is a distinctive “vento” or wind in the morning followed by the gentle breezes of the “Ora del Garda” the mouth of the Lake of Garda.

This distinctive climate prompted the nobility to escape the torrid heat of the city of Trento to find relief in the valley creating a variety of Castelli and mansions: palazzi. The prince bishop families of the Madruzzo and Cles, dynastic rulers of the Principato of Trento, had residences here in the Valley. The castle include Castel Drena, Madruzzo, Calavino. Toblino and Terlago. Visitors included the poets Vergil and Dante Alighieri. Virgil referred to the steep vertical mountain side of the Monte Casale that hovers over the Lago di Toblino as the “gates of hell”….and there is truly a gateway element since at its base Castel Madruzzo the River Sarca created Limarò, the deep gorge referred to as the Grand Canyon of the Trentino. Yet another “visitor” or invader was Attila the Hun, who rhapsodized and admired the lovely waters of the Lake Toblino while his hordes brutally sacked and pillaged the adjoining valleys. In the 1500’s, there passed the bishops and experts gathering for the Council of Trent. In the 1700’s, the French soldiers of the Vendome reeked their havoc up and down the valley.

Gianna and Lou

Throughout the valley one sees large tracts of landscaped grape vines that produce its distinctive three products. It is known as the Land of Grappa. There are many distinctive grappas, the most famous being the ones produced in Santa Massenza. Those grappas reach the US under the labels of Poli. There are the Nosiola vines that produce il Vino Nosiola. The remnants of these withering grapes dried on reed mats produce the historic Vino Santo, called Santo since it had been used in the Eucharistic service. It is a sweet dessert wine that one can buy throughout Italy or simply enjoyed in one of its cantinas of the villages of the valley. Each year there are celebrations of Vin Nosiola and Vino Santo around Holy Week that attracts tourists from everywhere.

Drying racks for Vin Santo

Nosiola grapes

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Wine tasting during Holy Week

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Valle Dei Laghi

Nos Dialet…Our Dialect Ding! Ding! Dialect school . . . Before beginning our second lesson, I remain uncertain how to teach the dialect. I know the dialect but never learned it. It was simply the sounds of the house..my parents spoke to themselves, to me, to my siblings and to our paesani. I do not know of any dialect school even in the today’s Trentino unlike the Val Gardena in the Alto Adige where there is a very deliberate effort to teach and carry on their historic Ladino dialect.

With this uncetainty, I would urge anyone in our community to come forth and attempt to be its teacher for the Filò. My methodology will be to present some grammar, syntax and vocabulary to reawaken some of the sounds and memories of those of us who were the first generation and for others to possibly demytholize this truly cosa nostra, el nos dialet. Remember that the dialect, while common, has individual differences from valley to valley. The illustration is a dictionary of one part of one valley and each valley probably has its own such dictionary. Ding! Ding! Sem a scola…we are in school…

Gianna and Lou

Definite Articles: In Italian, the definite articles are the following: Il, Lo, La, I, Gli and Le. En dialèt i è de men (In dialect there are fewer) For singular: EL, LA and for plural: I and LE…Difati se en taliàn se diss (In fact in Italian one says) Lo zàino e Gli zoccoli (the back pack and shoes)…en dialèt trentin se sparmia e disén (in the Trentino dialect we economize and say…) El prossac e i zocoi.

Verbs: Here is the present tense of verb to have…red in dialect, blue in Italian…and the interrogative form in dialect Feminine Interogative Mi g`ho Ti te g`hai Lu el g`ha Noi g`avém Voi g’avé Lori i g`ha

I have You have He has We have You have They have

io ho tu hai egli ha Noi abbiamo Voi avete essi hanno

Ela la g`ha Lore le g`ha

Vocabulary…Some of our words.

Putel Putela Fradel Fasoi Caregha Let Cunel Pioat Magnar Netar Bosia Nef

Ragazzo Ragazza Fratello Fagioli Sedia Letto Coniglio Pulcino Mangiare Pulire Buggia Nieve

Boy Girl Brother Beans Chair Bed Rabbit Chick To Eat To clean Lie Snow 18

Mi g`ònte?

Ti g`at?

Lu g`alo? Ela g`ala?

Noi g`avénte?

Voi g`avé?

Lori g`hai? Lore g`ale?

Our Music…the Choir The Tyrol…the Trentino had neither opera houses nor chamber music. Nonetheless, it had its own genre of musical expression that almost characterizes their persona, history and folklore…the choir. The expression, Do Trentini, un coro…Two Trentini, one choir sums it up neatly. Choral singing with its diverse folk songs and tales are truly part of the cultural history and treasures of the region. The songs are deeply rooted in each valley for so many of its occasions and are the very sound of the ancient filò while diverse due to the mountain effect that created the individual differences in its valleys. The songs were literally an archive of their love, struggles and life in general. The continuity and survival of their choral songs were handed down…becoming their heritage and deeplyrooted form of cultural expression.

This cultural heirloom was enhanced at the turn of the century by the advent of traveling and singing song writers, troubadours if you will, who also served as gazetteers. In the absence of media, these troubadours/gazetteers moved from village to village, to country fairs, sagre (village feast days) bringing news of current events, songs that combined fantasy and stories with snippets from the ancient ballads. These song/tales were reproduced on sheets and circulated among our Trentini soldiers who served in the Austrian Army .These soldiers were uprooted from their villages and culture and were thrust into contact with other cultures, places and traditions.

They exported and interchanged their traditional songs which they had heard in their villages and their nightly filòs. There developed the so-called “soldier songs” that derived less from their war experience than from their village traditions of the songs that focused on work, love or life.

It was after the war, that all the ancient popular traditions and the new developments came together to launch the Trentino choral folksong. It was May 25, 1926 at the Castel di Buon Consiglio in Trento, ten singers led by the Pedrotti brothers introduced the sound…with their historic choral group---the SAT…Società degli Alpinisti Trentini. While the songs were none other than the age-songs that one heard at the filò, campfires and the mountain rifugi, there was indeed a development. The harmonization by four voices: tenors, counter-tenors, baritones and bases was the old forms renewed and reflected the deepest cultural roots of the Trentini people . This new yet old style resonated with the people who saw and heard in this the essence of who they were and warmly embraced it. It was almost like Glen Miller discovering “the sound” for Moonlight Serenade, the exemplar of the great bands of the 40`s.

Gianna and Lou

The SAT launched a movement; choirs sprung up everywhere in the Trentino and elsewhere. The members of these groups are mere amateurs gathered by their love of singing, good fellowship and their traditions. There is a federation of over 100 choirs in the Trentino. Some of these choirs have become famous and celebrated performing throughout the world while others perform at village festivities, in refugi or simply as friends. The Filò expects to continue this narrative of the individual choirs and groups in future editions.

Choir of the SAT

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Our Mountains: the Dolomites In 1848, Alexis De Tocqueville, a French sociologist, traveled throughout the United States and wrote about us referring to us and our democracy as “exceptional”. Our Tyrolean community has its very own De Tocqueville, Father Bonifacio Bolognani…who traveled extensively throughout the states for over 20 years, declared us Tyrolean as exceptional. He went further, wrote a book about us, and thereby gave us if not a name possibly an identity….The book’s title was: A Courageous People from the Dolomites…This wonderful complement preceded and resonated the wonderful designation than none other than UNESCO gave our ancestral lands…declaring the Dolomites as so special and exceptional that they were and are to be henceforth considered as part of the world heritage…Hence, descendants of these courageous people from the Dolomites…let’s get to know them better by examining what they are and where they are.

Compared to other mountains, they are brighter, more colorful, more monumental, and seeming to be architecturally inspired. The Dolomites feature some of the most beautiful mountain landscapes anywhere, with vertical walls, sheer cliffs and a high density of narrow, deep and long valleys. They rise up like a cathedral of rock, full of rugged crags and breathtaking pinnacles. Formed 200 millions years ago out of the primeval ocean whose debris were pushed up as the land masses collided. Déodat de Dolomieu (1750-1801) discovered and defined the unique composition of the stone, dolomite, giving the mountains their name and responsible for the characteristic shapes and color of these mountains. They were Primiero

referred to as monti pallidi, the pale mountains. These mountains are relatively young compared to other mountains. Geologically, the mountains are formed of light-colored dolomitic limestone, which erosion has carved into grotesque shapes. The resulting landforms include jagged, saw-edged ridges, rocky pinnacles, screes (pebble deposits) of limestone debris, deep gorges, and numerous steep rock faces.

Many of the lower and more gentle scree slopes were once forested; only patches of woodland remain, however, interspersed with grassy meadows.

There are specific groups of Dolomites: the eastern section bounded by the valleys of the Isarco (northwest), the Val di Pusteria (north), the Piave (east and southeast), the Brenta (southwest), and the Adige (west). The Trentino Alto Adige has over 66% of the Dolomites. The range comprises a number of impressive peaks, 18 of which rise to more than 10,000 feet (3,050 meters). The highest point is the Marmolada (10,964 feet), the southern face of which consists of a precipice 2,000 feet high. Dolomites were the front line between Austria and Italy during World War I and are still scattered with abandoned bunkers and fortifications. Many people visit the Dolomites to climb the Vie ferrate, protected paths used by the soldiers during the First World War and further developed to enhance the access to these sensational places. A number of long distance footpaths run across the Dolomites, which are called "Alte vie" (i.e., high paths).

Such long trails, which are numbered from 1 to 8, require at least a week to be walked through and are served by numerous "Rifugi" (huts).

A tourist Mecca, the Dolomites are famous for skiing in the winter months and mountain climbing, hiking, and Base Jumping, as well as paragliding and hang gliding in summer and late spring/early autumn.

Primiero With this brief introduction, we will explore in future editions the individual groups of Dolomites one by one. and Lou

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Le Leggende…the Stories One of the great features of the Filò was the telling of a “leggenda”…told by the story teller who would present the legendary tales with all the embellishments and fantasy to capture the imagination and the delight of young and old. Each and every valley had its stories that assumed the characteristics of the individual valley and even some of the history to increase its probability and likelihood. Here is a story that is associated with Lake Lamar of the Valley of the Lakes summarized for us by Verena DePaoli, resident of that valley, a writer and scholar and specialist of these ancient narratives. Allora…contem na storia…Let’s tell a story….

Lake Lamar

Some background…Lake Lamar is one of the lovely lakes of the Val dei Laghi. About a hundred feet above the lake is the entrance to the fabled Abyss of Lamar, that plunges down to a depth of 1212 feet, descending past a tangle of pools of water, torrents, tunnels. This network of shapes, cavities, bodies of water, ravines along with some actual history combine to stimulate the imagination. Here is the leggenda of the Lamar Abyss, l’Abbiso di Lamar…

We are in the 18th century..The troops of Napoleon are creating havoc in the Tyrol, robbing and stealing whatever had any value. The inhabitants of Terlago along with the nobility anticipating these marauders gathered all their valuables and placed them in two large barrels. They then placed the barrels in a cellar in Braidone and covered it with a great quantity of wood convinced that no one would discover it. Very few knew the locations of their treasure that represented all the wealth of the entire area. As time went on, an old man, turned avaricious and greedy due to his solitude telling them to look in the area of Braidone. They plundered the area stealing everything and killing the heads of the families who attempted to stop their raids and defeat them. The soldiers gathered their plunder and lower it into the deepest part of the Lamar Abyss. In a short time after, the soldiers were ordered elsewhere with the intention to return at conclusion of their hostilities to recover their treasures. Years past and many Entrance to the Lamar Abyss attempted to find the treasures in the labyrinths of the Abyss. Along came two young men, clever and fearless, who equipped themselves with robes, pitons, hammers and empty back packs to bring back the treasure. In the early morning, they had a quick breakfast and began to descend the first vertical tunnel or chimney. They walked a little further and were faced with a deep precipice when suddenly they hear a strange echo and a sinister roar. The young men were so intent and focused on their treasure hunt, that they paid no attention. They walked a bit further when a dark, gloomy and rhymic sound filled the cavity of the cave. They went further and the eiry sound combined with terrific rumbling and movement of the earth and rubble. A cold dank air pervaded the medley of tunnels and passageways. Yet the young men, unperturbed by all that they saw and heard moved forward. But by this time, the noise was deafening and it sounded like an earthquake. All this movement, rocking and shaking created a storm of sand and dust that blocked their vision. Nonetheless, amid this turmoil, the young men saw a strange shape…now finally frightened out of their wits, they dropped everything…got back to the entrance, jumped into the lake and got to safety…only to hear from the veci, the elders..of the fabled presence of the resident monster, the very cousin of the Loch Ness monster. So the treasures continue to remain hidden and inaccessible to all adventurers. Does anyone want to come forward and try?????????????????

Gianna

and Lou

Gianna and Lou

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The History of our Emigration...

Well before the emigration from the Tyrol began arriving to our coasts at the end of the ninetheen century, the emigration of a sort had begun in the Tyrol and other areas Alpine areas of Northern Italy. This “emigration” was linked to the seasons so that such laborers such as grinders, woodsmen, chimney sweepers, repairs of straw chairs traveled throughout Europe seeking “seasonal” work. Such a movement did not have the separation and difficulties that later movments had to the Americas. It was actually a blessing and a resource providing the alpine populations with an opportunity to compensate for the climactic and environmental difficulties of these area that affected the local economies and the nurturances of their individual families. One could say that this type of ‘emigration” was quite compatible with the production cycles of alpine areas.

Gianna and Lou

Things changed radically between 1875 and World War I. The migration flood gates opened and the result was a great surge of people leaving the Tyrol, individuals and families. The first waves of migration headed toward South American and then the USA and Canada. The reasons were economic, demographic and social. The population was just too large for the cultivatable land and industry and manufacturing were non-existant. The only sector of manufacturing that remained active in that time period was the production of silk. However, desease struck the mulberry bushes of the small farmers and ruined that one production possibility. In 1882, there occurred a great flood devestating entire area. In that time period, the Italian states were striving for independence and in their third war of Independence, Austria lost the territories and/or states of Lombardy and the Veneto. All these states along with the Tirol had been unified as part of the Austrio-Hungarian empire and as such were part of that domain and viable trading partners with the Tyrol. To leave the Tyrol which extended from Rovereto to the Brenner Pass,one needed a passport to enter the newly formed Regno d`Italia. Trade with their former partners became difficult, complicated and expensive requiring expense duties exsaserbating the economic condition.

Ticket of Giuseppe Giovannini of Ravina-emigrant to Mexico -1882

In this context of economic crisis and natural disasters, the heavy Tyrolean emigration went primarily to South America: Brazil ,Argentina, Mexico and then to the mining areas of the USA. With the outburst of World I, our Tyrolean relatives and ancestors...specifically, the able bodied men between 21 and 42 were enlisted in the Austrian Army, specifically the Tiroler Kaiserjaeger, the Tyrolean Hunters of the Czar. They fought in Russia and subsequently returned to fight against the Italians.

The Emigration from the Trentino continued ever after its annexation to Italy at the conclusion of the war. It was greatly reduced during the period of fascism. After the World War II, it resumed again due to the high unemployment, the very weak industrial sector and the absence of infrastructures. The majority of this post-war emigration was towards South American but a greater part to European countries that experienced the greater postwar riconstruction and activity: Belgium, Switzerland and Germany.

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Family of Tyrolean Emigrants-1902

Tyrolean Adventurers . . .

Every Tyrolean departing from his or her valleys were pursuing an adventure, a necessary one to escape the poverty and hardship but one that involved feats of courage and determination. But there is no greater adventure than the one experienced by the Boldrini Brothers, whose story could have been scripted by Jack London and made into a five part mini-series.

Gianna and Lou

The Boldrini Brothers , Silvio and Clemente, were ordinary contadini born in the Swiss Canton of Grigioni… Munster to be precise in 1859 and 1863. They left Prezzo of the Val delle Giudicarie…also referred to as the Val di Chiese to follow fellow paesani from the Val di Giudicarie in 1890 to the city of Solvay, NY at the outskirts of the city of Syracuse, NY and the site of large manufacturing factories. They could indeed have settled there and enjoyed possibly a very predictable life in the company …dei nossi…our or their people…After a few years, these two enterprising brothers, now certified Tyrolean Americans, were finding their jobs mundane and less stimulating for their tastes. There was economic recession as well as the exaggerated headlines of the local newspapers about a bonanza awaiting the courageous in the Canadian territories of the Yukon. In 1898, there occurred the Gold Rush in the Klondike of Alaska. Many from everywhere in the world rushed to seek their fortune prospecting for gold. In April of that year, Silvio and Clemente along with their “paesano”, Gusto Scaia leave Solvay for an arduous 6 day train trip to Vancouver, British Columbia where they take the steamship Tees and where Silvio begins to chronicle their adventures in his colorful journal. Here is an excerpt….What can I say! The journey was torture with no home comforts and such a large crowd of gold seekers that it was even difficult to walk without bumping into each other. And sleeping, or even tryo stretch out on the ground Silvio Boldrini (bottom left with family)

Mining Camps

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Lake Bennett

was impossible, the weather was cold and wet and the only shelter on the ship had to offer was together with the horses under a big canvas…

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After four more days and 500 miles, …On April 12, 1898, we arrived in Skagway; seeing the faces of those rough-looking characters we got scared, going out in the town after dark was impossible, for fear of being attacked and robbed…They begin the arduous trek into the interior to reach the inland waterways where they move from lake to lake using steam boats, canoes, rafts, traversed difficult passes with horses and dog sleds, faced avalanches, were capsized, fell through the ice, faced bitter cold and scorching heat and thirst, built a boat, lost their equipment, suffered hunger, fatigue. Their journey starting in Syracuse, took them to Seattle, Vancouver, Fort Wrangell, Skagway, Lake Bennett, Paradise Camp, Lake Linderman, Chillkhoot Pass, Yukon River, Log Cabin, Lake Miles River, Big Salmon River, Little Salmon River, Five Finger Rapids, Ring Rapids, White River, Mc Question River, Dawson, Indian River, Klondike, Domino Creek and finally arrive in Nome, Alaska. The episodes are heroic, the very stuff for a Jack London adventure. Parts of the manuscript of Silvio’s Boldrini’s journal can be found on our website www.filo.tiroles.com.

Clemente Boldrini (bottom left with family)

Silvio’s son relates that they returned with almost $100,000.

In partnership with others, Silvio founded the Seattle Tool and Die Company.

The two brothers managed several factories including the Boldrin Company, Boldrin Refectograf. They produced the Boldrin Electric Oven as well as amusement park horses on wheels seen for years in Steeplechase Park in historic Coney Island, in Brooklyn, New York. Silvio died at the age of 55 in the 1918 and his brother died two days later.

Several years ago, a booklet was published by the Province regarding the Boldirini brothers. It was entitled: GOLD and it presented the entire diary of their travels and adventures. We have the entire manuscript posted on our webstie for our readers to enjoy . The website is filo.tiroles.com

On the Chilkoot Pass

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I Caputei…The Shrines There are many art treasures scattered around the Tyrol. They can be found in churches, castles and the frescoed palaces in its cities. They were commissioned by the institutional church, by prince bishops , and by wealthy patrons. But throughout the entire Tyrol, there is another form of art neither inspired nor sponsored by the Church or the powerful. This is the devotional art form of the Capitelli, I Caputei in dialect, wayside shrines that can be found at the outskirts and the crossroads of towns and villages and on the foot hills of the mountains. They are the products of the local popular piety of the paesants, the contadini, built with humble means by people of yet humbler means. A capitello or a “caputel” is a mini-chapel, usually sitting on a square foundation with a characteristic mini roof. They are also found in a similar form but imbedded in walls in the villages. Under the cover of this mini roof, there is a niche where there is situated a statue, a cross, a painting, a fresco reflecting local piety or devotions. The images might include a crucifix, the Virgin Mary, St Joseph, a variety of saints. St Antony, the Abbot, is often found since he was the patron of animals, a precious commodity for the contadini, the farmers.

Flowers and votive candles are often found in front of the images. In the absence of street or road signs, they had a practical purpose and were markers for travelers. They were found along the ancient roads of the countryside, in places most exposed to dangers like bridges, gorges, mountain slopes, where one felt yet a greater need for divine protection…they are there to attest to the precarious state of the farmer’s existence and the need to dialogue with the sacred.

While spontaneouly built by the local people over the years, they have a specific and historic origin and precedent that reflects on the history of the Tyrol. The Tyrol was an area populated by peoples and tribes that practiced their own religious expressions or what could be called pagan. For a while, Rome had conquered the Tyrol, conferred Roman citizenship on the peoples and left behind its own brand of pantheistic practices. Rome’s believed in many deities and these deities abided everywhere including the woods and their fields…and even their homes. They had shrines to these deities in their homes, at the crossroads of their roads and in their fields. They were means to derive blessings and presence in their homes, environments and fields. They were called compitelum where the name and form of the capitelli derive. They were “little temples” where one`s devotion to the dieties could be expressed.

To understand this history, Christianity first came to the Roman capitellum Tyrol in the person of St Virgilius, IV Century, who began the process of transitioning the peoples to this “new” faith. This process continued slowly for several centuries so that “pagan” practices also became “converted” and transformed into Christian expressions. Hence, the Roman shrines became the capitelli.

“The story of the capitelli is a humble story which evokes the past and popular piety, the world of the contadino and his daily work in the fields in synch with the cycles of the seasons, a natural religiosity of these mountain people that included simple gestures and a spontaneious piety. It evokes images of morning processions at springtime, of people kneeling to invoke protections for their harvests or relief in the moments of calamity…of wayfarers with their hat in hand to rest after walking a great distance, of elders bent over stopping to say a prayer, of women gathered to recite the rosary”. Severino Riccadonna: Capitelli.

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Our stories, our history…

We all tell stories about ourselves. We use them to understand ourselves, and to imagine what we might become. These stories are built upon those of our parents, our ancestors, and of course our own experiences. The significance of this should not be underestimated -- these stories provide us with continuity, meaning and guidance. Taken together, they are our history and our future.

Our ancestors emigrated from Tirol, leaving behind families and friends. They carried their memories with them, of course.

But emigration during times of hardship and turmoil didn't always give them time to transmit all those memories to the next generation. They got lost in the struggle to grasp the opportunities of a new homeland. Now, two or three generations later, it is up to us find ways to reconnect with the vast well of our cultural heritage so that we can weave it back into our continuing story as Tyrolean Americans. By tracing our personal ancestry we build a bridge through time and tradition, and we see ourselves in the mirror of our ancestors. If you began to catalog your close family, as I suggested last time, perhaps you discovered that you know more about those ancestors than you thought -- the name of the town where they lived, their parents names, or the year they emigrated. Did you find old letters, postcards or photographs with names written on them? If not, don't worry -- in the age of the internet, there are many instruments with which to do more research -- I'll provide you with a number of them. For example, visit the Ellis Island Foundation's site to search their passenger ship lists. Be prepared to do some work -- successful searches often depend upon your ingenuity, to overcome errors of transcription and spelling. You may discover the name of the town where your ancestor lived, the name of a relative left behind (often a parent), the name of a relative or friend with whom he intended to stay after getting here, the name of a fiancé... so many clues, just waiting for you to add to what you know.

Then there are the census and naturalization records held by the National Archives. Census records often include the year of immigration and/or naturalization. Naturalizations sometimes tell you the name of the town where your ancestor was born, and a birth date. Similar information can be found using WW I draft registration cards, as virtually every male was required to register for the draft, citizen or not. I suggest you get a notebook to record everything you find -- names, dates, places, and people associated with your ancestor in the record. I have found that I never regret recording too much, but often regret not doing so.

Ellis Island 1905

Armed with this information, you can visit the Nati in Trentino 1815-1923 website to search the baptism records for nearly any town in Trentino. Again, persistence and ingenuity will overcome most obstacles of the search. If you have the name of the town and your ancestor, you can view the actual record by ordering microfilms of those records -- marriages and deaths as well -- from the Family Search site. Those filmed records are the ultimate resource for any serious search for your roots. Do not be afraid to use a map – it is a must to help you pick up a lost trail, or find other towns referred to in your ancestors’ records. No single record will provide you with everything -- but it is through the searching that you begin to "know" the story of the people from whom you come. You'll come to know the names of the priests who baptized, the midwives who delivered, the friends and relatives who stood as padrini, the changes of governments, the losses of children and parents -- all this and more, if you choose to amplify what you find. Names are important, but you'll need more to begin to appreciate your heritage. Start now -- your journey will be a fitting tribute to your ancestors who left behind all they knew and loved to make a better life for their children and families.

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Resources Ellis Island Foundation: http://www.ellisisland.org Free, registration required. Indexed immigration records from 18921924. Links to other genealogy sites.

The Battery Conservancy: http://www.castlegarden.org . Free, no registration required. Indexed immigration records of the first immigration center in the Battery, 1855-1890.

The National Archives: http://www.archives.gov Free, registration only to order records($). Use site to identify your Regional Branch for person visits. Holdings of U.S. census, naturalization and military records.

Nati in Trentino 1815-1923: http://www.natitrentino.mondotrentino.net Free, registration required. Searchable in six languages. Indexes of all available baptism records of the indicated period.

Family Search: http://www.familysearch.org. Registration required only to order microfilms ($). Use site to order films and identify your nearest local family history center where films will be delivered for viewing.

Ancestry.com: http://www.ancestry.com. Subscription site ($), monthly subscriptions available. Census, immigration, military and other records available for online search and viewing.

There are many other useful sites, which you will undoubtedly discover during your explorations. Remember to verify any family trees prepared by others, and to document your discoveries when possible. .

Gianna and Lou

Gianna and Lou

Jim Caola is our guide and mentor in learning how to research and discover family roots. His paternal grandparents emigrated to Pennsylvania from Pinzolo in 1905. In 1998 Jim began to investigate his family heritage, and within the course of the intervening years he has created a database of about 56,000 individuals, a project to index all births, marriages and deaths in Val Rendena from the early 1600's through 1923, and the creation of a photographic index of all 13 cemeteries of Val Rendena, soon to be available in a set of DVDs. He hopes that his projects will one day be duplicated throughout Trentino.

Origin of Trentino Names Here are several names in our database, their meanings, derivations and origins. There will be an indication of how many names are currently in our database displayed in this manner: DB # 2 Ambrosi derived from Ambrogio, “immortal”. Found throughout the Trentino; derivatives: Ambrosiano, Ambrosini, Ambrosio, Ambrosioni; Angelo Ambrosi, Borgo, Valsugana, painter, works 1824-1860; Francesco Ambrosi (1821-1897) also born, naturalist, historian; Giuseppe Ambrosi (1772-1823), Trento, painter, teacher; Niccolo` Ambrosi, Villagarina-1728, sculptor DB # 15 Corradi derives from the name of Corrado which suggests: audacious in the assembly. Originates from the Valsugana; 1500 Giovanni Corradi of Cles; 1572 Giovanni Giacomo of Stenico;1691 :GiovanniCorradi di Bono1789; Giuseppe Corradi of Stenico. Variations: Coradello, Coradi, Corradini. In Austrian: Conrater, Corrader, Konradtier : DB # 2 Eccher found among those settlers of German origin in Vallarsa and Folgaria. Dal Dosso (Eck)-Dosso refers to meadow in Italian, is the corresponding Italian name originates from Vallarsa, Folgaria, Val dei Mocheni, Perginese, Bedollo, Val dei Laghi. Variations: Boneccher e Bonecher (Valsugana), Chieccher in dialect of Pergine); Schoffernecher e Schoofernecher (German names in use in the Valsugana. Alberto de Eccher Dall`Eco (18421926) born in Mezzolombardo, phyiscist, university professor, inventor; Celestino Eccher (1892-1970), composer, teacher, priest, began the Diocesan School of Music. : DB # 20 Pellegrini..derives from the word for Pilgrim, pellegrino; has implication of a foreigner, an outsider as well as a traveler in a foreign land. 1524 Pelligrinate a Vezzano.;1608 Giovanni Battista Pellegrini-Ala in the Val d`Adige;1732 Iovanes Beregine Blanchetti, from Gavazzo; Giovanni Battisa Pellegrini from Tione; 1803 Bartolemeo Pellegrini from Tione. : DB # 3 Povinelli….originates from old dialectal word for Paul…Poulo..found in the Val Rendena, Giudicarie, Cavedine and Vezzano; Giovanni Povinelli, Pinzolo, a knife grinder and emigree to USA. : DB # 19

Supporting our Community…

Our Tyrolean forbearers came to “Merica” with no supports other than their courageous determination. There were no Trentino o Tyrolean support infrastructures or advocacy groups. The Bishops and Don Guetti even discouraged their departures from the “safe” and traditional haven of the province. Nonetheless, they came and in absence of such support, they supported themselves typically settling in what could be called “colonies” of their paesani. Father Bolognani, our veritable apostle and champion, relates in his book how they not only settled so much with their fellow Tirolesi but pursued the very same work and livelihoods to their disadvantage. The Province had no resources or possibly an imagination of what and how to possibly help their emigrants. And so, I sa rangiadi…they took care of themselves.

One of the first advocates that reached out to our community in some formal way was a Giovanni Armistadi, a teacher and emigrant from Arco. He created a magazine that reached out to the Tyrolean/Trentini paesani. The Risveglio was a monthly magazine begun 1947 and continued until 1951. We will be researching the Risveglio in future editions of the Filò.

There is a long history of Tyrolean clubs that sprang up in different parts of our country whose role and function was to serve their immediate communities with no affiliation with the Province. They were social clubs where fellow paesani could find themselves and enjoy each other’s company. Louis Rossi started the thought of gathering the clubs back in 1971-73. He reached out to all the clubs to have them gather in 1972 - but was unable to have it succeed. The idea however did not fail.. Louis along with Amelia Braskie embarked on a new attempt and launched the first convention in 1974 with the support of all the clubs. In 1976, another convention Giovanni Amistadi

Tyrol Club 1909-Young Immigrants from Prezzo occurred where there was established a confederation of these many individual clubs under the umbrella organization ITTONA which stands for the International Tirolean-Trentino Organization of North America. There title suggested a quasi-dual identity or nomenclature that represented the vast majority of emigrants who immigrated here prior to the annexation of the Tyrol to Italy at the end of the World War I and the later immigrants who came from now Trentino-Alto Adige. ITTONA interacts with the Trentini Nel Mondo and the Province of Trento organizations and agencies. ITTONA welcomes new clubs and coordinates biennial conventions to celebrate and to promote fellowship among Trentini and their descendants. Trentini nel Mondo was established in 1957 with similar goals of creating a solidarity and resources for Tyrolean-Trentino associations throughout the world. The individual clubs are referred to as a Circolo, a “circle” or cell. Clubs currently exist in the following areas: Alliance Ohio, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Hazleton PA, Milwaukee, Northern Minnesota, New England, New York City, Norway MI, Ogden UT, Pittsburgh, Readsboro VT, San Francisco, Solvay NY, South Alabama, SE Pennsylvania, Southern California, Seattle, Rock Springs WY. In Canada: Alberta, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Windsor.

The Filo` magazine is a service to the Tyrolean-Trentino community and, despite its recent existence, it should be considered a support and a service to our community. It has no affiliation to any organization or association. It has been underwritten by the Office of Emigration of the Province of Trento.

In July, the biennial convention will be held in Mountain Iron, Minnesota on July 20-22. It will feature presentations, entertainment and interaction with Tyrolean descendants who are residents of the USA and Canada, along with some visitors who are residents of Trentino/Alto Adige.. Information about the convention can be found on their website www.trentini.org. If you have any questions regarding registration please contact the club at trentinimn@gmail.com or call at: 218-263-5067.

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Our Proverbs…Our Wisdom Stories The dialectal proverb is in red; blue in Italian and black in English.

Chi è stret de man, l`è stret anca de cor. Chi è avaro è anca duro di cuore. He who is miserly is also hardhearted.

L`è meio ´na stala mia che ´n palaz en compagnia. E` meglio una bicocca tutta mia che un palazzo in comproprio. A cottage of your own is better than a palace shared with others.

En furbo `l sa da far da coion, ma ´n coion no l`è bon de far da furbo. Un furbo sa fare il tonto, ma un tonto non sa fare il furbo. The cunning know how to act as idiots, but idiots cannot act as the cunning Per chi ga` temp de spetar no ghe temp che no vegna. Per chi ha temo di aspettare non c`è tempo che non venga. For those who time to wait every thing comes in due course.

Fiòi picoi fastidi picoi, fiòi grandi fastidi grandi. Figli piccoli preoccupazioni piccole, figli grandi preoccupazioni grandi. Little children small troubles, big children big troubles.

Our Partners are…

Alberto Folgheraiter- Author, journalist and specialist in Trentino culture Azienda per il Turismo Trento Trento-Monica Goser Christian Brunelli. Teacher & Technical Consultant Federazione Trentina delle Pro Loco e loro Consorzi - Director Ivo Povinelli Jim Caola Genealogist, nutritional counselor, macrobiotic chef, Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina - Daniela Finardi, Communications Dept.

Museo Storico Dr. Patrizia Marchesoni, Deputy Director & Head of Research, Archives & Collections Severino Riccadonna-Author of Capitelli Trentini nel Mondo Onlus Trentino Marketing S.p.A - http://www.visittrentino.it/ Ufficio Emigrazione University of Trento - Paola Fusi Head of Communications – University of Trento Verena Di Paoli.Writer, Researcher, Scholar

Photo Credits…

Front Cover-Sonia del Col Page 5 Maps-Collana di Monografie:”La Patria d`Origne:Giuseppe Gorfer Page 6 Photos of Castel Toblino –Pio Geminiani; Romano Magrone; Flavio Faganella Page 7 Drawing-Flavio Faganella Page 9-10 Photos of Cardinale Bernardin: Gianni Zotta Page 14 Photo-Mario Simonini; Photo-Pisoni; photo-Maurizio Miori; photo -Matteo Rensi Page 15 Photo-Maurizio Miori; photo-C. Cavuli; PhotoPage 18 Photo-Museo Storico San Michele; Dizionario del Dialetto-Miriam Sottovia Page 20 Photos-Daniele Lira; Silvano Angelani Page 21- Photo-Thilo Brunner; Photo- Pio Gemimiani; Photo- Wolfgang Ehn; Photo-Ronny-Liaulehn Page 23- Photos –Museo Storico Page 24. Photos- Museo storico del Trentino e il Centro Studi Judicaria di Tione Page 25 Photos- Museo storico del Trentino e il Centro Studi Judicaria di Tione Page 26 Photo Flavio Faganelli Page 27 Capitelli –Severino Riccadonna; photos-Severino Riccadonna Page 30 Photos- Museo storico del Trentino e il Centro Studi Judicaria di Tione Page 32 Photo-Thilo Brunner Errata: In the Winter edition 2012, in the article regarding Father Chino, the reference to the actor of the film should have read Richard Egan.

Gianna and Lou

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