Italian America Magazine - Winter 2016

Chocolate and Secrets Michele Ferrero and His Mysterious Factory

Antonio Stradivari’s Music Trees The Art that Gave Cremona its Sound

When Palermo Came Marching In The Italian French Quarter in New Orleans

An Italian Mother at Every Football Party The Origin of Buffalo Wings

WINTER 2016

a

ITALIAN AMERICA

WINTER 2016

b

ITALIAN AMERICA

WINTER 2016

VOL. XXI No. 1

Italian America

®

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

Features

10

(Tonya Staab)

CHOCOLATES AND SECRETS Michele Ferrero and His Mysterious Factory

By Eric Bryan

16

22 28

ANTONIO STRADIVARI’S MUSIC TREES The Art that Gave Cremona its Sound

By Phyllis Macchioni

WHEN PALERMO CAME MARCHING IN The Italian French Quarter in New Orleans

By Helen Collela

AN ITALIAN MOTHER AT EVERY FOOTBALL PARTY The Origin of Buffalo Wings

By Miles Ryan Fisher

ON THE COVER: The violin was created when Andrea Amati of Cremona, Italy constructed it as a lighter alternative to the lyre. (wragg)

D e pa r t m e n t s

2 Etna’s Eruption 4 High Profile 5 National News 6 Oggi in Italia 7 Pagina Italiana 8 The Sons of Italy® Book Club

13 Bulletin Board 14 Our Story 20 It’s “Only” a Movie 21 Speakers Bureau 26 OSIA Nation 31 From the National

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

Italian America® is published by The Order Sons of Italy in America® 219 E Street, NE • Washington, DC 20002 • Phone: (202) 547-2900 • Web: www.osia.org Editor-in-Chief: Miles Ryan Fisher mfisher@osia.org Writers: Eric Zurita, Eric Bryan, Phyllis Macchioni, Helen Colella, and Miles Ryan Fisher Graphic Designer: Diane Vincent To advertise: Contact Pat Rosso (215) 206-4678

pieassociates2@att.net

Italian America Magazine® is a publication of the Order Sons of Italy in America® (OSIA), the nation’s biggest and oldest organization for people of Italian heritage. To subscribe, see www.osia.org or call 1-800-552-6742.

WINTER 2016

1

ITALIAN AMERICA

WINTER WINTER 2016 2016 22

ITALIAN ITALIANAMERICA AMERICA

Etna’s Eruption Located on the east coast of Sicily, Mount Etna is the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy and one of the most active volcanoes in the world. At almost 11,000 feet, it stands two and a half times taller than Mount Vesuvius. Its name—Etna— originated from the Phoenician word attuna, meaning “furnace” or “chimney.”

Etna most recently erupted on December 3, 2015. As a fountain of lava spewed from it, a dirty thunderstorm formed above—a weather phenomenon related to the production of lightning in a volcanic plume.

(Photo by Marco Restivo / Barcroft Media)

WINTER 2016 3 ITALIAN AMERICA

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 3

High Profile

Italian Americans making an impact

Marketing Imagination Lorraine Santoli Brings Disney Alive A young, bright-eyed Lorraine Santoli stood in a crowded elevator beside Charles Nash. He was a 79-year-old man who was known worldwide, yet went unrecognized most of the time. Quiet prevailed over the packed elevator once the doors closed. It started moving and a voice broke the silence. It was the sound of Donald Duck remarking on how crowded the elevator was. Heads of all ages turned to look at Nash. The elevator doors opened once it reached the next floor, and Nash stepped out, using Donald Duck’s voice to excuse himself.

“He must like Donald Duck,” a man on the elevator said.

Lorraine leaned over to the man. “He is Donald Duck,” she said.

The 1984 tour celebrating Donald Duck’s 50th Anniversary was just one of Lorraine’s many adventures in The Disney Company’s marketing department. Her biggest adventure, however, came six years later when Disney’s CEO Michael Eisner and President Frank Wells decided to create a division that would focus on unifying their various departments. And they decided that Lorraine was the person to get this new division off the ground. At 41 years old, Lorraine was named Disney’s very first Director of Corporate Synergy.

“People think synergy’s just a buzzword,” Lorraine said. “But it has a very practical use.” By definition, synergy is the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.

Lorraine celebrates Donald Duck’s 50th Anniversary with Clarence “Ducky” Nash— Donald’s original voice—and his wife, Margie.

WINTER 2016

4

The elements of synergy—interaction, cooperation—were things Lorraine was quite familiar with. After all, she grew up in Brooklyn, New York in a typical Italian-American family. “I can’t remember a weekend of my life when I was a child ever being

alone,” Lorraine said. “We were always surrounded by aunts and uncles and cousins.”

Lorraine, who is half-Neopolitan and half-Calabrian, was raised eating dinner around a table as a family.

This kind of closeness After 22 years with would later become not just Disney, Lorraine later an important part of her proserved as the pro bono Executive Director fessional life, it would also be of The Annette Funireflected in the model that cello Research Fund for resurrected a stagnant Disney Neurological Diseases (2011-2013).

Company. As the Director of Corporate Synergy, Lorraine spearheaded Disney’s efforts to bring its separate departments together.

A Disney movie would be created. It would become a theme ride at a park. Figures of its characters would be sold in stores. A show would be created for television. And so on. Lorraine spent the 1990s seeing Disney through this kind of synergistic cross-promotion of its products. After 22 years, she retired from Disney in 2000.

Over the course of her career, she had a hand in parts of Disney known to everyone. The creation of Disney Dollars and the “I’m going to Disney World” Super Bowl commercials. The promotion of films “Beauty and the Beast,” “Alladin,” and “The Lion King.” Her work helped Disney return to the forefront of American culture.

With that came a world filled with more smiles, more laughter, more excitement. Because the end product that Lorraine brought both children and adults was one of the greatest products of all—a product she remembers from those big family dinners.

A product called happiness.

Released in 2015, Lorraine’s most recent book—Inside the Disney Marketing Machine—shows how to apply marketing principles, particularly that of synergy.

To make speaking arrangements with Lorraine, contact her at Lsantoli@ me.com ITALIAN AMERICA

National News

Italian American issues and events

Yogi Berra Awarded Posthumous Medal of Freedom Two months after his death, Yogi Berra joined the exclusive group of about 500 individuals who have received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award.

Yogi, however, was anything but exclusive. He served in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, befriended the first black and Latino players in Major League Baseball, opened a learning center dedicated to youth education, and teamed up with Athlete Ally to champion LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, and Transgender) equality. “It makes you feel like you’ve done nothing with your life,” said Lindsay Berra, Yogi’s granddaughter.

Yogi jumps into Don Larsen’s arms after the last out of the only perfect game thrown (and caught) in the World Series. That was 60 years ago.

But Yogi would’ve never made you feel that way. And perhaps that’s why more than 100,000 individuals signed an online petition started last

May in favor of awarding Yogi the medal.

Many of those signatures came from fellow Italian Americans, proud to have Yogi represent them. “Yogi’s accomplishments played a huge role in Larry Berra receives his father’s supporting his own Presidential Medal of Freedom. heritage,” said OSIA (White House) National Executive Director Philip Piccigallo. “Through his achievements on the field and character off the field he helped Italian Americans gain acceptance.”

The award ceremony was held at the White House last November, celebrating the lives of the 17 recipients. “(Yogi) lived his life with pride and humility and an original, open mind,” President Obama said during the ceremony. President Obama was the only president since 1945 that Yogi hadn’t met.

“This is sort of like an exclamation point at the end of that amazing life,” Lindsay Berra said of her grandfather.

Ferrari Goes Public Ferrari opened its doors to individual investors, entering the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker RACE last October. Founded in 1929 by Italian racing driver Enzo Ferrari, the company had been private for its 86-year existence. In 1969, Fiat purchased 50 percent of Ferrari and then increased that to 90 percent in 1988.

(Jean-Jacques Marchand)

How will going public affect the company? Although there are plans to expand Ferrari’s Alfa Romeo and Maserati lines, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne acknowledged

WINTER 2016 5 ITALIAN AMERICA

the importance of maintaining a relationship with their current customer base. “Sixty percent of the people that buy our cars every year are returning customers,” he said. “And therefore it would be almost suicidal to try and expand volumes to the detriment of that relationship.”

While Fiat-Chrysler is the Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne was a 2013 seventh largest automaker in honoree at the National the world, Ferrari produces Education & Leadership just 7,000-8,000 cars per Awards Gala. (Max Taylor) year. Those cars, however, start at $188,425 and reach upwards of $400,000.

Although most of us will never be able to own an entire Ferrari, we can now own at least a part of it. Through December, shares of Ferrari hovered around $47.

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 5

Oggi in Italia

Italy’s news, politics and culture

Birth Rates Lowest Since Unification Italy’s 2014 birth statistics were the lowest numbers since its unification in 1861. According to Italy’s National statistics office (ISTAT), there were 509,000 live births in 2014, five thousand less than in 2013. The birth rate was 8.4 per 1,000—significantly less than the birth rate when Italy was unified (38.3 per 1,000). The low birth rate has been blamed on years of economic recession and high unemployment along with a disinclination to have children.

“We are at the threshold where people are not being replaced by newborns,” Italy Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said. “That means we are a dying country.”

While there were 509,000 births in 2014, there were 597,000 deaths.

In light of this, two Italian cities—Sellia (Calabria) in 2015 and Falciano del Massico (Campania) in 2012—have actually outlawed death. Sellia’s mayor, Davide Zicchinella, signed an order that makes it “forbidden to get ill within the municipality” because “dying is prohibited.” While this may seem like a hoax, Mayor Zicchinella assured the

Sellia is a town of just 537 residents, less than half of its 1960 population. Sixty percent of its current residents are over 65 years old. (Reuters) press that it is no joke—its aim to bring attention to the issue. “Sellia, like many other towns in southern Italy, is affected by depopulation,” he said. Those who don’t take good care of themselves, or who take on habits that are against their health, will be punished with more taxes.”

Unparalleled Treasure Buried in Southern Italy Town The small Calabrian town of Cosenza is making headlines for having more than one billion dollars in artifacts buried within its boundaries. The treasure once belonged to German Visigoth King Alaric, who invaded Italy in 410 AD. By ransacking the Roman Empire, Alaric amassed incomparable wealth.

When he died in Cosenza, the waters of its Busento River were diverted in order to dig a tomb large enough to bury Alaric with all his treasure. After he was buried, the river was

restored, flowing overtop the tomb. In order to protect the secrecy of the tomb, all the slaves used to prepare it were killed.

Cosenza, a town of 70,000 people, has seen its share of visitors in search of this tomb—including Heinrich Himmler, infamous leader of the Nazi SS. The town’s current mayor, Mario Occhiuto, recently announced excavation plans for finding the 25 tons of artifacts.

The bed of the Busento River, where Alaric’s treasure is believed to be buried. (Salatino) WINTER 2016

6

ITALIAN AMERICA

Pagina Italiana

Per chi studia la nostra lingua

Il Nostro Ultimo Tramonto “Our Last Sunset” Written by Eric Zurita Translated by Dr. Frederica Anichini

Attraverso questa bottiglia posso intravedere Monterosso, e le sue botteghe color pastello sui fianchi boscosi della montagna. In basso, una barca veleggia in un mare di vino, come il souvenir di una barca in bottiglia. Il sole è esattamente al collo, a riposo sulla cima di una montagna prima di inabissarsi in mare. Voglio inghiottirlo intero, sentirlo bruciare dentro di me.

Offro a mia moglie l’ultimo sorso di vino, ma lei chiude gli occhi, e fa cenno di no con la testa.

Il suo movimento è lento, e lo noto solo dopo che bevo dalla bottiglia e ammiro i cambiamenti lasciati dalla nostra avventura sulla donna che ho sposato due anni fa.

L’estate l’ha colorata come di caramello. I suoi capelli sono più chiari, il castano scuro trasformato in un magnifico color cannella. Le sue labbra sono leggermente gonfie per il calore estivo.

Posso solo vedere metà del sole adesso. La scia di luce sulle acque liguri ridotta adesso ad una striscia stretta, brillante.

“Possiamo ancora fare qualcosa?” dice con gli occhi ancora chiusi.

Le prendo la mano, e la intreccio alla mia—un tenero no.

Abbiamo sabotato il nostro matrimonio come bambini che costruiscono un castello di sabbia vicino alle onde. Abbiamo costruito un castello con materiale destinato a dissolversi.

Lacrime le scendono dalle guance, cadono in terra, velocemente. Non c’è più tempo, sembrano dire.

Il pallido disco del sole è un arco sulla cima di una mon-

The sun sets on the Ligurian Sea off of Cinque Terre. tagna, come una corona arrugginita. Voci giovanili filtrano dal labirinto di strade e salgono dalla corte sotto il nostro balcone. Urla festose di bambini interrompono il nostro silenzio; sono acuti segnali di quello che stiamo perdendo.

“Dimmi perché,” le chiedo.

Ho bisogno di più vino per pronunciare le parole che si spengono sulla punta della mia lingua come bollicine di una bottiglia appena stappata.

“Lo trovo affascinante,” mi dice.

Una risposta semplice, come il sole che scende dietro questa montagna e nel mare.

La città silenziosa si fa scura. Le ultime tracce di luce del sole si riflettono nella luna, e chiaro come il passare del giorno, lo vediamo: questo è il nostro ultimo tramonto.

Eric Zurita is a writer from Havana, Cuba who backpacked Italy for two weeks in 2014. His fiction has been published online and in print, most recently in the Chicago Quarterly Review.

Dr. Frederica Anichini is the Middle and High School Coordinator for L’Scuola d’Italia Gugliemo Marconi, the only English/Italian bilingual schools in the country.

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

OSIA members benefit from a 10% discount on all our services!

Do You Ever Imagine Your Italian Ancestors?

Bring that vision to life with real history.

At My Italian Family, we are proud to help people like you fulfill that dream.

To research your Italian Family or for assistance in acquiring your Italian passport, visit www.myitalianfamily.com, or call 1-888-472-0171

WINTER 2016 7 ITALIAN AMERICA

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 7

Pagina Italiana

Per chi studia la nostra lingua

Our Last Sunset “Nostro Ultimo Tramonto” Written by Eric Zurita

Through this bottle I can make out Monterosso, where shops of pastel colors adorn a lush mountainside. A sailboat floats in a sea of wine at the bottom, like a souvenir with a ship built inside. The sun is at the neck, resting on the mountain peak before it plunges into the sea. I want to swallow it whole, feel it burning inside me.

I offer my wife the last of the wine, but she closes her eyes and shakes her head.

Its movement is lethargic, only noticeable after I take a pull from the bottle and admire the changes our adventure has bestowed upon my spouse of two years.

Summer has colored her caramel. Her hair is lighter, too, the coffee brown transformed into a lovely cinnamon.

Her lips swell from the midsummer heat.

Only half the sun is visible now. The trail it blazed across the Ligurian waters has reduced to a slender strip of brilliance.

“Can we fix it?” she says, eyes still closed.

I take her hand and intertwine our fingers—a tender No. We sabotaged our marriage like kids who build a sandcastle at the edge of a rising tide. We forged a castle with material destined to dissolve.

Tears stream down her cheeks, leaping onto the ground in a haste. Time is running out, they seem to say.

OSIA members benefit from a 10% discount on all our services!

The sun sets on the Ligurian Sea off of Cinque Terre.

The sun’s sallow face is an arch set atop the mountain like a rusted crown. Youthful echoes filter through the maze of streets and rise from the courtyard below our balcony. The jubilant cries of children punctuate our silence; they are piercing reminders of what we’re giving up.

“Tell me why,” I say.

I need more wine to utter the words that fizzle at the tip of my tongue like bubbles from a freshly uncorked bottle.

“I found him fascinating,” she says.

An answer as simple as this sun plummeting behind this mountain and into the sea.

The tranquil towns grow dark. The last vestiges of sunlight reflect off tonight’s moon and, as evident as the passing of a day, we know: this is our last sunset.

Eric Zurita is a writer from Havana, Cuba who backpacked Italy for two weeks in 2014. His fiction has been published online and in print, most recently in the Chicago Quarterly Review.

Do You Ever Imagine Your Italian Ancestors?

Bring that vision to life with real history.

At My Italian Family, we are proud to help people like you fulfill that dream.

To research your Italian Family or for assistance in acquiring your Italian passport, visit www.myitalianfamily.com, or call 1-888-472-0171

ITALIAN AMERICA

WINTER 2016 7

The Sons of Italy®

Book Club

WINTER 2016 Selections

THREE WITNESSES/TRE TESTIMONI

SEASON OF SALT AND HONEY

Three Witnesses is a collection of World War II accounts (one memoir and two diaries) by three Italian men: a painter, a prisoner, and a peasant.

Francesa (Frankie) Caputo has lost her fiancé in a tragic accident—and now she feels stranded and alone. She runs off to a cabin in the woods of Washington State, but that doesn’t stop both sides of her Italian-American family from tracking her down.

Translations by George L. Custodi

The first account is a memoir by Livio Orazio Valentini, a radioman for the Italian Army who later became a wellknown artist. What makes Valentini’s memoir most unique is the way he manages to find humor in awful situations, no doubt a product of his artistic mind (and reminiscent of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22).

The second account is a diary by Angelo Custodi, a Lieutenant in the Italian Army (and the translator’s father) who was taken prisoner by the Germans and spent two years in a concentration camp. Starting his diary on Italy’s “Armistice Day” (September 8, 1943), Custodi carries a serious tone as he takes us through daily life at the camp.

The most dramatic part of his story, however, comes after his release and what he discovers about his wife.

The third account is a diary by Attilo Cerchecci, a peasant from Orvieto, Italy. He takes us through Italy’s destruction at the hands of the Germans, particularly as the German soldiers grow desperate with the advance of the Allies.

What makes this book truly special is that, because the accounts were originally penned in Italian, there are lineby-line translations from Italian to English. Not only does this offer you an opportunity to read Italian, but it also allows you to see how it aligns with the English language.

This is particularly helpful for understanding Italian words that aren’t familiar to you.

Three Witnesses is an engaging way to expand your knowledge of the Italian language while seeing a harsh history unfold through the eyes of those who lived it.

Reviews by Miles Ryan Fisher

WINTER 2016

8

By Hannah Tunnicliffe

Frankie’s half-Calabrese, half-Sicilian family push love (and food) upon her, taking on her pain as their own. Her estranged sister, Isabella (Bella), shows up even though Frankie doesn’t want her there. However, Frankie will come to learn that family never goes away. This realization plays a vital role in providing her strength when she comes to discover something that just might be worse than the day she found out her fiancé died.

A sentimental story about love and loss, Season of Salt and Honey illustrates the unique closeness that comes with being part of an Italian-American family and also shows that Italians remain a people who are not always accepted by others. Author Hannah Tunnicliffe laces her story with Italian words and phrases. She also includes many Italian recipes for the meals, desserts, and drinks that Frankie’s family heaps upon her.

Tunnicliffe’s simple, refreshing use of language makes her novel a book that you will look forward to picking up as if it’s a glass of chilled limoncello on a warm summer day.

Sample Passage:

He didn’t get it. And I couldn’t explain that without him I was a fraction, not a whole. No longer good enough by myself. My family wanted to see him and hug him and know all about him. They wanted to ask about his work and slap his shoulders and make him eat more than he was comfortable eating. He was one of us now. They wanted to be in his life like they were in mine—pushing in, interfering, loving, scolding, soothing.

ITALIAN AMERICA

WINTER 2016 9 ITALIAN AMERICA

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 9

The Ferrero Family Business

WINTER 2016

10

ITALIAN AMERICA

By Eric Bryan

He commuted to work by helicopter, flying more than one hundred miles from his home in Monaco to his factory in Alba, Italy. He stepped onto the factory’s grounds, looking like a 1960s Eurospy in his deep blue tailored suit and dark glasses. After entering an office block and pausing in front of a Madonna to say a prayer, he made his way to a saletta, his mysterious tasting room on the top floor. Here, he worked well into the evening, sampling, and creating new recipes. This was the daily life of chocolatier Michele Ferrero, the man who built Ferrero SpA into the world’s largest chocolate manufacturer.

The company didn’t start with him, however. During World War II, when pastries and candies were so expensive they were reserved for high holidays like Easter and Christmas, it was Michele’s father, Pietro, who had the vision of making treats available and affordable for everyone. With this vision in mind, Pietro—along with the help of his wife, Piera—established a confectionary laboratory in Alba in 1942. At that time, the then seventeen-year-old Michele started working as his father’s assistant.

A perfectionist, Pietro labored around the clock, Piera serving as his personal taste tester at all hours. On many occasions, Pietro would awaken his wife in the middle of the night with spoons dipped in samples of the latest recipes and beg her for an opinion.

In an effort to circumvent chocolate shortages and make wartime sweets more affordable, Pietro and Michele started stretching recipes by mixing cocoa with locally abundant hazelnuts. These father-son experiments cre-

Did You Know?

• The Tic Tac produced in 4 years amount to the same number of stars in the Milky Way. • A line of Ferrero Rocher produced in 6.2 days would be as long as the length of the Great Wall of China.

• A line of Kinder Chocolate produced in 6 days would be as long as the Trans-Siberian Railway.

• The Nutella produced in one year weighs the same as the Empire State Building.

• The Kinder Surprise produced in a month could cover the Monterrey Macro plaza in Mexico.

• The hazelnuts used in 2 years could fill a basket the size of the Colosseum.

WINTER 2016 11 ITALIAN AMERICA

Michele Ferrero was originally born in Dogliani, a town in the Piedmont region of Italy. (Bowen Chin) ated the chocolate-hazelnut loaf called Pasta Gianduja, or Giandujot, which evolved into the spreadable Supercrema Giandujot.

When Pietro passed away in the early 1950s, Michele and his wife, Maria Franca, assumed the family business.

In a letter to his workers, Michele outlined his own vision: I pledge myself to devote all my activities and all my effort to this company. And I assure you that I shall only feel satisfied when I have managed, with concrete results, to guarantee you and your children a safe and tranquil future.

He would stick to this concept in more ways than one.

In 1956, Michele founded a plant in Germany, making Ferrero the first Italian confectioner to establish itself internationally. Expansion continued into France in 1959 and throughout Western Europe in the 1960s. Then, in 1964, Michele and Maria Franca refined and reintroduced the spreadable chocolate Supercrema, re-branding it with a name that, fifty years later, is known worldwide: Nutella.

As the business grew, strange practices unlike those of other companies surfaced. Ferrero SpA never held press ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 11

conferences. Michele gave no interviews. The company maintained strict privacy both toward the media and outsiders who wanted to invest in the firm. Ferrero guarded its proprietary, billion-dollar recipes, refusing to allow tours of its plant in order to prevent industrial espionage. Even the manufacturing machines were kept secret, Ferrero employing in-house engineers to design them.

Yet, in spite of his reclusive tendencies, Michele would venture into public, but incognito. Disguised as an ordinary customer, he visited stores and shops to observe how sellers were displaying his wares and study the shopping habits of its patrons. Between his eccentric behavior and his mysterious factory with private tasting rooms, Michele and his persona became linked to a famous fictional character, one that Roald Dahl brought to life in his novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Articles began referring to Michele as the real-life Willy Wonka. And in the spirit of Willy Wonka, Michele brought the world treats to be shared by children and adults alike—confections such as Kinder Eggs and Bars, Ferrero Rocher chocolates, Mon Cheri, and Tic Tacs.

While overseeing his company’s growth, Michele also watched over his workforce. Ferrero subsidized its workers’ medical expenses, provided company buses for commuters, and offered in-factory childcare. Due to Michele’s devotion to his workers and their families, some employees regarded him as a father figure. Over the 66 years he managed the company, never once did his workers go on strike.

As the 20th century came to a close, Michele’s sons, Pietro and Giovanni, became managing directors of Ferrero. Michele founded a subsidiary company—Soremartec (Marketing and Technical Research Society)—in Monaco to explore untapped markets and create new products. To this end, Michele had a saletta constructed in his Monte Carlo house. In 2011, he suffered personal devastation when his son, Pietro, died at the age of 47 in a bicycling accident while on a humanitarian mission in South Africa.

One of Ferrero’s most popular products, Kinder Eggs are banned in the U.S. due to a 1938 law that prohibits toys to be embedded in candy. (e.r.w.i.n.)

That year, Giovanni took over the company, by which time Ferrero had become the world’s largest chocolate maker and the third largest confectioner—responsible for 25% of the world’s hazelnut consumption. With Ferrero’s 2014 sales at over $9 billion, Michele was acknowledged as Italy’s wealthiest person. Forbes estimated his fortune at $26.5 billion, making him the 22nd richest man in the world.

But what made Michele personally richer than his material wealth was his passion for bringing his new creations to the world. Less than a year ago, the 89-year-old chocolatier passed away on the date which befitted him most: February 14, Valentine’s Day. Eric Bryan is a writer originally from Burlingame, California. His work has appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, The Globe and Mail, The London Magazine, and many other publications in North America, the UK, Europe, and Australia.

Canvassing for sales, a Ferrero boat takes to the canals in Venice in the 1950s.

WINTER 2016

12

ITALIAN AMERICA

Bulletin Board

What’s new: discounts, services and events

The Reckoning, Pecora for the Public to Premiere in Seattle It was 1933. The nation was riveted by the skill and persistence of Ferdinand Pecora, the chief counsel leading the investigation into the causes of the 1929 stock market crash. Every local and national newspaper reporter, from New York City to San Francisco, was crowded into the United States (Courtesy of the New-York Historical Society) Senate hearing room as Pecora shamed the Wall Street bankers into disclosing the truth about their unethical manipulation of other people’s money to enrich themselves and their friends. Pecora was an Italian immigrant born in Sicily, a master of the English language, and a former prosecutor of exceptional integrity.

With the help of his handpicked staff, all the children of first generation immigrants, he created the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and new laws that separated banking and investing so that banks could do only one or the other, but not both. In June 1933, Pecora made the cover of TIME Magazine.

Neil Thomas Proto, a Washington, D.C. lawyer and adjunct professor at Georgetown University, has sought to capture this story and Pecora’s values as an Italian American in his new play The Reckoning, Pecora for the Public.

The one-person play will premiere on March 4th through March 19th at the Cornish Playhouse’s Studio Theater in the Seattle Center. Find out more about this play and the man behind it at http://www.neilthomasproto.com/

Sons of Italy Scholarships February Deadline The deadline for the Sons of Italy Foundation® (SIF) National Leadership Grants is February 29, 2016. Applications postmarked after that date will not be considered.

Every year, the SIF awards 10 to 12 scholarships that assist outstanding Italian-American students with their college and graduate studies. The grants include Study in Italy awards. They have ranged from $4,000 to $25,000. Scholarship information and application can be downloaded on http://www.osia.org/students/ scholarships.php.

Questions? Contact Laura Kelly at the Sons of Italy’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C. Tel: 202547-2900. Email: scholarships@osia.org

SIF CEO Philip Piccigallo and Scholarship Coordinator Laura Kelly (far right) with the 2015 SIF scholarship recipients.

Congratulations, Diana!

Congratulations to Diana Burdisso Britting, winner of the Sons of Italy Do You Know Your Roots contest that was held in honor of Italian American Heritage Month.

Diana was randomly selected from all the at-large members (ALM) who joined or renewed their Sons of Italy membership in October. She receives a My Italian Family genealogy research package (valued at $1,500), which will research her family up to five generations back. Look for Diana’s results in Italian America’s Summer 2016 issue. Special thanks to Bianca Ottone from My Italian Family for donating the research package.

WINTER 2016 13 ITALIAN AMERICA

To find out more about your own roots, visit www.myitalianfamily.com.

Remember that all OSIA members can receive a 10% discount from My Italian Family.

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 13

Our Story

Italian American history and culture

First Italian-American Bookstore Opens Along a cobblestone road in downtown Boston’s Little Italy sits the first ever Italian-American bookstore: I Am Books. Filled with shelves of reading material and merchandise, I Am Books seeks to be not simply a store, but a culture hub where Italians and Italian Americans can gather for meetings and events. “We wanted to create a real physical space where we could celebrate Italian culture,” owner Nicola Orichuia said.

Orichuia and co-founder Jim Pinzino opened the doors to I Am Books last October, and a flood of readers young and old poured in. Adults headed to the front of the store, where shelves of books line old brick walls. The books range from contemporary to historical and fiction to non-fiction.

Meanwhile, children headed to the back of the store to a space where they can take picture books off the shelf and look at them while sitting on mini wooden chairs beside a mini wooden table or on a couch lined with Giovanni teddy bears. The children’s section also contains other learning material including games and toys—the most popular being the Strega Nona series.

In the front of the store, a spiral staircase leads to a basement room where I Am Books plans to hold meetings and events, such as Italian language classes and acoustic music performances. “A lot of people have asked about having Italian classes,” he says. “We’re going to introduce

I Am Books opens at 189 North Street. (L-R) Suffolk County Sherriff Steven Thompkins, City Councilor Sal LaMattina, Italian Consul General of Boston Nicola DeSantis, Co-owners Jim Pinzino and Nicola Orichuia, North End State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, and East Boston State Rep. Adrian Madaro. them in January, and also reading groups in Italian for children and adults.”

Orichuia, who was born in Rome and immigrated to the United States in 2008, speaks fluent Italian. A journalist by trade, Orichuia started Bostoniano magazine in

Sisters enjoy Italian books in the children’s section.

WINTER 2016

14

ITALIAN AMERICA

Our Story

Italian American history and culture

2013 as a way of bringing the Boston area and its large Italian-American community together.

Now, he expands this mission, taking it to Boston’s North End, a one-square mile neighborhood that is more commonly known as Little Italy. With more than 100 Italian restaurants and shops, Boston’s Little Italy now has an official bookstore. And inside, awaits a place where Italian Americans can embrace their culture and pass its stories on for future generations to enjoy.

Find I Am Books online at www.iambooksboston.com

WINTER 2016 15 ITALIAN AMERICA

A crowd celebrates the opening and peruses the store.

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 15

By Phyllis Macchioni

When the Duke of Milan’s daughter, Bianca Maria, was about to be married, her father gave her the northern Lombard town of Cremona as part of her dowry. He could do that you see, because 1441 was a time when Italian cities were the personal property of the rich and powerful.

Bianca Maria didn’t do much with Cremona, and for more than a hundred years the town didn’t do much with itself either. That is until the 1500s when Andrea Amati came along and developed the first modern violin. Through Amati and his sons— and particularly two of their students

Artist Edgar Bundy’s 1893 painting of Antonio Stradivari in his workshop.

WINTER 2016

16

named Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu—Cremona became the violin capital of the world.

It is hard to talk about Cremona without talking about violin-making, although there are other things to talk about. The origin of the town dates back more than 3,000 years, making Cremona one of the oldest towns in northern Italy. And while the Venetians, the French, the Spanish, and the Austrians conquered Cremona at one time or another, all of that history is overshadowed by music.

It hits you right away. If you walk from Cremona’s train station down the Via Palestro on your way to the center of town, the mellifluous notes of Vivaldi and Paganini, Tartini and Boccherini resonate from buildings as if they are part of a soundtrack for the city. The music comes from the privately operated violin workshops that are the commercial backbone of the city. They are not much different.

ITALIAN AMERICA

What those master violin-makers (known as luthiers) accomplished 300 years ago was nothing short of a musical miracle. For centuries, scholars and scientists tried to figure out just how they managed to build such magnificent instruments. Now researchers say the secret lies in the remarkable even density of the wood the violin masters used.

It really wasn’t a secret. Any of the violin artisans working in Cremona could have told them that. They could have also told them that the best wood to use is red spruce. Red spruce trees have been scientifically proven to have special characteristics, a certain elasticity and particular honeycomb like structure that mimics small pipe organs. It is this unusual structure that allows for the efficient transmission of sound waves and amplifies sound, making it the ideal wood for violins and other string instruments. But not all red spruce trees are music trees.

The best ones are straight and round with few leaves. When a woodcutter finds such a tree, he first strips away part of the bark and examines the tree trunk. If he sees small longitudinal grooves in the wood, it is most likely a good candidate. He will then hit the tree with a heavy hammer and listen to its vibrations. If the vibrations are strong, the tree is cut down and transported to one of the several sawmills on the lower slopes of the mountain.

WINTER 2016 17 ITALIAN AMERICA

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 17

A s a m at t e r of t r a d i t i o n , violinmakers down through the centuries have attached dated labels to the inside of their instruments. It is the equivalent of a painter signing a painting. In Italy, they printed their labels in Latin and used the Latinate forms of their names, which is how Antonio Stradivari became Antonius Stradivarius.

The Messiah at Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

(Oxfordshire Churches) WINTER 2016

18

ITALIAN AMERICA

become a metaphor for priceless value and quality that cannot be replicated.

Guarneri died just seven years after Stradivari at the age of just 46. Perhaps that explains why fewer than 200 of his instruments are still in existence.

The city of Cremona is home to about 70,000 people. (Cremona APT) There, the trunk is cut into rounds and the growth rings are examined. If the growth rings are grainy and evenly spaced it means the tree has experienced intense cold. That factor alone greatly improves the transmission of sound and influences the timbre of the musical instrument.

It was these two men who brought the art of violin making to its pinnacle in Cremona. After all, of the 12 most expensive violins in the world, 11 of them were made by these luthiers (five

by Stradivari, six by Guarneri). The most expensive violin in the world is a 1716 Stradivarius model named “The Messiah” whose value is estimated at $20 million. As for the one violin to make the list that wasn’t made by

is more feminine, and a Guarneri is more masculine … it’s a deeper voice,” he explained. “And somehow the Stradivarius can be more powerful in terms of direction. It will go right there. And a Guarneri would go in the same direction with more body, but less like a laser.”

While Stradivari and Guarneri live on through those who play their instruments, their craftsmanship lives on as well. Today’s Cremonese luthiers follow the same methods and patterns that were established hundreds of years before them.

Yet even today, when many believe violin craftsmanship is better than it

But there is more to making a musical masterpiece than just choosing the right wood. Making a violin was, and still is, slow, painstaking—even superstitious—work, and the violin masters of old didn’t tempt fate.

Stradivari, for example, only used wood from the male red spruce trees of the Panneveggio Forest, located in the northern province of Trento. He also insisted that the trees be cut during the winter under a waning moon when their sap was not running. And before he applied the final coat of varnish to the instrument, he took it home and put it on the table next to his bed for a couple of weeks. By keeping the violin close to him, he believed a spiritual transaction took place between him and the instrument—and that the violin would inherit a soul.

When Antonio Stradivari died in 1737, at the age of 93, he had handcrafted more than 1,100 string instruments—including harps, guitars, violas, cellos, and violins. Three centuries later, 650 of them still survive. His model, the Stradivarius, has WINTER 2016 19 ITALIAN AMERICA

A violin workshop in Cremona. More than 70 pieces of wood go into each violin. (Cremona APT) Stradivari or Guarneri, it was none other than the violin played as the Titanic sank. It placed 12th on the list.

Just what is the difference between the world’s two top violins? French classical violinist, Renaud Capuçon, elaborated on the difference between the sound of a Stradivari and a Guarneri, having played both of them in his illustrious career. “The Stradivarius

has ever been, the expressiveness and projection of the old violins cannot be matched. Maybe Stradivari was right: maybe those violins did, in fact, inherit a soul.

Phyllis Macchioni lives on the Italian Riviera. She is the author of a recently released collection of essays entitled: This Italian Life – People and Places, available on Amazon. Contact her at phyllisinitaly@gmail.com ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 19

How stereotyping shapes the public image of Italian Americans today.

Send your contributions to mfisher@osia.org or mail to: Italian America Magazine, 219 E Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. Include your name, email or daytime telephone number. No telephone calls please.

Submissions cannot be acknowledged. Contributors’ names, when known, are in parenthesis.

• COLUMBUS AXED A Christopher Columbus statue that stands near Detroit’s City Hall was vandalized last October by an individual who taped an ax to the statue’s head (though it appears wedged into the head, it is in fact taped onto it). The vandal then splattered red paint around the ax. The statue, which was dedicated in 1910 to Detroit’s Italian population, has a plaque below it that praises Columbus as a “great son of Italy” who “discovered America.” Unfortunately, the vandal has not been apprehended.

• FRATS, SORORITIES AND … THE MAFIA? The University of Alabama has a secret society of fraternities and sororities—known as The Machine—that exhibits influence over the campus and Alabama state politics.

The Tuscaloosa News resorted to describing it as oper-

WINTER 2016

20

ating just like the Italian-American Mafia, singling out Italian Americans even though organized crime exists in many cultures at the hands of various ethnicities. The article’s opening belabors this comparison, using several paragraphs that would otherwise have been better served to explain what “The Machine” is (at no point did the article give the reader an understanding of “The Machine”—the above definition had to be googled).

If you would like to see the poor taste and execution of this article, google “The Machine is shady training for politicians.” However, you may want to first google “What is the Machine University of Alabama” in order to understand it.

Special thanks to Andrew Di Liddo, Jr., Historian of Akron Lodge #685 (Ohio) • WE’VE SEEN THAT MOVIE, TOO And yet they still get made. The latest Mafia drama will be a Showtime series produced by Leonardo Di Caprio.

It will focus on the Mafia’s operations in 1980s Brooklyn, depicting a relationship between an unfit mafia leader and a federal agent, both of whom break the rules of their respective organizations. The untitled series is yet another way the film industry goes with what sells by selling out the image of Italian Americans.

ITALIAN AMERICA

Speakers Bureau

learn more about your culture & history

Need a speaker for your club meeting or a special event? Contact these experts directly. Some may require travel expenses and/or honorariums. For more speakers see: www.osia.org at “Culture & History.” To apply as a speaker, contact Miles Fisher at mfisher@osia.org • ANYWHERE USA/CANADA Travel writers Zeneba Bowers and Matt Walker speak on Italian food traditions, history, and culture with a focus on off-the-beatenpath locations in Italy that may be of interest to future visitors. They are co-authors of multiple guidebooks for different regions of Italy as part of their Little Roads Europe Travel Guides series. Book signings. Contact: (615) 293-5978 or (615) 500-6228 (Tennessee) Email: LittleRoadsEurope@gmail.com Website: www.LittleRoadsEurope.com

• NORTHEASTERN/MID-ATLANTIC USA Author Lor raine Haddock speaks on celebrating family and traditions that were brought from Italy to America by Italian women.

She is the author of Bella Figlia della Mamma, a bilingual picture book for children. Book signings.

Contact: (856-981-4836) (New Jersey) Email: brightideastogo@hotmail.com Website: www. brightideastogo.com

• ANYWHERE USA Author/historian Christopher R. Kelly speaks on the history of Italy’s military involvement and conquests. He is the author of Italy Invades: How Italians Conquered the World and America Invades: How We’ve Invaded or Been Militarily Involved With Almost Every Country on Earth. Book signings. Contact: (206) 489-5335 (Washington) Email: vdrino1@aol.com or oonasdad@aol.com Website: www.italyinvades. com

• MIDWEST and BEYOND Associate Professor of English and Italian at Concordia University Eric Dregni speaks on his book Never Trust a Thin Cook: Three Years in the Culinary Capital of Italy. He also speaks on his ten-year experience as dean of Lago del Bosco, an overnight Italian summer camp attended by kids across the country, and on raising three kids in a bilingual household—what works and what doesn’t. Book signings. Contact: (612) 236-5888 (Minnesota) Email: ericdregni@yahoo.com

• NORTHEASTERN USA Co-founder of Intelligent Community Forum think tank Louis A. Zacharilla speaks on making cities and towns stronger through broadband and access technologies. He is the author of S of Appreciation S Brain Gain: How Innovative tificate 2016 C er S S Cities Create Job Growth in an S Age of Disruption. Book signS e t o a f c A i f i t ppreci C er S ings. Contact: (212) 249- 2016 S ation S S S 0624 (New York) Email: S S S S LZacharilla@intelligentcomS S S S munity.org Website: S www.

S intelligentcommunity.org S

to remind an address labels nt. ” Italian-Americ that you represe “<<Full Name>> American heritage Please use your of the proud Italianall who see them John Q. Sample

S SON

le>>

<<John Q. Samp

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street

le>>

S

9

S 9

9

John Q. Sample 1-A

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

Apt. ________________ Street Main __ 9 Joseph DiTrapan 1234 US 12345-678

i Anytown,

SIF President

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-6789 John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-6789

S

John Q. Sample John Q. Sample

Apt. 1-A Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US Anytown, US 12345-678 9

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

S

9

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

John Sample

HKTP179 (F1.5) (2011-10-13)

FOUNDATION®

Order Sons of Italy in America® Donation Processing Center P.O. Box 9577 Wilton, NH 03086-9577

YES! I want to help counter

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-6789 John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-6789

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

▲ DETAC H

q <<$ask1> >

For credit card contributions, please complete the form on the reverse.

9

1234567890

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

53748ARC-A PERFORA FORM AT

TIONS ▲

MY GIFT TO SHOW

THE TRUTH...

1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

Please make your

9 payable check ® and

exxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxNam ssxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxAddre ssxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxAddre ssxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxAddre

TIONS ▲

q Other $ _________ _

1234567890

1234567890

1234567890

Sons of Italy Foundation’s 2016 Address Labels!

Your gifts to the Sons of Italy Foundation’s 2016 fundraising appeals will be used for essential programs and services that promote Italian-American culture, provide scholarships to Italian-American students, and improve the lives of others.

So, please give generously.

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

YES!

xxxxxxxxxNam Window Size: exxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx 4.25” x 1.625 Position: 0.625”xAddressxxxxx xxx from right; 0.75” xxxxxxxxAddre ssxxxxxxxxfrom bottom xxxxxxxxAddre ssxxxxxxxx

YOUR GIFT IS ALLOWED BY TAX-DEDUCTIBLE TO THE LAW. EXTENT

9

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

Donation Processing 9577

gear

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

John Q. Sample gear H Apt. 1-A ▲ DETAC ® 1234 Main Street FOUNDATION ® Anytown, US SONS OF ITALY in America 12345-678 Order Sons 9 of Italy Center

53748ARC-A

q <<$ask3> >

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

John Q. Sample P.O. Box 03086-9577 is my gift to Wilton, NH Apt. 1-A with the truth. Enclosed s of Italian-Americans 1234 Main Street negative stereotype _ Anytown, US I want to help counter ® of: q Other $ _________ 12345-6789 n in the amount > q <<$ask3> Sons of Italy Foundatio > q <<$ask2> John Q. Sample > q <<$ask1> Apt. 1-A

WhenMY GIFT they TOfor ask SHOW THEmod a role TRUTel, H... truth. Enclosed is my gift we to look to you…

q <<$ask2> >

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

1234 Main Street John Q. Sample Anytown, US1-A Apt. 12345-6789 1234 Main Street John Q. Sample US 12345-6789 Anytown, Apt. 1-A 1234 MainJohn Q. Sample Street Anytown, US 1-A Apt.12345-678 9 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 John Q. Sample Anytown, US Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street John Q. Sample Anytown, USApt. 1-A 12345-6789 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 John Q. Sample Anytown, US Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street John Q. Sample Anytown, US Apt. 1-A 12345-6789 Street 1234 Main John Q. SampleAnytown, US 12345-6789 Apt. 1-A 1234 Main StreetJohn Q. Sample Anytown, US Apt. 1-A 12345-678 9 Street 1234 Main 12345-6789 John Q. Sample Anytown, US Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-6789

Sons of Italy Foundationegative stereotypes of Italian-Am ericans with the n® in the amount of:

Please make your to Sons of Italy check payable Foundation® and return it in the enclosed envelope.

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

FORM AT PERFORA

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street John Q. Sample US 12345-6789 Anytown, Apt. 1-A

n John Q. Sample of Italy Foundatio Apt. to envelope.

1-ASons it in the enclosed 1234return Main Street Anytown, US please 12345-6789 contributions, For credit card reverse.

John Q. Sample the form on the complete Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street TAX-DEDUCTIBLE TO THE EXTENT YOUR GIFT IS LAW. Anytown, BY ALLOWED US 12345-678 John Q. Sample 9 Apt. 1-A John Q. Sample Main Street FOUNDATIO 1234 ® Apt. 1-A N US 12345-6789 1234 Anytown, Main Street Anytown, US 12345-6789 John Q. Sample Non-Profit Org. Apt. 1-A U.S. Postage 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 PAID Anytown, US Sons of Italy Foundation

J Sia.org/sif

SONS OF ITALY

9

OE 07.7500 x 05.3750 in OE 196.9 x 136.5 mm

9

9

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

9

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678 John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

9

9

J S

SONS OF ITALY

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A

John Sample

J S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A ohn 1234 Main Street Anytown, US ample 12345-6789

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

9

9

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

John Sample

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A ohn 1234 Main Street Anytown, US ample 12345-678

John Q. Sample John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 1234 Main Street Anytown, US Anytown, US 12345-6789 Order Sons of Italy John Q. Sample 219 E Street, N.E. in America ® Apt. 1-A ohn Washington, 1234 Main Street DC 20002 12345-6789 Anytown, US www.osample

9

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-6789

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

9

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

9

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-6789

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

9

S

9

S

9

9

S

9

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678 John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

9

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

S S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-6789

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

S

9

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

S

9

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

9

12345-6789 Anytown, US

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-6789

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

us support in 12345-678 Anytown, US preserving the culture, encour Italian-Americ aging educati an Q. Sample John onal excellen and improving Apt. 1-A the lives of others. ce, 1234 Main Street ________________

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

Please use your Joseph “<<Ful President l Name>>” Italianall who see them SIF American address of the proud Italianlabels to remind American heritag e that you John Q. Sample Q. Sample Johnreprese nt.

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

<<John Q. Samp

For your genero

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

__

________________ ________________ DiTrapani

Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street Anytown, US 12345-678

presented to

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

American ing the Italians support in preserv onal excellence, For your generou ging educati culture, encoura the lives of others. and improving

SONS OF ITALY FOUNDAT ION ®

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

COMING SOON TO YOUR MAILBOX…

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

presented to

Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

S

John Q. Sample Apt. 1-A 1234 Main Street 12345-6789 Anytown, US

LY FOUNDATION ® OF ITA

35424

To receive the Sons of Italy Foundation’s Address Labels or other exclusive gifts, please contact Donor Services at 1-855-824-7332 or e-mail sif@donor-services.com.

The Sons of Italy Foundation is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)3 organization, and your donations to the Sons of Italy Foundation are tax-deductible to the extent of the law.

1234567890

1234567890

35424 53748OE

WINTER 2016 21 ITALIAN AMERICA

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 21

The Italian French Quarter in New Orleans

By Helen Colella

Building around a location known as the Old Square and dubbing it the French Quarter, the French founded the city of New Orleans in 1718.

The city’s oldest neighborhood, the French Quarter became a melting pot of many cultures, from French and Spanish to African and Native

WINTER 2016

22

American. A century and a half later, Italians arrived en masse.

The very first Italians, however, arrived much earlier. Italian names were recorded in Louisiana as part of the Hernando de Soto Expedition in the mid-1500s. The best-known of these was Italian-born Henri de Tonti, a soldier, explorer, fur trader,

and government representative to the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes in the Louisiana region. During his years in office, he facilitated many negotiations to maintain peace. In honor of such leadership skills, city authorities later named a downtown New Orleans street for him—Tonti Street—that still exists today.

Italian headquarters on Madison Street in 1906. (Library of Congress) ITALIAN AMERICA

After New Orleans came into existence and through the end of the Civil War, Italians began to establish themselves in the French Quarter community as innkeepers, merchants, and importers. One of the most wellknown and successful businesses at the time was the New Exchange Coffee House on Chartres Street—owned and operated by Milan-born Pierre (originally Pietro) Maspero. The 1850 census stated that “Louisiana, with 924 Italian-born immigrants, had the highest concentration of Italians on the North American continent.”

By the end of the Civil War, Italians in Louisiana had become entrepreneurs, grocers, poultry dealers, and physicians.

After the Civil War, the work Italians sought changed dramatically.

Because of the need to replace slaves on the farms and plantations, the Louisiana Bureau of Immigration started recruiting manual labor from Italy. Lured by the same promise of opportunity offered to earlier immigrants, Italians from southern Italy, particularly Sicily, began immigrating aboard cargo ships, such as the SS Darlington and SS Letimbro, bound for the port of New Orleans, one of the two entry points into the United States (the other being Ellis Island).

The Sicilian seafaring travelers were comprised of diplomats, business leaders, musicians, and artisans, as well as farmers and fishermen. Many of them

came to New Orleans because of its strategic location on the Mississippi River not only for the opportunities it offered as one of the largest and richest trade-cities, but also because of their desire to be near the sea.

One of the first problems the Sicilians encountered arose from the census forms that classified them as Black because of their dark skin. They were forced to follow the Jim Crow laws of segregation and were not permitted to socialize with or marry whites. In many cases, they were considered inferior to the Blacks, the most discriminated group. The mutual struggle they faced led Italians and Blacks to form a close relationship.

A group of Italians talking on the now famous Decatur Street in 1938.

(Library of Congress) WINTER 2016 23 ITALIAN AMERICA

The Bank of Italy’s temporary office following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. (Courtesy of the Bank of America Historical Collection) ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 23

On October 15, 1890, New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessy walked out of a saloon with a friend after enjoying a late night meal of oysters. They parted ways and as Hennessy headed home, gunfire rang out. His friend rushed to his aid, finding Hennessy lying in the street dying from gunshot wounds and allegedly whispering, “The dagos did it.” This prompted New Orleans Mayor Joseph A. Shakespeare to order the police department to “arrest every Italian you come across if necessary ….”

The police responded by rounding

The verdict did nothing to quell anti-Italian sentiment. An angry mob formed outside the prison and stormed it. Some of the acquitted Italians were shot while trapped in their cells and others were dragged from their cells and hung. In the end, a total of 11 Italians were dead.

Upon learning of this, the Italian government severed diplomatic relations with the United States.

A Grand Jury stepped in, yet it exonerated those involved in the lynchings. To compensate for the tragedy, the U.S. government paid $25,000 to Italy to restore international relations.

New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessey whose murderers were never found.

up 120 Italians, nine of whom were brought to trial. The jury found six of them not guilty and failed to reach a verdict on the other three. Yet the judge refused to let the men go, ordering them back to prison.

WINTER 2016

24

Rioters break into Parish Prison, the New Orleans city jail where the acquitted Italians were being held.

They began working side by side on sugar and strawberry farms, on the city’s busy docks and at other menial jobs. Many times, Sicilians received less money than the Blacks for the same work. Both groups also faced ignorance that sometimes even led to being accused of and held accountable for crimes they didn’t commit. It was here, in New Orleans, where Italians became victims of the largest lynching in United States history occurred.

At the turn of the century, the ‘new’ Italian immigrants had little opportunity in the declining French Quarter. They were forced to live in adverse conditions, primarily in the downtown—or “Mediterranean” half of the city—which led them to create their own neighborhoods. Italian immigrants began to establish Italian businesses: gelato stands, grocery stalls, butchershops, barbershops, storefront cobblers, and restaurants.

These businesses flourished so much that the French Quarter acquired an Italian nickname, becoming referred to as “Little Palermo” since Sicilians represented 90 percent of the Italian population.

Sicilian foods became so popular that the restaurant folks in New Orleans modified the Italian tomato sauce to fit their cooking style. They added a brown roux, a flour and fat mixture to the sauce to thicken it, and called it “red gravy.” Many restaurants changed their menu to include ItalianCreole cuisine, which included many seafood and pasta dishes, one being Shrimp Scampi.

With food, also came music. Sicilians brought their love of music to New Orleans, and because they lived side by side with Blacks, they started playing a role in the development of Jazz—a contribution that often goes ITALIAN AMERICA

unrecognized. It was Nick LaRocca and his Original Dixieland Jass Band who, in 1917, recorded “Livery Stable Blues,” the first ever jazz recording.

It also became the first record to sell more than one million copies. After LaRocca, jazz spread across the country and many Italian-American jazz musicians, including New Orleans’ native Louis Prima, contributed to the burgeoning scene, often crossing color lines.

Italians still maintained a connection to their homeland, establishing several social and benevolent organizations to preserve their customs and provide support for new arrivals from Italy. The Societa Italiana di Mutua Beneficenza was established in 1843, and the San Bartolomeo Society, which stands as the oldest ItalianAmerican society in New Orleans, was formed in 1879.

Central Grocery Opened in 1906 by Sicilian immigrant Salvatore Lupo, Central Grocery is famous for his trademark Muffuletta sandwich, made from the ingredients of Italian antipasto, salami, and provolone topped with a distinctive olive salad, stacked on good bread. Lupo’s store not only honored his Italian heritage but fed workers on the go and became a culinary icon. It’s still a favorite in the French Quarter today!

Hotel Monteleone Opened in 1886 by Sicilian cobbler Antonio Monteleone, Hotel Monteleone was originally named the Commercial Hotel until it changed its name in 1916. One of the few familyowned hotels to survive the Great Depression, it also serves as a literary landmark, hosting the likes of Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Stephen Ambrose, and John Grisham. Truman Capote even claimed to have been born at the hotel (he wasn’t).

After World War I, Italian immigration to New Orleans began to diminish. However, because the prior arrival of Italians—and in particular, Sicilians—cultivated a place so rich with Italian influence, the French Quarter still holds traces of what was, for a time, “Little Palermo.”

Helen Colella is a writer from Loveland, Colorado. Her works include educational materials, articles & stories for adults/children, anthology books & parenting magazines. She’s also a consultant for blue13creative in Denver. Contact her at helencolella@comcast.net

For more information visit: American Italian Cultural Center and American Italian Museum, 537 S. Peters Street, New Orleans, LA or check online: www.americanitalianculturalcenter.com

ITALIAN AMERICA

(Wally Gobetz)

(MA1216)

Standard Fruit Company (now the Dole Food Company) Started in 1899 by Sicilian immigrant brothers Joseph, Luca and Felix Vaccaro along with Salvador D’Antoni, the Standard Fruit Company began importing bananas to New Orleans from Honduras. By 1915, it owned almost all of the ice factories in the city to refrigerate their shipments of bananas.

It was acquired in the 1960s by Castle & Cooke Corporation, which had also acquired James Dole’s Hawaiian Pineapple Company around the same time. In 1991, Castle & Cooke was renamed the Dole Food Company, giving Standard Fruit Company’s bananas its Dole sticker.

WINTER 2016 25

OSIA Nation virginia

OSIA LODGES AT WORK ohio

Giuseppe Verdi Lodge #315 of Mechanicsville celebrated 100 years on the lodge’s grounds last October. The lodge took pride in its many charitable accomplishments, contributing to everything from national organizations such as Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, Alzheimer’s Foundation, and the Autism Society to local organizations such as the Boy Scouts and Toys for Tots. There was also musical entertainment, delicious food (of course!), and outdoor games.

Congratulations on the milestone, Giuseppe Verdi Lodge!

Founded on December 2, 1899 as the Societa Di Mutuo Soccorso Italiana of Dayton, the John Pirelli Lodge #1633 originated as a means for Italians to foster relationships and also establish a fund to pay sick and death benefits to its members.

In 1932, the lodge became affiliated with the Sons of Italy. Its name honors the memory of Lieutenant Giovanni Pirelli, an Italian pilot who died while assisting the U.S. Military on aviation technology and tactics following World War I. The John Pirelli Lodge (humbly) boasts 602 active members! The lodge hosts a variety of annual activities, in-

cluding its Bocce Classic Tournament (with 60+ teams), Meatball Madness 5K Run/Spaghetti Eating Contest, and Italian Fall Festa. It also holds events such as a Columbus Day Banquet, Christmas Party, Wine Tasting, Seafood Bash, Cooking Demos, and Italian language lessons.

In addition to these events, the John Pirelli Lodge also focuses on charity, supporting the fight against cancer, the Special Olympics, and many other worthy causes—including OSIA’s National Charities (Cooley’s Anemia, Alzheimer’s, and the Doug Flutie Autism Foundations).

Children celebrate by playing a friendly game of bocce.

Accordionist among them, musicians perform amidst Italy’s colors.

Held the weekend after Labor Day, the John Pirelli Lodge’s Italian Fall Festa attracts a quite a crowd.

Is there an Italian Festival in your area?

Find out at OSIA.org!

More than 350 Italian Festivals in over 35 states will be listed in OSIA’s 2016 Italian Festival Directory so that you don’t miss out on any Italian celebrations in your area. To access the directory, visit www.osia.org/culture/italian-festival And be sure to share your Festa pictures on the Order Sons of Italy in America Facebook page!

WINTER 2016

26

ITALIAN AMERICA

OSIA Nation

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

pennsylvania On October 11, the State Lodge of Pennsylvania held “A Tribute to Mario Lanza” at the Venice Island Performing Arts Center in Philadelphia. The sold out event was part of Ciao Philadelphia, a month-long series of events that celebrate ItalianAmerican Heritage Month and the contributions Italians and Italian Americans made to the Greater

Philadelphia area. The concert was performed by the Munier Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra, and featured accordionist Joe Soprani and acclaimed tenor Frank Tenaglia.

Mario Lanza, born Alfred Arnold Cocozza in Philadelphia, became a world-renowned tenor and film star before his premature death in 1959 at just 38 years old.

florida Buona Fortuna Lodge #2835 of Pensacola held its fifth Festa Italiana last November. The gathering featured a delicious menu of shrimp scampi, lasagna, and spaghetti with meatballs. For dessert, a choice of all the Italian favorites lined the tables— cannoli, biscotti, pizzelles, tiramisu, and gelato.

The lodge, which was founded in 2006, held its first Festa in 2010, when it had 68 members. Today, the lodge boasts 152 members, in part a result of this now annual event. The profits it generates are put toward helping local community organizations and promoting the Sons of Italy through local media in order to expand the lodge.

South Philadelphia’s own, tenor Frank Tenaglia, sings Mario Lanza.

new york Duca Degli Abruzzi Lodge #443—known as the “Dukes”—celebrated its centennial last fall in Endicott, New York. Member Luigi Gobbo crafted a beautiful mosaic from glass tile, modeling it after the commemorative pins that lodge members wore proudly to commemorate this anniversary.

GOT A GOOD STORY? Have you or your lodge done something remarkable that makes a difference to your community or promotes our heritage and Italian studies?

Lodge members celebrated their centennial with a dinner dance gala, golf tournament, and pig roast.

Bravo, Luigi! And congratulations to the Dukes!

WINTER 2016 27 ITALIAN AMERICA

Chef Molla shows off the joy that comes with manning the kitchen.

(L. to R.) Joseph Del Signore, Marsha Mirra, Adam Molla, and Mark DeNunzio.

(L. to R.) Lodge President Pat Cerra, Luigi Gobbo, and Lodge Treasurer Steve Rogers.

If so, send details including your lodge’s name/number, a brief writeup, and digital photos of 300 DPIs to Editor Miles Fisher at mfisher@ osia.org.

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 27

An Italian Mother at Every Football Party (Photo: frontier.1968)

The Origin of Buffalo Wings

By miles ryan fisher

It was late at night in 1964, and Teressa Bellissimo was working in the bar that she and her husband, Frank, owned. She was preparing a pot for chicken stock, gathering a batch of chicken wings to use since they’d otherwise be discarded as scrap. Then her son, Dominic, stumbled into the bar with his college friends in search of something to eat.

Even though it was late, Teressa obliged. She took the chicken wings she’d planned on using for the stock and cut them in half to create a “drumstick” and a “flat.”

She dropped them in the deep fat fryer. While the wings cooked, she concocted a sauce using Frank’s RedHot as her base and drizzled it over the wings once they were done. She poured some house dressing—bleu cheese— into a small bowl.

She looked at the plate of wings dripping with hot sauce and the bowl filled with bleu cheese, and she noticed that something was missing. So she plucked a few celery WINTER WINTER 2016 2016 28 28

sticks from a prepared antipasto and added them to the plate (because there had to be at least something healthy on there). She served the late night snack to her son and his friends, and there they sat in a little bar in Buffalo, New York devouring what would one day be known to the nation as buffalo wings.

Teressa and Frank Bellissimo had bought their bar in 1939, twenty-five years prior to that night. The bar sat at the foot of Main Street in downtown Buffalo, close to the Buffalo River. So they dubbed it the Anchor Bar. The bar still exists today, rather unchanged. What has changed over the years, however, is the account of what happened on the night Teressa invented buffalo wings.

You see, the account of her beloved son stumbling in with his friends in search of something to assuage their hunger is just one of three different stories recounting what actually happened. That version is etched on a plaque below a statue of Teressa that stands outside of the Anchor ITALIAN ITALIANAMERICA AMERICA

Bar, though it’s unclear who originally told it. The other two stories originate from none other than Teressa’s husband and their son.

According to husband Frank, the buffalo chicken wing sprang out of a the mis-delivery. A whole batch of chicken wings arrived in place of backs and necks, which they used for making the bar’s spaghetti sauce. Instead of simply discarding the wings, Frank asked his wife to make use of them however she thought best. This, Frank said, was how the buffalo wing came to be.

According to son Dominic, however, the buffalo wing sprang out of religion. Patrons drank their way into a late Friday night, buying round after round. Dominic wanted to show appreciation for the bar’s patrons, who were mostly Catholic and still in observance of eating fish on Friday. When midnight rolled around, everyone was served chicken wings, getting to break their fast in a meat-filled way. Still, Dominic said, it was his mother who thought of serving the wings.

My mother was a pure genius. She could take a potato, a carrot, some peas, maybe a little onion sauteed, a little olive oil, throw in some little round meatballs and make you a meatball stew that would be the greatest.” — Dominic Bellissimo in his

mother’s New York Times Obituary

The wings that made Anchor Bar famous. (Tim Church) WINTER 2016 29 ITALIAN AMERICA

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 29

Anchor Bar supplies their famous recipe on their website. (Hint: Use Frank’s Hot Sauce as a substitute and add a quarter cup of melted butter for medium spiciness)

The three different accounts of the story show just how history changes through time and how legends develop.

Teressa, Frank, and Dominic have all since passed away so we may never know the true story. However, Anchor Bar’s current head chef, Ivano Toscani, worked for the Bellissimos, starting as a dishwasher in the mid-1970s when he emigrated from Milan. When asked what story he knew to be true, he offered a version that combines Dom’s and Frank’s accounts. “Dom was behind the bar, and his friends came in,” Toscani said. “They drank and he wanted to give them something to eat. Something new.

Teressa was in the back and cooked up some wings that had been mis-delivered.”

Regardless of which story to believe, they all agree on some basic facts. It was an Italian mother—Teressa Bellissimo—who invented the buffalo wing. It was she who cut the wings in half, creating the drumstick and the flat. It was she who topped them with Frank’s RedHot and served them with bleu cheese dressing and a side of celery sticks, a peculiar combination that wing-eaters take for granted these days. And since all of this happened in a bar in Buffalo, the chicken wings became known as buffalo wings.

Anchor Bar prepares about 2,000 pounds of wings per day.

(Darmon)

The popularity of buffalo wings grew. The city of Buffalo declared July 29, 1977 Chicken Wing Day and in 1982, Buffalo Wild Wings was founded. However, it wasn’t until almost 25 years after Teressa invented buffalo wings that they entered the national spotlight. For it was when the Buffalo Bills made it to four consecutive Super Bowls in the early 90’s that attention shone on Buffalo’s hometown concoction. From there, buffalo wings soared in popularity and are now the food most linked to our nation’s most popular sport. Today, Americans polish off 1.25 billion wings during the Super Bowl alone—an amount that could circle the earth more than twice.

Now that we are in the midst of another round of NFL playoffs, we prepare for yet another Super Bowl. But we won’t gather for this annual production simply to watch football players compete or commercials that entertain us.

We’ll gather out of the enjoyment from the company of our family and friends and, of course, food. And sitting in the center of almost every food table will be a pile of buffalo wings, a little creation brought to us by an Italian mother who simply wanted to fill a few empty stomachs.

Miles Ryan Fisher is the Editor-in-Chief of Italian America magazine. You can contact him at mfisher@osia.org

WINTER 2016

30

ITALIAN AMERICA

From the National

WHAT NATIONAL DOES FOR YOU

From the President’s Desk

By Daniel J. Longo, President of the Order Sons of Italy in America® As of December 31, 2015, this administration has been in place for approximately 126 days. During this time, our National Vice Presidents have created and staffed all of our OSIA committees. It is encouraging the number of members that volunteered to serve the Order by participating on these committees. Committees have begun to implement plans to accomplish their missions. Most all of these committees will be presenting their mission statements and plans on how their goals will be accomplished.

Notably, our newly created “Technology Committee” will begin the process of creating a new Request for Proposal and selecting a Web Design firm to completely revise the www.OSIA.org website. The committee will be striving to modernize and stabilize the site, expand its capabilities and make it more user-friendly.

OSIA just completed an internal review of its finances under the leadership of National Financial Secretary Thom Lupo and National Treasurer Frank Panessa. The results will be reported in its entirety at our National Executive Session in Baltimore (February 25 – 28).

efforts of our National Office Staff. For an organization of our size it absolutely amazes me the amount of work that is turned out in such a timely manner. Each does a yeoman’s job creating the image of our organization on a national level and supporting our Grand, Local and Subordinate lodges under the leadership of Dr. Philip Piccigallo, National Executive Director.

All organizations are facing diminishing membership roles due to attrition. Collectively, we need to concentrate on membership retention and growth. You have heard me say many times, National can provide the bricks and mortar to each and every one of our members. It is up to our members and their local leadership to build and reinforce the basic foundation of our organization. I ask each of you to revisit the reasons you joined the Order Sons of Italy in America. I’m sure it will bring a smile to your face to recall those times when considering membership in our beloved Order. Share that smile of remembrance with a relative, a friend, or a co-worker and simply ask them to join you and your family in the preservation of our Italian culture and heritage.

Sempre Avanti,

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the outstanding

Are You Looking for Vacation Options This Year?

Check out the 2016 Trips Hosted by Unitours!

These 10-day trips take you through beautiful landscapes and into cities that contain some of the world’s finest culture. For more information, contact Marianna Pisano of Unitours at 1-800-777-7432 or mpisano@ unitours.com

Rome

Northern Italy

“Treasures of Northern Italy” - May 22 and October 14 “Florence, Rome, and Sorrento” - June 3 “A Journey Through Provence

and Côte D’Azur” - June 11

Andalucía

Provence

“Enchanting Ireland” - August 26

“A Cultural Experience Through Andalucía”- September 23

WINTER 2016 31 ITALIAN AMERICA

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 31

®

The Sons of Italy Foundation

®

HELPING THOSE IN NEED

There’s More Than One Way to Give

By Joseph DiTrapani, President

I want to start by wishing all of you a wonderful new year. I hope you and yours are blessed with happiness and health in 2016.

For the Sons of Italy Foundation, the new year signifies a period of transition: we complete our year-end fund-raising campaign and ramp up our scholarship program and preparations for the National Education & Leadership Awards (NELA) Gala.

This transition is a good time to consider the different ways those who care about the SIF’s programs can continue their support. Interestingly, many of you may not know there are other ways to support the SIF in addition to recurring giving and the Sustaining Patrons Circle—which I highlighted in my last column—attendance at and sponsorship of the NELA Gala, direct donations, and contributions to the mail program.

In fact, some of the other ways of supporting the SIF hardly seem like charitable giving at all. The best example of this is iGive. In our increasingly digital world, iGive’s purpose is to help consumers give back by doing something many already do on a regular basis: shop online. When you sign up for a free account on iGive and make purchases from any of the 1700+ affiliated online retailers, a donation is made to the SIF. But that donation does not come out of your pocket; it’s given by the retailers.

are made directly through the retailers’ websites (retailers like Walmart, Amazon, Hotels.com, and so many more).

If you don’t already support us through iGive, please give it a try. You can start shopping to help the SIF here: www.iGive.com/SIF. Or, consider these other ways to help: Shop at Amazon – Besides the donation earned through iGive, shopping at Amazon can earn an additional donation for the SIF; visit www.osia.org/sif/ giving-options for information.

Sell or buy on Ebay – You can designate all or part of the proceeds from items you sell to the SIF, or add a small donation when you buy items and check out.

Be active on social media – Sometimes contests turn up that require little more than your engagement (posting, liking, etc.) to help the SIF qualify for a grant.

These are easy ways to support the SIF’s programs that nearly any of us can do. Through iGive, the SIF has earned about $450 since it was first listed as a recipient charity in late 2013—and that’s been generated by only 24 people. Imagine if 100 or even 500 people participated.

The potential is huge and could go a long way toward making the lives of those in need better. That is, after all, why there’s a Sons of Italy Foundation.

As an added benefit, iGive needs minimal information from you to start a free account and all your purchases

WINTER 2016

32

ITALIAN AMERICA

®

The Commission for Social Justice

The CSJ Perspective

By Kevin Caira, President

Columbus Day continues to be the target of the politically correct and revisionist establishment. This vocal minority has been convincing political leaders at every governmental level across America to stop celebrating Columbus Day and instead rename it Indigenous People’s Day. If this action is taking place in your town, city or state, please inform your Lodge President, your State President, the State CSJ Chairman and our National Office.

We must express our opinions on the importance of Columbus Day, recognizing the Admiral of the Seas and the many contributions our ancestors have made to western civilization. Organize a writing campaign, but most importantly rally members and friends to attend council meetings or school committee meetings where this issue will be brought forward for discussion and speak your mind. It is your right.

I am not opposed to an Indigenous People’s Day, but it should not be on Columbus Day, a Federal Holiday since 1937. Rather, it should be celebrated the Friday after Thanksgiving in November, which by the way, is Native American Heritage Month. I invite you to google

fighting defamation

Columbus: Fact vs. Fiction prepared by Dona DeSanctis former Editor-in-Chief, Italian American Magazine. It’s a great read; share it with your family and friends.

On another note, Pomodori Gourmet Foods, LLC has launched wines and marinara sauces honoring Italian actors who appeared in Goodfellas, Casino, Sopranos and more. By naming the product line “Wise Guy Wines,” this “honor” denigrates the Italian-American community by depicting people of Italian descent as gangsters. If you see these products on store shelves, pass them by.

And speaking of stereotyping, WHAT is the Presidential Campaign Committee of Jeb Bush thinking about when they launched a television ad and flyer promoting him as “Veto Corleone?” Don’t his handlers realize their referencing Governor Bush as the “Godfather” is offensive to many Italian Americans? Governor, pull the plug on that ad campaign.

Support your National Commission for Social Justice.

Your contribution assists us in the important work we do.

Please send a donation earmarked CSJ and mail it to OSIA, 219 E Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002.

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.

History In A Box In order to encourage and develop a positive image of Italian people, NYS CSJ Chairman Lou Gallo created a “History in a Box” program that is presented to schools, lodges, and community groups. Since Lou is a former Social Studies teacher, he was asked two years ago by then Columbus Lodge #2143 President Keith Wilson to present a program in the month of October to the lodge to celebrate Culture and Heritage Month. Hence, “History in a Box” was born!

“What I do is take selected artifacts from everyday life from a covered box that each has a story behind it,” Gallo explains. “Each story is connected to a theme. The theme is that we are surrounded everyday in our lives with Italian inventions and innovations that people take for granted.

Everyone catches onto the theme right away, and all I do is embellish it for half an hour.”

WINTER 2016 33 ITALIAN AMERICA

“With children, especially, I place the program in context against the pejorative stereotypes they see on TV and in the movies,” he says. “I demonstrate to them that Italian people are not the Sopranos, Jersey Shore, A Bronx Tale, or the Godfather. I show them that we are far more than that and have been for a very, very long time.”

The artifacts are in a covered box so as to continually create curiosity throughout the program. To date, Gallo has done 22 presentations. “I just love the look on people’s faces as they try to figure out what’s in the box. And it gets me back into the classroom once in a while.”

Anyone interested in having the program can contact Lou at (631) 821-2290 or ljgallo@optonline.net

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 33

The Perfect Gift

Please give this gift subscription to:

Looking for a unique present for family or friends? Give the gift of your rich Italian American heritage with a one-year subscription to Italian America® magazine, the most widely read publication in the U.S. for people of Italian descent. We will contact your gift recipient telling him or her (or them) of your present. Fill out the form below and return to us ASAP.

NAME:

[Please print]

Address: City

State

Zip Code

State

Zip Code

Please say it is from: NAME:

[Please print]

Address: City

E-Mail: Telephone: (

)

Send your check for $20.00 payable to OSIA SUPREME LODGE to:

Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for processing.

GIFT SUBSCRIPTION Italian America® Magazine 219 E Street, NE Washington, DC 20002

Letters to the Editor Several of our members asked why the Italian Language articles were missing from the Fall 2015 edition. But overall a very nice edition. Great job.

Charles P. Pisano, President West Shore Lodge #2651 (Pennsylvania) I have been a member of OSIA since 2002, and have always looked forward to receiving and enjoying Italian America Magazine. The Fall 2015 issue’s article It’s a Wonderful Life now ranks as my favorite article.Although I knew the founder of Bank of America was Mr. Giannini, I didn’t know how he came to start the bank nor of the Frank Capra connection.

My daughter-in-law has been employed by Bank of America in Delaware for nearly 13 years, and she loves working there.

I don’t know if she’s aware of the founder’s story, but I am saving the magazine article for her to read and hopefully appreciate. Wonderfully written, great story.

Joanne Puccio Dell’Aquila Caesar Rodney Lodge #2359 (Delaware)

For years I have read with interest and often disgust the examples in “It’s Only a Movie.” But in the most recent edition, you went too far. Vito Corleone happens to be a famous name in a famous movie. In a play on words and not in any way an attack on our Italian heritage, Jeb Bush became known as “Veto Corleone” because he vetoed many bad bills. It is a real stretch to associate that with anti-Italian sentiment. We are often accused of taking our sensitivity too far and this time you have done so. Mr. Bush has my Italian-American vote and support and donations. He is the best person for the job and you owe him an apology! Your criticism was way out of bounds?

Michael Salardino Former Southern Colorado lodge and Colorado Grand Lodge president

Corrections for Fall 2015 issue A Knock At Midnight (page 16) The alien registration cards are from Lisa Scottoline’s novel entitled Killer Smile not Killer Times.

Sons of Italy Foundation (page 32) Tony Phillips was mistakenly omitted from the Sons of Italy Sustaining Patrons Circle Honor Roll. Joseph Sciame has since renewed his recurring giving.

WINTER 2016

34

ITALIAN AMERICA

Italian America® Italian America® Magazine is produced by the national headquarters of the Order Sons of Italy in America®, 219 E Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002.

Tel: 202/547-2900.

Email: nationaloffice@osia.org OSIA National Executive Director Philip R. Piccigallo, Ph.D. Office Manager Andrea Beach Director of Programs and Development Diane Crespy Editor Miles Ryan Fisher Social Media/Communications Coordinator Carly Jerome Administrative/Scholarship Coordinator Laura Kelly

Italian America® is the official publication of the Order Sons of Italy in America® (OSIA), the largest and longest-established organization of American men and women of Italian heritage. Italian America® provides timely information about OSIA, while reporting on individuals, institutions, issues, and events of current or historical significance in the Italian-American community nationwide.

Italian America® (ISSN: 1089-5043, USPS: 015-735) is published quarterly in the winter, spring, summer and fall by OSIA, 219 E St. NE, Washington, DC 20002. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C., and at additional mailing offices. ©2015 Order Sons of Italy in America. All rights reserved. Reproduction by any method without permission of the editor is prohibited.

Statements of fact and opinion are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily imply an opinion on the part of the officers, employees, or members of OSIA. Mention of a product or service in advertisements or text does not mean that it has been tested, approved or endorsed by OSIA, the Commission for Social Justice, or the Sons of Italy Foundation. Italian America® accepts query letters and letters to the editor. Please do not send unsolicited manuscripts. Italian America® assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Annual subscriptions are $20, which are included in dues for OSIA members. Single copies are $4.95 each.

OSIA MEMBERS: Please send address changes to your local lodge. Do not contact the OSIA National Office.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Italian America®, 219 E St. NE, Washington, DC 20002. Subscriptions are available through the OSIA National Office, 219 E Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. OSIA membership information is available at (800) 552-OSIA or at www.osia.org. Archives are maintained at the Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minn.

Printing by Printing Solutions Inc., Sterling, Va. To advertise: Call Pat Rosso at 215/206-4678 or email her at pieassociates2@att.net. Also see www.osia.org for advertising rates, specs, demographics, etc.

WINTER 2016 35 ITALIAN AMERICA

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

Yogi Berra. Maybe everything there is to say has already been said about the extraordinary life he lived. Though no matter how many times a story’s been told, there’s always a slightly new way of telling it. As perhaps Yogi himself might have said, Say it again for the first time.

Everyone knows that he stuck up for his Italian heritage and his fellow Italian Americans. Everyone knows that he also stuck up for African-Americans and Latino ballplayers. Toward the end of his life, he stuck up for LGBT rights, too. For the 90 years that he lived, Yogi managed to stay ahead of his time.

But he stuck up for more than these groups of people. During his career, Yogi was ridiculed for how he looked, which was about as far from resembling a ballplayer as possible. He was mocked for his short height and his stubby stature. He was mocked for his “ugly” face. He was mocked for his awkward, often clumsy-looking style of play.

And how did he endure these insults? Through humor. He laughed it off and befriended those around him. Yet that doesn’t mean he never felt those insults or that those insults ever truly bounced off of him as easily as he made it seem. What’s probably more the reality is that he absorbed those insults without retaliating. And in doing so, he stuck up for people who don’t identify with any group—people who face insults of all kinds for many different reasons.

In a sense, Yogi stuck up for everybody. He stuck up for you, he stuck up for me. He stuck up for anyone—everyone—who faces ridicule. He took that ridicule, and he disarmed it with his jokes, with his personality, with his smile. And through that reaction, he became one of the most beloved baseball players in all of history.

Following his recent passing, a flood of articles and personal memories paying tribute to him appeared everywhere. Many of these were no doubt written by some of the 100,000 individuals who petitioned the President to award him the Medal of Freedom. And perhaps this was Yogi’s greatest feat of all: He stuck up for everyone to the point that, in the end, everyone stuck up for him.

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2016 35

Piacere!

Pleased to meet you, LISA

Lisa Scottoline Lisa Scottoline is a New York Times bestselling author whose 24 novels have sold more than 30 million copies and been published in over 35 countries.

Born in Philadelphia, Lisa writes legal thrillers that draw on her background in law (she received both her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Pennsylvania). The novels also draw on her strong Italian background, her grandparents having emigrated from Ascoli Piceno in the Marche region of Italy.

World War II. I think the underlying tension in the novel, specifically the balance between national security and civil liberties, is resonant today.

What’s one piece of advice you wished you’d received when you were younger?

My mother gave me the best advice I ever got, which was to be yourself. But I wish that I had gotten advice like, take Lisa and her daughter Francesca Serritella write a weekly column a chance. My mother was so wonderfor the Philadelphia Inquirer called ful and she was typically protective as “Chick Wit.” a mother, much the way I was to my How does your heritage play a role own daughter, and I’m not sure that I took as many risks in your writing?

My Italian heritage plays a role in everything I do, as I wish I had. As I got older, I got practice taking risks, including my writing, and perhaps especially my writing. and I think it paid off every time. And so now I say to I’m known for writing strong women characters who have my daughter, be yourself, and then I say, take your shot. a zest for life and a great sense of humor, and I think that What inspired you to change careers from law to comes directly from my Italian-American mother. Similarly, writing? my male characters have a gentle but strong nature, and This is an easy question for me because my daughter, that couldn’t be more like my Italian-American father. Francesca, was the inspiration for me to change careers.

Also, every one of my characters is written in the context Unfortunately, her father and I divorced when she was of her family and couldn’t be separated from her family, just a baby, and I had to find a new way to make a living which is quintessentially Italian. Above all, my work has as a single mother because I wanted to stay home with been called emotional thrillers, and I truly believe that our her. So then I began writing and after five years of rejeccultural heritage gives us permission to fully experience tion, I was able to make it into a career. That’s part of the and express our own emotions, and that is responsible for reason I feel so lucky and blessed to have a career as an my success as an author today. You can’t write a book that author, and my superstitious self tells me that it came to touches somebody’s heart if you don’t have full access to me because I wanted it for the right reasons—namely, to your own emotions, and I open my heart in every book I be able to raise my child. write. And that’s Italian.

Did you feel trepidation over making that career move?

Has anyone ever talked to you about a book of yours without realizing that you wrote it?

Only a fool would choose writNo that’s never happened, probably because anytime I ing as a career without trepidation! see anybody carrying a book of mine, I race up to them, I felt enormous trepidation, and to a introduce myself, and thank them for reading me. Then certain extent, I still do! It’s dauntI get in a big Italian hug. And they love it! In fact, when ing to start a novel, especially if you the people come to my signings, if I don’t hug them first, write the way I do, which is without they say to me, where’s my hug? an outline (would an Italian American write any other way?). But there are so If you could recommend just one book to a many challenges in life, and I always stranger, what would it be and why?

If you are talking about my books, I would recom- remind myself that it’s okay to fail. It’s Find Lisa’s mend to them Killer Smile. It’s been mentioned in your what you do after you fail that really new release on Amazon.com incredible magazine before because it’s about a young matters, and I try to ignore trepidaor in your local Italian-American woman lawyer who represents the state tion, anxiety, and fear and press on bookstore. of an Italian immigrant interned in Fort Missoula during regardless.

WINTER 2016

36

ITALIAN AMERICA

M

N

EGGP

LA

NT

PA

R

E

SA

THINK OUTSIDE T H E B OT T L E

a truste ami ran

Pair this dish with Colavita Pinot Grigio di Trentino FIND THIS AND OTHER INNOVATIVE RECIPES USING OUR EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL ON COLAVITA.COM WINTER 2016

37

facebook.com/ColavitaOliveOil

a truste ami ran

pinterest.com/ColavitaEvoo

youtube.com/ColavitaOliveOil

@ColavitaEVOO

ITALIAN AMERICA

Give the gift of

LOVE, FAITH AND FAMILY from America’s beloved storyteller ADRIANA TRIGIANI THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SHOEMAKER’S WIFE AND LUCIA, LUCIA

DON’T MISS

THE BIG STONE GAP MOVIE IN THEATERS NOW, AVAILABLE ON DVD IN FEBRUARY 2016

www.adrianatrigiani.com Follow @adrianatrigiani on Facebook and Twitter!

WINTER 2016

38

ITALIAN AMERICA