Panoram Italia Vol.3 No.2

I TA L I A

PM40981004

PANORAM

SUMMER 2008 • VOL.3• NO.2

T H E C O M M U N I T Y M AG A Z I N E M A I L E D TO I TA L I A N / C A N A D I A N H O M E S I N T H E G R E AT E R M O N T R E A L A R E A

Q U A R T E R LY • T R I M E S T R A L E • T R I M E S T R I E L

COVER

SOWING SEEDS MAKING ROOTS

LINO BIRRI FRANCESCO BALDASSARRE BRUNO BIRRI

TROIS DES NÔTRES • THREE OF US • TRE DI NOI •

ITALIAN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS: A RESOUNDING A RESOUNDING

www.panoramitalia.com

PHOTO: GERALDO PACE

YES!

Geraldo Pace

Maisons Exécutives NSL Inc.

Maisons de ville du Nouveau Saint-Laurent Inc.

Bientôt... condos de prestige.

Bureau des ventes ouvert tous les jours de 13h30 à 17h30 sauf le vendredi.

7032, boul Henri-Bourassa ouest, St-Laurent, Québec

514-832-0494 www.rodimax.com

Geraldo Pace

Beaucoup plus qu’un boucher...

158, Place Marché du Nord

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Montréal (Québec) H2S 1A1 Tél: 514.276.1345 • Fax: 514.274.0410

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PUBLISHER AND EDITOR Tony Zara

COVER PHOTO Geraldo Pace

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Filippo Salvatore

HAIR STYLIST Nazzareno Salvi / Estetica

MANAGING EDITOR Gabriel Riel-Salvatore

ADVERTISING - SALES Frank Crisafi

TRANSLATIONS Filippo Salvatore

PRINTING Accent Impression Inc.

CONTRIBUTORS Laura Casella Aicha Cissé Rolando Del Maestro Roberto T. De Minico Vincent Fournier

ART DIRECTOR Gabriel Riel-Salvatore / Manon Massé

Francesco Paolo Venier Joey Franco Erika Papagni Shauna Hardy Adam Paterno Vanessa Lage Allison Pollock Karyn Mikhel Peter Pomponio Sabrina Marandola Melanie Porco Domenico Marco Miletti

Contents summer 2008 This issue Our Cover .......................................... 10-11 Letters to the editor .......................... 12-13

Editorial Italian language schools in Montreal .... 14 È ora di eliminare le circoscrizioni estero ................................ 16 2 Giugno: Festa della Repubblica ........... 17

Dossiers - Mon Italie Perspective de sur la culture italienne ... 18 No el xe l’italian, el xe el venesian!......... 19 Perché l’italiano? ................................... 20 L’amore per l’italiano............................... 21 Concordia Italian Association.................. 22 Hanging out in cultural limbo ................. 23 Le «CAMPANILISMO» ............................ 24

Photography Contest My Garden .............................................. 25

Profile David Pawsey ......................................... 26 Vanessa Lage .......................................... 27

Life Stories Marché D’Agostino ................................. 28 GOLDEN BRAND ..................................... 29 Shoes for Afghani Children ..................... 30 Tre Amici ................................................. 31 La Fondation Garnierkids.com ................ 32 Graduates of the year ....................... 33-36

Business Gidal Construction .................................. 38 Frank & Dino Aliments ...................... 40-41 Cassa Popolare Canadese Italiana ......... 42 Via Rail .................................................... 43

GRAPHIC DESIGN Manon Massé

Julien Proulx Gabriel Riel-Salvatore Kevin Reynold Filippo Salvatore Robert Scalia Daniela Scoppa

Business (continued) Assante ................................................... 44 Roberto T. De Minico ............................... 45 Gastronomy Wine - Montreal wine fair 2008 ............ 46 Olive Oil .................................................. 47 Recipes .............................................. 48-49

Life Style Our towns ............................................... 50 Travel ...................................................... 51 Fashion .............................................. 52-53 Living Italian-Style ............................. 54-55

Art and Culture Literature - Dante a fumetti ................... 56 Il testamento poetico di tonino catichio ... 57 Music - Giorgia Fumanti ....................... 58 Classical Music - Pavarotti ...................... 59 Le «Piccolo Teatro di Milano»: Un heureux venu à Montreal ................. 60 Photography - Geraldo Pace .................. 61 Concordia University Public Artwork ...... 61

Events BMW MINI Laval .................................... 62 Fondation Magnani-Montaruli ............... 63 Slow Food Montréal ............................... 63 Launch of Cento Miglia Race ................. 64 Galleria YellowFishArt ............................. 64 Cassa Popolare Canadese Italiana ..........65 Superfantastico ....................................... 65

Sports EURO’08 .................................................. 66 EURO’08 - Schedule ................................ 67 2008 Montreal GP .................................. 68

Cartoons .......................................... 69

We look forward to hearing from you!

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PANORAMITALIA

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OUR COVER COVER PHOTO: GERALDO PACE

«

a vie est une graine emportée par le vent de la terre qui l’a produite et qui est allée germer ailleurs où elle a fait de nouvelles racines.» C’est ainsi, par le biais d’une belle métaphore que s’exprime Bruno Birri, propriétaire et gérant, avec son frère Lino, du plus gros magasin et pépinière du Marché Jean Talon à Montréal.

L’aventure en terre canadienne de la famille Birri a commencé il y a longtemps, en 1956, alors que Giuseppe, père d’ Antonio, Bruno, Lino et Chiara, quittait Rabini, un hameau de la ville de Morfasso, près de Piacenza en Italie du Nord pour venir s’installer à Montréal. En 1958, sa femme Nerina et ses enfants sont venus le rejoindre. «Au commencement la vie ici a été dure dit Lino, un bel homme costaud à la chevelure abondante et grisonnante et à la moustache tombante. Il y avait à l’époque beaucoup de préjugés envers les Italiens à l’école comme dans la vie quotidienne. En Italie mon père était fermier; à son arrivée il est allé habiter sur la rue Drolet prés de Jean-Talon dans la Petite Italie. Il travaillait dans la construction, comme c’était fréquent alors chez les immigrants italiens. Il n’a pas eu de chance; il s’est brisé deux disques de la colonne vertébrale dans un accident de travail. Cet accident a changé beaucoup de choses chez nous les enfants. Nous avons vite compris qu’il fallait faire face à l’adversité ensemble, unis comme les cinq doits d’une main qui forment un poing. Les difficultés économiques de la famille nous ont obligé, mes frères et moi-même, à travailler encore tout jeunes. Nous habitions tout près du Marché Jean talon, l’endroit où les fermiers apportaient les fruits et les légumes qu’ils produisaient et les vendaient à une clientèle en grande partie italienne. Pendant le jour nous fréquentions l’école Saint Philippe Bénizi, près de l’église Notre Dame de la Défense et l’après-midi et les fins semaines nous travaillions comme vendeurs au marché.»

Lino s’arrête et salue chaleureusement dans un français impeccable et avec l’accent québécois, une dame distinguée, une chanteuse d’opéra, une cliente de vieille date qui est venue acheter des légumes. «Je suis marié depuis trente ans avec Marisa, d’origine calabraise, une fille qui fréquentait la même école que ma sœur. J’ai quatre enfants, Lisa, Lino Junior, Vanessa et Cristina. Tout en étant fiers de leur origine italienne, ils se considèrent canadiens à part entière. C’est par manque de temps, pas d’argent, que je ne suis pas retourné en Italie depuis quarante ans,» m’explique-t-il dans un excellent italien qui garde encore l’accent de sa région d’origine, l’Emilia.

Il est presque midi, un samedi de mai. Il fait beau et chaud; on se croirait en été. Autour des comptoirs sur lesquels on a étalé comme dans une symphonie de couleurs des vases de terra cotta, des géraniums, des œillets, des pétunias, des plantes de poivrons, de tomates, de lauriers, de romarin et même de figues, il y a foule bigarrée. Le magasin est rempli de gens de toutes sortes qui parlent entre eux en des langues différentes. Il y a encore tant d’autres couleurs, saveurs, odeurs. Le magasin des frères Birri est un mini monde où une clientèle multiethnique pose des questions en français ou en anglais aux accents multiples. Si on veut se rendre compte de la diversité ethnique des Montréalais, il faudrait venir ici et observer, comme je le fais, le caléidoscope visuel et la tour de Babel orale qu’est le Marché JeanTalon. Un oriental s’adresse à Lino et lui demande s’il a une plante typique de son pays d’origine. D’autres clients parlent avec Frank, un employé de veille date.

Le conducteur qui fait fonctionner d’une main de maitre l’un des magasins les plus achalandés du Marché ou semble régner un désordre apparent est Bruno Birri, qui a deux ans de plus de son frère Lino. Bruno est un homme d’âge mur, d’une taille juste, maigre, les cheveux poivre et sel à l’allure élégante.

«Nous avons une gamme très vaste de graines, de fleurs et de légumes», m’explique-t-il en se tenant debout à coté d’un tas de tourbe, de terre noire et d’engrais. Nous avons depuis des décennies des ententes avec des fournisseurs locaux qui produisent pour nous dans leurs serres toutes sortes de plantes, fleurs et légumes.Tous nos produits sont garantis et respectent rigoureusement les normes écologiques.

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Suite à page 11, colonne 1

Filippo Salvatore

“

Lino birri, Francesco Baldassarre and Bruno Birri

«

a vita è un seme che il vento porta via dalla terra che l’ha prodotto e va a germogliare altrove dove mette nuove e profonde radici.» Così si esprime, usando una bella metafora, Bruno Birri, proprietario e gestore con il fratello Lino del più importante vivaio e negozio di piante e fiori del Marché Jean-Talon a Montreal.

L’avventura in terra canadese della famiglia Birri risale al lontano 1956 allorchè Giuseppe, il padre di Antonio, Bruno, Lino e Chiara ha lasciato Rabini, frazione di Morfasso, in provincia di Piacenza nell’Italia settentrionale ed è venuto a vivere a Montreal. Due anni dopo, nel 1958 la moglie Nerina ed i figli si sono ricongiunti con lui. «I primi anni, ricorda Lino, un bell’uomo con una folta capigliatura grigia e con baffi spioventi, la vita per la nostra famiglia è stata dura.» Tanti erano allora i pregiudizi anti-italiani sia a scuola che nella vita di tutti i giorni.

Mio padre, di estrazione contadina, era andato ad abitare sulla strada Drolet vicino a Jean-Talon, nella Piccola Italia. Aveva trovato lavoro su un cantiere edile, come tanti immigati italiani. Purtroppo è stato sfortunato e si è rotto due dischi della schiena in un incidente sul lavoro.

L’infortunio di mio padre ha cambiato tante cose. Ci ha fatto capire che solo restando uniti avremmo potuto affrontare le difficoltà. Ed in effetti siamo sempre stati uniti e forti come cinque dita che hanno formato un pugno. Le difficoltà economiche della famiglia hanno spinto me ed i miei fratelli a lavorare ancora giovanissimi. «Abitavamo vicino al Marché Jean Talon, il luogo dove già allora gli ortolani andavano a vendere i legumi e la frutta che producevano ad una clientela in gran parte italiana. La mattina frequentavamo la scuola Saint Philippe Benizi, vicino alla chiesa Madonna della Difesa ed il pomeriggio ed il fine settimana lavoravamo come venditori al mercato.»

Lino s’interrompe e saluta calorosamente in un francese impeccabile e con una pronuncia alla quebecchese una distinta signora, una cantante d’opera, una sua vecchia cliente che è venuta a comprare dei legumi. «Sono sposato da quasi trent’anni con Marisa, d’origine calabrese, una ragazza che andava a scuola con mia sorella. Ho quattro figli, Lisa, Lino Junior, Vanessa e Cristina. Pur essendo fieri della loro origine italiana, si considerano completamente canadesi. Non per necessità, ma per semplice mancanza di tempo sono quarant’anni che non torno in Italia» mi spiega in un ottimo italiano, che tradisce ancora la cadenza emiliana. È sabato verso mezzogiorno, una soleggiata mattina di maggio, ma fa caldo come se già fosse estate. C’è un viavai di gente di tutte le razze, un vocio continuo intorno ai banconi su cui sono esposti come in una sinfonia di colori e di odori, vasi di terra cotta, gerani, garofani, petunie, basilico, peperoncini, pomodori e piante di oleandro, fico, rosmarino.Tanti altri sono i colori, gli odori, i sapori del negozio dei fratelli Birri che hanno una clientela multietnica che cerca con una tonalità d’accento variopinto in inglese e francese, rivolgendosi a Lino, al fratello Bruno, al loro impiegato di fiducia Frank, o ad altri impegati un prodotto particolare, una pianta tipica del proprio paese d’origine. Se si vuole capire quanto diversa sia la gente che vive a Montreal, quanto realmente multiculturale sia oggi la nostra città, basta osservare, come sto facendo, il caleidoscopico spettacolo visivo e la tore di Babele orale che è il Marché Jean-Talon.

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Continua a pag. 11, colonna 2

ife is a seed that the wind blows away from the ground that produced it and sprouts in a different place where it grows new roots.” This is the beautiful metaphor Bruno Birri uses concerning the meaning of life and of his own in particular. He is the owner and manager with his brother Lino of the most important garden centre at Jean-Talon Market in Montreal.

The presence on Canadian soil of the Birri family goes back to 1956 when Giuseppe, the father of Antonio, Bruno, Lino and Chiara left Rabini, a hamlet near Morfasso, in the Italian Northern province of Piacenza and came to live in Montreal. Two years later his wife Nerina and her children came to join him. “At the beginning life has been hard for our family”, recalls Lino, a handsome, tall man, with long grey hair and a drooping moustache. Anti-Italian prejudices were many, both at school and in everyday life.

My father, a farmer, had come to live on Drolet Street, near Jean talon Market in Little Italy. He had found a job as a construction worker, like many Italian immigrants did then. He was ill-fated because he suffered an injury on the job and two disks of his spine were broken. My father’s work accident caused many changes in our lives. It made us realize that only if we remained together we could face difficulties. And that is exactly what we did. We came together like five close fingers to form a fist. The economic difficulties pushed us, not even teenagers, to start working. “We used to live close to Jean talon Market where vegetable farmers went to sell their crop. In the morning we attended Saint Philippe Bénizi School close to Notre Dame de la Défense church and in the afternoon and on week-ends my brothers and I were vendors at the markets.”

Lino stops speaking and welcomes warmly with an impeccable québécois accent a distinguished lady, an opera singer, who came to buy vegetables. “I have been married for the last thirty years with Marisa, a girl of Calabrian origin who used to attend the same school as my sister. I have not gone back to Italy for the last 40 years, not out of lack of money, but simply of time” Lino explains in excellent Italian.

Our conversation takes place on a Saturday morning, around noon in a sunny, summer like day of May. Customers come and go, chatting and talking, stopping close to tables and counters where geraniums, roses, carnations, petunias, basil-plants, chili peppers, tomatoes, oleander, rosemary and figs plants are invitingly on sale”. All around in the open-air store there is abundance of colours, smells and tastes as well as of different people who ask Lino, his brother Bruno or their most trusted employee Frank, in accented English and French for a particular product or plant they used to grow or buy in their native countries. If one wants to realize how multicultural Montreal truly is nowadays, one needs simply go to the Jean-Talon Market and notice, like I am doing, its amazingly picturesque oral and visual kaleidoscope.

The maestro of one of the most crowded stores, the Birri Brothers’, is Bruno, a middle aged man, of just height, slim, with an authoritative countenance and behaviour. “We have a wide selection of seeds, flowers, vegetables and plants, -he explains, standing in front of stacks of pit moss, black earth, top soil and fertilizers-. We have had for decades an agreement with local suppliers who grow plants, flowers and vegetables in their greenhouses or in their fields on our behalf. All products we sell are genuinely biological and respect ecological norms.

In the last few years people’s attitude has undergone a profound change. French Canadians have learned to appreciate a variety of products they did not know. It is very fashionable now to have a garden in one’s backyard. It was us Italians who taught t h e m t o va l u e g e n u i n e p r o d u c t s. N o wa d a y s

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Continued on page 11, column 3

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La façon de penser des gens a beaucoup changé à travers les années. Les Canadiens-français ont appris à apprécier toute une gamme de produits qu’ils ne connaissaient pas. Cultiver son petit potager dans son jardin, c’est très a la mode, ça fait chic. C’est nous les Italiens qui en avons le mérite. Être d’origine italienne est aujourd’hui une source de fierté, mais ceci n’a pas toujours été le cas.

Il y a, de toute manière, beaucoup d’affinités entre les deux ethnies, les québécois francophones et nous autres les italiens. «Je me suis marié moi-même avec une québécoise, qui vient malheureusement de mourir au mois de janvier dernier. J’ai deux enfants, Carlo de 27 ans, musicien, et Sophie de 25 ans, fonctionnaire.»

Afin de réussir, de devenir comme l’ont fait les frères Birri, les plus importants vendeurs de fleurs, plantes et légumes, il faut, selon Bruno, mettre de la passion dans son travail et le faire aussi avec amour et honnêteté; il faut aimer les gens, cultiver un rapport de confiance avec ses clients qui reviendront s’ils sont bien servis.

C’est Frank Baldassarre, un ami plutôt qu’un employé, qui incarne cette philosophie du travail des frères Birri. «Frank est avec nous depuis vingt ans, souligne Bruno. Il était tout petit quand il a commencé. Il était notre voisin et c’est sa mère qui m’a demandé de lui donner un emploi. Frank a très bien appris son métier et il a le tour avec les clients.» Il est aujourd’hui un beau gaillard dans la trentaine avancé, grand, les cheveux longs, blonds qui a du bagou en français, anglais et italien. Les clients le cherchent, demandent d’être servis par lui. J’en ai la preuve en voyant une belle dame s’approcher de lui, le saluer, l’embrasser et se faire expliquer comment planter et soigner un laurier. Elle ne se fait pas convaincre pourtant à acheter un figuier.

Grâce à des gens comme Bruno et Lino Birri et Frank Baldassarre les lauriers et les figuiers, des plantes de la Méditerranée, se sont peu à peu enracinées dans les jardins de bien des Montréalais. v

Il regista di uno dei negozi più frequentati di questo apparente disordine è Bruno Birri di due anni più grande di Lino. Bruno è un uomo di mezza età, altezza giusta, asciutto nella persona, capelli brizzolati, con un portamento elegante, autorevole. «Abbiamo una gamma vastissima di semi sia di fiori che di legumi,» mi spiega, appartandosi per qualche minuto, in piedi davanti a cataste di sacchi di torba, di terriccio e di concime. Abbiamo un’intesa da decenni ormai con diversi fornitori locali che producono per noi nelle serre piante, fiori e legumi. Tutti i nostri prodotti sono garantiti per la loro genuinità e per il rispetto rigoroso delle norme ambientali.

La mentalità della gente è cambiata molto negli anni. I canadesi-francesi hanno imparato ad apprezzare tutta una gamma di prodotti che non conoscevano.Va di moda avere il proprio orticello dietro casa, fa chic. Ma siamo stati noi italiani ad insegnare loro l’amore dei prodotti genuini. Al giorno d’oggi è un vanto essere d’origine italiana, ma non è stato sempre così.

Comunque ci sono molte affinità tra i nostri due gruppi etnici, quello quebecchese francofono e quello italiano. «Io stesso ho sposato una quebecchese, purtroppo deceduta il mese di gennaio scorso, da cui ho avuto due figli, Carlo di 27 anni musicista e Sophie di 25 impiegata statale.» Per avere successo, per diventare il più importante venditore di fiori, piante e legumi, come lo sono i fratelli Birri oggi, occorre secondo Bruno avere passione, fare il proprio lavoro con amore e con onestà, amare la gente, coltivare un rapporto di fiducia con il cliente che, se trattato bene, diventa un amico.

Chi incarna alla perfezione questa filosofia dei fratelli Birri è Frank Baldassarre, un amico più che un impiegato. «Sono più di vent’anni» che Frank lavora per noi, ricorda Bruno.Era un ragazzino quando ha cominciato. Era nostro vicino di casa e la madre mi ha chiesto di farlo lavorare. Ha imparato bene il mestiere e ci sa fare con i clienti’. Frank è oggi un bell’uomo dai trenta ai quarant’anni. Tipo asciutto, alto, capelli lunghi e biondi, parlantina facile in francese, inglese ed italiano. Le clienti lo cercano, chiedono di essere servite da lui. Ne ho la conferma quando una distinta signora gli si avvicina, lo saluta e lo abbraccia e si fa spiegare come va piantato e curato un oleandro, ma rimane indecisa se comprare una pianta di fico.

Grazie a gente come Bruno e Lino Birri e Frank Baldassarre gli oleandri ed i fichi, piante mediterranee, hanno messo radici negli orti e nei giardini di tanti montrealesi. v

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OUR COVER

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Italian/Canadians are proud of their identity and origin, but it has not always been so.

A n y w a y, I s e e a l o t o f c o m m o n t r a i t s between the French speaking Quebecois and us Italians. I myself got married with one of them, but sadly she passed away last January. She was the mother of Carlo, a musician who is 27 and of Sophie 25, a public servant.” In order to be successful in one’s business, like becoming the biggest retailer of flowers and vegetables, you need, Bruno is convinced, to put passion, love and honesty in the job you do and to be friendly with customers. If you win their trust and treat them well they become your friends and will come back”.

Frank Baldassarre, a friend more than an employee, is a man who embodies Bruno’s formula for success. “Frank, Bruno explains, has been working with us for more than 20 years. He was a boy when he first started. He was a neighbour of ours and it was his mother who asked me to give him a job. He learned his trade well and knows how to deal with customers.” Frank is a tall, slim man with blond hair in his mid thirties, at ease in French, English and Italian. Female customers look out for him, and prefer to be served by him. An elegantly dressed lady, who has just arrived, does precisely that. She gets close to Frank, greets him warmly and asks him questions on how to plant an oleander, but she does not let herself to be convinced to buy a fig tree.

Thanks to people like Bruno, Lino and Frank, Mediterranean plants like oleanders and figtrees are growing their roots in many back-yards and gardens in Montreal. v

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LETTERE AL DIRETTORE

le courrier des lecteurs

www. p anoramitalia. c om Letters to the editor

Franca Ragusa

Chris Vincelli

David Lombardi

Gianmarco Di Menna

I'm in total accordance with your last article regarding the need for Italian language in our schools in Montreal. Being the 1st italian generation born and raised in a once considered ‘highly developed’city, family and traditions were the immigrants’ main concern. As we reminisce through time, one can begin to see how our values and traditions are slowly slipping away .Cultural pressures and fear of the unknown forced our immigrant parents to follow and amalgamate with the system.How sad one can feel that after so many years with great contributions, experiences, hardship, and successes from the Italian community one remains fearful of total extinction of this language. Living a constant fast paced life,keeping the tradition alive requires time and devotion. The need to revive this beautiful language thrives within me. Now faced with our children, the 2nd generation, limited exposure to this language simply falls short and inadequate for them to fully appreciate their heritage. It is so clear now, that something must be done to salvage this wonderful culture. We are presently a small group of individuals working on this project in developing such a school. One member has sent you her opinion and has made you aware of our existence. Lack of funds has been an obstacle, support is needed. v

I am strongly in favour of opening schools dedicated to teaching the Italian language alongside English and French.

These schools would be similar in nature to those already in the Montreal area catering to the Greek and Armenian communities.

Over a quarter million people are of Italian descent in Metropolitan Montreal while the number of Greeks and Armenians in this city represents only a fraction of that number, yet they both have been able to preserve their culture and language so very well thanks to their linguistically-based schools. There is no reason why we as Italians of Montreal cannot do the same.

Young Italians are proud of their heritage and are eager to learn more about the history, the culture and the language of their ancestors. These Italian-language schools would flourish in a city were Italians already contribute very much to a city known for being rich in cultural and linguistic diversity.

Teaching the Italian language alongside English and French would not only better connect young Italians to their heritage but also open the doors of opportunity and enable them to become trilingual in a globalized world. There are only positives that can come out of this proposal and my hope is that we see Italian-based schools in Montreal as soon as possible. v

In regards to PanoramItalia’s Spring 2008 editorial, I agree with the idea of having Italian language private schools as long as it presupposes that the education provided would also be Catholic. The editorial cites as examples the Armenian, Greek and Jewish communities, all of which have their own schools. It is important to note that these communities are also non-Catholic cultures who did not integrate into the once Catholic education system while Italians and other Catholic based cultures did thus eliminating a need to found their own schools.

Though language is important, it does not seem to be the sole criteria for a cultural community to begin a separate school but rather cultural values, usually embodied within its religion, is a major motivation.

Supposing the proposed Italian schools would be secular in nature, to direct our children from Catholic private schools like Loyola to secular private Italian schools would not be a good step for our community. Our Catholic private educational institutions are often the last bastions of Catholic education we have left in Greater Montreal and they provide a great service to our community and deserve our continued support.

With the secularization of our public school systems, as a father concerned with my children’s academic and faith education, it is my hope that we do not make language our only guide but that we begin to envision a solid Italian Catholic private education for our children. v

Only a few decades ago, our ancestors left the many hardships of Italy to establish a new life here, in Canada. Full of hope and optimism for the future, these notoriously hard-working people paved the way for their sons' and daughters' future prosperity.

As a 3rd generation Italo-Canadian, I can attest to the fact that their many sacrifices have not been forgotten. We should honour their memory by forever remembering who we are and where we come from. I firmly believe that the basis for the preservation of any culture (especially one as rich and colourful as ours) must begin at square one, with a strong and sound knowledge of its language. This is why I so strongly support this idea! The creation of a first-class trilingual educational institution would instill in our youth a solid foundation on which to base their ethnic identities as well as the tools now necessary for success in a forever globalizing world economy. Let us give our children the same gift that our predecessors left us by laying the groundwork for their prosperous and complete future. I pledge to do everything I can to see this dream materialize as quickly as possible. v

Amanda DiRado

Silvio Laezza

As I was reading your article on the Italian language schools in Montreal, I began to wonder what the next generation would bring to Italo-Montrealers. I believe that there should definately be Italian schools to give us the choice to put our children and future children into such schools. I only wish I had that opportunity when I was in elementary school. So, my answer is definately YES. and I would support it 100%. v

This e-mail is in response to the article "The need for Italian language schools in Montreal" in your latest issue of Panorama Italia. Being Italo/Canadian, reading this article honestly made me emotional. I`m a 27 year old who is very into my roots and my traditions. I am yet to have children or be married, but, as a future parent I agree fully with the thought of having Italian language schools in Montreal. I was one of the many Italo/Canadians who attended Italian classes Saturday mornings, and as stated in the article, it`s just not enough. I can count myself as one of the lucky ones to have visited Italy numerous times and maintained the ability to speak Italian, (both proper and dylect) but how many Italo/Canadians are

not able to say the same thing? I believe that with the way that Montreal and all of Canada is evolving, with the constant immigration and new cultures being implemented in our city, that it is important to maintain our culture now or risk losing it forever. By this i don`t mean being closed off to any new cultures, and new things, but, being Italo/Canadian should be something that all of us should be proud of, and should maintain. As other cultures are doing as well. (Greek, Jewish, Armenian) Most of our parents and grandparents left their homes and everything else behind to immigrate here, to make a better life for themselves and for their generations to come. I believe that the least we could do for them, after all their sacrifices is maintain this beautiful culture, and language of ours, come to think of it, not only for them, but for ourselves as well! Being italian is more than just hopping into your car with a huge flag hanging out the window when our national team wins a soccer game, it`s a way of thinking, it`s a way of life. In closing, I agree fully with the idea of having Italian language schools in Montreal, as a proud uncle, I hope this does happen soon, so children like my niece could get the maximum amount of knowledge about our unique culture, and maintain it for generations to come. v

Luigi Costanza I would like to begin by saying thank you and for literally restoring my pride in being an Italian Canadian. This article reinforced my belief that our generation has to act now.This is to make sure that our beautiful culture and language is preserved for future Montreal-Italian community. I would without a doubt say that it is time for our community to have our own educational institution. God willing, if my wife and I should be blessed with children,I would love to have this option of sending them to an Italian school. I will also make sure to pass on this issue and article to all my Italian friends in Montreal as we are all in the process of planning families. Once again, grazie for lighting a fire for my passion that I have for our heritage. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you need any help to pass on this message. v

James Fuoco

Let me start off by saying how much I enjoy your magazine; the articles are always very insightful and sometimes nostalgic! In regards to your editorial regarding the need for Italian private schools, I believe that the time has already passed and the thought of taking mostly English speaking children out of an already declining enrollment (public system) is short sighted. I am a 3rd generation Italian Canadian and I wish I could speak more Italian, but the reality is that my family (including my parents) all speak English and the use for Italian at home would almost seem contrived.

I would much more prefer the idea of sending my children to Italy to be immersed in its culture, language and food! That's where (I believe) a lasting impact would be cherished. v

Sara Zegarelli

As a young child, I attended Saturday morning Italian school, as most of us already have, which we were thought basic Italian – not a strong foundation compared to attending a daytime school that would cater to the Italian culture (as most Jewish, Greeks and Armenians schools already have!). Today, at 21 years old, I have realized that my level of speaking, reading and writing in the Italian language and my knowledge in Italy’s history, culture and arts solely relies on teachings from my parents, grandparents and my own research and desire of always wanting learn and improve. Reading this article has only brought more attention to this “serious” matter – this is our culture, we must keep it alive for generations to come! Our beautiful culture, language and history of our Italian ancestral roots will simply vanish and could potentially be lost forever if we do not react now. Presently, many Italian/Montreal

Letters to the editor

teenagers and young adults (Generation Y – born between 1977-1996) can barely speak a word of Italian or proper Italian for that matter. Should this keep persisting, the next generation of “Italians” (Generation Z – born between 1995-2009) will be defined as Italian only by their last name! For these reasons, I strongly agree and want to take part in this wonderful project into preserving our precious and valued culture! In the future, I would want my children to attend a private Italian daytime school where they can learn the proper Italian language, Italy’s magnificent culture and its spectacular and famous arts. We are very fortunate to be ancestors of such a historical, cultural and breathtaking country! «Batti il ferro quando è caldo!» We must react now! v

Assunta Gazzerro

The answer to the question is yes, yes, yes! We spend years talking to our kids in Italian in the security of our home, until school starts. The children are exposed to another language that is more practical with their new found little friends. When they get home they still want to continue talking French or English. Eventually they talk to their sisters and brothers in French or English and there it is, they feel awkward speaking Italian with the family. The language is spoken only in cases of emergencies... when nonna comes over!!! and even there, they didn’t practice enough so they feel shy. Parents need help! v

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PANORAMITALIA

LETTERE AL DIRETTORE

Giuseppina Varuzza

What took so long? As an Italian descendant of immigrated parents, I too would like to instill the Italian culture in my children. I strongly suggest that in addition to a Montreal location, another location in Laval and the north shore would be beneficial where it is highly populated with second generation of Italians. There is already the Montessori school in Rosemere (which instructs Spanish as a third language).

In my opinion, Italian school is not just reserved for once a week education. Its grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary are just as difficult to learn as French. In fact, many immigrant Italians speak French more easily than English due to the similarities in these areas. v

Rita

I am a mother o two grade school age children who attend private school.

Recently, I was looking at some alternatives to ensure I give my kids the best possible all around education. For the first 3 years of their lives my children spoke only Italian however now as they get older, they are loosing that beautiful gift I want so much to give them. So a language/culture school would be most welcomed by myself and my family. v

JAGUAR LAVAL 3475, boulevard Le carrefour • Tél.: 450.688.1880 • Tél.: 514.388.1880 • www.jaguarlaval.com

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Editorial

The need for Italian language schools in Montreal The window of opportunity is still wide open!

Your many passionate letters in favor, are the ultimate proof!

By Tony Zara uesta è l’occasione propizia. Le numerose lettere ricevute a favore, spesso ricolme di fervente passione, ne sono la prova evidente. Sbaglia chi crede che l’amore per il nostro paese d’origine l’iIalia e per la sua ricchissima cultura la mettiamo in mostra una volta ogni quattro anni quando si gioca il campionato mondiale di calcio. Sono molto orgolgioso di comunicarvi che il mio articolo apparso sull’ultimo numero di Panoramitalia (PRIMAVERA 2008) sulla questione del bisogno di fondare scuole in lingua italiana a Montreal ha veramente centrato ilo bersaglio. A tal punto che che oso affermare che questa sta emergendo come la questione più importante ed irrisolta all’interno della nostra comunità. Lettori e lettrici di tutte le età sono massicciamente a favore di fondare scuole private con una componente del programma da impartirsi in lingua italiana.

C’è stata una sola voce contraria, ma una vera valanga di lettere a favore. Il sentimento dominante di voi lettori è PERCHÈ noi come comunità non l’abbiamo ancora fatto, dato che altre comunità più piccole della nostra lo stanno facendo da decenni.

Non si puo’ dare una semplice risposta a questa domanda.

Oltre al PERCHÈ è emerso forte la richiesta che dobbiamo occuparci di questa questione SUBITO perchè il tempo comincia a mancare.

O lo facciamo ORA E SUBITO o non lo potremo fare MAI PIÙ Molte delle vostre lettere terminavano con l’invito a voler essere coinvolti. Questo è un segno veramente positivo perchè l’istruzione è per voi, italocanadesi di terza o quarta generazione d’importanza fondamentale.

Riscoprire le nostre radici italiane ad un livello più sofisticato è una necessitè sentita profondamente. Se sia gli esponenti di spicco e la gente comune all’interno della nostra comunità sapranno unirsi e coordinare gli sforzi, allora c’è speranza.

Se ci concentriamo sul bisogno di mantenere aperti e ristrutturare edifici storici, senza salvaguardare e promuovere la nostra lingua italiana e la sua cultura, allora strutture come la venerabile Casa d’Italia, l’Ospedale Santa Cabrini, il Centro Leonardo da Vinci oppure le chiese parrocchiali ed altre strutture esistenti fra una generazione rimarranno vuote, senza utenza Italiana.

Smetteranno di essere i vari punti d’incontro naturali ed il battito vitale della nostra comunità.

Senza uno sforzo eccezionale per mantenere e rinverdire la nostra ‘ clientela’ -ossia la quarta e la quinta generazione di italo-montrealesi- queste istituzioni con gli annessi edifici diventeranno ridondanti, inutili, ed una illustre tradizione, la nostra, sarà ridotta a ben poca cosa o addiritturà scomparirà.

La nostra comunità ha un bisogno URGENTE di affrontare questo rischio e promuovere una visione chiara del suo futuro. Noi a Panoramitalia ci assumiamo il ruolo di catalista nello sviluppare questa necessaria visione d’avvenire. Ecco perchè ci faciamo promotori del mantenimento della nostra cultura ed identità per mezzo della creazione di scuole in lingua italiana nel Quebec.

La formazione di un comitato credibile di gente che crede appassionatamente in questa iniziativa è un bisogno urgente. Approfitto dell’occasione per sollecitare il sostegno fattivo, senza riserve dei nostri leader comunitari Unità di intento e collaborazione sono la chiave del successo.

Se avete suggerimenti o commenti su questa nobile, cruciale iniziativa siete pregati di contattarci. v info@panoramitalia.com Please refer to pages 12 and 13 (letters to the editor).

hose of you who thought that our love of our country of origin, Italy, and its wonderfully rich culture is something that we only seem to display and appreciate every four years to coincide with the soccer world cup, are mistaken. I am extremely proud to report that my article in the last issue of Panoramitalia, (SPRING 2008) dealing with the issue of founding Italian language schools, has truly struck a cord. So much so that I am prepared to say that this seems to be emerging as the most impending and unresolved issue of our community. Readers from all age groups, both male and female, are overwhelmingly in favour of the establishment of daytime private schools with an Italian language and culture component playing a significant role in its curriculum.

We received an avalanche of letters all in favour, except one. The overwhelming sentiment expressed by you, the readers, in the letters you sent is WHY we, as a community, have not done this before since other smaller ethnic groups in Montreal have been doing it for decades.

No simple and complete answer can be given to your question.

Along with the why there is a feeling that we must tackle this project in the short term and bring it to fruition as soon as possible, because time is running short.

It is definitely now or never! Most of your letters ended with an offer to get involved. This is a very positive sign because education is of crucial importance for most of you, third or fourth generation parents, in our community.

Rediscovering Italian culture at a more sophisticated level is a strongly felt need.If our community, both its leaders and ordinary people, come together and concentrate on maintaining and fostering Italian, our culture of origin, then there is hope. However, if we concentrate our efforts on maintaining or restructuring historical landmarks, such as the Casa d’italia, without a parallel movement to maintain and uplift our language and culture, then venerable buildings such as this might end up being just empty shells 20 years from now.

Centro Leonardo da Vinci, Casa D’Italia, Ospedale Santa Cabrini, or our many parish churches or other existing structures will be looking for new “ITALIAN” customers a generation from now. They will have stopped being the natural gathering places and the vital pulse of our community. Without a strong movement to maintain and replenish our customer base,- the emerging fourth or fifth generation of Italian / Montrealers, these institutions will become redundant and unnecessary and consequently, a glorious tradition will have been reduced to nothing.

Our community urgently needs to reflect upon and map out a clear vision of its own future. Panoramitalia wishes to be a catalyst in developing this needed future vision. Which explains our being the promoters to keep our culture by means of the creation of daytime Italian language schools in Quebec.

The establishment of a credible committee of passionate believers in this cause is a must. I take this opportunity to solicit strongly the unconditional support of our community leaders to bring this project to fruition. Unity of intent and collaboration are the key to success.

Should you have any suggestions or comments to help this lofty, crucial initiative, do not hesitate to contact us. v info@panoramitalia.com

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Publisher’s Note

Messaggio dell’ editore

atronizing our sponsors (advertisers) is a must if you care about the long term survival of Panoramitalia. As you know, this magazine is produced and delivered to you free of charge. (50,000 homes) We welcome new, free, subscriptions every day. To subscribe log on to www.panoramitalia.com.

All other services such as babies of the year, graduates of the year, weddings of the year, life stories etc., are all published at no charge. This is possible, in part, due to advertising sales. The shortfall is covered by my printing company, Accent Impression Inc. Our advertisers provide an array of high quality goods and services for your convenience. Therefore, the next time you need to shop for a new vehicle, home improvement, clothing, jewelry, furniture, food, investment services, etc. be sure to choose one of our sponsors. Furthermore, I would personally appreciate if you specifically mention to them that you found them in Panoramitalia. Being able to quantify their investment is the best motivator for an advertiser to renew their ad v

ari lettori,vi invitiamo a preferire il servizio ed i prodotti delle ditte che fanno pubblicità nella nostra rivista. È in gioco la sopravvivenza di Panoramitalia. Come sapete questa C rivista vi viene spedita tramite posta (la bellezza di 50.000 nuclei familiari) assolutamente

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Your cooperation in this matter is of the utmost importance.

Best regards, Tony Zara

Manoir Françoise résidence pour ainés autonome et semi-autonome.

gratis. Riceviamo quotidianamente richieste di abbonamento in rete all’indirizzo elettronico www.panoramitalia.com. Pubblichiamo anche gratis annunci che riguardano i neonati dell’anno, i laureati dell’anno, gli sposi novelli, storie di vita eccetera.

Questo è possibile in parte grazie alla vendita di pubblicità. Le perdite sono assunte dalla mia ditta, la stamperia Accent Impression Inc. I nostri sponsor vi offrono una miriade di prodotti di qualità e di servizi. La prossima volta che dovete cambiare o comprare la macchina, prodotti edili per fare lavori in casa,capi di abbigliamento, articoli di gioielleria, prodotti alimentari, oppure volete fare un investimento finanziario, o sceglere una compagnia di assicurazione o aprire un conto in banca, vi invito a preferire uno degli sponsor che appaiono sulle pagine della rivista. Sarebbe ancora di piu’ apprezzato se diceste loro che avete visto i loro annunci su Panoramitalia. Ricevere testimonianze concrete motiva gli sponsor a rinnovare il loro appoggio finanziario. v Vi ringrazio anticipatamente per la vostra cortese collaborazione che è di importanza fondamentale.

L’editore Tony Zara Fondée en 1989, notre résidence se démarque par la qualité de ses gens, de son environnement et de ses services. Au Manoir Françoise, les résidents sont considérés comme les membres d'une famille digne de ce nom.

Nous sommes donc à l'écoute de leurs besoins et nous mettons tout en œuvre pour leur offrir un milieu de vie spécifique selon les besoins et les préférences de la communauté italienne où règnent l'amour, le respect et la dignité.

Nous vous invitons à communiquer avec nous pour en savoir plus sur notre résidence ou pour planifier une visite.

11000, avenue Lausanne, Montréal-Nord (Québec) H1H 5B7 Téléphone: (514) 323-8527 • Télécopieur: (514) 323-1069

Une famille et des valeurs uniques…

Un milieu de vie tout à fait magnifique !

“One More Day!”

Partagez vos sentiments avec les lecteurs de Panoramitalia Share your feelings with Panoramitalia readers

Your opportunity to remember a loved one who has passed...

With a different twist!

Journee «Une Journée de

plus!»

Voici une manière différente de rendre hommage à une personne chère qui n’est plus …

Panoramitalia vous invite à écrire un texte sur une personne qui a profondément marqué votre vie. Si vous aviez «une journée de plus» à vivre avec cette personne, que lui diriezvous que vous n’avez pas eu le courage ou l’occasion de lui dire lorsqu’elle était encore en vie?

Panoramitalia invites you to write a text on someone who has made a profound impact on your life. If you had “ONE MORE DAY” with this person, what would you say that you did not have the chance or courage or foresight to say to them when they were still with us?

Si vous aviez «une journée de plus» à vivre avec cette personne, comment la passeriez-vous? Il peut s’agir d’un père, d’une mère, d’un grand-père ou d’une grand-mère, d’un frère, d’une sœur, ou de quiconque avec qui vous souhaiteriez avoir un peu plus de temps.

If you had “ONE MORE DAY” to live with this person, how would you spend the day with him or her? HE or SHE could be a father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, son, daughter or anyone else that you would like to have “ONE MORE DAY WITH”.

La longueur maximale du texte est de 300 mots. Vous pouvez aussi envoyer une photo de la personne ou une photo de vous avec elle. Les textes sélectionnés seront publiés dans notre numéro d’automne (le nombre dépendra de l’espace disponible). Les textes non publiés seront affichés sur notre site Internet.

The maximum length of the text is 300 words. You can also send along one picture of this person or a picture of you and that person. The selected texts will be published in our fall issue (the number will depend of the available space). The unpublished texts will be posted on our web-site.

La date de tombée est le 31 juillet 2008.

Faites-nous parvenir votre texte et la photo par courrier électronique à l’adresse: info@panoramitalia.com ou par la poste à: Panoramitalia, 9300, Henri Bourassa ouest Bureau 100, Saint-Laurent, QC H4S 1L5

The deadline for submitting the material is JULY 31 2008. You may e-mail your text and your picture by e-mail at: info@panoramitalia.com or by mail to: Panoramitalia, 9300, West Henri Bourassa Suite 100, Saint-Laurent, QC H4S 1L5

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Editorial

È ora di eliminare le circoscrizioni estero Filippo Salvatore

ersino Mirko Tremaglia ha dichiarato dopo le elezioni nazionali italiane del 13 e 14 aprile che la legge elettorale che porta il suo nome va cambiata, perchè il voto per corrispondenza nella circoscrizione estero presta il fianco ad illegalità ineliminabili e non ne garantisce la segretezza, un obbligo costituzionale. Opinione questa condivisa dai responsabili degli italiani all’estero sia del nuovo governo che dell’opposizione. Si parla di uno scrutinio da esercitarsi nelle sedi consolari o, per chi vive lontano, per corrispondenza dopo esplicita richiesta del votante.

Lo scopo è quello di far votare gli ‘italiani veri’. Comincia ad emergere il buon senso.

Fermo restando il diritto/dovere costituzionale di ogni cittadino italiano al voto, i cambiamenti auspicabili hanno il merito di fare una cernita tra chi è italiano e desidera mantenere un rapporto concreto con l’Italia e chi è italiano per semplice ius sanguinis e poco o nulla sa del paese dei suoi antenati di cui non parla spesso neppure più la lingua.Va sottolineato che nella tornata elettorale del 2008 6 elettori su 10 degli aventi diritto al voto NON hanno votato! E nella maggior parte dei casi gli eletti all’estero lo sono stati con il 30% del 41%, una frazione irrisoria. Un esempio. Basilio Giordano è stato eletto al Senato per la circoscrizione America del Nord con circa 13.000 voti.Quanto rappresentativi sono veramente quindi i 12 deputati ed i 6 senatori dalla diaspora italiana? È una domanda legittima che si tende molto spesso ad ignorare o a scartare con la mano, anche se in realtà costituisce uno dei problemi di fondo del voto passivo all’estero.

Ben vengano quindi le modifiche e sia salvaguardato il diritto di voto all’estero.Ma quale voto? Quello passivo, che elegge i 18 vessilliferi dalle ‘colonie’ italiane all’estero, o quello attivo che permette di votare per le circoscrizioni di origine o di ultima residenza in Italia? Il nocciolo della questione da affrontare e da risolvere è proprio questo. Gli eletti all’estero hanno la pretesa di conoscere e di rappresentare gli interessi degli italiani delle quattro circoscrizioni appositamente create. Ripeto e sottolineo: hanno la pretesa perchè nella reatà dei fatti detta pretesa non corrisponde, nè puo’ corrispondere, a verità, data l’enorme estensione territoriale di ognuna delle circoscrizioni ed il tasso risicato di partecipazione al voto. I deputati ed i senatori che vanno a Roma e dicono di rappresentare i veri interessi degli italiani all’estero non fanno altro che vendere fumo e lo sanno perfettamente, come perfettamente lo sanno i vari partiti. Il voto passivo all’estero è in effetti una madornale presa in giro a cui si cerca di dare un crisma di legittimità, mentendo. Si abbia finalmente l’onestà di riconoscerlo e di dirlo. Il voto passivo ha, inoltre, un altro gravissimo difetto: quello di imporre il principio della territorialità italiana sulle innegabili prerogative territoriali e nazionali dei diversi stati. Il diverbio non ancora risolto tra governo canadese e quello italiano sulla liceità della extraterritorialità italiana, dovrebbe far riflettere sia

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i costituzionalisti che i legislatori italiani quando si appresteranno -e lo facciano al più presto- a modificare la legge elettorale Tremaglia.Tra l’altro le infrazioni innegabili da parte dei diversi candidati e degli eletti durante la campagna elettorale appena conclusasi all’accordo firmato tra i due governi e capillarmente monitorato dalle autorità canadesi, costituiranno una più che plausibile giustificazione per impedire il diritto di voto passivo, e forse anche quello attivo, nella prossima tornata elettorale nazionale in Italia.

Il diritto di voto passivo, -le candidature dall’estero per indenderci- va sic et simpliciter eliminato. È una anomalia legislativa impossibile da giustificare giuridicamente nei vari paesi in cui risiede la diaspora italiana ed ha anche il grave difetto di mettere in discussione la lealtà di appartenenza al paese in cui si vive e si è anche nella maggior parte dei casi cittadini.

Va invece mantenuto e difeso il diritto di voto attivo ed ammessa la possibilità di candidature dei residenti all’estero sul territorio italiano. Questa sì che sarebbe una novità, una vera rivoluzione nel modo in cui si concepisce l’italianità e darebbe concretezza al significato che un italiano ha parità di diritti e doveri ovunque egli risieda o viva. Il diritto di voto attivo va esteso a tutti i livelli, (referenda, elezioni europeee, nazionali, regionali, provinciali e comunali). Con quali conseguenze? Quella di garantire pienamente il diritto/dovere di voto, (cosa che la legge Tremaglia non fa perchè esclude la possibilità di votare a livello europeo, regionale, provinciale e comunale. È quindi un diritto monco che è stato concesso, cosa che i difensori del voto passivo volutamente ignorano od occultano quando lo difendono). Un’altra conseguenza, ancora più importante, è quella di contare veramente nella realtà italiana. Il pericolo, soprattutto nelle regioni piccole, è di essere inondati da un ‘voto estero’ che potrebbe ribaltare quello espresso dai residenti in Italia. Ma proprio in questo rischio consiste la novità da accettare perchè definisce la complessità e specificità dell’identità italiana rispetto ad altri paesi, in parte riusultato di una componente emigratoria durata oltre un secolo. Chi si fa interprete del timore del ‘ribaltamento’ deve tenere presente questo principio: il voto attivo degli italiani residenti all’estero si eserciterebbe nelle regioni di origine per cui un lombardo voterebbe in Lombardia, un molisano nel Molise, un sardo in Sardegna e così di seguito. L’appartenenza al territorio verrebbe a costituire un principio sacrosanto e l’ anello di congiunzione tra residenti all’estero ed in patria. (É quello che i vari politici regionali sottolineano con tanta foga e retorica quando vanno all’estero ed incontrano i loro corregionali. Se sono loro a dire che noi siamo i migliori figli della terra a cui appartengono sia loro che noi, com’è possibile negare poi questa verità nei fatti?) A guardar bene anche politicamente il rischio si riduce a ben poco. Una volta assorbito lo choc della novità del voto ’estero’, si farà una campagna elettorale mirata ad ottenere il consenso dei residenti all’estero. I risultati elettorali delle elezioni del 2006 e del 2008 hanno dimostrato che le preferenze di fondo di chi vive all’estero non si differenziano di molto da quelle espresse dagli italiani residenti in Italia. Va soprattutto tenuto conto di questo dato: il tasso di partecipazione dei residenti all’estero si aggira sul 35-40% e con gli emendamenti proposti scenderà ancora di più.

Voterà plausibilmente circa il 30% dei circa 3 milioni di elettori dall’estero. Diventerebbe così una variabile di circa il 2% di cui tenere conto durante la campagna elettorale che potrebbe essere assorbita nelle piccole regioni a rischio di ‘ribaltamento’ permettendo ad esponenti qualificati delle comunità regionali più numerose di essere candidati. Il pericolo del ribaltamento del voto espresso dai residenti italiani si ridurrebbe ancora di più se venissero create le 12 macro-regioni raccomandate dalla Fondazione Agnelli qualche anno o gli 8 compartimenti in cui l’ENEL divide il territorio italiano fa e venissero eliminate le province. La riduzione del numero delle regioni, modifica veramente auspicabile, avrebbe il merito di ridurre di molto il costo della politica e di essere in sincronia con il riemergente discorso sul federalismo che il risultato positivo della Lega Nord obbligherà a fare anche in tempi brevi. Sarebbe anche un mezzo per mantenere vivo e per rinnovare (dando spazio ai giovani) l’associazionismo italiano all’estero che nella maggior parte dei casi ha come punto di riferimento la regione o il comune di origine. v

Due canadesi ed un americano: Risultato elettorale del 14 aprile in America Centro/Nord ue canadesi ed un americano: ecco il risultato delle elezioni nazionali italiane per la circoscrizione estero nel distretto del Centro e Nord America.È stato rieletto alla Camera dei deputati Gino Bucchino di Toronto - PD /Veltroni (centrosinistra) - con 14.762 voti di preferenza (uno dei piu alti a livello internazionale). Per il Pdl/Berlusconi (centrodestra) è arrivato al primo posto Amato Berardi di Filadelfia con 11.166 voti. Per il Senato della Repubblica italiana è risultato eletto Basilio Giordano di Montreal (Pdl), eletto con 13.083 preferenze. Si è trattato di una vera sorpresa. Il senatore uscente Renato Turano di Chicago (PD) ha in realtà ottenuto 15.223 preferenze, oltre due mila in più di Giordano, ma la sua lista è risultata perdente con il 33,15%, contro il 33,97% per il Pdl. Ecco la ragione per cui è stato sconfitto da Basilio Giordano che ha anche battuto Augusto Sorriso (New York/New Jersey) il capolista del Pdl al senato che ha ricevuto solo 8.699 preferenze. Vanno segnalate infrazioni sulle modalità del voto ( invio erroneo delle schede elettorali e non rispetto di segretezza nel’esercizio del voto) ed il mancato rispetto da parte dei candidati, anche di quelli eletti, all’accordo firmato dai governi italiano e canadese che limitava la possibilità di fare propaganda solo nelle sedi consolari. Ribadiamo la nostra posizione: il diritto di voto passivo all’estero va semplicemente abolito perchè è anticostuzionale, è un’ingerenza italiana sulla sovranità territoriale di altri stati e mette in discussione la nostra lealtà come cittadini canadesi al Paese nel quale viviamo. (vedere editoriale) Ci auguriamo quindi che il governo canadesi non rinnovi in avvenire il suo consenso per l’elezione sul suo territorio di parlamentari alle istituzioni legislative italiane. v

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2 Giugno: Festa della Repubblica Saluto del Console Generale d’Italia a Montreal Francesco Paolo Venier Cari connazionali,

primo luogo agli anziani, a coloro che in Italia hanno vissuto da giovani e che ad essa guardano con sentimenti di grande attaccamento e nostalgia. Dobbiamo sostenere questi loro sentimenti e il loro modo di stare insieme mentre ricordano il nostro Paese. Ma un impegno ancora più convinto va riservato ai più giovani, ai ragazzi e alle ragazze che dell’Italia hanno spesso solo sentito parlare dai genitori o dai nonni. Un’Italia che oggi può apparire diversa da come viene loro descritta, un Paese in forte transizione che si adatta, anche con fatica, alle continue sfide di oggi. Un’Italia che va conosciuta soprattutto per quanto ancora ha da offrire in molti settori di punta, come l’alta tecnologia, l’innovazione, lo stile in generale. Dobbiamo impegnarci per favorire i contatti fra le università, gli scambi giovanili, inserendoci attivamente nelle crescenti attività delle nostre Regioni.

Il terzo pilastro, strettamente collegato al precedente, è quello relativo alla nostra lingua: conoscere l’italiano oggi non significa più, e soltanto, mantenere vive le proprie radici, ma impadronirsi di uno strumento sempre più utile nella cultura come negli affari. Scoprire l’Italia di oggi, farvi studi superiori e qualificati, immergersi nelle sue bellezze naturali e artistiche, studiarne le esperienze industriali di successo e apprenderne la lingua fa parte dello stesso progetto.

C’è infine il quarto pilastro del nostro impegno, forse il più’ importante perché è quello che dobbiamo sentire come più condiviso. Non vi e’ nulla di più prezioso per noi italiani della nostra cultura millenaria. Questa primavera, Montreal è stata lo scenario di importanti eventi di alta cultura italiana - teatro, esposizioni, cinema - che abbiamo fortemente voluto venissero rappresentati sulle scene e nei luoghi più prestigiosi di questa città. Portare qui il meglio della nostra produzione artistica deve essere per tutti noi motivo di orgoglio, non certo per compiacerci di noi stessi, ma per far conoscere e apprezzare la nostra cultura, quale straordinario veicolo di promozione dei nostri valori, al grande pubblico di qui.

ome d’abitudine, mi avvalgo del 62.mo anniversario della Repubblica per rivolgerVi il più rispettoso saluto. E ringrazio prima di tutto la stampa italiana per l’onore che mi riserva ospitandomi sulle sue pagine.

Questo è un anno particolare, da celebrare con solennità. Il primo gennaio del 1948 entrava in vigore la Costituzione repubblicana. Da allora, il cammino del nostro Paese e del nostro popolo, che si lasciavano alle spalle le pagine oscure della guerra e della dittatura, è stato tracciato dalla Costituzione. La fotografia che vedete a fianco sintetizza efficacemente i sentimenti e le speranze di quell’Italia di 60 anni fa.

Vogliamo ricordare il 60.mo anniversario della Costituzione rivolgendoci soprattutto ai più giovani. I principi fondamentali che sancisce, racchiusi in un testo che nel mondo intero costituisce ancora un esempio di chiarezza e di modernità, sono ancora validi. Renderle omaggio non è un ossequio formale alla nostra legge fondamentale, ma un’occasione per richiamare l’attualità dei valori che la ispirano. La Costituzione è un patrimonio di tutti gli italiani, anche di quelli che verranno.

Grazie ad essa, per la seconda volta quest’anno, i cittadini italiani all’estero hanno dato vita al più importante degli esercizi di democrazia, quello del voto per rinnovare il Parlamento. Nella circoscrizione consolare di Montreal ha votato quasi il 53 per cento degli aventi diritto, il tasso più alto in Canada e fra i più alti al mondo. Un deputato e un senatore, entrambi residenti in Canada, vi rappresentano ora in Parlamento. A loro vanno i nostri rinnovati auguri di buon lavoro e la nostra disponibilità a raccordare l’impegno comune delle istituzioni e degli organismi rappresentativi della collettività italiana. È un impegno comune che si basa su alcuni, solidi, pilastri. Permettetemi di ricordarli. Il primo riguarda noi come istituzione e deve rimanere quello di garantire ai cittadini il miglior servizio possibile. Lo facciamo con tutte le nostre forze e le nostre risorse, ma anche con voi, con i giornali, la radio italiana e i Patronati, che ci aiutano a diffondere le notizie più importanti per voi utenti.

Il secondo pilastro del nostro impegno è l’insieme delle azioni che favoriscano il collegamento della comunità con il nostro Paese, coi suoi valori e con la sua cultura. Pensiamo in

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Cari connazionali, nella grande Montreal una persona su dieci è di origine italiana. Questa è una grande realtà “italiana”, dove l’italiano è ancora vivo e parlato, dove voi con il vostro lavoro e le vostre riconosciute capacità avete saputo inserirvi con successo, senza dimenticare mai le vostre radici. Se quella canadese è, oggi, una società-modello, ciò lo si deve anche al vostro fondamentale apporto di tolleranza, adattabilità, rispetto e capacità di lavoro. Proprio per questo siamo convinti che possiamo fare ancora molta strada, insieme, per farci meglio conoscere e quindi apprezzare. v

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DOSSIER - LA MIA ITALIA

mon italie

My Italy

Mon Italie / My Italy / Mia Italia

par Gabriel Riel-Salvatore, Managing Editor

Perspectives sur la culture italienne

Perspectives on Italian Culture

ans ce dossier spécial sur l’amour porté à la culture italienne, Panoramitalia a décidé de donner la parole à des italophiles pour démontrer que l’Italie et la culture italienne occupent une place de choix chez nous. Panoramitalia a donc rassemblé des témoignages en français, en italien et en anglais, écrits par des personnes de différents horizons et de différentes origines ethniques et pour qui l’Italie a une signification toute particulière.

Kevin Reynolds, Américain d’origine, enseigne l’italien et l’histoire de la langue italienne à l’Université Concordia. Reynolds nous révèle dans son article écrit en italien, que cette belle langue revêt des couleurs différentes selon ses régions. Les dialectes encore très présents dans la péninsule contribuent grandement à la richesse sémantique, historique et culturelle de la langue italienne.

Karyn Mikhel, une jeune femme canadienne-française ayant des antécédents irlandais, reflète bien le métissage québécois et incarne l’image des deux peuples fondateurs du Canada. Après des études en traduction et en langue et littérature italiennes, Mikhel continue, grâce à sa profession, à cultiver son rapport avec la culture italienne. Son témoignage nous explique en détail pourquoi son choix s’est arrêté sur l’italien plutôt que sur une autre langue.

Allison Pollock, une italophile convaincue, nous entretient de son amour pour l’italien.

Cette Canadienne d’expression anglaise, diplômée en sciences politiques, nous écrit, en italien, ce qui la touche profondément dans la culture du Bel Paese.

Les Italiens ont laissé des traces importantes au Québec et au Canada. Celles-ci se manifestent de plusieurs façons à travers toutes sortes d’initiatives. Qu’en est-il des jeunes ItaloCanadiens? Domenico Miletti, un jeune étudiant Italo-Canadien, nous explique en anglais, comment il a collaboré à la création de la récente Association des étudiants italiens de l’Université Concordia.

Robert Scalia, un jeune musicien et écrivain montréalais d’origine italienne, nous entretient en anglais, de l’intégration et de l’assimilation. Au-delà de la langue, la culture italienne a su s’implanter profondément en sol québécois laissant derrière elle un mode de vie et surtout un réseau de valeurs encore très marqué chez les jeunes Italo-Canadiens.

Vincent Fournier, professeur d’anthropologie au CEGEP du Vieux Montréal, nous explique ce qui l’a particulièrement frappé de la culture italienne lors de ses études de doctorat sur la culture vitivinicole à Ciro, en Calabre. Il nous explique, en français, qu’il existe plusieurs « Italies » au sein du Bel Paese. C’est sans doute ce qu’on apprécie le plus lorsqu’on traverse la péninsule du nord au sud. v

n this “Dossier” on the love for Italian Culture, Panoramitalia has decided to give Italian aficionados a chance to demonstrate how Italy and its culture occupy a special place in the world. Panoramitalia publishing testimonials written either in French, English or Italian, of people of various horizons and different ethnic backgrounds that care about Italy.

Kevin Reynolds, an American, is a teacher of Italian and history of Italian language at Concordia University. Passionate about words and culture, he literally fell in love with Italian during a first trip to Venice. A love at first sight we often associate with the “Stendal syndrome” (the romantic, French author during a first trip to Venice was overwhelmed by the beauty of the Doges’ city.) Reynolds reveals in his article, written in Italian, that Italian language conveys many nuances according to its regions. Dialects are still very present in the peninsula and greatly contribute to the semantic, historic and cultural richness of Italian language.

Karyn Mikhel, a young woman of French Canadian and Irish decent reflects the Quebecer “metissage” and incarnates the image of the two founding people of Canada. Like Reynolds, this young translator has fallen for the charms of Italy in her early twenties during a first trip in Michelangelo’s country. After having studied translation and Italian studies, she continues to cultivate her relationship with Italian language through her work. Her testimonial explains why she decided to choose Italian instead of any other language.

Allison Pollock, a convinced Italian lover, entertains us on her love for Italy. This Political Science graduate of English Canadian background writes, in Italian, about what profoundly moves her in the culture of the Bel Paese.

Italians have left an important mark in Quebec and in Canada that manifest itself in various ways through different initiatives. What about young Italo-canadians? Are they still as willing to express their Italian identity? How do they organize day to day to contribute to mold the image of today and tomorrow’s modern Quebec? Domenico Miletti, a young Italo-canadian student, relates, in English, how he collaborated in the creation of the newly founded Italian association of Concordia.

Robert Scalia, a young Montreal musician and writer of Italian decent, talks about, in English, integration and assimilation. Beyond the language, Italian culture has been able to profoundly embed itself in Quebec’s soil, leaving behind a way of life and above all a network of values still very much alive in young Italians.

Vincent Fournier, an anthropology teacher at CEGEP du Vieux Montréal, explains what especially hit him about Italian culture during his doctorate studies on the winemaking culture undertaken in Ciro, in Calabria. He reveals, in French, that there exists many Italies within the Bel Paese. It is probably what we appreciate the most when we visit Italy from north to south. v

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No el xe l’italian, el xe el venesian!

Dialetti e Italianistica

rrivai per la prima volta a Venezia una bella giornata di agosto del 1994 completamente ignaro di quanto la mia prima esperienza all’estero mi avrebbe cambiato la vita. Non parlavo italiano e non sapevo niente di Venezia, nemmeno che fosse un insieme di varie isolette situate all’interno di una vasta palude o che fosse stata la capitale di una repubblica indipendente per oltre mille anni. Ero iscritto al secondo anno del corso di laurea in Musica e Storia dell’arte presso un’università americana e avevo scelto di trascorrere un semestre a Venezia insieme a 16 altri coetanei. Il gruppo era costituito di americani – tutti anglofoni – dello stesso liberal arts college dello Stato di New York, pronti ad affrontare la sfida di vivere in una cultura straniera, ma allo stesso tempo intimiditi dalla strana lingua dei nostri nuovi vicini che echeggiava lungo le fondamente, per i sotoporteghi e attraverso i campi della città.

Ci mettemmo subito a studiare l’italiano, ma rimanemmo per molto tempo poco capaci di comunicare con la gente del luogo. Riuscivamo a farci capire abbastanza bene, ma quando ci rivolgevano la parola loro, i veneziani, non capivamo nulla. Alcune delle ragazze del gruppo erano riuscite a conoscere alcuni dei soliti ragazzi veneziani che si trovavano in giro per le zone più turistiche di Venezia, ma con loro comunicavano per lo più in inglese; e poiché a volte le nostre colleghe avevano bisogno di accompagnatori per respingere le avances dei loro nuovi amici, capitava che io e gli altri pochi colleghi americani di sesso maschile venissimo invitati alle loro uscite. Andavamo sempre al nostro locale preferito, il Bistrot de Venise, situato in una delle calli che congiungono la piazza San Marco con il ponte del Rialto. Durante questi episodi provavo a capire ciò che si dicevano i ragazzi veneziani fra di loro, ma il linguaggio che impiegavano non era quello che imparavamo a lezione. Un giorno, uno di questi ragazzi veneziani mi spiegò gentilmente: “No el xe l’ita∏ian queo che parlemo, el xe el venesian.” E poi, come sempre quando uno incontra una nuova lingua per la prima volta, egli mi insegnò delle espressioni veneziane comuni, soprattutto quelle più ... colorite (di cui, come tutti sanno del veneziano, ghe ne xe anca massa!).

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Piazza San Marco

Nacque così il mio interesse verso lo studio della lingua italiana e di tutte le parlate regionali – comunemente chiamate “dialetti” – che caratterizzano l’Italia. Da anglofono puro, ero e continuo ad essere affascinato dalla diversità dei codici linguistici italiani e dal rapporto che hanno con la lingua standard Vista sulla Laguna dal palazzo dei Dogi e con l’identità nazionale degli italiani.

Nati dalle stesse radici dell’italiano standard e delle altre lingue romanze, ossia dal latino volgare, tutti questi idiomi hanno una storia e una grammatica autonoma e in alcuni casi (ad esempio il siciliano, il napoletano, il piemontese e lo stesso veneziano, per non nominarli tutti) possono vantare una ricca tradizione letteraria e perfino politica. Essendo una parte importante del patrimonio culturale italiano, furono più che altro i dialetti d’Italia che mi incuriosirono durante la mia prima permanenza a Venezia e che mi ispirarono a perseguire una carriera come professore d’italianistica. v

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Kevin Reynolds

My Italy

Perché l’italiano?

By Karyn Mikhel

www.panoramitalia.com

mon italie

Il piacere di studiare a L’Aquila in Abruzzo

e lingue straniere mi hanno sempre attirate. Una lingua è come una porta che si apre verso un altro universo, un nuovo orizzonte. È l’unica maniera di conoscere a fondo la gente, il vero sapore di un paese, il ritmo di un popolo.

Sono cresciuta in una casa metà inglese, metà francese; mia madre è quebechese e mio padre di discendenza irlandese. Ho scoperto rapidamente che la lingua non era l’unica differenza fra francofoni e anglofoni. C’erano anche diverse maniere di esprimersi, il senso dell’umorismo differiva, e sentivo che c’era un tono, un ritmo che non era lo stesso.

Quando andavo da qualche parte e che sentivo delle persone parlare in una lingua straniera mi chiedevo sempre: come sarebbe la vita in questa lingua?

I ritmi? I rapporti con gli altri? I sapori? Il senso delle cose? E sognavo, m’immaginavo come sarei stata diversa se fossi nata in un altro paese o se avessi parlato un’altra lingua. C’erano tanti paesi che speravo visitare un giorno per soddisfare questa mia curiosità, ma sentivo dentro di me un richiamo speciale per pochi di essi. L’Italia era uno di questi paesi.

Da giovani con il cuore aperto e pieno di speranze e di desideri, c’è sempre quell’adulto che ci fa tornare con i piedi per terra. Ci dice di essere ragionevole, che la vita non è un sogno, che si deve lavorare, che si devono fare le scelte giuste, tanto per gli studi quanto per il futuro, etc. E cosi’ subito i gusti amori che abbiamo per certe cose si perdono nel nulla e ci indirizziamo verso quel che si deve fare.

Sono fortunata. Ho una testa durissima. Allora, anche se ho preso un po’ più di tempo per farlo, e anche se ci sono stati ostacoli, ho finito per imparare le lingue del mio cuore.

Nel Cegep è stato lo spagnolo. Dopo il francese e l’inglese era come una continuità logica. È una lingua che si parla in 22 paesi, allora è anche utile conoscerla. Mi piaceva e mi piace ancora. Poi sono andata a studiare in Francia (non potevo andare in Italia perché non parlavo ancora italiano!). A Parigi non mi sono mai sentita a casa, nemmeno dopo un anno. La gente mi sembrava fredda, chiusa; la città grigia, indifferente. (Ho scoperto troppo tardi che il resto della Francia non era affatto cosí).

Quel’anno è stato molto difficile per me. Non sono riuscita ad abituarmi alla città, non avevo soldi, gli studi in un’unversità francese erano molto diversi, non mi sono fatta molti amici, e soprattutto avevo sempre l’impressione di essere completamente diversa da tutte le persone che incontravo. Mi sentivo molto sola. Ma quest’avventura non è stata solamente negativa. Durante lo stesso anno sono andata in Italia per la prima volta.

Solo per nove giorni, ma è stato abbastanza per avere un colpo di fulmine incredibile con il paese e la gente. In Italia ho ritrovato qualcosa che si era nascosto in una parte remota del mio essere, e sentivo che mi aprivo come un fiore che non era stato innaffiato per molto tempo. Vivevo, ero, sentivo, mi muovevo movevo con la musica del paese, con i sapori, con l’umore della gente, con il tempo, con i colori…

Quando sono tornata in Canada, ho cominciato a studiare l’italiano. Ho fatto il ‘major’ alla Concordia di Montréal. Sono tornata due volte in Italia. La prima volta era per cinque settimane, durante le quali ho studiato all’universitá di L’Aquila per due settimane, grazie a una borsa di studio (un viaggio organizzato dal Professor Filippo Salvatore). La seconda volta sono tornata con il mio fidanzato (il quale è stato il mio studente d’italiano) e abbiamo fatto un giro della Sicilia.

Ora il mio italiano non è perfetto, ma una lingua non puó mai essere conosciuta perfettamente. Non ho un accento riconoscibile, mi esprimo e leggo come se fosse francese o inglese, e l’insegno e lo traduco. Cosa potrei chiedere di piú?

Allora, perché l’italiano? Perché per me l’italiano è una storia d’amore che non è mai finita. Fa parte di me. Mi fa viaggiare, ballare, cantare. L’italiano mi ha insegnato che dobbiamo assolutamente cedere ai desideri del nostro cuore. È l’unico modo di scoprire la magia della vita. Ora non riuscirei a farne a meno.

Non sarei ‘io’ senza sapere parlare la lingua di dante. E chissà dove mi porterá in avvenire? v

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L’amore per l’italiano di una anglo-canadese

By Allison Pollock ubblico questa testimonianza scritta direttamente in lingua italiana e fattami recapitare dall’autrice tramite posta. Per ragioni di riservatezza ho preferito usare lo pseudonimo, Allison Pollock. Le parole d’amore verso l’Italia e l’italianità siano di stimolo a tanti italiani in Italia malati di esterofilia a salvaguardare un sano orgoglio nazionale e ad evitare di inficiare la lingua di Dante con tanti ridicoli e spesso inutili forestierismi.

Le parole di Allison Pollock siano anche di stimolo per noi italocanadesi a salvaguardare l’amore per le nostre radici italiane ed a fare uno sforzo continuo per continuare ad usare l’italiano,una delle più belle lingue del mondo e veicolo di un patrimonio culturale unico a livello mondiale, e trasmetterlo alla future generazioni. (F.S.) Come si può notare dal mio nome non sono né italiana né oriunda italiana, ma ho un amore profondo per la cultura italiana, appunto per tutta l’italianità ovunque si manifesti... Ancorchè scriva agevolmente in italiano non comunico ancora oralmente nella lingua. Comunque spero che ciò accadrà allorchè avrò una comunità italiana di cui fare parte. Preferisco vivere con gli italiani dappresso; non é cosa sorprendente, sono persone talmente meravigliose. Pur avendo una laurea in scienze politiche (relazioni internazionali) le lingue straniere sono il mio vero amore... La omogeneità linguistica in Nordamerica mi soffoca assai. Ognuno parla la stessa lingua (inglese), ma molti la utilizzano male. Un ambiente inglese è troppo restrittivo per me. Sarei più felice nell’Europa continentale. Il mio cervello ha bisogno di molta stimolazione linguistica per sopravvivere ed accontentarsi. Sì... trovo affascinante il modo in cui i vocaboli si collegano per formare pensieri ed idee... L’inglese è passato in secondo piano nella mia vita. Ho letto molta narrativa inglese da diversi luoghi (inclusa la letteratura inglese) ma sono nell’ impossibilità di legarmi con essa. Mi sembra straniera. Ho difficoltà ad identificarmi con la letteratura anglocanadese. Non è la mia esperienza. Leggendo un giornale italiano, però, mi sento proprio a mio agio.

Umberto Eco è il mio romanziere vivente preferito. Gli italiani hanno prodotto almeno la metà ( forse più) del patrimonio culturale mondiale. Il mondo anglofono non può mantenersi al passo con gli italiani in materia di cultura. L’inglese sembra più adatto alle comunicazioni del commercio, della tecnica, e dei trasporti. L’italiano per contro è la lingua del cuore e dei sentimenti... Gli italiani hanno contribuito oltre misura alle università del mondo.

Come sarebbe il Canada senza l’apporto ingente degli italiani? Toronto e Montreal (ed altre città pure) sarebbero così ricche sia economicamente sia culturalmente senza gli italiani? Macché! Gli italiani mi attirano in parte a causa della loro cultura di moltissimi strati e sfaccettature ma anche perché recano continuamente successo alla società...

L’intensità del mio amore si è manifestata... in occasione della Coppa del Mondo. L’Italia era... il MIO paese. MIO paese? Già, perché nel profondo del mio cuore sono italiana. Il sangue italiano (verde, rosso e bianco) mi circola nelle vene. L’italiano (lingua e cultura) è diventato parte del cervello, delle cellule. Può darsi che certi scrittori italocanadesi vogliano assimilarsi nei loro scritti, cioè scrivere per i lettori della corrente principale. Io, d’altronde, voglio andare controcorrente, ossia creare opere da una prospettiva”etnica”. Ho idee per scritti in italiano soprattutto quelle attinenti all’importanza d’apprendere/utilizzare l’italiano nel nuovo mondo (fuori del Belpaese) specie fra i giovani. E’ il mio chiodo fisso. Potrei scrivere in inglese dove vi sono più lettori ma mi esprimo meglio in italiano dove le parole mi penetrano più profondamente nell’essere. Scrivo meglio usando strutture grammaticali italiane. Scrivere in inglese è, per me, un processo meccanico, in italiano un lavoro d’amore...

Tramite l’apprendimento dell’italiano vedo il mondo con occhi più illuminati. Se solo MP_Pub_Voce_Final.ai 2/21/08 5:05:59 PM tutti si votassero allo studio delle lingue potrebbe esservi più comprensione globale...

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Ora vedete perchè l’italiano tanto mi preme.Mi guarisce la pena, mi lenisce l’anima e mi allenta le restrizioni. E’ come un giardino rigoglioso ma dentro spesse mura di pietra. Amo l’italiano e gli italiani più di quanto le parole possano esprimere. Fanno parte integrante della mia vita per sempre... Sto attualmente leggendo a puntate in un giornale il capolavoro magnifico di Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi... Sono anche riuscita ad ottenere in prestito tramite la biblioteca locale una copia de I Promessi Sposi. Ora stento a staccarmi dal romanzo (sto leggendo il capitolo 8). E’ la migliore e più stupenda opera di narrativa che abbia mai letto.

La mia esperienza linguistica Ho sempre avuto una predilezione per le culture del Mediterraneo. Appunto, sono una grande patita delle lingue straniere. Le lingue “latine” mi attirano veramente. Come molti canadesi fuori Québec studiai il francese trovandola un’esperienza molto gradevole. Però il richiamo linguistico cambiò nazionalità. L’Italia diventò il mio centro d’attrazione ( e dell’attenzione) per lo più a causa della mia passione per l’opera e l’architettura antica, entrambe influenzate talmente dagli italiani. Sapevo che il solo modo per arrivare al cuore della bella e meravigliosa cultura italiana che tanto prediligo fosse tramite la lingua italiana. Quindi, a metà degli anni 1990, mi misi ad impararla del tutto come autodidatta, senza classe né insegnante dall’inizio. Mancando io di un ambiente italiano mi fui prefissa uno scopo enorme ma ero determinata a superare gli intoppi linguistici. Imparai l’italiano mediante libri della biblioteca ed altra materia a livello introduttivo nonché un corso (tre manuali di studio con 137 lezioni scritti quasi del tutto in italiano) che un immigrante italiano in Canada ebbe adoperato anni addietro per imparare l’inglese. Man mano che studiavo l’italiano il mio amore per la lingua cresceva vieppù – ciò malgrado le difficoltà che affrontavo.

Ultimati questi materiali cominciai a fare traduzioni (principalmente dall’inglese in italiano su una diversità di opere di narrativa e saggistica) per far pratica del mio italiano. Un esercizio all’inizio, le traduzioni divennero col tempo un’attività ben gradita che faccio tuttora. La tappa successiva: mi abbonai a tre settimanali stampati in italiano in Canada che leggo da cima a fondo: è per me una vera avventura culturale. Finora sono riuscita a completare oltre un milione di parole, /2,500 pagine di traduzione, a leggere 550 fascicoli dei giornali ed a far pubblicare 11 scritti in uno dei giornali: una realizzazione che mi ha riempito di orgoglio e delizia.

(Come dicevo) di recente ho iniziato a leggere I Promessi Sposi del Manzoni; la letteratura italiana mi ha completamente avvinta. Non passa giorno che non mi metta a qualche aspetto dell’italiano, l’amore è talmente grande. L’italiano mi circola nelle vene come linfa vitale e scorre naturalmente dalla mia penna come se debba essere così. Ho nel mio cervello una struttura linguistica italiana che chiede di esser sviluppata ed ingrandita. Mi piace oltremisura esprimemermi in italiano. La lingua mi sta a pennello e mi avvicina agli stupendi italiani la cui cultura ho tanto cara. La cultura italiana orna il mondo come i gioielli tempestano una corona facendolo splendere magnificamente. Gli italiani hanno contribuito parecchio al Canada facendone un paese molto migliore. Voglio un bene dell’anima ai ragguardevoli italiani e li lodo assai per l’apporto ingente che hanno dato alla società in troppe sfere/campi d’attività per elencare.

Come scrittrice... spero di allargarmi gli orizzonti creativi in italiano. Voglio sondare il carattere italiano nei miei scritti... Le traduzioni mi hanno destato l’immaginativa, ma è la lotta tra l’italiano e l’inglese dominante nel contesto nordamericano che mi preme di più come tema per i miei scritti. v

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My Italy

“Making Italians Count” The Newly-Founded Concordia Italian Association

Left to right: Manuela Della Posta, Chris Vincelli, Nando Musano, Jason Hoffmann, and Domenico Marco Miletti

By Domenico Marco Miletti It was March 28th and the Concordia Student Union (CSU) was hosting its Annual Club Gala and Award Ceremony and its members were uncertain about who the award would go to. The administration of the newly-created Concordia Italian Association hoped to be designated as “Best New Club”. Finally the names of the council were read out in front of the crowd allowing Chris Vincelli, the President, to take a sigh of relief and bask in triumph. Only two and a half months had passed since the association materialized in January. This recognition meant that all our hard work had finally paid off in the eyes of the students and gave us a real sense of pride and accomplishment.

Concordia’s newest association started in early January 2008 under the initiative of the founder and current president Chris Vincelli. Concordia had a large variety of associations representing many different nations and causes ranging from the environment to Palestinian human rights, but there was no sight whatsoever of a ‘real’ Italian association. An association for students studying Italian existed, but none for students of Italian origin. Determined to change that, Vincelli set out to create a meeting ground for Italians at Concordia.

I first heard about the idea of an Italian association through Facebook. I read about it on Vincelli’s wall and being curious and interested by the project, I quickly inquired him. He answered back mentioning he started up the association with the help of Rebecca Hazan of the CSU. “It’s about time we Italians have a club of our own,” he wrote inviting me at the same time to stop by the information table he was setting up for the Concordia Club Orientation Day. Vincelli’s vision was straightforward. The association would be a central meeting ground by which young members of Concordia University’s Italian community can come together and connect with one another on a cultural and social basis.

We met and Vincelli offered me a position as vice-President of External Affairs. I than met the other three vice-presidents: Nando Musano, Michael ‘Enzo’ Negro, and Jason Hoffmann (who is half-Italian), and we spent the whole afternoon planning and organizing what would become the best student body of the whole Campus. By days end, the association had a little over sixty people sign up along with six vice-Presidents.

Soon after that, we set up a Facebook group to advertise the various events we wished to organize. Manuela Della Posta was brought on board as the graphic designer of the association, creating the logo for the association and the flyers for our events. Within a few weeks,

‘Santangelo’s, a small sandwich deli next to the university on Guy Street, agreed to sponsor us with free food to be distributed during future club orientations. We also got plenty of help and support from a Concordia University Italian professor, Filippo Salvatore, who gave us precious advices on how to build and structure our organization. He even offered us flags and posters to display on our kiosk.

One, month later, with the help of the Ukrainian Association, the newly-founded Concordia Italian Association held its first event at Reggie’s Bar inviting its members to watch the Canadians hockey game. It was a huge success that enabled the members to better know each other. The CIA did it again with resounding success, hosting the UEFA Champions League games at Reggie’s Bar, which had become by then the unofficial CIA office.

So far, the association has been strongly steaming along with no sign of slowing down, reaching over two hundred members. The association owes its success to two factors. The first would be the dedication and perseverance of its President and founder Chris Vincelli, and the second is the support of young Italians at Concordia University, often confronted by a lack of any unifying element other than an international soccer championship. The drive to be amongst one another is one underlying element of the association’s initial success. Now, young Italians seem to want to identify themselves in the University and not get lost or overshadowed by other associations.

The CIA’s committee will meet during the summer months to discuss various plans for the upcoming semester such as taking part in cultural orientations with other groups, bringing in guest speakers and acquiring a club room on historic MacKay Street. We wish for our members to keep in touch as we hope to create a website very soon. v Contact: italianconcordia@gmail.com Current Association Administration Chris Vincelli – Founder and President Nando Musano – vice-President of Culture Domenico Marco Miletti – Vice-President of External Affairs

Michael ‘Enzo’ Negro – Vice-President of Finance

Jason Hoffmann – Vice-President of internal Affairs Richard Subbisati* – Vice-President of Communications

Marco Arrizza – vice-President of Marketing Manuela Della Posta – Graphic Designer * Recently lost election to Valerio Palazzotto

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Hanging out in cultural limbo I am told I was a perfectly trilingual two-and-a-half, back in the day

By Robert Scalia Robert Scalia (center) and Kamikaze Baby.

wenty some odd years later and I can no longer properly express myself in two of those three languages. Lost my Italian in French daycare. Lost my French in English high school.

And I spent the better part of CEGEP and University making a conscious effort to erase any lingering traces of both from my English – to which I only partially succeeded.

If language is the gateway to culture, then I’m afraid I dropped my set of Italian keys somewhere between P.E.L.O. classes and pre-adolescence and have been aimlessly wondering the back roads of my grandparent’s heritage ever since.

Which is not to say I’m confused, unhappy or lost for words. In fact, I’ve never had so much to say. While the majority of my peers are getting lost in a numbing world of condo fees, flat screens and vacations in Mexican resorts, I have spent the last year and a half holed up in my pad, writing music, lyrics and storylines and trying to condense my very existence into one shiny little CD. I’m just not sure how to explain any of it to my Nonna back in Cattolica Eraclea.

How did I get here, anyway? I mean, I’m not lacking in the ethnic motivation department.

My best friend and band mate Giulio Pampena is Italian. Everyone in Kamikaze Baby is Italian.

In fact, ninety percent of the tenants who rent out the eleven rooms at our rehearsal space in RDP are Italian. The place is called ‘Il Terzo Piano’ – need I say more?

So I’m not one of those self-hating Italians. Occasionally mistaken for a Lebanese or an Israeli, maybe. But the nose and the curly hair are a dead giveaway. Besides, I have the cultural badges to prove it.

I barbecue in winter and drink Espresso religiously. Shopping at Bonanza excites me. I make tomato sauce with my parents, make wine with my uncle Tony and plant hot red peppers (which I eventually bottle) on my third-floor balcony in summer. If it weren’t for my girlfriend, I’d probably still be living with my parents. Indefinitely, I suspect. I even named my cat Pepe because, for some odd reason, I thought he looked the part.

There’s more. While touring in Ontario two summers ago, Kamikaze Baby never missed an Italy World Cup game no matter how early in the morning and draped our huge Italian flag from the antenna of our extended Dodge Ram (named Franco after the Calabrese who sold it to us) until the authorities warned us otherwise. While most bands we met fell into the stereotypical

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Young Robert picking tomatoes.

Kraft Dinner category, we brought our own portable barbecue and cooked up the kind of meals that would make any picnicking Italian proud.

Each of these points taken on their own are all very trivial. But these are the kind of things I feel define me as a third generation Italian living in a Quebec/Canadian/North American culture clash. For better or worse, this is all I have left.

But what does this all mean? Is this what my great cultural heritage has been reduced to?

Can I still walk the walk, even though I admittedly can’t talk the talk?

I look at my close friends and take comfort in the fact that we’re all in the same boat.

Yes, we all have last names that end in vowels. But there’s more to it than that. We are all artists.

We are all unmarried, financially unsettled and, for the large part, weary of fleeting trends, religion, establishment and North American consumer society. And whether it is through our instruments, our voices, our movements or our scissors, we are constantly trying to reflect ourselves in the things we create.

We often poke fun at our own Italian heritage, but we all carry certain values and cultural baggage that allows us to work, bond and create in ways that are extremely profound and meaningful - whether we like to admit it or not.

Having pride in your work is one of the most important, I think. I know my parents always taught me that if you want something done right, you might as well do it yourself. When Giulio, Angelo and I needed to soundproof our room for recording, we got all the necessary materials and built the baffles, clouds and bass traps ourselves. When the Canadian government denied us a recording grant, we turned to our friend Santino Coco and paid for everything ourselves. And when our artist Gianni Berretta told us he needed a 10-foot canvas to properly capture the album cover we wanted, we went out and build the thing ourselves – even after his professor discouraged us from doing so.

I’d like to think that all our grandparents came to this strange land with a similar attitude.

Nothing was given to them. They just put their heads down, stuck together and found a way to make it work.

No words in any language can describe how much I have come to admire that. v

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My Italy

Le «CAMPANILISMO» Particularisme à l’italienne es gens sont toujours étonnés d’apprendre que j’ai fait un doctorat en anthropologie sur la production de vin en Italie. Il est vrai que l’anthropologie est davantage associée à l’étude des sociétés lointaines et exotiques, tandis que l’Italie est au centre du monde occidental. Or, l’Italie se caractérise par une richesse culturelle exceptionnelle, entre autres en raison de sa longue histoire et de l’existence passée de nombreuses civilisations. Il s’agit donc d’un pays particulièrement intéressant à étudier pour les anthropologues, qui sont les spécialistes de l’étude de la culture.

Située au centre du bassin méditerranéen, l’Italie est à travers les siècles le carrefour de nombreuses sociétés et civilisations qui ont toutes contribué à façonner la spécificité culturelle de ses régions. Avant l’époque romaine, l’Italie est habitée par plusieurs peuples parlant des langues distinctes, tels les Étrusques, les Latins et les Sabins, tandis que des civilisations étrangères s’établissent sur certains territoires, tels les Carthaginois en Sardaigne et les Grecs en Sicile et dans le sud de la péninsule. Ensuite, sous l’Empire romain, l’Italie connaît une certaine unité mais seulement parce que Rome impose son autorité, sa langue et ses institutions.

Après la chute de Rome, les particularismes régionaux ressurgissent: le nord de l’Italie se partage en une multitude de Royaumes et de Duchés, le centre est contrôlé par les États pontificaux tandis que le sud est occupé par diverses puissances étrangères. L’Italie se voit unifiée en un Étatnation seulement après 1860, suite à la conquête militaire des Piémontais sur l’ensemble de la péninsule.

Cette histoire complexe explique pourquoi on retrouve aujourd’hui en Italie de nombreux particularismes régionaux. Chaque région a une histoire et une identité propre qui lui permet de se distinguer des autres. Or, ces particularismes se manifestent à des échelles très réduites puisque chaque ville et chaque communauté aime se reconnaître une identité propre qui la distingue des autres communautés avoisinantes. D’une part, ces particularismes s’expriment à travers l’existence de dialectes linguistiques variés qui demeurent encore présents dans les différentes régions d’Italie. D’autre part, ils s’expriment à travers le campanilismo.

Le campanilismo est un sentiment d’appartenance fondé sur une commune ou une paroisse qui se considère distincte, principalement en ce qui a trait à son histoire, à son dialecte et à ses traditions locales, lesquels sont perçus comme meilleurs que ceux de ses voisins. Ainsi, chaque commune est consciente de son originalité et entretient sa spécificité culturelle par le maintien de certaines traditions. Aujourd’hui, suite aux transformations introduites par la

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modernité, c’est en grande partie à travers l’artisanat et les traditions culinaires que les personnes expriment désormais ce campanilismo.

Par exemple, la richesse gastronomique mondialement reconnue de l’Italie s’explique en partie en raison de ce campanilismo. Chaque tradition gastronomique propre à l’Italie, que ce soit au niveau des vins, des fromages ou de tout autre produit du terroir, s’insère localement dans le campalinismo. Ainsi, produire du prosciutto à Parma se transforme en une activité qui dépasse la simple production de jambon et devient porteuse de significations culturelles. Elle devient une activité symbolique à travers laquelle on réitère son identité. Cette identité est rattachée à un lieu, à une communauté, tout comme l’est la tradition du jambon de Parme. Ceci explique pourquoi plusieurs activités artisanales sont effectuées avec autant de soins et d’égards pour la qualité du produit final: en conservant ses traditions, on préserve son identité. Bref, le campanilismo est un trait culturel permettant de comprendre comment les Italiens vivent et perçoivent, de l’intérieur, leur attachement aux traditions locales.

Cet exemple illustre l’intérêt que l’Italie offre à un anthropologue amateur des belles choses du quotidien, tel la nourriture, le vin, les vêtements et un certain art de vivre. Car l’Italie, c’est un art de vivre! Et le campalinismo, tel qu’il s’exprime à travers la perpétuation des traditions gastronomiques, constitue l’une des dimensions culturelles et sociales made in Italy. v

Éditeur du site: www.sommeliervirtuel.com Président de: Vincent Fournier Anthropologues-conseils

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C O N C O R S O D I F OTO - C o n c o u r s d e p h o t o - P h o t ogr a p h y C o n t e s t

IL MIO ORTO / MON POTAGER / MY VEGETABLE GARDEN

Panoramitalia vi invita a mandarci delle foto del vostro orto. Quelle scelte saranno pubblicate nell’edizione autunale.

Panoramitalia vous invite à nous faire parvenir des photos de votre potager. Les meilleures seront publiées dans l’édition d’automne.

Scadenza per l’invio delle foto 11 agosto, 2008

Date limite pour l’envoi des photos 11 août, 2008

Inviate il materiale con il vostro nome a info@panoramitalia.com o via posta Panoramitalia, 9300, Henri Bourassa o., ufficio 100 Saint-Laurent, QC H4S 1L5

S.V.P. envoyer votre matériel ainsi que votre nom à info@panoramitalia.com ou par courrier à Panoramitalia, 9300, Henri Bourassa ouest, bureau 100 Saint-Laurent, QC H4S 1L5

Panoramitalia invites you to send us photos of your vegetable garden and your nicest vegetable baskets. The chosen ones will appear in the fall edition.

Deadline for submitting the photos is August 11, 2008

You may e-mail all material along with your name to info@panoramitalia.com or mail to Panoramitalia, 9300, West Henri Bourassa, suite 100 Saint-Laurent, QC H4S 1L5

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An animated story:

By Aicha Cissé

from southern Italy to the Junos

995 saw the release of one of the most acclaimed animated feature films of all time: Toy Story. For David Pawsey, the movie was not only a delight for the eyes, but also an inspiration to dedicate his career to animation.

The 32-year-old director has recently earned accolades from industry peers and critics notably after winning the coveted 2007 Juno for video of the year for Sam Roberts’ Bridge to nowhere. For Pawsey, the award exemplifies a well-needed push to cast his creative light onto many more projects.

Born and bred in Montreal to an Italian mother and a British father, Pawsey was heavily influenced by comic books and graphic novels at a young age. This fascination shaped his visionary eye and innovative cinematic style.

“My main passion is to put real people in some sort of fantastic parallel universe, give a sense of animated surrealism,” explains Pawsey, who is also signed to Toronto’s Spy films.

He initially wanted to go to film school, but after realizing the growing popularity of the animated film genre, he changed his vocation to 3D animation. He graduated from the NAD centre (National Animation Design Centre) in 1997.

Two years later, the young director started a company which specialized in video games animation and architectural visualization. He then freelanced in advertising, music video directing and motion design.

In 2005, Pawsey joined forces with his long time friend Jonathan Legris to create The Duplex.

“We offer a one-stop solution to clients. The idea is to assemble directing and visual effects creation under one roof.”

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Pawsey quickly began earning his stripes by directing ads for Air Canada, Toyota, Vodkice and Kinder Bueno. Many critics praised him for his innovative techniques transcend established limits, breaking new ground in the art of advertising film.”

Although Pawsey enjoys international success as a director, he does admit that working in Montreal is not as easy as it seems. Downloading and movie piracy have plagued the entertainment industry and videos and films have taken a major hit from it.

“Piracy is literally killing the industry. It cuts down the budget on ads and music videos. The fact that people can now download their favorite tv shows or even just record them has a negative effect in general. Advertisers invest less. Also, the field is increasingly competitive because pretty much anybody can do what I do with the right equipment.

Thanks to sites like youtube.com, who needs a big budget video to be seen by millions anymore?”

Aside from on-line graphics, comics and movies a la “Sin City” and “300”, Pawsey also draws his inspiration from past trips to Italy. He especially loved his mother’s quiet native village of Amato. He embraces his Italian heritage and recognizes it as part of his fascination with architectural imagery. He also sees his maternal grand-father, clarinet player Giacomo Cozentino, as his source of encouragement.

“My grandfather was a clarinet player in the army and he even toured Europe. Just seeing how driven he was motivated me to succeed in the arts.”

Pawsey revealed that Southern Italy played a major part in creating the award- winning video for Sam Roberts.

The imagery drew upon photographs of Italy, Romania and New York City. It’s no wonder the video also earned The Duplex team a 2007 Much Music Video Award for best postproduction.

“We wanted to contrast the old decrepit European architecture with the new industrialized scenery of downtown New York. Bridge to Nowhere illustrates the relationship between nature and urban landscapes.”

Entirely shot on green screen Bridge to Nowhere shows Roberts as he shuffles from a rural village to a gigantic city in a CG world against a film noir palette created by The Duplex. The idea of making a video for this particular song had been churning in Pawsey’s head for a long time.

“Sam and I are friends so when I was in New York, I listened to his song and already I was sketching the visuals in my head. We quickly made a pitch and sent it to the label. They absolutely loved it.”

After winning prestigious awards, Pawsey is now looking forward to completing a short film and eventually directing more music videos. Ideally, the visionary director dreams of working with some of his favorite artists such as Radiohead, U2 and his friend Sam Roberts. For now, Pawsey finds joy in dedicating his time to his loving family and pushing the limits of film animation. v

For more info visit: www.theduplex.tv

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Una brasiliana dal cuore verde, bianco e rosso!

By Vanessa Lage / Erika Papagni ’Italia è sempre stata un sogno. Sin da bambina mi avvolgeva e mi affascinava con le sue mille vicende storiche, con i suoi poeti, i suoi meravigliosi monumenti. E ho sempre creduto che in qualche modo i miei costumi fossero simili a quelli degli italiani: l’amore per la cucina, per la musica, per gli spettacoli ed i balli locali.

Nel 1991, dopo aver preso la decisione di continuare la mia carriera pallavolistica, sono partita dal Brasile verso la tanto sognata Italia. Venivo dalla nazionale brasiliana juniores e facevo parte della migliore squadra di pallavolo del mondo!

Questo mi dava una spinta notevole anche se non avevo ancora firmato nessun contratto. Inseguivo un sogno che si chiamava: ITALIA. Anche se non fossi riuscita nel mio intento, mi dicevo che nella peggiore delle ipotesi avrei comunque visitato l’Europa ma soprattutto visto realizzare dal vivo il mio sogno!

Iniziai a parlarne ai miei genitori, ma non la presero per niente bene! Avevano paura ed erano piuttosto contrariati.

Avevo solamente 21 anni e venivo da una famiglia estremamente benestante. Non avevo la necessità di partire, come fanno tanti brasiliani, per poter vivere degnamente. Avevo una vita meravigliosa in Brasile: abitavo a Belo Horizonte nel sudest del Brasile, avevo una bella casa, una macchina, una casa per le vacanze fuori città circondata da un piccolo parco, con piscina, sauna ed un meraviglioso clima tropicale. Ma il sogno italiano alla fine “ha avuto la mejo” (come si dice a Roma!).

Sono partita nel mese di agosto, con una mia amica, non avevamo la minima idea di cosa aspettarci! Rimasi molto sorpresa quando trovammo negozi, ristoranti e uffici chiusi! In Brasile non chiudono mai neanche per le vacanze! Iniziammo col vedere l’Europa e alcune città italiane fino a fine agosto, visto che in Italia era praticamente tutto chiuso! Nel mese di

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settembre, fui contattata dal tecnico sportivo Enio Figueiredo, e andai ad allenarmi a Fano con la sua squadra: la ConadFano. Enio mi conosceva in quanto la mia squadra brasiliana era molto famosa e sapeva del mio sogno italiano. Mi è subito piaciuta la piccola Fano, con le sue belle spiagge, tra il mare, le feste, il supporto di Enio, i bei rapporti instaurati con le mie compagne di squadra italiane e anche con l’argentina Paula Parisi, mi sentivo in un clima familiare e la nostalgia di casa era sopportabile anche se sempre presente nel mio cuore. Iniziai a studiare l’italiano, volevo a tutti costi imparare questa lingua meravigliosa!

Nel frattempo fotografavo tutto e tutti e mandavo regolarmente foto e lettere a casa, per condividere le emozioni che l’Italia mi stava dando!

Dopo 3 mesi in Italia, sono stata inviata a fare un provino per una squadra di Roma, la Aster-Roma in serie A2, dove ho firmato un contratto biennale. Non è stato facile adattarsi, ma la cultura italiana mi affascinava talmente tanto che mi sentivo cullata in questa nuova terra! Inoltre ogni fine stagione, ogni nove mesi, tornavo in Brasile. E la seconda volta, i miei genitori sono tornati con me e per quaranta giorni abbiamo visitato l’Italia insieme: Roma, Firenze, Assisi, San Geminiano e Venezia. Ricordi magnifici ed eterni soprattutto perché trovai una cagnolina abbandonata per strada ad Ascoli Piceno, e la adottai. La chiamai GEG , per dieci anni fummo compagne di viaggio e di vita insperabili: insieme anche in Europa, in Brasile e in Argentina.

Il secondo contratto biennale lo firmai con la Orion.Geas di Milano, squadra di serie A1. Vivere a Milano è stato difficile, il cielo era sempre grigio ed il sole lo potevo vedere solo in cartolina!

Decisi di tornare a casa dopo 4 anni per dedicarmi al beach volleyball. Ma nel 2006 mi inviarono un invito per tornare in Italia dalla squadra di Reggio-Emilia, e tornai per alcuni mesi a giocare indoor.

Decisi di fermarmi per un periodo a Roma per studiare fotografia alla CSF ADAMS. Vivevo in uno splendido Vivaio, il “Vivaio Natura è”, dove aiutavo il proprietario, un mio carissimo amico, Marco Menchinella. Dopo 30 anni nella pallavolo, decisi di dedicarmi unicamente alla mia seconda passione: la fotografia (www.vanessalage.com).

Quello che adoro in Italia: al primo posto il gelato alla nocciola con le fragole! Al secondo, Roma: prendere la metro fino a Piazza di Spagna, andare in giro a piedi, fotografare il movimento, fermarmi un attimo davanti al Pantheon, proseguire fino a Piazza Navona e fermarmi sotto alla bandiera brasiliana davanti all’ambasciata, vedere le luci della Fontana di Trevi…. perdermi nella cultura e non riuscire a smettere di fare fotografie anche per cinque ore di seguito! Al terzo la pizza! Specialmente quella con la mozzarella di bufala e il prosciutto di Parma. Al quarto viaggiare in treno, anche se nel 2006 costava meno prendere l’aereo! Al quinto guidare da Roma ad Ascoli Piceno, ammirare il panorama, la neve, il fiume trasparente, la natura ed i primi ricordi importanti italiani! Al sesto, l’usanza di portare fiori a casa senza un motivo particolare, un’abitudine italiana che mi mette di buon umore. Al settimo mangiare un buon piatto di pasta al dente con del vino rosso rigorosamente italiano!

L’Italia, GEG, la cultura, la cucina italiana e gli italiani, hanno fatto di me una persona migliore, una persona che non giudica dalle apparenze. Il mio cuore brasiliano non è più solamente verde, giallo e blu, ma anche verde, bianco e rosso! v

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Life Stories

Getting to the Meat & Potatoes; The History of St Leo’s Own Marché D’Agostino

By Adam Paterno hen asked to summarize his life story in one sentence, Joe Paterno looked long and hard at his interviewer and said “Me, Me, Me, school and work”. Although it was said with the type of flair and intensity that marks much of Paterno’s verbal expressions, the exact meaning of his statement remains open to interpretation. I guess it would be safe to say that after more than three decades of successfully running a business, Paterno, a 61-year-old veteran entrepreneur and butcher and his life/former business partner Rita Rossi, also 61, don’t feel the need to elaborate on their thoughts. Their actions have Rita Rossi accomplished much more than their words.

Up until April of 2008, Marché D’Agostino, a grocery store situated on Denis Papin and Provencher in St. Leonard, was opened 7 days a week and demanded 60-70 hours a week from its owners. The couple never called in sick and rarely took vacations.

It really was a case of all work and no play. Johnny Vigliotti, a long time customer of Paterno’s and Rossi’s business was quick to reveal the driving force behind D’Agostino’s work ethic and the kind of results it reaped; “Joe and his co-workers were always very meticulous; sometimes I think, a little too much. This Vignette was especially the case when it came down to handling the meat products. Joe was a perfectionist and it showed. His meat products outshined much of the stuff his competitors offered. It’s what kept so many people coming back for more.”

D’Agostino’s success was the by-product of solid team work, an inexorable passion for hard work and the desire to offer nothing less than first class quality merchandise and service. After bidding farewell to its supporters this past spring, Panoram decided to pay tribute to the legacy D’Agostino left behind. Here is the history behind a 32 year enterprise and all the sacrifices that lead its sojourners to found a well respected and successful commercial landmark in St. Leonard.

Its doors “re-opened” in January 1976 after Paterno and a long time acquaintance of both Paterno and Rossi’s, Antonio(Tony) Di Iorio, bought D’Agostino’s ownership rights from its original proprietor: Gino De Stefano. The name of the business ironically enough, remained the same despite De Stefano’s departure and despite the fact that it was also his wife’s maiden name. Like Rossi, Di Iorio and his wife Maria (Mary) Celini originated from Montenerodomo in the province of Chieti, Abruzzo. Despite emigrating at different times, Rossi and her Abruzzese compatriots managed to keep in touch. “Back in those days” recalls Rossi, “we used to hang out with Tony and Mary from time to time. We had some good times together”.

It was during these times of conviviality however, that Di Iorio and Paterno realized they shared the same passion and ambition; both had a profound interest in the food retail industry and both longed to be involved in a business they could call their own. It wasn’t long before Di Iorio abandoned his position as a delivery man for a construction company by the name of Prefac and joined Paterno in the endeavour to live out their dreams. Nevertheless, the dream Joe Paterno et Rita Rossi

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did not come true by working alone. Cellini and Rossi were unyielding contributors to the development of the business through the years. They combined with the duo of Paterno and Di Iorio and formed a collective that accomplished extraordinary feats in record time. By 1979, D’Agostino went from being a shoebox sized butcher shop to medium sized grocery commerce.

By the 1980’s it became a household name in St. Leonard.

“We worked so hard to bring it to the level we wanted” admits Rossi. “I can’t even count how many times Joe and I ate supper at ten o’clock at night. It was a very demanding but rewarding time.”

It was also a much different time. When looking back at the golden years, Paterno points out that cultural affinity certainly played a substantial role in D’Agostino’s rise to success. “Back then, people didn’t like going to big stores because they couldn’t speak French. They didn’t feel comfortable. They preferred going to places where they could speak Italian and be around Italian people. It was a question of understanding who they were and where they came from”.

Yet, D’Agostino’s biggest selling points were product selection and its commitment to accommodating the Italian community’s needs and preferences. “The large supermarkets didn’t carry Italian products but we did” asserts Paterno. “We cut the meat the way the customer wanted it cut. You weren’t going to get that kind of service unless you went to places like mine. I don’t know how many times I was told to cut the meat “like they cut it in Italy”. I understood what the customers wanted and I was able to do what they wanted”.

Paterno’s talents were equally effective in gaining his customers’ trust. His credentials reveal work experience that spans over 47 years and two continents. Originally from the town of Bietetto in the province of Bari, his training as a butcher began at the tender age of 14 when he acquired a part-time job at a local nickel and dime grocery store in his neighbourhood.

“People couldn’t even see me behind the counter” recounts Paterno. After making contact with Quebec soil in November of 1966, he was given ample time and space to perfect his trade. After spending three years at General Butchers, formally located on the corner of St. Lawrence and Mozart in little Italy, Paterno was given an even greater chance to shine when Steinberg’s acquired his services in 1970. By the time D’Agostino came around, the young and aspiring butcher had become a seasoned one.

Nothing however, prepared him for Di Iorio and Cellini’s announcement in 1993. After 17 years of sharing the helm, the couple opted out of the business for personal reasons. After their departure in December of that year, the question remained as to how Paterno and Rossi were going to manage the enterprise alone. Driven by perseverance and courage and backed by many years of support from their two sons, the couple met this challenge with noteworthy success. “Several colleagues and relatives expressed concern over the future of D’Agostino after Tony and Mary left” recalls Christina Mitchell, a family friend and past employee. “But Joe and Rita didn’t flinch for a second. It was business as usual even if the team was missing two players. I think it motivated them to work even harder. Either way, they managed to survive and maintain a decent sized clientele for an additional 15 years.”

With D’Agostino now a thing of the past, Rossi has the opportunity to enjoy an early retirement while Paterno makes his mark on fresh territory as one of the senior butchers at an Inter Marche in Laval. He has no regrets about saying good bye to his previous job and looks forward to new challenges and fulfilling experiences; “I sold my business because I couldn’t take it any further; Rita and I reached a plateau that we couldn’t surmount. It was time to move on and I’m glad we did. I have another mountain to climb now. I look forward to the remaining days of this journey”. v

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Maestranze italiane della fabbrica d’abbigliamento

GOLDEN BRAND

Intervista a Pardo DiLiello di Joey Franco ’azienda americana Men’s Wearhouse che possiede le 116 boutiques di abbigliamento Moores in Canada ha da poco annunciato la chiusura della sua fabbrica, la Golden Brand di Montreal il mese di luglio prossimo. Dopo 26 anni la ditta metterà fine alle sue attività. Per sottolineare l’apporto importante di impiegati di origine italiana alla Golden Brand, Panoramitalia intervistare Pardo DiLiello, ex impiegato della Golden Brand.

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Signor DiLiello, ci spieghi come è nata la ditta "Golden Brand". È il 17 di gennaio, del 1982 che è nata la Golden Brand, una ditta di prestigio, che ha confezionato abiti da uomo per gli oltre 100 negozi "Moores". Vi hanno lavorato 1200 persone annualmente. Pero’, in totale, nell’ arco degli anni, il numero totale degli impiegati è stato di circa 7000.

La Golden Brand, si puo’ definire come un corpo canadese con delle braccia e un cervello italiani grazie non solo al contributo degli impiegati a maggioranza italiani, ma soprattutto a dirigenza italo-canadese.

A dirigere questa mastodonica fabbrica, ci sono due superlative persone; il signor Francesco Franco, il direttore generale, e il signore Mario Parziale, vice presidente.

Fra questi due brilla un’ altra figura molto importante, all'apice della piramide: il signor Pasquale De Marco, presidente della Golden Brand. In questa azienda va apprezzata non solo la bravura dei suoi principali dirigenti, ma anche quella dei capi reparti (nella foto) e di tutti i lavoratori.

Signor DiLiello, adesso lei è pensionato, quando lavorava alla GB, quale era il suo ruolo?

Il mio è stato un impiego, che definirei agiato. Era compito mio lavorare nel reparto dove avveniva la separazione delle giacche. Mi onoro di dire che tra me ed i miei colleghi, si era subito creato un clima di intesa, di mutuo rispetto, cosi umano, cosi bello, che ogni mattina

Pardo DiLiello

che si andava a lavorare, era un piacere stringersi la mano e augurarsi a vicenda una buona giornata.

Cos'ha fatto la GB per la comunità Italiana, e soprattutto cos'ha fatto questa comunità per la GB? La Golden Brand ha lasciato una traccia profonda, storica, perchè ha dato un’opportunità di lavoro a tanti membri della nostra comunità italiana. Migliaia di persone hanno ricevuto certo “una fetta di pane”, un salario decente, ma hanno vistosoprattutto il loro talento di lavoratori apprezzato. Tutto ciò può essere anche di esempio ad altri. I signori Mario Parziale e Francesco Franco, sono stati veramente delle persone a modo, per la loro Golden Brand Staff umiltà, la loro amabilità. E nel dire questo sono certo di interpretare il pensiero dei tanti Italiani che si sono succeduti in questa grande fabbrica di abbigliamento maschile.

Tutto ha un'inizio e una fine, e purtroppo la fine è vicina per la Golden Brand.

Per condizioni dettate dalla concorrenza dell' economia mondiale, questa fabbrica deve fra poco chiudere i battenti, ma per noi che ci abbiamo lavorato, la sua immagine resterà sempre nei nostri cuori. Personalmente sono fiero ed orgoglioso di poter dire di aver lavorato per tanti anni alla Golden Brand. Colgo l'occasione per dire un GRAZIE di cuore a tutti coloro che hanno gestito la meravigliosa fabbrica, un vero capolavoro, che si chiama Golden Brand. v

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A true Sole: Shoes for Afghani Children hen Lucy Rinaldi speaks about her support for “Shoes for the Afghani Children Fund,” a project that raises money to buy shoes for poor children living in Afghanistan, her big eyes shine bright with sincerity and everyone around her is drawn in to listen.

“I was deeply moved by the fact that Canadian soldiers risked their lives to go out into the communities and bring shoes to the barefoot children,” says the 54-year-old elementary school teacher.

The Shoes for the Afghani Children Fund is an initiative spearheaded by one of our own Canadian soldiers, Major Pierre Huet, a reconnaissance squadron commander with the 12e Régiment blindé du Canada.

When Major Huet first arrived in the district of Spin Boldak in July 2007, near the Pakistan border, he was shocked to see so many children walking shoeless on the hard ground in either really hot, or cold temperatures.

“I saw these kids and all I could think of were my two children,” he tells us from his home in Quebec City, where his tour of duty in Afghanistan has ended just a few months ago. “So I started this project to help improve the lives of these kids.”

Word of this project made its way to Canada and to the attention of one of our own, Lucy Rinaldi. A teacher since 1975, Rinaldi now teaches Grade 3 English and Math at Margaret Manson Elementary School in Kirkland. She was born in Italy in the town of Roseto Valfortore in the province of Foggia, and immigrated to Canada with her mother, her brother and sisters in 1956 where they joined their father in Montreal.

She recognizes the sacrifices her parents made in order to provide a new life for their family, and has not forgotten her humble beginnings. “I believe that each child should be given the opportunity to develop to his or her full potential, just like I was,” she explains.

It was around last Christmas when Rinaldi began her efforts to raise money for this shoe drive. She

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By Laura Casella

selflessly asked her students to donate to this fund instead of giving her Christmas gifts, also extending that invitation for donations to some of her close family and friends. In all, Rinaldi was able to collect an astounding two thousand dollars to help the poor kids in Afghanistan. Lucy was absolutely thrilled by the generous response. “I knew I was doing something really good and right with the kind of feedback I got and the money, which was donated,” she says.

Donations for this project keep pouring in from across the country bringing the tally close to $14.000. That amount translates to more than 4,000 pairs of shoes that have been distributed so far to the Afghan children, who unlike us, many never knew the value of wearing shoes.

“I told myself if I can raise 800 dollars, I’ll be happy,” Huet says, enthusiastically.

“I never expected it to get this big and I’m so impressed by the interest of Canadians in this project.”One of those Canadians he is especially impressed with is none other than Lucy Rinaldi. “She is absolutely amazing,” he says, truthfully. “Her devotion to the children is remarkable, and I cannot thank her enough.”

But Lucy says it is he and his comrades who should be praised. “I think that Major Huet is a true inspiration to fellow Canadians.We can be proud that he, along with the men in his squad, represent all Canadians in our expression of compassion and caring for the less fortunate.”

Rinaldi on her part is a true example of how Italian Canadians help make up the Canadian fabric and continue to make significant contributions to their country. “We extend ourselves beyond our community and participate in important global issues,” Rinaldi says, proudly.

What Lucy hopes now is that others will be inspired to make their own personal contributions. She suggests families establish a little fund where each child can donate to the fund with money made through chores or birthday money.

“I am hoping that Montrealers of all walks of life, including the younger generations, will take on this project to help improve the lives of these children and support our Canadian soldiers,” she stresses.

In a time where the Afghanistan issue continues to be an important Canadian debate, Rinaldi says this project can offer us a different perspective about the positive work being done there. For this generous and high-spirited woman, her goal all along has been to get the public to support this Canadian effort and for children to become more keenly aware and appreciative of all that they have compared to children in other areas of the world.

“In order to create a better world,” she says, “you got to do more than wish for it, you need to engage yourself in making it a better world.”

Donations to the Shoes for the Afghani Children Fund can be sent to: Claire Groulx - Shoes for Afghanistan - 1248 Chemin Ste-Foy - Suite 101, Quebec City, QC G1S 2M5. v

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now living in Canada, but for the summer in Borgotaro, had spoken of a Marco Bosi The man had said that he and Marco had been in the war together but he had not left a name and address.

To Borgotaro they went to canvass the streets for these visitors from Canada. No-one was found who could venture a name.

Undaunted they returned the following weekend and the search widened. All the Osteria were visited, policemen, city officials and y mother’s brother, Zio Giovanni and his wife, Zia Rina, live other visitors were asked. Mario Previ, a well known local artist using on a quiet street in Toronto. Their semi-detached house has his wheelchair to scale the stone filled streets of Borgotaro was a small, perfectly manicured, front yard and a back yard encountered. He knew the couple well, Giovanni Spagnoli and his that in the summer brims with tall tomato, bean and pepper plants. wife, Rina for they took an apartment in Borgotaro each summer The heart beat of the house has always been the basement where a when they visited from Canada. long table fills the space along with pictures of Borgotaro, the vilLocating them now proved easy. On finally locating Zio lage near where they both were born and grew up, Italian postcards, Giovanni Spagnoli (center) with Evo Spardi and Giovanni, Marco’s brother and family burst into tears that flowed like religious items and a small war medal given no particular promiMarco Bosi at Cerreto Sannita on June 6, 1942 the nearby Taro River, constant and strong. All the other children in nence. For almost six decades food and wine have flowed down the just before being sent to the North African front. the family had been much younger than Marco and no memory of stairs to engulf the table with life and people have crowded the him or his face existed, no picture remained. They had been a very space with both laughter and tears. As a boy I would always sit close poor family. All they knew was that he had drowned when the ship taking him to the war in to my Zio as all three of my children, along with many others, who have jockeyed for the same North Africa had been sunk. chair for, you see, Zio Giovanni is a great storyteller.

Zio Giovanni was a door to a vanished memory, and a fragment of a soul was to be A favorite always told in Zia Rina’s presence involved their courtship. Zio had emigrated reborn. Between tears, Zio listened to the sadness experienced by the members of the famifrom Italy to Canada with my Father and four other men from Borgotaro in 1951. Zio would ly. Many questions were quickly forthcoming. What was Marco like? When did you last see then, with a sly smile, mention that he was unmarried but had a girlfriend, Zia Rina, in Italy. him? Did he suffer? Was he a brave soldier? Zio’s tears could also not be contained for not After a letter writing courtship she had agreed to come to Canada where they were to be maronly could he fill in some phrases of Marco’s life but he had a photograph of him. A picture! ried. Zia Rina, having finally arrived at Central Station in Toronto after a long sea voyage and A picture! A certain kindness had befallen the Bosi’s family that day. Fate had not been kind train trip scanned the building for Zio but he could not be found. Zia would then scold him for the two young men flanking Zio that day the picture was taken. Mario Bosi on his right again as she had done hundreds of times before. You see, Zio had been out drinking with his had disappeared in the Mediterranean and Evo Spardi on the left had died in battle and is friends to celebrate his forthcoming marriage and became, as he always emphasized, a “litburied under the sands of North Africa. tle” drunk. Everyone would laugh, Zia would scold him again and she would relive the This picture of the “Tre Amici” projects the arrogance of youth, but fades into the hopemoments again of being alone in Central Station wondering aloud how she could have come lessness of war. The picture had been taken just before they had left for the North African all the way to Canada to marry such a rogue. Zio Giovanni would then sheepishly mention that Campaign. Zio had mailed this picture with a note to his Mother, my Grandmother. It was the when he did wake up from his peaceful slumber he could only think of her and rushed down last message from him to reach his mother before he returned from a prisoner of war camp to the station to pick her up. Love would sparkle between the two as they relived another in 1946. My Grandmother had kept it, giving it to Zio on his return from the war and Zio had moment of their years together. Many other humourous stories would follow, laughter would taken the picture with him to Canada as a memory of dear friends lost. erupt and fill the basement, as we all laughed and ate to the depth of our bellies.

Zio commented that in Borgotaro that afternoon, hours passed, food and drink were conBut, after a number of funny stories a change would come over Zio Giovanni, he would sumed, life had not been reborn but could now be discussed. A youth of 19 had been drafted suddenly become quite reflective and tilt his head to one side. We had all come to learn to now into a war that he knew little about, given a rifle, and died before ever firing a bullet in battle. expect a story not filled with laughter but one that involved poignant sadness. In the fall of Not a glorious death but a death of great sadness, an important death, a death of war.

2005, after Zio and Zia had returned from Italy a new story about “Tre Amici” was told. Zio I cannot imagine what Marcos brother and other family members felt when a copy of Giovanni became very pensive and we could see the tears flooding his eyes as he blinked to the picture arrived from Canada giving them their first image of Marco’s appearance. We all remove the extra fluid before it dampened his cheeks. The story began simply enough, Zio and shared moments of joy for the family that evening in Zio and Zia’s basement. No eyes were Zia had traveled to Bardi, which is about an hours drive from Borgotaro, to pay homage to dry. A soul had been found, a memory preserved. The mountains and valleys of his birth place Zio’s fallen friend and comrade from the Second World War, Marco Bosi. The idea being to visit could not only whisper his name but see him growing up and playing in the countryside the town’s Monumento ai Caduti (Second World War Memorial) and find Marco Bosi’s name. before going off to war. The rain could come now and the trees and people could weep.

After arriving in Bardi, they located the Monumento but after repeatedly scaling down the list of the fallen, the name of a Marco Bosi could not be found. Perplexed, they visited a nearly Epilogue…

Osteria and asked about Mario and his family. No one knew of the family or of this young man.

Each summer since 2002 the Spagnoli and Bosi families have come together again to enjoy Zio and Zia were particularly saddened by the possibility that this young man’s existence and each others’ memories of the past and share hopes for the future. sacrifice had not left a trace, not a memory, not a whisper of remembrance in the mountains I gave a framed copy of the “Tre Amici” to each of my children and another copy of the of his birthplace and home. Zio commented that the trip back to Borgotaro was like being in picture is prominently displayed in my home as a reminder to me and my family of the whisper a fog, the image of his young friend repeatedly returning to haunt the lonely road. that is life, the horror that is war and the simple picture that is eternity.

In Bardi, a soft muttering began, who was this boy, Marco Bosi? What had happened to his I often wonder if the politicians and generals that send young men to war could spend an family? Old ears picked up the murmurs, and in time, talk surfaced of a brother and other famievening in Zio and Zia’s basement enjoying the food, the stories, the laughter and the sadness ly members who had left the village for Milan years ago. Phone calls were made and a brother together if they would come to understand that there really is no need for war. v and other family members converged on Bardi to investigate the story that a man and his wife

by Rolando Del Maestro

A living picture of forgotten lives

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Life Stories

La Fondation Garnierkids.com Construire un avenir meilleur pour la jeunesse

oseph Borsellino, président du Groupe Garnier et directeur général de Garnierkids.com, et Franca Novielli, présidente de Garnierkids.com, n’en démordent pas lorsqu’on leur parle de leur Fondation: «on doit aider les enfants malades à bénéficier de la meilleure qualité de soin possible». C’est une question de dignité et de développement social. Pour atténuer les risques d’erreur et les douleurs inutiles, il faut les meilleures technologies possibles dans nos centres hospitaliers. Voilà précisément l’objectif de Garnierkids.com, la Fondation vouée au mieux-être des enfants qu’ils ont mis sur pied en 2004.

Nos institutions du domaine de la santé ont parfois de la difficulté à se procurer des appareils dernier cri malgré un effort constant du gouvernement en ce sens. L’aide du privé, toujours bien appréciée, devient nécessaire pour combler les nombreux besoins du réseau de la santé explique monsieur Borsellino. Travailler conjointement et directement avec les acteurs sur le terrain s’avère alors crucial pour mieux déceler les exigences des spécialistes.

Cela explique pourquoi Garnierkids.com prend soin d’inclure dans son comité des médecins dévoués à la cause des enfants et sensibles aux nécessités du milieu de la santé. La Fondation est ainsi mieux à même de saisir l’importance des enjeux et de cibler les équipements nécessaires pour un service performant et moderne poursuit-il.

Depuis sa création, la Fondation Garnierkids.com a appuyé financièrement différents organismes tels que l’Hôpital de Montréal pour enfants, l’École Orale de Montréal pour les Sourds, l’Hôpital Sainte-Justine et Dr. Clown dans l’achat d’équipements spécialisés et dans la réalisation de projets spécifiques dédiés au mieux-être des enfants par des contributions variant entre 50 000 $ et 100 000$ annuellement. Ceci n’est qu’un début, avance monsieur Borsellino, qui souhaite accroître son aide encore d’avantage en appuyant un nombre plus important d’organismes œuvrant auprès des jeunes. Pour ce faire, la Fondation organise chaque année une soirée-bénéfice intitulée: On Écoute avec son Cœur – Rythme et Passion.

Avec des recettes annuelles sans cesse croissantes, il n’est pas difficile de croire son directeur général sur parole: «en quatre ans d’existence la Fondation a réussi à amasser plus de deux millions de dollars !» Garnierkids.com grandit ainsi continuellement et compte sur la générosité et la fidélité de ses supporteurs pour mener à terme ses objectifs. Les nombreux Amis de la Fondation et les Partenaires majeurs de la Fondation tels la Banque Nationale et Genivar contribuent depuis le début à cette réussite.

Lors de son bal annuel, la Fondation prend aussi bien soin de souligner le travail remarquable des spécialistes de la santé en rendant un hommage spécial à un médecin. Le Docteur Jose Luis Montes, neurochirurgien, directeur du département de neurochirurgie à l’hôpital de Montréal pour enfants, et Nancy C. Poirier, chirurgienne cardiaque et directrice du programme de transplantation cardiaque au département de chirurgie cardiovasculaire de l’hôpital Sainte-Justine ont été chaudement honorés pour leur travail exceptionnel auprès des enfants.

La Fondation a permis l’achat d’un oxymètre et un système de ventriculoscopie, deux appareils hautement spécialisés. L’un permet de suivre le volume d’oxygène qui se rend au cerveau lors de chirurgie et l’autre d’introduire une caméra dans le cerveau notamment pour extraire des tumeurs chez leurs jeunes patients. Fort de son succès, Garnierkids.com est aussi venu en aide à de nombreux autres organismes tel que l’Association Québécoise des Troubles d’Apprentissage (AQETA), les Jeux olympiques spéciaux du Québec, un Monde de rêve et la Fondation aide à la Jeunesse. Cette année un hommage particulier sera rendu au Docteur Jocelyne Lecompte, M.D., pédiatre, directrice générale de l’école À Pas de Géant / Giant Steps School (pour enfants autistes) pour l’ensemble de son œuvre.

Finalement, on ressent tout de suite la passion qui habite monsieur Borsellino et l’amour qu’il voue à son entreprise, le Groupe Garnier, lorsqu’on le rencontre pour la première fois. Il est très fier de ce qu’il a accompli avec sa famille qui, en trente ans de métier, a su se forger une réputation enviable dans le domaine. «Au début, nous faisions le pavage des entrées de garage, aujourd’hui nous construisons des ponts.» Pas mal pour un petit gars ayant grandi sur la rue Garnier dans le quartier Rosemont! Il faut avoir un rêve dans la vie croit-il. Cette passion pour la construction se reflète ainsi dans tout ce qu’il entreprend. C’est ce même idéal qu’il souhaite partager avec les jeunes qui bénéficient des services de la Fondation Garnierkids.com en leur donnant le goût à la vie, au travail bien fait. C’est notre façon de s’impliquer et de redonner à la communauté.

Pour faire un don ou pour connaître d’avantage la Fondation Garnierkids.com visitez le site www.garnierkids.com v

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Joseph Borsellino, Franca Novielli, Dr. Jose Luis Montes et M. Jacques P. Dupuis.

Garnier Kids souhaite initier les jeunes au domaine de la construction en les invitant à participer aux jeux sur son site www.garnierkids.com.

Joseph Borsellino sur un chantier de Construction Garnier Ltée

Partenaires Majeurs 2007

Commanditaires de l’événement 2007

Les Amis de la Fondation 2007

Banque Nationale Genivar

Cinémas Guzzo Costco Danson Décor Parasuco

Asphalte Desjardins Béton Brunet Canbec Construction Constructions Bricon Construction CJRB

Construction F. Catania & Ass. Consultec Delsan Services Environnementaux Desseau-Soprin Doncar Construction Excavations Bergevin & Laberge

Excavations Super F.T.Q. Construction Assurance Gaudreau, Demers Monsieur Matteo Marricco Mitchell, Gattuso - Avocats Samcon Sanexen

Schokbeton Québec Sciage de béton 2000 Taillefer Lussier Gauthier/ca Terra Monde Transport & Excavation Mascouche Triax

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LAUREATI

Auguri a tutti i nostri laureati - Congratulations to all our graduates - Félicitations à tous nos diplomés

Du travail bien fait!

Le travail est une des valeurs auxquelles les Italo-canadiens attachent le plus d’importance. Panoramitalia est heureux de présenter les nouveaux gradués de l’année de la communauté italienne. Une fois de plus, des étudiants de différents domaines célèbrent et partagent la même joie. Mission accomplie! Quel bel accomplissement! Félicitations! Nous sommes fiers de vous.

Il frutto di tanto lavoro!

Il lavoro è uno dei valori principali degli Italocanadesi.

Panoramitalia è felice di presentare i diplomati e laureati dell’anno della comunità italiana di Montreal. Ancora una volta, studenti di diverse formazioni possono celebrare. Missione compiuta. Che bel traguardo raggiunto! Tanti Auguri!

Stéphanie Germano HEC Montréal Baccalauréat en Administration des affaires 2008

Fancesca Lucadamo McGill University Bachelor of Education 2008

Teresa Miletti McGill University Bachlor of Science degree in Chemestry 2007

Jessica Politi Concordia University Human Resource Management (BComm) 2008

Sabrina Inglesi McGill University Bachelor of Education Kindergarten & Elementary 2008

Lisa Anne Gallinaro McGill University University of Ottawa Licenciate in Civil Law (LL.L) 2008

Angela Liuzzo Université de Trois-Rivières Psychologie 2008

Mario G. Lavarone Bishops University Bachelor in English (Major) 2008

Maria-Lisa Bozzo McGill University BSC Physiology 2006 BSC Psychology / Linguistics 2008

Michele E. Bozzo McGill University BSC Physiology 2008

Carmela Aloisi Université de Montréal Maîtrise en droit (option fiscalité) 2008

The result of hard work!

Hard work is one of the most cherished values of Italian-Canadians.

Panoramitalia is happy to present the graduates of the year of our community. Once again students of various backgrounds celebrate together and share their joy with their family. Mission accomplished. What a great achievement! Congratulations!

Be proud of yourselves. v

Gabriel Riel-Salvatore, Managing Editor

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diplomés

Graduates

Cynthia Campagnoli Université du Québec à Montréal Baccalauréat en Communications 2008

Rosalie Sciascia McGill University Bachelor in Kindergarten / Elementary Education 2008

Framary Messina McGill University Bachelor of Education 2008

Gianluca Fantini Université Concordia Bachelier en Ingénierie mécanique, option design de véhicule d’aéronautique 2007

Liborio Sicurella Heritage Regional High School Diploma of Secondary 2008

Anthony Valentini Royal West Academy High School Diploma 2008

Maria De Lucia Concordia University Bachelor of Commerce 2007

Roseann Natalie Martorana University of Strathclyde Glasgow, Scotland, UK Master of Science in Educational Psychology 2008

Clôtilde Fascione McGill University Bachelor of Science Dietetics & Nutrition 2008

Carolina Moriello McGill University Bachelor of Education 2008

Tanya D’Amico McGill University Bachelor of Commerce 2008

Sonia Silvano University de Montréal Faculté de Médecine Doctorat en médecine 2008

Graduates

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Jennifer Rainone Lindsay Place High School High School Diploma 2008

Marc Di Benedetto Collège Sainte-Anne de Lachine Secondary V 2008

Andrew Silvano Pulcini James Lyng High School Secondary V 2008

Tristano Tenaglia Selwyn House High School Diploma 2008

Jessica Zavaglia Collège Letendre High School diploma 2008

Luciano Viola Chateauguay Howard S. Billings High School Etude Secondaire 2008

Fabio Macera LOYOLA HIGH SCHOOL High School Diploma 2008

Veronica Carbonaro Collège Regina Assumpta High school Diploma 2007

Melissa Rivosecchi Heritage Regional High School Diploma secondary 5 2008

Roberto G. Arcieri Vincent Massey Collegiate Secondary V High School 2008

Nicholas Lorenza Kulper Academy High School Graduation 2008

Daniel Frank Chirico Loyola High School Diploma of Secondary 2008

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Graduates

Stefania Giannone École secondaire Marie-Clarac Diplôme d’étude secondaire et de l’OBI 2008

Angelika Maselli L.C.C.H.S. High School Diploma 2008

Christopher Ciccarelli Laurier Macdonald High School High School Leaving Certificate 2008

Catherine Mastrostefano School Sophie Barat Diploma secondary 5 2008

Jesica Marie Lepage École secondaire Chêne Bleu Secondaire V 2008

Paolo Gaudio Loyola High School High School Diploma 2008

Julia Venditti Vincent Massey Collegiate High School Diploma 2008

Patricia Marino-Lato École Marie-Clarac Diplôme d’études secondaires et Internationales 2008

Corinne Dupont-Rachiele École Sophie-Barat Diplôme d’études secondaires 2008

Antonio Donato Iannantuoni Laurier MacDonald High School High School Diploma 2008

Christina Marchitello Collège Jean de la Mennais 2008

Amanda Corsi High School Vincent Massey Collegiate Diplôme d’études secondaires 2008

L’ASTRA ET LE VUE DE SATURN PRIMÉS PAR L’AJAC L’ASTRA MC 2008 de SATURN Prix de la meilleure petite voiture 2008 de l’AJAC

www.mondialsaturn.com 9415 avenue Papineau, Montréal (514)

385-7222

VUEMD 2008 de SATURN Prix du meilleur utilitaire sport/multisegment 2008 de 35 000 à 65 000$ de l’AJAC

UN JURY COMPOSÉ DE 70 JOURNALISTES S’EST PRONONCÉ.

Les bébés de l’année I Neonati dell’anno Babies of the year

2007- 2008

Erratum: Dear readers, parents and friends, please let Panoramitalia express its sincere regrets for missing some of the Babies of the year in the last spring issue 2008. Since we do realize how much this means to all new parents, and since we do want to make it right, our policy is to publish any picture that we missed. We trust this translates the professionalism and the dedication of our publication.

Best regards, Tony Zara, Publisher

Bonbonnieres, corporate gifts, gourmet baskets for all occasions

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Serena Sperandeo September 19 th, 2007

Liana D'Angelo 13 th September 2007

Sarah and Jonathan Ranieri December 30, 2006

Anna Mancini & Steven Sperandeo

Lina Romano & Enzo D'Angelo

Tania Italiano & Joe Ranieri

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www.panoramitalia.com PHOTO: GERALDO PACE

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Home and Hearth

By Sabrina Marandola

Gidal Construction was founded in 1968

by Giovanni D’Alessio.

Over the years he has built a solid reputation based upon integrity and quality construction of custom homes. Today, he runs the company with his son Ottavio. e’s been laying down foundation and changing the landscape of Montreal’s residential map for four decades.

In that time, he’s built more than 300 new homes, and this 67-year-old doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. Meet Giovanni D’Alessio, the man who lends his name to Gidal Constructions.

“This was always my dream. I always said, ‘One day, I have to build houses.’ And it came true,” says D’Alessio from his beautiful 4,000 square-foot home in St. Laurent, which, of course, he built himself.

D’Alessio’s love for homes began when he was just a teenager, living in his home province of Salerno, Italy.

“I went to construction school in Italy.

I did plastering, painting and paper-hanging. I was only 15 years old,” he recalls.

But his life changed as his 18th birthday approached. D’Alessio didn’t want to go into the Italian army for two years of mandatory training, so he decided to come to Canada.

“I wanted to go to Venezuela, where it was warm. But my dad said, “No way!’

D’Alessio recounts. “We already had some family in Canada, so he said, ‘You either go to Canada, or go to the army.’”

D’Alessio chose the cold over the military, and arrived in Montreal in the dead cold of 1959’s winter: February.

“It was my second day here, and it was 35 below. I told my uncle I wanted to go back to Italy. I am not made for the cold.”

But D’Alessio’s uncle encouraged him that spring was lying just around the corner.

He decided to give it a shot, and started working for a renovation company.

A wedding and three children later, it was clear Montreal was home.

But one thing was missing: his dream to build new homes.

That came true in 1968.

“Exactly 40 years ago was when I started working in new construction,” D’Alessio says, adding that it’s easier and more enjoyable than working in renovation.

“With construction, you start fresh, and you finish new. But with renovations, you start off with something old and you never know what surprises you’ll find along the way.”

D’Alessio says he fell in love with building homes, especially here in Montreal

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Giovanni D’Alessio and Ottavio D’Alessio

where the materials are so different than those used to build homes in the Mediterranean.

“In Italy, they use a lot of cement and stucco. Here, we have shingled roofs in different colours, and we build with wood.

It gives the homes such a warm feeling.

I love wood.”

D’Alessio’s son Ottavio studied architecture, and also joined Gidal Constructions to help his father build homes all over Montreal – particularly in the St. Laurent borough.

“In St. Laurent, I have a very good reputation,” D’Alessio says. “My grandfather in Italy taught me to respect people, and they will respect you. I remember that. I always offer more. That’s my philosophy.”

D’Alessio says he works closely with his clients to custom-build their homes, and he’s remembered for it.

“I offer service all the time. Even after I sold them their house 30 years ago, they still call me today if they need something,” he says.

D’Alessio says the perks of running Gidal Constructions is that he works for himself, giving him the opportunity to spend time with his family when he chooses.

“I’m a family man, and with this job, I’m free. I’m the one who decides what to do,” he says.

But D’Alessio spends some of his free time thinking about the future and where today’s spiking oil and gas prices will take homeowners. (Perhaps, he’s also thinking back to his first Montreal winter of -35 degree temperatures, and how his Italianblood has zero-tolerance to cold.)

This is why D’Alessio likes to be ahead of the game, and will only build geothermalpowered homes.

“I believe in the future, and I believe we will have a problem with energy,” he says. “All my houses are 100% insulated… and they are all geothermic. In three or four years, we will see geothermic houses all over the world.”

Geothermal energy is generated by heat stored beneath the Earth’s surface.

A hole is drilled into the ground about 600 feet deep.

“It’s like a well, and the water that deep underground stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer,” D’Alessio says, adding that this form of energy is 100 per cent biological. “It’s natural, it’s safe, and

you save 65% in energy costs. I will not build homes powered by anything else.”

D’Alessio also travels regularly to Florida for inspiration to bring new styles and colours to Montreal.

He’s still generating ideas, and D’Alessio says he doesn’t want to stop anytime soon.

“I don’t see myself staying home doing nothing. Everytime I lay down a foundation, I am so happy because I know something is there for the next 100 years.”v

Gidal Constructions Inc.

514.334.3040

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Frank & Dino Aliments At Your Service

By Daniela Scoppa

In 2008, Frank & Dino Aliments celebrate their 30th anniversary.

How did it become such a successful company? Impecable service and dedicated employees are, in a nutshell, the secret behind the success story of this food distribution company founded by Franco Narcisi.

A Unique History It all began when Mr. Narcisi came to Canada from the region of Abruzzo in Italy with his parents and brother in January of 1967. “I didn’t know what snow was. When I first saw it, I thought it was flour,” he says, recalling his first days in Canada. “The first night we were here, I cried all night and the next day I wanted to go back to Italy.”

In 1975 at the age of 21, Mr. Narcisi started supplying pepperoni, salami, cheese and cold cut meats to pizzerias from his mother’s fridge and freezer in the garage. Using a small truck, he would make his deliveries. “I was dating him at the time and on our dates, we’d go see clients,” says his wife Luciana Melucci, who now takes care of Accounts Receivable for the company. “He was always working and he had so much ambition.”

The Company Today His desire to run his own company fuelled by his great ambition eventually paid off. In 1978, Mr. Narcisi and his friend Dino Saltarelli launched Frank & Dino Aliments. They ran the company together from a 500 square foot warehouse on Saint-Viateur Street, managing every aspect of the business from taking Marie-Claire Berthiaume, Luciana Melucci, Franco Narcisi, Nick Murano and Silvana Palladino. care of sales, buying and handling all the merchandise and driving trucks in order Their list of products offered seems endless and includes, cheeses, condiments, pastries, to deliver the products to clients. flour and much more. Their list of suppliers also is impressive and consists of many pastas, A year later, the company relocated to a warehouse of 4,000 square feet on Waverly well-known companies like Lassonde, Alasko, Viau, Sara Lee and Saputo to name just a few.

Street and has since expanded many times to become what it is today: a warehouse of The company also does a lot of importing of its own to procure exclusive products.

80,000 square feet, located on 8th Avenue in St. Michel.

Mr. Narcisi is constantly in search of new and unique items and attends many food-fairs and In 1999, Mr. Saltarelli tragically passed away, leaving Mr. Narcisi alone to manage the mostly in Europe, in order to find the products that will set his company apart. expositions, company. “I lost an irreplaceable partner,” Mr. Narcisi says of the death of his longtime friend.

Together with his purchasing manager Enrico Zegarelli, Mr. Narcisi organizes a food show That same year Mrs. Melucci started working at the company to help her husband out. every spring where suppliers and clients meet in order to sample new products and negotiWhat started out as a small business run out of a home that featured just a few prodate best market prices. ucts has now grown to epic proportions. Frank & Dino Aliments offers 4,500 products for a Serving both Quebec and Ontario, FDA has a fleet of refrigerated trucks that carry out restaurateur’s every need. The products range from basic food items to high-end specialties deliveries daily on the island of Montreal and two to three times weekly in other areas of and the company is one of Quebec’s premier importers of Italian tomatoes, extra virgin olive Quebec and in Ontario. oil and balsamic vinegars.

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Narcisi family: Frank, Luciana, Emanuela and Frank Jr.

First row: Frank Narcisi, Casi Panarello et Elio Mancini.

Second row: Luciana Melucci, Antoinette Miccoli, Claudia Rapa, Franca Siggia and Bruno Narcisi.

Third row: Silvana Palladino, Antonella Di Luzio, Nick Murano et Enrico Zegarelli.

“We’re a one-stop-shop,” says the company’s General Manager Casimiro Panarello.

“And if we don’t have the product a customer needs, we’ll go out of our way to get it for him.” This is one of the many ways Frank & Dino Aliments keeps the the loyalty of its more than 2,000 clients.

The relationships Mr. Narcisi has built with the company’s suppliers is just as important as the personal relationship he keeps with his customers. For Mr. Narcisi, attention to detail, first rate service and great personal relationships are the reasons why the company has become a major player and leader in the food distribution field.

The ever-humble Mr. Narcisi won’t take all the credit himself, though. He attributes much of his success to his dedicated staff of 80. “I couldn’t have done it without them,” he says of the office staff, salesmen, warehouse workers, truck drivers, etc.

Teamwork is a big element at Frank & Dino Aliments and is another ingredient in their recipe for success. “A company is only as good as its employees,” Mr. Panarello says.

Mrs Narcisi feels fortunate to work with such wonderful and hardworking people who give their all, sometimes working a seven-day week in order to ensure customer satisfaction.

Giving back to the community has also been a big factor for Mr. Narcisi. He’s one of the patrons at l’Associazione Famiglia Abruzzese and is constantly involved with them and sponsors its activities. He also sponsors other events around the city and one year he even had Montreal’s popular radio station Mix 96 shave the heads of three of his employees for their Shave to Save campaign in support of breast cancer. He raised $6,000 for the cause.

Mr Narcisi’s wife, Luciana Melucci, also walks in The Weekend to End Breast Cancer in support of a friend who had the disease. “If you’re fortunate enough to give back, why not do so?” she says.

The Secret for Success For a business to last 30 years, its owner must be doing something right and Mr. Narcisi has been doing that something since the very beginning. “Service is priority,” Mr. Panarello says. FDA offers a very personalized service and customers often call Mr. Narcisi on his cell phone on off hours if there’s an emergency or even if they just have a question.

A Look Ahead to the Future The Narcisis have two children: a daughter, Emanuela, who recently graduated from McGill and is an aspiring CA. Their son Franco Jr. recently ended his hockey career to join the family company. “Of course we’d like him to take it over one day when his father decides to retire,” Mrs. Melucci says of her son. “But we’re not going to pressure him. He has to do what makes him happy.”

Looking back on the past with a lot of hope for the future, Mr. Narcisi is very thankful and proud of what he’s been able to accomplish in the span of the past 30 years. “I started with nothing and built something very solid,” he says of Frank & Dino Aliments. “The foundation has been set and the future looks bright”.v Warehouse managers: Elio Mancini, Robert Desormeaux and Bruno Narcisi.

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Cassa Popolare Canadese Italiana

Due Parole Tra Noi... … per il resoconto annuale della nostra gestione… … per raccontare ai lettori interessati l’evoluzione patrimoniale della nostra Cassa Popolare. uello appena conclusosi è stato un esercizio finanziario di notevole importanza, in quanto ha visto accrescersi e rafforzarsi, in modo sostanziale, la solidità finanziaria della Cassa Popolare Canadese Italiana.

Grazie al lodevole spirito d’iniziativa dei nostri fondatori ed all’impegno dei loro successori, oggi la dinamica ed intraprendente comunità italiana può vantare la presenza di un istituto finanziario di esperienMariano De Carolis, direttore generale della za ultratrentennale, che riesce a garantire Cassa. solidità finanziaria e valorizzazione della tradizione e del patrimonio culturale.

Questo continuo riguardo nei confronti dei valori legati alla nostra italianità, nonché la professionalità del personale e l’indiscutibile qualità dei servizi offerti, hanno permesso alla Cassa Popolare Canadese Italiana di affermarsi quale concreto punto di riferimento all’interno della comunità. Unico istituto finanziario italiano a Montreal per cultura e tradizione, ancora una volta, la vostra Cassa si conferma un solido sostegno per le famiglie e le aziende che ricorrono ai suoi servizi.

Con infaticabile costanza, anche quest’anno è stata estesa la presenza sul mercato finanziario del Quebec, conquistando con successo un’ampia posizione in nuove aree settoriali legate al commercio ed all’industria, come dimostrato dall’incremento del numero dei membri-soci. Fenomeno, quest’ultimo, sostenuto anche dal settore privato: la profonda attenzione che portiamo nei confronti delle vostre esigenze, infatti, attira quotidianamente nuovi membri-soci che si uniscono con entusiasmo alla nostra realtà.

Nella prospettiva di garantire una maggiore attenzione alle esigenze dei membri-soci che affidano alla nostra professionalità la gestione dei propri capitali, abbiamo ampliato l’Ufficio Gestione Patrimoniale, integrando il nostro organico con nuove figure professionali.

Questo ci consente, oggi, di occupare una posizione fortemente concorrenziale sul mercato finanziario.

La sua continua crescita permette alla vostra Cassa di contraddistinguersi anche all’interno del Mouvement Desjardins, prima istituzione finanziaria del Quebec, nonché più grande cooperativa del Canada, della quale la Cassa Popolare Canadese Italiana, con fierezza ed orgoglio, fa parte. In un continuo scambio di perizia ed esperienza con le altre cooperative canadesi, contribuiamo al rafforzamento del movimento cooperativo, che assicura alla collettività l’accesso ad un’ampia gamma di servizi di alta qualità.

Ingrediente fondamentale di questi successi è la competenza del nostro personale, garantita da una vasta gamma di corsi di aggiornamento e di perfezionamento ai quali, anche durante lo scorso esercizio finanziario, il nostro organico ha preso parte, crescendo personalmente e professionalmente.

Efficienza, per noi, significa: validità, completezza ed innovazione dei nostri servizi, che vanno dalle operazioni di risparmio finalizzate ad assicurare il maggior rendimento possibile, alle operazioni di prestito commerciale ed industriale, tese a massimizzare gli effetti di leva finanziaria (a beneficio dei nostri membri-soci).

Gentilezza, disponibilità ed accoglienza continuano a costituire le solide basi sulle quali costruiamo il rapporto con i nostri interlocutori. Di conseguenza, sono stati ultimati i sostanziali lavori di rinnovo che hanno coinvolto diversi sportelli, permettendo ai nostri

membri-soci di beneficiare di una maggiore fluidità dei servizi erogati e di un accresciuto livello di riservatezza nello svolgimento delle operazioni.

Quale Cassa Popolare, grazie al ristorno (ristourne), abbiamo il vantaggio di poter condividere con i nostri membri-soci i risultati finanziari conquistati. Nel corso degli ultimi sette anni, infatti, la Cassa Popolare Canadese Italiana ha versato ai membri-soci qualificatisi per il ristorno un ammontare pari a 11 850 000 $. Un vantaggio esclusivo che ci contraddistingue in modo rilevante dagli istituti a vocazione puramente bancaria.

Gli obiettivi di crescita nel lungo periodo della Cassa e della comunità intera, rendono fondamentale il nostro impegno nei confronti dei giovani. Anche al fine di supplire alla mancanza di fondi nel settore dell’istruzione, abbiamo incoraggiato e sostenuto la realizzazione di numerosi progetti pedagogici all’interno degli asili e delle scuole elementari. Anche gli studenti delle scuole secondarie e delle università, che rappresentano una potenziale fonte di rinnovo per la nostra stessa istituzione, hanno potuto beneficiare del nostro sostegno finanziario.

Abbiamo ancora una volta partecipato attivamente alla raccolta fondi che la CIBPA (Associazione degli imprenditori e dei professionisti italo–canadesi) effettua ogni anno, al fine di distribuire borse di studio ai giovani universitari meritevoli. Ad oggi, il nostro contributo a tale iniziativa supera i 450 000 $.

Esempi, questi, che testimoniano l’accento che la vostra Cassa pone sull’integrazione sociale, professionale e finanziaria dei nostri giovani, che rappresentano il futuro e che presto saranno chiamati ad esercitare ruoli chiave nell’ambito della nostra comunità e della società intera.

Anche quest’anno, abbiamo rinnovato il nostro impegno nei confronti delle associazioni sportive. Riteniamo, infatti, che la salute fisica e la determinazione che tali discipline possono insegnare ai giovani siano loro utili anche nel corso della carriera scolastica.

Con diligenza ed applicazione, i responsabili dei centri di servizi ed i nostri dirigenti hanno condiviso la loro professionalità, mantenendo ed assumendo nuove cariche all’interno dei consigli di amministrazione di vari istituti a scopo non lucrativo.

Come gli anni precedenti, il nostro impegno finanziario nei confronti della comunità si è tradotto in numerose sponsorizzazioni delle quali hanno beneficiato, tra gli altri: la Casa d’Italia, il Centro culturale Leonardo da Vinci, la Fondazione dell’ospedale Santa-Cabrini, il Congresso nazionale degli italo-canadesi sezione Quebec, l’Opération Enfant Soleil, l’Associazione della Piccola Italia e la Fondazione dell’ospedale LaSalle, solo per menzionarne alcuni. È nostra premura ribadire la professionalità e la competenza con la quale i dirigenti, i quadri e l’intero organico del personale continueranno a lavorare per fare della vostra cooperativa finanziaria un’istituzione in grado di coniugare l’avere con l’essere.

Ancora una volta, concludiamo sottolineando lo scopo principale della nostra esistenza: sostenere la comunità italiana nel suo continuo progresso, una comunità che si apre sempre di più al futuro ed all’innovazione, ma che mai dimentica le solide radici della sua cultura e delle sue tradizioni.

Non possiamo chiudere senza esprimervi tutta la nostra gratitudine per la fiducia che quotidianamente ci dimostrate. Questo è per noi motivo di dedizione e di impegno; è la motivazione che ci unisce in uno sforzo congiunto per la trasformazione di ogni piccola idea in un grande successo al fine di raggiungere, anche nel futuro, risultati che superino le odierne aspettative.

Mariano De Carolis con i Direttori degli 8 centri di servizi e dell'ufficio amministrativo.

Diane Rouleau, Silvia Jimenez, Angela Iermieri Direttrice dell'equipe Gestione dei beni patrimoniali e Santo Benenati.

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Avanti… insieme! v

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Des escapades à votre image, au meilleur prix en ville!

Il y a des signes qui ne trompent pas et qui nous confirment que la saison estivale est bel et bien à nos portes: les journées s’allongent, le soleil nous réchauffe, la frénésie des chaudes soirées d’été s’empare de nous. Du jour au lendemain, les terrasses des bistros nous invitent à siroter tranquillement un verre entre amis, les festivals sont de retour pour notre plus grand plaisir, les grandes artères fourmillent de touristes et de citadins… et l’envie nous prend de nous évader le temps d’une fin de semaine pour profiter de la vie!

VIA Rail Canada a pensé à vous en lançant, il y a quelques semaines, des forfaits avantageux pour les centres urbains du Québec et de l’Ontario. Pour une virée de magasinage, pour assister à un match de football ou de soccer, pour profiter d’un week-end en amoureux ou encore pour un marathon culturel, visitez viarail.ca/escapades pour découvrir les meilleurs forfaits disponibles. Pour ce faire, il suffit d’entrer votre destination, votre hôtel favori et les dates de votre séjour pour voir s’afficher des escapades à votre image, au meilleur prix en ville. Simple et sympa, non?

Sans oublier qu’en optant pour VIA, votre escapade commencera dès que vous monterez à bord! Le train constitue une évasion unique en soi: laissez-vous bercer par le rythme apaisant des rails, dorloter par un personnel attentionné et sympathique, et ce, tout en admirant des paysages magnifiques… Et arrivez frais et dispos à destination!

Il n’y a pas à dire, si j’avais les ailes d’un ange (ou les rails d’un train!), je partirais pour Québec… Montréal, Ottawa ou Toronto! v

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Keep your children’s options open with a cottage trust

By Peter Pomponio f you have a cottage, it likely evokes many special memories for you and your family. And it’s probably a legacy you want to pass on to future generations.

But what if your children are at a stage in life where they have other priorities and have lost interest in maintaining the family cottage? What can you do to minimize the possibility that it might be sold when you and your spouse are gone?

This might be a good time to speak to your financial advisor about how a cottage trust can help keep the ownership options open for your children – while at the same time offering you peace of mind.

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Creating a cot tage tru st is relat ively easy You and your spouse establish a specific trust in your wills for your children who will own the cottage. After both of you have died, the cottage will be transferred to a trustee, who will give directions on how the cottage is to be managed. A trust, such as this, can last for as long as, say, five years. During that time, the trustee – using sufficient money placed in the trust – would be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the cottage and for making decisions about its use by your children until the trust was wound up.

This article does not deal with the tax liability that occurs as a result of the deemed disposition of the cottage on your death. It is assumed that your estate has adequate funds, whether through insurance proceeds or other assets, to pay your final tax bill.

Key benef it s of a cot tage trust Jerry Rubin, Vice-President of United Financial Corporation’s Wealth Planning Group, says a cottage trust offers these benefits: It allows your children the use of the cottage, but relieves them of direct financial and personal responsibility for its maintenance, upkeep and operation during the transition period.

It gives them time to decide what should happen to the cottage, rather than having a solution imposed on them by their parents. They could agree to share ownership, use and responsibilities, or some sort of buy-out arrangement if it becomes clear that only one of the children should have the cottage – which may be because the others live too far away, continue to have little interest in the cottage, or because they are not able to get along well enough to be co-owners.

The trust sets up opportunities to keep the cottage in the family, giving the parents peace of mind.

As part of your wills, you should set out what will happen if the children have not reached a decision before the trust is wound up. You might direct the trustee to sell the cottage, with the sale proceeds, as well as any remaining funds in the trust, distributed equally to the children. You could also give one or more children the option to buy the cottage, and set terms such as how the option to purchase is to be exercised and how the price is to be established.

There are costs involved in administering the trust on an ongoing basis. Jerry says that between annual tax filings and accounting and trustee fees, a typical cottage trust could easily cost about $2,500 annually to administer.

“Choosing and planning an appropriate method of transferring your cottage to the next generation – whether through a cottage trust or some other means – involves consideration of a complex combination of tax, legal, practical and emotional issues,” says Jerry. “The process can be made easier by consulting with your advisor and involving your children in the discussions.”

As with other types of trusts, cottage trusts can provide for more than one beneficiary, they offer the ability to maintain privacy and can help protect the property from creditors.

The information in this article is provided solely for informational and educational purposes and is not intended to provide individual financial, investment, tax, estate, legal or accounting advice. Professional advice should be obtained prior to acting on the basis of this information.

Peter Pomponio is a Vice-President of Assante Capital Management Ltd (Member CIPF). He is the owner of the Ville St-Laurent Branch and practices as a Senior Fully Licensed Representative and Financial Planner from the Ville St-Laurent office. He can be reached at (514) 8325100, or by e-mail at ppomponio@assante.com v

Be with the best.

Nobody knows more about administering, investing, diversifying, sheltering, bequeathing, preserving and augmenting your hard-earned wealth than we do. But it all starts with you. Only by understanding your needs and goals can your Assante advisor design a plan that will meet - or exceed - them. We’d be only too happy to show you how.

For a free consulation, please call...

Peter Pomponio, CFP, RFP, C.Adm., Fin. PL. Financial Planner Senior Fully Licensed Representative Vice-President Owner, Ville St-Laurent Branch Assante Capital Management Ltd. (Member CIPF) 8301 Trans-Canada Highway St-Laurent, QC H4S 1Z1 Tel: 514.832.5100

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Consentement aux soins par Roberto T. De Minico elon la Charte des droits et libertés de la personne, à son article 1, «Tout être humain a droit à la vie ainsi qu’à la sûreté, à l’intégrité et à la liberté de sa personne.». De plus, tout comme la Charte, notre Code civil prévoie également que «Toute personne est inviolable et a droit à son intégrité. Sauf dans les cas prévus par la loi, nul ne peut lui porter atteinte sans son consentement libre et éclairé.»1 C’est en raison de ces droits que toute personne a le droit de refuser des soins et ce, même si ces soins sont requis et sont pour son bénéfice.

On entend par soins, les examens, les prélèvements, les traitements, les interventions médicales, psychologiques ou sociale et même l’hébergement dans un établissement de santé. Ces soins peuvent être requis ou non par l’état de santé de cette personne.

En conséquence, toute personne apte et capable a le droit de refuser ces soins quelle qu’en soit leur nature.2 Dans l’éventualité où une personne n’est pas apte, la loi prévoie que d’autres personnes peuvent prendre des décisions à sa place, à savoir son mandataire, son tuteur ou son curateur, à défaut, son conjoint ou si cette personne n’a pas de conjoint ou que le conjoint à un empêchement, un proche parent ou une personne qui démontre un intérêt particulier.3 Si par exemple, une personne âgée devient inapte, elle pourra avoir donné un mandat en cas d’inaptitude à un de ses proches afin de pouvoir prendre des décisions pour elle en ce qui concerne des soins requis par son état de santé ou son hébergement.

Le mandataire devra alors prendre les décisions dans le seul et unique intérêt de son mandant et dans la mesure du possible, selon les volontés que le mandant a pu exprimer.4 De plus, le mandataire devra s’assurer que les soins seront bénéfiques malgré les effets secondaires, qu’ils sont opportuns et que les risques des soins ne sont pas hors de proportion compte tenu du bienfait espéré par ces soins.5 Si celui qui peut consentir refuse de façon injustifiée ou est empêché de consentir aux soins ou si le majeur inapte refuse catégoriquement de recevoir des soins, les établissements de santé peuvent demander l’autorisation du Tribunal pour consentir aux soins. Cette autorisation n’est toutefois pas nécessaire, dans l’éventualité où il y a urgence ou que ces soins sont des soins d’hygiène.6

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L’autorisation du tribunal est aussi requise si un mineur de 14 ans et plus refuse des soins. Cependant, s’il y a urgence, si sa vie est en danger ou que son intégrité est menacée, le consentement du titulaire de l’autorité parentale ou de son tuteur suffit.7 Le consentement aux soins qui sera donné devra être pris de façon libre et éclairée et la personne qui prendra la décision devra obtenir toute l’information nécessaire à cet effet.

En conséquence, le médecin devra notamment faire comprendre l’intervention proposée et lui expliquer les risques prévisibles ou non, les complications qui peuvent survenir et les conséquences de ces risques et de ces complications compte tenu de la situation du patient.

En terminant, ces règles ne s’applique pas en cas d’urgence, c’est-à-dire lorsque la vie de la personne est en danger ou son intégrité est menacée et que son consentement ne peut être obtenu en temps utile. En effet, dans ce cas, aucun consentement n’est nécessaire, à moins d’exception.8 v 1- Art. 10 C.c.Q. 2- Art.11 al.1 C.c.Q.

3- Art.15 C.c.Q. 4- Art. 12 al. 1 C.c.Q.

5- Art.12 al.2 C.c.Q. 6- Art.16 al.1C.c.Q.

7-Art.16 al. 2 C.c.Q. 8-Art.13 C.c.Q.

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Chianu Carduni, carciofi e cardi fritti My Picks of Top Italian Wines from the 2008 Salon des vins de Montréal

By Gabriel Riel-Salvatore «

arduno, in the Sicilian dialect, means wild artichoke» Alberto Buratto explained to me at the last Montreal’s Salon des vins, where he presented the top wines of Baglio di Pianetto, the Sicilian winery he so passionately manages. It is the property of Conte Paolo Marzotto, magnate and owner of Ca’del Bosco, probably Lombardy’s greatest winery, and Veneto success story Santa Margherita (does Pinot Grigio ring a bell?) along with Valentini and Hugo Boss fashion groups.

Chianu Carduni is a dense and elegant i.g.t. Sicilia wine solely made of French petit verdot, which borrows the Sicilian name of one of the company’s many estates: Piana dei cardi.

Cardi in Italian actually means cardoons, a plant effectively related to artichokes that belongs to the Composite family (Cynara carunculus altilis), and which the only parts eaten are the roots and especially the stalks (blanched and used as celery).

Cardi or carduni are erroneously mistaken for artichoke leafs (foglie di carciofi) used for such recipes as Calabrese Patate e carduni. Notwithstanding, Cardoons are very popular across Italy and are even said, in Sicilian kitchen, to be the ultimate “chiama vino” (wine attracter) calling for robust red wines.

Ramione, Lamuri and Scurati three marvelous reds from Sicily available at the SAQ for about $20, are just the types of wines needed for a perfect pairing with cardi and grilled meats on the BBQ. Ramione 2004, nero d’Avola - merlot, i.g.t.

Sicilia, Baglio di Pianetto 20.50$ (SAQ-10675693), one of my favorite picks of 2008 Montreal Wine Fair, presents nice black berry flavours with a gentle touch of spices. It was keenly described by the colorful Buratto as “un Bell’ uomo siciliano con una bella donna tra le braccia (a handsome Sicilian with a beautiful woman in his harms).” Slightly more powerful but similarly pleasant, the Lamùri 2005, Nero d’Avola, i.g.t. Sicilia, Tasca d’Almerita 22.85$ (SAQ-10542971), was gorged with fruit.

Suave and tasty with hints of leather and characteristic Nero d’Avola spice, it is a fresh and gourmand comfort wine. Carrying a less exuberant bouquet, as it lingered on more vegetal undertones, Scurati 2006, Nero d’Avola, i.g.t. Sicilia, Ceuso 19.00$ (SAQ-10675520), revealed an intriguing combination of fruits and modeling clay. His older brother, the Ceuso Custera 2003, Nero d’Avola Cabernet Sauvignon – Merlot, i.g.t. Sicilia, Ceuso 29.45$ (SAQ-907444) struck me more vividly. Caramel, balsamic and date aromas recalling Madeira mixed with black cherry fragrances made me wonder if the grapes used for this wine were not partially dried up before going to press the fruits were assuredly cooked by the blazing Sicilian sun. The mouth was full, savoury and unctuous combined with a robust body and still asserted tannins.

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English writer Thomas Carlyle joked about the fact that the French were such good cooks they could make a delicious dish even out of thistle.

Italians had long mastered that talent. While cardi are edible vegetables; they are nonetheless a type of thistle. Various types of cardi can be found throughout Italy: Avorio riccio di Asti, Bolognese, Gigante di Romagna, Spadone di Nizza-Monferrato, Verde di Chieri, Cardo di Tours. Each region has its own special way of preparing them, but cardi fritti from Piemonte is probably the most famous recipe of all. Food Network five-star, Iron Chef Mario Batali even featured them in his culinary show Molto Mario. He dips the cardoons into beaten eggs, rolls them in flour and glazes them in a pan before putting them in the oven, covered with butter and grated parmesan cheese.

As an Italian reporter already mentioned, Piemontese cuisine calls for a strong dose of Vitamine B3: Barolo, Barbaresco and Barbera. Here are some of my favourite picks from last edition of the Salon des vins de Montreal. Le Rochette Barbera d’Asti superiore 2004, doc Barbera d’Asti, Tenuta Olim Bauda 30$ (SAQ-10385995) is the best Barbera I had in a while. Elegant wine of medium body, it displays nice, fresh strawberry aromas endorsed by cleverly integrated wood. The Ruvei Barbera d’Alba 2003, doc Barbera d’Alba, Marchesi di Barolo 20.15$ (SAQ-857102) expressed pleasing cooked strawberry and sweet liquorices fragrances. Tasty, slightly pungent it was ropier than the previous wine; yet, tended to fade rapidly.

The Barbaresco 2001, docg Barbaresco, Marchesi di Barolo 47.75$ (SAQ-726851) had a rather discrete but harmonious bouquet of roses and underbrush and felt pretty green with a sharp acidity and tannins still untamed. It requires a bit more fruit to my taste in order to balance it all and still a bit more aging to smooth it out. However, it remains a good, affordable mid-range Barbaresco.

Barolos are generally slightly more full bodied than Barbarescos. I was, however, disappointed by the “cru” Barolo Cannubi 2003, docg Barolo, Marchesi di Barolo 59$ (SAQ-00707729) from the same winery. Could it be because the first bottle I tried was corked? Too sharp and tannic for me, the mouth overwhelmingly acidic did not reflect the lovely notes of kirsch, juniper and sweet spices I had detected on the nose. At that price, I would rather buy their Babaresco or the Barolo 2003, docg Barolo, Pio Cesare 52$ (SAQ-10264405) that I found more balanced, even tough it was from the same unpredictable vintage as the Cannubi. It offers a pleasant combination of violets, licorice and sweet spices aromas and a nicer taste of baked berries, lingering on a smoother finish.

All roads lead to Rome, and that is where you should head to eat the best carciofi (artichokes).

One of the tastiest ways to try them is prepared according to the famous recipe Carciofi alla Giudea (Deep-fried artichokes). This is a very old recipe named alla Giudea because it was typically made in the Jewish ghetto of Rome. While the cardoons are the ultimate “chiama vino” some foods are especially hard to match with wine and it is better to avoid them during tasting. These include: vinaigrettes, garlic, spices, eggs and artichokes. Thus, Artichokes because of their high iron content have the misfortune to confer an unpleasant bitter, metallic taste to wine, especially red wines, unless they are integrated into a dish with other more prominent flavours. A dry white wine with a high acid content, such as Sauvignon Blanc, Verdicchio or Pinot Grigio, will help balance this effect, even if the wines might seem a little more acidic. Adding lemon juice to your food generally helps bring back a little more of the fruit in the wine.

So next time you crave for artichokes, remember: have a nice bottle of mineral water or a light white wine, but leave the B3 for the carduni. v

Salon des vins 2008 Favourite Finds

Light and Refreshing Summer Whites Umani Ronchi (Marche) 2007 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi 12,00 $ (SAQ-10544790)

Light, Fruity (apple, pear), crispy unchallenging Verdicchio. Ideal wine for the apperitivo, with an entrée of fried calamari or with halibut or red snapper stuffed with fresh coriander.

Torre di Giano 2006 Lungarotti (Umbria) Bianco di Torgiano d.o.c.

11,85$ (SAQ-00049205)

Sharp and vivid bone dry white, with nice citrussy flavours and a fresh mineral finish.

Good starter wine also ideal for a kir (try it with amarena sirup). Perfect for white fish and seafood, or for a chicken and blood orange salad.

Suggested Affordable Reds Nebbiolo M’ 2006 Malgrà (Piemonte) Coste della Sesia d.o.c.

15,55$ (SAQ-10803018)

Vibrant and warm wine with hints of kirsch and plum aromas and earthy undertones.

Ideal with a marinated flank steak on the charcoal, grilled vegetables and spiedini.

Ramione 2004, Sicilia i.g.t., Baglio di Pianetto 20.50$ (SAQ-10675693) 93/100 Petrignone 2004, Sangiovesedi Romagna Superiore Riserva, Tre Monti (SAQ-00908442 ) 90/100 Lamùri 2005, Sicilia i.g.t., Tasca d’Almerita 22.85$ (SAQ-10542971) 90/100 Le Rochette 2004, Barbera d’Asti Superiore d.o.c., Tenuta Olim Bauda 30$ (SAQ-10385995) 91/100 Radici 2000, Taurasi d.o.c.

38$ (SAQ-00908418) 93/100 Osar 2001, Veronese i.g.t., Masi 60$ (SAQ-00580233) 93/100 Guado al Tasso 2004, Bolgheri Rosso Superiore d.o.c., Antinori 79$ ( SAQ-00977256 ) 92/100

2227 Bélanger est • Montréal • Québec H2G 1C5 T.514.374.5653 • www.gastronomiaroberto.com

Cent’Are 2005 Duca di Castelmonte (Sicilia) Nero d’Avola Sicilia i.g.t.

14,10$ (SAQ-00851089)

Good medium to full body red with loads of sun baked fruits and a lovely nutmeg spice and vanilla finish.

Perfect match with grilled ribs, pasta all Norma or caponata all’arrabbiata.

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A healthy industry The truth behind a healthy diet

By Gabriel Riel-Salvatore o get a good olive oil an Italian saying mentions the need for the three S: “secco, sasso e sole”, which means a dry climate, a good soil and lots of sunshine. It did not take long to the Greeks to understand that Italy was the perfect place to plant olive groves. They first started planting them in Sicily and then the Romans took it upon themselves to perfect the art of making extra virgin olive oil and spread it out throughout the peninsula. As an integral part of the Mediterranean diet, it did not take them too much time either to figure out that olive oil had beneficial properties.

I recently attended a seminar on the virtues of extra virgin olive oil for the health organized at the Toqué restaurant by the European promotion body UNASCO. Often presented as a “functional food”, extra virgin olive oil contains high levels of polyphenols, very effective against cancer. It also carries high antioxidant and antiinflammatory values, essential to help prevent heart attacks and coronary problems. As the lecturer mentioned, olive oil consumption practically translates in taking a baby aspirin every day and is a “good” way to keep a healthy diet. Yet, these positive characteristics are only found in high proportion in extra virgin olive oils. Refined olive oils lack most of the beneficial properties contained in extra virgin kind. Like any other exclusive and genuine product, the “qualitative truth” of olive oil lies in its agricultural base, its origin and its precise production methods set in the Marchio DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) both by the European Government and the Italian Ministero delle Politiche Agricole e Forestali.

Recent studies done by the Canadian government on food frauds have shown that non-conformity levels regarding extra virgin oils imported in Canada have kept increasing since 2006. Two years ago, 20% of the extra virgin oil found on the market was a fluke. Today, the rate has increased by another 10%. This means that every time you, the consumer, buy a bottle of cheap extra virgin olive oil, one out of three bottles contains something other than olive oil, generally corn or vegetable oil.

The oil mill San Giuliano, property of Domenico Manca SPA located in the North-East of Sardinia near the city of Alghero, was recently acquitted from accusations of fraud under a national operation from the Guardia di Finanza that led to the seizure of 600,000 kilograms of Spanish, Tunisian and Greek olive oils sold across the peninsula under the banner “made in Italy”. The investigation rightfully called “oil spill” traced back an important share of the fraudulent merchandise to the region of Alghero. In the midst of the scam, the San Giuliano oil mill was unfortunately charged and seized 91,000 kilos of olive oil, before being confirmed not guilty by the Tribunale del riesame di Bari, who immediately returned the oil deemed valid and legitimate. The San Giuliano oil mill that has been making oil for three generations, had declared itself victim of the crimes of other companies since the beginning of the investigation in the summer of

Photo: Gabriel Riel-Salvatore

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2007. Unfortunately the damage is already done and events like this are good examples of how the whole industry gets affected by actions of a minority of unprincipled actors.

Like the Made in Italy label, the Denominazione di Origine Protetta (DOP) system is now well entrenched, and stands as one of the best guaranty of Italy’s original and traditional quality in food production. Some dedicated producers have even gone beyond those regulations setting their own, higher, quality standards as I explained in a past column on the Corporazione dei Mastri Oleari, a grouping easily recognizable by its stylized logo picturing a black lion standing upright and carrying an olive branch in his upper paws. Another coalition of committed oil producers, which has been operating in Tuscany since the end of the 1980s is the Society of Laudemio (Consorzio di tutela di olio extra vergine d’oliva di qualità), which comprises prestigious names such Marchese Frescobaldi, Marchese Antinori, Baggiolino and Passolini Dall’Onda.

Look for their characteristic rectangular bottles. Each of their olive oils is obtained from a single and carefully selected olive grove and set standards of productions that aim at better understanding the harvest, the pressing and the conservation until the final bottling phase.

The result does not pretend to bring forth a new typology of extra virgin olive oil, but clearly distinctive extra virgin oils based on the notion of “cru”. The Cantagallo Estate is another fantastic property under the Laudemio that produces olive oil with various varieties such as Frantoio, Moraiolo and Leccino, right in the heart The Montalbano in central Tuscany.

Finally, there are day to day extra virgin olive oils and fine finishing oils. Just choose them according to yours needs and your budget. But don’t forget that the rules of the three S and healthy extra virgin olive oils only apply if you are sure about the quality of the products you buy. You can hence rely on the unequal integrity of oil producers or look for mechanisms such as the DOP to find true producers that work hard to make the best products possible and appreciate being recognized for it. v

Cantagallo Tenuta Cantagallo (Toscana) Olio Extra-Vergine di Oliva d.o.p. Laudemio - 35$ - 500 ml Available at: Cavallaro

High-end olive oil (olio di collina) made out of traditional Tuscan varietals: Frantoio, Moraiolo and Leccino. It displays a clear and intensely green colour. The nose is fruity, full and savoury with a clear, well rounded body evolving on a nice spicy finish recalling herbaceous sensations. Ideal on meats and vegetables. Try it on an Insalata di Tonno e Fagioli, with Gamberi e Cannelli (beans) alla Toscana or with bruschetta.

San Giuliano Tenuta San Giuliano (Sardegna) Olio Extra Vergine di Oliva - 10 $ - 750 ml Available at: Intermarché stores

A good, regular every day extra virgin olive oil made out of local olives Bosese and Frantoiana. It is fruity expressing nice zesty, apple and green tomato fragrances with a good fruity and slightly spicy taste. Their top estate bottle the Primer Extra-virgin olive is also worth trying.

Medaglioni • Ravioli • Cappelletti • Cannelloni Lasagna • Gnocchi di Patate • Tagliatelle • Tortellini

La Maison du Ravioli est une institution qui existe depuis 30 ans avec des produits créés selon des recettes authentiquement italienne depuis 4 générations.

La Maison du Ravioli Pâtes fraîches fraîches

2479, rue Charland, Montréal, Qc H1Z 1C3 Tél.: 381-0024 • 514-381-2481 Fax: 514-381-5449

La Maison du Ravioli vous offres sauces et lasagnes fraîches, fait à la maison Bon Appétit!

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Artichoke…..

a thistle by any other name

By Maria Loggia lthough the artichoke plunged into obscurity with the fall of the Roman Empire, it has now been a staple in Europe since the 15th century. However, in many respects this flower (bud of a flower) is still cloaked in darkness for many of us. No where else is it celebrated and cherished as it is in Rome. The Romans believe that artichoke possess formidable aphrodisiac, digestive, and diuretic powers-stripping out bad cholesterol, acting like a liver tonic and generally filling the body and soul with vigor. Just as the tulips bloom in the springtime, so do the artichokes. At this time of the year they are readily available in most produce markets. Whether they are fried, pickled, stuffed, or poached, artichokes are a delicious change to our everyday menu. Enjoy them one leaf at a time!

Highlighting one of spring’s stars, Panoramitalia presents a series of tips for better artichokes as well as some delicious recipes for these prickly vegetables, which can sometimes be truly challenging to consume gracefully:

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• Try to buy young artichokes with long, uncut stems. The shorter the stem, the tougher the artichoke tends to be.

• Look for those with tightly closed leaves and bright green coloring. They should feel heavy to the touch (lightness is a sign they have dried out and are certain to be tough). Freshly picked artichokes will squeak when rubbed together.

• Artichokes thrive on moisture, if they are not used immediately, lightly trim the stems, wrap in damp paper towels and refrigerate.

• To clean the artichokes: Start by soaking the artichokes in a bowl of cold water, with a lemon cut in half and squeezed.

Let soak for 1/2 hr. Remove the green outer leaves of the artichokes by snapping them off at the base. Stop when the leaves closer to the base are pale yellow and the tips are pale green. Slice off the green tops. Cut the stem off at the base and trim off the remaining green part at the base. Return the cleaned artichoke to the acidulated water until needed.

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Preparation

Carciofi Impanati - Deep Fried Artichokes

Clean the artichokes (see tips for better artichokes). Remove one artichoke at a time from the acidulated water. The easiest way to remove the choke is to cut the artichoke into quarters lengthwise. Proceed by drawing the tip of a knife’s blade across just below the choke to draw it out. Then half each quarter and return the cleaned artichoke to the acidulated water until needed.

Proceed in the same manner with the remaining artichokes.

Meanwhile, bring a medium-size pot of cold water to a boil. Add coarse salt to taste. Dissolve the flour in the 1/2 cup water and add it to the pot. When the water returns to a boil drain the artichokes and

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

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Preparation - 20 minutes

Ingredients • • • • • • • •

8 small baby artichokes 1 lemon, halved 1 tbsp all-purpose flour 1/2 cup cold water 4 large eggs 1 garlic clove, minced 2 tbsp fresh, Italian parsley, finely chopped salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

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Cooking - 15 minutes

For assembly: • Oil for frying (canola, vegetable) • 1 cup all-purpose flour • 1 to 1-1/2 cups plain, fine breadcrumbs, preferably homemade To serve: • 1 lemon, cut into wedges

place them in the boiling water and cook uncovered until they are crisp tender, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Drain the artichokes, transfer to a platter lined with paper towels or a kitchen towel to absorb excess water and let cool covered with a wet kitchen towel.

In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Place the flour and breadcrumbs into separate large bowls.

Working in batches, add the artichoke pieces to the flour and toss, separating the pieces to coat well. Dip the pieces into the egg mixture and then coat them with the breadcrumbs. Repeat until all the artichokes have been coated. Refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes.

Pour 2 inches of oil in a heavy, medium-size saucepan, and heat to 350 deg. F. Lower the artichoke into the hot oil, making sure not to crowd the pan. Fry until they have a nice, golden color. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a platter lined with paper towels. When all the artichokes have been fried, season with salt and garnish with lemon wedges.

Photos: Gabriel Riel-Salvatore

Wine Pairing Campogrande 2006 Antinori (Unmbria) Orvieto Classico d.o.c.

13,85$ (SAQ-00018838)

Charming, light, refreshing white wine with nice crispy lemony flavours.

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Risotto ai Carciofi con Piselli

Carciofi Ripieni - Braised, Stuffed Artichokes

Artichoke risotto with peas

Yield: 6 servings

Yield: 6 servings

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Preparation - 30 minutes

Ingredients • • • • • • •

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3 large artichokes 1 lemon, halved 10-12 sprigs Italian parsley leaves only 2 medium-size garlic cloves, peeled 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil salt and freshly ground pepper 3 cups Italian rice, preferably Italian, such as Arborio, Vialone Nano, or Carnaroli about 7 to 8 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade, completely defatted

For the peas • 3 oz. Pancetta or prosciutto, whole • 10 sprigs Italian parsley leaves only • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

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Preparation - 40 minutes

Ingredients

Cooking - 45 minutes 2 cups fresh shelled peas or frozen “petit pois” salt and freshly ground pepper about 1 cup chicken broth, preferably homemade, completely defatted

To finish the dish • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese • 1/2 cup fresh mozzarella, diced • 2 tbsp unsalted butter • salt and freshly ground pepper To serve 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese • Freshly ground black pepper

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6 large artichokes 1 lemon , halved

For the filling: • 2 slices Italian bread without crust, broken into pieces and soaked in ? to 1 cup of milk • 1 lb ground veal • 2 eggs, lightly beaten • 2 garlic cloves. minced • 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped • 1/2 cup , freshly grated Parmigiano- Reggiano cheese

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Cooking - 60 minutes

small pinch of dried oregano salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

To assemble: • 2 garlic cloves, minced • 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil • salt and freshly ground pepper To cook: • 1 large garlic clove, halved • 2 bay leaves • 2tbsp extra-virgin olive oil • about 2 cups water or chicken broth, preferably homemade, completely defatted

Preparation

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Preparation For the filling: Clean the artichokes (see tips for better artichokes).

Remove one artichoke at a time from the acidulated water. The easiest way to remove the choke is to cut the artichoke into quarters lengthwise. Proceed by drawing the tip of a knife’s blade across just below the choke to draw it out. Then cut each quarter into thin wedges and return the cleaned artichoke to the acidulated water until needed.

Proceed in the same manner with the remaining artichokes.

Finely chop parsley and garlic together on a board. In a large skillet heat the oil over medium heat. When the oil is warm add the chopped ingredients and sauté for 1 minute. Drain the artichokes and add them to the skillet, sauté for 2 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon.

Add 1 cup of broth, cover and cook for about 12 to 15 minutes or until the artichokes are very soft, adding more broth as required. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, prepare the peas. Cut the pancetta or prosciutto into tiny pieces and coarsely chop the parsley. In a medium size skillet heat the oil over medium heat. When the oil is warm add the pancetta and parsley and sauté for 1 minute. Add the peas , mix very well and season with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup of broth and keep cooking adding more broth as needed, until peas are almost cooked- approx. 10 minutes. Let peas rest until needed.

For the filling: Drain the pieces of bread from the milk and squeeze until the consistency of a soft pulp is achieved. Reserve the milk. In a medium-size bowl place the bread, veal, eggs , garlic, parsley, cheese and oregano. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix well with your hands or with a large spoon until the ingredients are well combined. If the mixture seems too dry add some of the reserved milk. Set aside.

Meanwhile, clean the artichokes (see tips for better artichokes).

To assemble: Drain the artichokes. Spread the artichoke leaves slightly apart. Sprinkle the inner leaves with garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Push the filling between the artichoke leaves and into all cavities.

To cook: Place the artichokes , cut part facing up in a pot that can accommodate them snugly. Add the garlic, bay leaves, the olive oil, and enough water to come 1/3 up the sides of the artichokes.

Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Cook until the artichokes are tender, approx. 50 to 60 minutes, occasionally adding a little water to keep the contents moist (if needed).

Serve immediately on warm dishes with a drizzle of olive oil and some pan juices.

Wine Pairing Chardonnay / Pinot gris 2006 Trevini Primo (Veneto) Veneto i.g.t 12.70$ (SAQ-10669197)

Prepare the Risotto: Heat the remaining broth in a medium-size saucepan and keep warm over low heat. When the artichokes are very soft and almost dissolved into a thick sauce, add the rice and sauté for 2 minutes, constantly mixing with a wooden spoon.

Start adding the hot broth 1/2 cup at a time. Continue stirring and adding more broth as the liquid is absorbed by the rice.

Five minutes prior to the end of the cooking time add the peas and all their juices to the risotto.

Continue cooking until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite, approx. 17 to 20 minutes total.

Remove from heat, add the parmigiano, mozzarella and butter and stir until the butter and cheese are melted. Cover and let stand for 2 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Transfer to warmed shallow dishes and serve immediately.

Sprinkle freshly ground pepper and extra parmigiano cheese, if desired.

Fruity and unctuous white with nice peach and apricots fragrances

Janine Saine

Wine pairing Fiano di Avellino 2006 Mastroberardino (Campania) Fiano di Avellino d.o.c.g.

22.95$ (SAQ-00972851)

Bone dry, full bodied, citrucy white wine with nice mineral and fresh almonds undertones.

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Sicily: A Lifestyle In 50 Recipes Green Frog Publishing, 2004, p.120, 20$ This beautiful book filled with dazzling pictures will transport you right in the heart of Sicily and its exotic charms. It features traditional Sicilian recipes from Caponata, Arancini, and Pasta alla Norma to the usual dolci of the island (Cannoli, Cassata and Pignulata). You will also discover interesting fish recipes perfect for the summer time such as the Pesce spada con limone.

Also available in french - Janine Saine - La Sicile: Un art de vivre en 50 recettes Publishing Guy St-Jean Éditeur, 120 pages - 20$

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I nostri paesi: Galluccio A 15 minutes walk radius of sympathy

By Sabrina Marandola

These are all ways to describe Galluccio • Latitude: 41°21’N; Longitude: 13°57’E; • A comune in the province of Caserta that sits 368 metres above sea level; • A tranquil and peaceful town in the mountains of Campania where my mind often wanders and my heart resides; • My second home. ituated in Italy’s South-central region - between Rome and Naples - the town of Galluccio is on the edge of the Campanian plain and sits right at the foot of the breathtaking Subapennine mountain range. It’s a town that has it all for soemone looking to escape hectic city life and get a taste of authentic Italian culture - minus the hoards of tourists: Mom & Pop shops, laid-back, friendly people, great food, and it’s just a stone’s throw away from both the moutains and the deep, blue waters of the Mediterranean.

But my adoration for this small town wasn’t always so. In fact, I downright loathed it when I was a kid who, twice, had to spend her entire summer there. I thought it was torture, and other than the fact of getting to know my aunts, uncles and cousins, I could not understand how my parents thought I would enjoy having to spend three consecutive months in a place where chickens outnumbered people.

No pool? No movie theatre? No shopping mall? No pasteurized milk? No toast? Are you kidding me?! Those summers when I was 11 and 13 were eternal!

In fact, I was so saturated with Galluccio’s “old country” traits, I steered clear of it for almost a decade – without any desire to go back anytime soon.

Yet, when I finally went back in my 20s, I discovered that what I used to consider “old country traits” were exactly what gave Galluccio its warmth, charm and authenticity.

Granted, things had evolved in the town as well – livestock no longer outnumbered people in the early 21st century. But even still, there was something suddenly appealing to me about being in a place where you are no further than a 15-minute walk from any place you need to run an errand; in a place where you can hand-pick every fruit for your fruit salad from the garden in the back of your house; in a place where you can sip a cappuccino in the piazza as you take in the mountainous view and greet every passer-by by their first name.

As a young adult, I loved the slow, relaxing pace of Galluccio village life so much, I went back five times in six years.

During my visits, I became familiar with the history of the beautiful comune of Galluccio. The town has been inhabited since the Paleolithic era, but it was the Italian population known as Aurunci who really left their mark. The Auruncan territory extended in the area of Roccamonfina, between the Liri and the Volturno rivers. They were attacked by the Romans in the 6th century BC, and it’s believed the town got its name after the man who formed one of the colonies there – Trebonio Gallo.

Today, the town that sits between folds of the grand Monte Camino and the stunning volcanic ranges of Roccamonfina measures 32 square kilometres.

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Ferragosto is the season when Italians are on vacation, so August is the perfect to host the nineday beer Festival Beer. Hundreds of people stop by Galluccio this time of year to savour beers imported from around the world.

The Festa dei Cacciatori, also in August, is one for meat-lovers! It honours the regions’ hunters.

Here, dinner is served for the entire town, and the menu is made up of meats from animals raised and hunted in the region alone.

The Sagra dell’Uva cannot be forgotten. Here, a procession takes place in the month of September, and the Gallucciani make floats for a parade to celebrate the region’s vineyards and grapes that produce the local wine: Vino D.O.C. Galluccio. One of the most famous spots to stop for a bottle of red or white is at La Starza. This agriturismo is the town’s most popular one, drawing tourists and residents from outlying regions. The view is stunning as you sip on your favourite wine or eat a pizza while enjoying a view of a lake that lies just below Monte Camino.

Another hidden treasure? The breathtaking fields of chestnut trees that fill the mountainous landscape near the Roccamonfina Volcano. Legend has it that at the beginning of the 1400s, the Franciscan San Bernadino da Siena, accompanied by San Giacomo Delia Marca, made a pilgrimage to Roccamonfina to pay homage to the Madonna dei Lattani. When the monk arrived at his destination, he thought about building a convent in the area and, in order to find out God’s will, he planted his dry chestnut-wood stick in the ground and it immediately sprouted. Chestnuts are still a vital economic activity in the region, and are exported all over the world.

In fact, the region’s infamous chestnuts are exactly what inspire Gallucciani living in Montreal to get together. This is thanks to the Associazione Gallucciana del Quebec, which was founded in 1965 (in the middle of the decade when many Campani were immigrating to Montreal.) Every year in November - right when chestnut season is at its peak – La Castagnata is held. It’s a night of dinner and dancing, followed by baskets of hot, roasted chestnuts being served at each table at the stroke of midnight…a time to eat, enjoy, remember and honour Galluccio! v

Ga lluc cio has 6 frazioni : • Vaglie: a small place that is home to the San Giacomo church.

• Calabritto: a trip back in time, with its narrow alleyways and arches made of white rock.

• Campo: featuring spurs of rock that emerge near the Peccia River as its 30-metre waterfalls run through the forest.

• Galluccio: the frazione which lends its name to the town, it is rich with history and art. The Saint Nicola Chapel, built in the 12th century, sits in the town’s centre.

• Sipicciano: known for its breathtaking view of Monte Camino, the highest point of this frazione sits 860 metres above sea level and is encompassed by chestnut fields.

• Last but not least, my favourite San Clemente: The ‘downtown’ of Galluccio, this frazione is the biggest in size and population. It’s the place to be: town hall is here, the main Piazza Umberto I is always filled with young people who go out for a drink at one of the bars, the weekly Sunday market is held here, and San Clemente is often host to many events and festivals in the area.

It’s a good thing, because events and festivals are frequent.

Let’s begin in January, when residents come out on the 16th in hats, gloves and scarves to build a blazing bonfire in the middle of the piazza that will burn for the next 24 hours to honour Sant’Antonio Abate, the town’s patron saint.

May is time for l’Ascensione. On the first Sunday of May, the Gallucciani spend about 2 hours hiking up Monte Camino. Once they get to the summit, they visit the Madonna di Camino chapel that sits on the peak, say a prayer, and then eat breakfast – picnic style – on the mountain.

Another festival only seen in Galluccio is the Mostra dell’Artigianato every July. This is a festival celebrating authentic Gallucciani dishes. Here, people can enjoy old-style traditional recipes such as Fasuri e Castegne, Spaghetti co Agliniegli, Trippa Re Vitella, Mazzabotte, Crispiegli, Pizza Casata Rustica, Struffoli and Guanti.

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Roman NoteBook Six places to eat, drink and visit as the Romans do orget about the Pantheon and the Roman Forum. If you are visiting Rome for the second or even the third time, you may want to discover a bit of the real Roman way of life. That’s exactly what I did on last Easter break when I was invited to the eternal city by a Roman friend of mine.

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Carlo Bilotti’s Museum and the Aranciera di Villa Borghese Modern or contemporary art museums are hard to find in Rome. It was partly by chance that I ended up visiting the Museo Carlo Bilotti, a small museum located in the Aranciera di Villa Borghese, the most prestigious and beautiful park of the Eternal City where most roman couples and families come for an evening walk. I originally went there to see the temporary exhibition ‘Una Storia Privata’ which displayed some of the most famous Italian contemporary photographers; yet, I was happy to find out that I was just on time for a guided tour of the permanent collection dedicated to Carlo Billotti.

Billotti was a successful Italian-American entrepreneur in the perfume business and a famous international art collector. He left for New York in 1961, at the age of 27, where he also started an Italian-American magazine. He died in 2006 at the age of 72, just a few months after the opening of the museum carrying his name. The endeavour started in 2003, after Bilotti decided to hand over his collection to the public and asked the Mayor of Rome to open a museum to host part of his art collection. The permanent exhibition contains twenty-two carefully selected pieces that reflect Belloti’s passion for the arts. These include an important selection of DeChirico’s paintings and sculptures from the ‘20s to the ‘70s, a portrait of Carlo Bilotti by the American artist Larry Rivers and the 1981 portrait of Bilotti’s wife and daughter made by the Pop Art artist Andy Warhol.

Bilotti always liked to get to know the artists he was sponsoring and even became friends with Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and, of course, DeChiricho.

This great art collector is described by experts as someone who bought art with no deliberate curatorial plan but on the basis of his feelings as he stood in front of a piece of art. He purchased his first DeChirico painting when he was 20 and the legend has it that he went knocking at his door, desperate to find something that he could afford.

Museo Carlo Bilotti via Fiorello La Guardia Rome (RM) Tel: +39 0682059127 Full access for persons with disabilities

Hours Open: 9 - 19, Non stop Closed: Monday Price: 6.00 Euros Reduced price: 4.00 Euros

Milan Aperitifs: Now in Rome The “aperitivo” paired with a free buffet is typical of the Milanese way of life. This practice all started the 1920s, when most bar owners of the city started offering chips, olives and little sandwiches to their clients along Campari based cocktails. In the early 1980s, influenced by the American ‘Happy Hour’, many Milanese businesses began to offer a large buffet to accommodate their customers with their evening drinks after a hard day’s work. Since the mid-1990s, the ‘cultura dell’aperitivo’ spread to many Italian cities, and Rome is no exception. I visited two great places where you can drink ‘as Romans do’.

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by Léa-Catherine Szacka PhD student in history and theory of architecture at the Bartlett Faculty of Built Environment in London, Léa-Catherine Szacka is also a freelance writer for various magazines and newspapers.

I first spent an evening at the Salotto 42 in Piazza di Pietra, not far from the Pantheon and the Parlamento, a place quite obviously run by a fan of the American Culture. The initial concept was a bar that didn’t look like a bar, but instead seemed like one of those typical Manhattan apartments full of art magazines and retro furniture. Since its opening a couple of years ago, this bar enjoys a great success as confirmed by the crowd of trendy Romans in their thirties that filled the place that night. Wallpaper City Guide to Rome and a Time special issue on young Italy both listed the Salotto 42 as a good place to stop by for a drink. While beverages sell for 10 euros, access to the buffet is free and includes small sushi and a variety of hors d’oeuvre.

Salotto 42 Piazza di Pietra 42 00186 Roma, Italy

www.salotto42.it Drinks: 10.00 Euros Free buffet

Another interesting place to go for the aperitivo is the Red Restaurant & Design of the newly built “Auditorium” designed by the architect Renzo Piano. Further away from the city centre, it however has the advantage of being located in one of the most fashionable contemporary buildings in Rome.

A little more up market than Salotto 42, it was full of stylish Romans, even on a Wednesday night. The buffet was bigger and for 10 euros you could get a drink with a plateful of cold salads, tomato penne, quiche, tuna sandwiches, pork and small potatoes pizza.

For those of you who practice being fashionably late, remember this important rule of thumb for the apperitivo: empty plates await latecomers.

Auditorium parco della musica Via P. de Coubertin 12, 16 - 00196 Roma

Tel. 06.80691630 Fax 06.80696403 info@redrestaurant.roma.it www.redrestaurant.roma.it

Roman way of eating Roman cuisine is famous throughout Italy. Notwithstanding Rome’s countless tourists trap restaurants, it is however possible to find good, affordable traditional places to eat in the Eternal City. One of the best clues to look for is the type of clientele. If it is mostly local, chances are you’re in for a treat.

I particularly suggest trying Grano, in Piazza Rondanini, a newly opened restaurant where you can eat and drink for about 40 euros. I had a wonderful starter of eggplant with mozzarella, a really tasty (although maybe a little bit too rich) risotto with pecorino cheese and pepper and a delicious millefeuilles with wild berries. Opened by the ex-manager of Gusto (another chic Roman restaurant), this restaurant has been recommended by the newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Ristorante Grano Piazza Rondanini n° 53 Roma

Tel.06.68192026 40 Euros (wine included)

At the Enoteca Palatium in via Frattina, near the steps of Piazza di Spagna, I think I must have had the best lunch I have ever tasted in Rome. Palatium is a wine bar and restaurant opened in 2004 by the government of the Latium region.

Surrounded by chic and modern decor, the chef Antonello Colonna has transformed some of the traditional regional classics. I had a delicious salad of ‘puntarelle’ (chicory salad) with hot, lightly fried buffalo mozzarella, while my friend had some excellent tripe ‘a la romana’. Also on the menu were: caprese salad with buffalo mozzarella and gnocchi with ricot-

ta, zucchini, zucchini flowers and pecorino cheese. At Palatium you can also buy some typical products of the Latium region, for example, wine, olive oil, and mineral water.

Enoteca Regionale del Lazio – Palatium Via Frattina 94 - 00187 Roma

Tel. 06/69202132 Fax 06/69380504 www.enotecapalatium.it

Calcata, la città ritrovata Even though I had visited Rome many times, I had never heard of Calcata. It was only when I tried to get in touch with Paolo Portoghesi, one of the most important Italian architects of the end of the late 20th century (Roman Mosque, chiesa della Madonna della Pace a Terni, First Architecture Biennale of Venice), that I came across the name of this town. In fact, in the end of the 1990s, this famous architect, like many artists before him, had decided to transfer to Calcata. And, on a late March Thursday afternoon it was to interview this legend of Roman architecture that I went to the medieval town of Calcata.

Calcata is a small medieval town located 47 km north of Rome, in the province of Viterbo, in the Italian region of Latium. Once a popular destination for pilgrims, Calcata now occupies an area of no more than 7,7 km with a population of a little less than 900 inhabitants. Situated on a cliff at 172 m above the sea level, Calcata really seems to be somewhere beyond reality. From its fortress walls there is a stunning view of the natural park of Valle del Treja that surrounds the town.

In the 1930s, the hill town’s fortified historic centre was declared dangerous because the Italian authorities feared that the volcanic cliffs the town was built upon would collapse.

Therefore, the inhabitants decided to build Calcata Nuova and to move slowly in this newest part of the town.

Calcata was almost abandoned when it was taken over by a group of Italian hippies keen to escape the city life of Rome in the ‘60s. Legend has it that hippies from all over Italy and from all over the world came to Calcata attracted by the natural landscape. To start with, artists and hippies squatted in the abandoned buildings of Calcata. But slowly, they began to buy houses while the government retracted its warning and the residents began to restore the ruined town.

Today Calcata is a town where a large number of artist, writers, poets and filmmakers make their home. For example, Mario Carbone (one of Italy’s most famous documentary makers) lives there.

So, on your next trip to Rome be sure to visit this unusual town described by the New York Times as what “may be the grooviest village in Italy, home to a wacky community of about 100 artists, bohemians, aging hippies and New Age types.” v

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Fa s h i o n Guerlain

Beach Patrol Bold suits are the best showcase for sunless tans.

By Joanne Latimer Clarins

Bronzed Glory Dermatologists around the world agree on one thing: SPF is essential, preferably 30 SPF or higher.

But nobody wants to be pale and pasty, either.

That’s why this season’s bronzers and selftanning products are at the top of our shopping lists. Foam, cream, spray - it’s all good. Bronzers and tanners give a much-needed boost to our postwinter skin. Get a head start with a radiant faux tan, then lather on the sunscreen for a care-free day at the beach.

Clarins

Guerlain

Estee Lauder

Estherderm

L’Oréal

Metallurgy With a nod to the Bond girls and Barbarella, metallic swimsuits have their day in the sun.Who knew there were so many shades of gold? Silver, bronze and pewter are also in demand. Why? Bathing beauties discovered that the best colours to compliment their tans can be found on the periodic table of elements. Flashy and flattering, metallic swimsuits are a solid investment for any summer wardrobe.

Sea Queen

Angela Jones

Sea Queen

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Bold Hybrids This is not your mother’s bathing suit. The swimsuits of 2008 are daring, featuring curious cross-overs and bold patterns. From modern cow prints to kaleidoscopic swirls, they’re bold and breathtaking.

Drama comes via tricked-out maillots and bikini hybrids with intricate strings and straps. Are they bikinis? Are they one-pieces? You decide!

These complicated bathing suits are conversation pieces that attract more than their share of admirers.

Aqua Di Lara

Aqua Di Lara

Aqua Di Lara

Aqua Di Lara

Lili-les-Bains

Lili-les-Bains

Quiss Quiss

Quiss Quiss

Quiss Quiss

Aqua Di Lara

H&M

Shan

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V I V E R E A L L’ I TA L I A N A - V i v r e à l ’ i t a l i e n n e - L i v i n g I t a l i a n - S t y l e

Christian Martucci

Cynthia Ponari

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25 years old, engineer, second generation Italian. From Battipaglia provincia di Salerno (Campania). Two languages: English + Italian

18 years old, Miss Canada beauty pageant contestant, dental assistant.

Second generation italian. Dad from Monte Cassino (Lazio) and Mom from Napoli (Campania) Speak: Italian, English and French.

Last time you went to Italy June 2007 Most common name in your family ? How Many?

Giuseppe, I don’t know, many …

Nick name Ciro like the soccer player: Ciro Ferrara Passion Sport and cars Cloths/wearing Guess Jeans , Zara sweater and blazer, Murellato (Made in Italy), Leather Shoes (Made in Italy) Boutique Harry Rosen Restaurant Bottega Absolute must in the pantry Parmiggiano

Type of wine / drink Valpolicella Favourite Italian expression In cul’ Place you must go back to at least one more time in your life Venice with my girlfriend Dream Car Ferrari’s too big, humm Maserati Dream Own my own engineering company Best Italian movie Il capo di tutti I capi Where did you watch the world cup final ?

In France, for work in Bretagne they wanted to kill me

Feeling when Italy won the world cup Amazing Best way to feel Italian in Montreal Dressing good Pesce fritto o baccala Pesce fritto Best coffee in Montreal Caffé Italia Sexiest Italian Bellucci Italians do it better? cars You know you are Italian when or if?

It’s a style you know…Thinking about it… when you get shivers when they sing l’inno before of a soccer game of the national team

Last time you went to Italy I havn’t been yet !!!

Hopefully very soon…

Most common name in your family? How Many?

Nicola, stopped counting at five Nick name Cyn Cloths/wearing Guess top, Foxy jeans, bracelet earrings (Aldo) Make up Giorgio Armani, Face Favorite designer Channel Boutique Zara Restaurant Time Super club

Favorite Dish Scalopine al limone Absolute must in the pantry Nutella Favourite Italian expression Ma Che voi!

Where did you watch the world cup final?

I had a party at my house Feeling when Italy won the world cup Amazing, felt special to be able to live that historic moment RDP or Saint-Leo? RDP Best way to feel Italian in Montreal Having a good style and loving good food

Best coffee in Montreal My mom’s Pet peeve Being late Sexiest Italian Cannavaro Italians do it better?

Definitely You know you are Italian when or if?

You take five hours to get dressed Best Place to watch Italy play in Montreal At my grandfather’s in Laval hahaha

Picture by: Vincenzo D’Alto / Make-up: Emmanuelle Blanchard

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V I V E R E A L L’ I TA L I A N A - V i v r e à l ’ i t a l i e n n e - L i v i n g I t a l i a n - S t y l e

Lucy Gentile

Massimo Covone

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27 year old, accountant / auditor. first generation Italian. Dad from Campobasso (Molise), Mom from Potensa (Basilicata). Speak: Italian, French and English.

25 years old, Maître d’hôtel & Restaurant Manager at Bottega Pizzeria.

Second generation Italian. Dad from Napoli, Mom from Casacalenda (CB).

Speak: Italian, English and French.

Last time you went to Italy Many years back Most common name in your family? How Many?

Lucy, ten… we have all nick names Nick name Gen for Gentile Cloths / wearing Roots, H& M, boots Aldo, Jewelry Birks, Hearings that come from Italy Make up Giorgio Armani, MAC Favorite designer Giorgio Armani and Valentino Boutique Lipari Restaurant Di Menna Restaurant

Last time you went to Italy Summer 2007 Most common name in your family? How Many?

Angelo, three Passion Food Cloths/wearing Jeans Rock Republic, Shirt Zegna, Jacket Daniele Alessandrini, Shoes Prada, Watch Emporio Armani, Scarf Hugo Boss, Handkerchief Etro, J Lindenberg Vest Favorite designer Giorgio Armani or Etro Boutique Harry Rosen, Men’s, Brisson

Absolute must in the pantry Extra virgin Olive Oil Type of wine / drink Amarone Zenato Favourite Italian expression It makes me laugh when I here Italian people say “E Dai!” Favorite band or singer Gigi D’alessio Feeling when Italy won the world cup Amazing RDP or Saint-Leo? St-Leo Best way to feel Italian in Montreal Visit little Italy and eat at my mom’s house Pesce fritto o baccala Baccala

Best coffee in Montreal Caffe Milano Pet peeve I hate pigeons Sexiest Italian Of course my fiance and Antonio Sabato jr You know you are Italian when or if?

You hear them talk loud and hands flaring in the air

Favorite Dish Veal Roast Type of wine / drink Barolo Favourite Italian expression oh sant’antonio, minchia!!!

Place you must go back to at least one more time in your life Napoli Dream Open up more restaurants and manage them without having to be there Best Italian movie Mi manda Picone (Directed

by Nanni Loy and featuring Giancarlo Giannini)

Where did you watch the world cup final?

Caffé Univers in Laval Feeling when Italy won the world cup Best feeling in the world!

Best way to feel Italian in Montreal Having a caffé in little Italy Best coffee in Montreal Caffe simone on Dante Crescent or St-Laurent St-Laurent Mare o Montagna Mare You know you are Italian when or if?

Mannerism, accent

Picture by: Vincenzo D’Alto / Make-up: Emmanuelle Blanchard

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Dante a fumetti Nel mezzo del cammino di una striscia: Marcello Toninelli

By Erika Papagni ome racconta Marcello Toninelli, tutto è nato sui banchi di scuola per sfuggire alla noia: “attorno ai 18 anni, alla fine degli studi di ragioneria, mentre spiegavano La Divina Commedia mi inventavo battute su quel soggetto, che scarabocchiavo sui quaderni di scuola. Disegnicchiare, mi aiutava a non distrarmi durante la spiegazione della professoressa Cesarini e, data la mia inclinazione a vedere il lato umoristico delle cose, le battute mi sgorgavano naturalmente insieme al disegno”.

Esordisce scrivendo e disegnando la striscia Dante per la storica rivista di fumetti Offside (il formato è da “giornale”) pubblicata a Roma. “Fatti non foste a legger comics bruti, ma per seguir storielle di valenza” recita il Dante di Marcello, magro e nasuto sulla copertina del numero 11 del mensile Offside del novembre del 1969. Niente male per un autore appena maggiorenne che subito dopo la pubblicazione della primissima striscia in assoluto, arriva a far parlare di sé al Salone del Fumetto di Lucca con tanto di citazione su La Nazione. Purtroppo solo dopo pochi numeri la rivista chiude le pubblicazioni. Marcello, per alcuni anni continua di sera dopo il lavoro e durante il militare, a disegnare da capo un centinaio di strisce e le invia a diversi editori. Finalmente il sommo poeta fumettistico viene pubblicato sul numero zero del giugno del 1973 di Undercomics. Ma la rivista non va oltre quel numero unico anche se l’editrice paga a Marcello le strisce preparate per la pubblicazione.

Grande delusione ma anche grande soddisfazione che lo spinge a lasciare “il posto fisso in banca” per fare il fumettista a tempo pieno.

Il Dante fumettistico viene pubblicato a fianco di altri autori su Prova d’autore/ Fox Trot!

(1985-86) e dal 1989 arriva sulla celebre rivista italiana di critica e informazione sulla letteratura disegnata: Fumo di China. Dopo il successo dell’opera dantesca, nata dapprima in forma più seria e illustrativa, Marcello vira verso la formula della striscia umoristica con un intento didattico: “il fumetto consente ai giovani lettori e agli studenti di memorizzare con più facilità le strutture a volte complesse dell’opera letteraria”. Nel 1994, iniziano ad essere pubblicate nel celebre settimanale per ragazzi Il Giornalino strisce sull’Inferno dantesco. Con una novità: dal bianco e nero i personaggi diventano a colori. Visto il successo dell’opera, il direttore della rivista gli propone di continuare nell’impresa e dal 1994 al 1998 la Commedia fumettistica toninelliana è finalmente completata.

La Divina Commedia ha tutte le qualità per essere fatta a fumetti. Furono molti i tentativi che portarono diversi fumettisti, e non solo in Italia, a tentare di riuscire in questa impresa. In Italia, nel 1947 Jacovitti (Panoramitalia Vol.3 no. 1, Spring 2008), il genio italiano dei fumetti, iniziò una rilettura che rimase incompiuta. A parer mio la più bella e completa è quella di Marcello. Per apprezzare Dante a fumetti bisogna conoscere La Divina Commedia.

Il testo letterario di Dante è molto complesso, invece il testo visivo di Marcello è molto semplice, ci trasmette informazioni limitate dal testo originale, aiuta a memorizzare meglio gli ambienti, i personaggi e lo svolgimento del viaggio dantesco ed è anche uno stimolo per andare a studiare, per chi non l’avesse ancora fatto, o per rivedere e approfondire quello che è stato definito il più bel capolavoro della letteratura italiana.

C

Nel 1999 Marcello stampa in proprio l’edizione filologica integrale “per lettori scafati” in dieci albi di 32 pagine (con la possibilità di avere anche un fragile raccoglitore). Per celebrare il “trentennale” stampa anche un altro albo che racconta la vita di Dante. E lo stesso anno, viene celebrato da una mostra alle fiere di Lucca e Roma nonché dal Premio Fumo di China assegnato dai lettori come Miglior Autore Umoristico 1999. Nelle parole di Marcello: “le strisce che mi sono inventato nella maniera più ingenua quando avevo 18 anni, a distanza di trenta fanno ancora sghignazzare tre o quattro generazioni di lettori contemporaneamente!”

A partire dal 2004, La Divina Commedia a fumetti è stampata, con cura notevole, in tre volumi cartonati (in bianco e nero). La qualità della stampa, della carta e la rilegatura non possono non lasciare soddisfatti. Si tratta di un’ottima opera, destinata a durare a lungo a differenza dei fragili fascicoli originali. Nel complesso, è un lavoro eccellente che mi sento di consigliare a tutti gli amanti del fumetto umoristico e a coloro che, dopo le esperienze scolastiche, possono avere un po’ in antipatia l’opera dantesca. Dante a fumetti facilita l’approccio al sommo Poeta “togliendolo –almeno per poco- da quella fama che qualcuno ha definito il maggior ostacolo alla sua conoscenza e ad un suo studio approfondito” .

Nel 2005 nell’ambito della Mostra Mercato del Fumetto di Reggio Emilia, organizzata dall’Anafi in collaborazione con l’Arci di Reggio Emilia si è svolta la cerimonia di consegna dei tradizionali Premi Anafi che ha visto Marcello come Miglior autore completo.

Dal 2006 è possibile acquistare l’opera di Marcello oltre che nelle librerie italiane anche sul portale della rivista Fumo di China (www.fumodichina.com), sotto la voce “I fumetti di Marcello”. Dove oltre a quest’opera troverete anche Omero a fumetti con l’Iliade e l’Odissea, l’Eneide con Enea, Benito Mussolini la storia del Duce a fumetti, Padan il Barabaro meglio conosciuto come Umberto Bossi e Berlustory la biografia del Cavaliere più famoso d’Italia: Silvio Berlusconi. (Per acquistare i fumetti di Marcello a Montreal potete contattare Erika Papagni erikapapagni@gmail.com ).

Nel 2007 Marcello è stato chiamato a tenere delle “lezioni” sulla Divina Commedia e sui fumetti nelle sedi della Società Dante Alighieri di Oslo, Stavanger, Christiansand. Halden, Trondheim e Bergen. In quest’ultima città ha partecipato al Raptus Comics Festival dove insieme alla traduttrice Bodil Moss e all’editrice Aasne Vickoy ha presentato l’edizione norvegese di Dante. Metà tiratura venduta in 3 mesi (e sì che in Norvegia ci sono nemmeno 5 milioni di abitanti!). Il ministero della Cultura locale, come ogni anno, ha scelto i libri da acquistare e distribuire gratuitamente in tutte le biblioteche del paese. Tra i 30 volumi scelti (tra 130 concorrenti) c’era anche la sua Divina Commedia! Così hanno dovuto ristampare altre copie... e sono già alla seconda edizione!

La Divina Commedia è diventato a poco a poco il libro di tutti, ha parlato a tante generazioni, ora, può parlare anche alla nostra attraverso i fumetti di Marcello. Buona lettura! v 1 Osip Mandel’stam. Guiducci, Paolo e Cantarelli, Loris. Nel mezzo del cammin di una vignetta.... Ravenna: centro dantesco dei frati minori conventuali, 2004. Pag. 5.

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ll Testamento poetico di Tonino Caticchio

by Filippo Salvatore

Biografia: Tonino Caticchio, compositore, autore e produttore di dischi, ha composto e registrato 400 canzoni, la maggior parte in lingua francese. Nel 1974 diventa bibliotecario della Comunità italiana ed insegnante di lingua italiana agli adulti nelle scuole serali del governo del Quebec. Comincia scrivere soprattutto poesia che pubblica su vari settimanali in lingua italiana di Montreal.

Ha diretto la Rassegna del Folklore Romano in Nordamerica ‘ Er Core de Roma’ in romanesco. Ha pubblicato La Scoperta der Canada, Er Rugantino, La Storia de Roma ariccontata in sonetti, ed ha curato l’ antologia bilingue (francese ed italiano) La Poesia Italiana nel Quebec. È stato socio onorario del ‘ Centro Romanesco Trilussa’. ono trascorsi già tanti anni da quel 2 luglio 1984 quando Tonino Tonino è coscicnte che Caticchio diode l’ultimo bacio alla “commare secca”. Da allora le sue nel nostro mondo “n’ammazspoglic mortali sono ridiventate terra, ma permane vivissimo lo spirito za più’ la lingua che la spada” dell’omone dalla vote gagliarda e dal cuore buono. Grazie all’interessamened egli che è considerato “un to di un gruppo di amici è uscita postuma un’altra raccolta di poesie di Tonino po’ troppo rugante, che dice pane ar pane e vino ar vino” puo’ sfogarsi conintitolata Ma chi me l ‘ha farta fà. tro l’arrivismo nella nostra dcmocrazia apparente prendendosi gioco di chi Per chi ha letto le altre rose scritte da lui, è un veto piacerc poter ristaconta con la parola. Egli se la prende cosi contro il prete, il sindaco cd il bilire il dialogo spirituale interrotco. Tonino Caticchio pur avendo vissuto a farmacista “in quer paese piccolo sur monte/’ndo’ vado, io l’estate pè lungo in terra canadesc è spiritualmente rimasto tutta la vira un romano, vacanze’ che lo siottono perché scrive poesia, mentre prende la difesa di una anche se per l’anagrafe era nato a Casacalenda. Ed il romanesco, la parlata mignotta che sa che per “magnà ce vo la zappa”. coloratissima dol popolo della capitale, ha plasmaco la forma mentis del gioTonino vede nella dignità del singolo un valore fondamentale da difenvane “buzzurro” al punta che ad ogni stato d’animo e ad ogni situazione il dere. Ecco perché è critico nci confronti di un certo tipo di religione oscuranCaticchio sapeva far corrispondcre la battuta appropriata. tista, ma anche della cercezza che dà la fede cieca in una ideologia: “doppo Tonino Caticchio, La saggezzaa popolare dccantata da una profonda conoscenza della un viva er duce e un ‘viva er communismo staliniano cio’ aggiunto: ‘Gesù Cri’ Ma chi me l’ha fatto fa, condizione umana troua nel proverbio o nel modo di dire il proprio equivama faje luce’.

Montreal, 1989, pp. 72. lente.

La poesia è quindi per il Caticchio un’arma privilegiata di cui ci si serve II romanesco, come il napoletano, il veneziano, il piemontcse o per dire la verità, anche se “passa quasi sempre pè bucia”. Eppure malgrado qualsiasi lingua non cristallizzata quale è stato il purismo crustante toscano, l’opportunismo e la falsità ed il tornaconto che sembrano prevalere nel nostro ha mantenuto un legame strettissimo con la realtà sicché ogni parola, ogni epressione mondo corrotto, Tonino Caticchio si illude di trovare la felicità scrivendo poesia:“ Corne era possiede una rosa di connotazioni, uno spessore semantico, notevole, frutto di un diacronico, mejo a li tcmpi mia quanno la ggente facea poesia!” plurisecolare arricchimcnto aistenziale del parlante. È questaa la ricchezza di quella che si Il ruolo didattico che egli assegna alla parola in rima è evidente soprattutto nella prima è soliti chiamare saggezza popolare. Tonino Caticchio si inserisce a pennello in questo disparte della raccolta, negli otto sonetti intitolati “er tescamenco der sottoscritto’. Si tratta di corso. Egli è un degno continuatore della mordacità’, dell’ironia, della compassione che perun vero testamento eistenziale, in quanto questi sonetti sono stati scritti proprio negli ultimi mea l’opera di un Gioacchino Belli; dell’ ilarità divertita di un Trilussa, dello strafottente anni di vita del pocta. Dopo aver subito un infarto egli ha voluto evitare di caricaturismo di un certo Pascarella. Ma Caticchio è anche il ragazzo che è vissuto lasciare “le cose in un m’sscujo’ e dal quaderno righettato ha distillato le poche verità durante la seconda guetta mondiale, e che s’è maturato ncl dopoguerra, in quella stain cui ha creduto. Prima di tutto non si è arricchito perché “quer ch’ho guadambiato l’ho gione di rinnovamenco spirituale di cui il Fabrizi e la Magnani hanno saputo essore i più magnato’: poi “a li regazzi mia cio’ tenuto” ed ha sposato una donna che “er sordo se l’è convincenti interpreti. bene amministrato’, ma ha saputo sopracttuttoo per tanti anni accettare “li giorni belli e La poesia di Tonino Caticchio non si capisce a fondo se non viene inserita in questa quelli co’ l’affanni, come se fosse tutta ‘na pocsia.’ Sicchè merita di ottenere come lascito tradizionc. Si leggano questi versi tratti dal sonctto `Corne nacque `Er giornale de noantri’ “le cose de sto core” incancellabili che sono “sti fiji nostri, fatti co l’amore”.

-Er core de Roma” per rendersene conto: “noi c’iavemo ancora fresco quer sentimento Alla figlia lascia i libri, perché sa apprezzarne il valore e le consiglia di prendere per nostro naturale de pensà sempra a Roma, ir che è normale, sarà che pè senticce ne l’affresmarito un giovane “povero, ma co na dose d’educazzione, quella che conta più d’ogn’artra co de casa nostra noi voliemo vive come se viveva ne l’urione.” La sua poesia si ridurrebbe cosa’. Ed al figlio lega i suoi scritti che “so’ modesti... senza l’intenzzione de fajeli pijà comne altrimenti all’espressione di rammarico di chi sente un vuoto dentro di sè a causa della lonlezzione.” tananza dall’Italia, caratteristica questa di tanta produzione poetica italo-canadese, che cosA Caticchio basta semplicemente che il figlio impari ad evitare “l’ommini nati p’esse disotituisce un necessario sfogo per lo scrivente, ma che raramente riesce ad elevarsi al di sopra nesti”. Non è la ricchezza che a suo avviso dà la felicità: i ricchi sono “tristi”. Compito predell’impressionismo e della melensa nostalgia. cipuo della persona onesta deve essere quindi la propria indipendenza di giudizio. Chi corteggia Nel quadro della letteratura italo-canadese in lingua italiana, Tonino Caticchio è una i ricchi, ammonisce il Caticchio, finisce col diventare “amaro e disonesto” come loro. delle voci più valide. Egli esprime le diverse sfaccetcacure del vivere, a farsi giudice imparziale Si tratta di una concezione_della vita che puo’ esser definita tradizionale, in quanto il ricorrendo alla battuta cd al turpiloquio «Ii mottacci nostri sè comprimenti” per meglio sistema di valori proposto rispecchia una sana adesione all’unità famigliare, ad un rapporto cristallizzare la veritâ. Comne er sor Capanna il Caticchio “canto’ strofette contro chicchesben prociso tra uomo e donna basato pero’ non sul confronto ma sulla reciproca comprensia /satireggio’ poi su la coruzzione”. sione, al bisogno ineliminabile di dire la verità per mezzo della poesia che assurge ad un ruolo Memorabile è il suo monico ad una quindicenne di non far sfoggio della sua procacità non solo di sfogo emotivo ma d’insegnamento etico. La poesia deve, secondo il Caticchio, se non vuol ritrovarsi “a gambe sdillabbrate cor culo all’aria/senza avè detto si / né orate saper abbinare lo stupore del bambino che crede ancora alla magia delle fate, con la burbera frate.” Nel sonetto “L’antidericali” si difende dall’accusa di essere un mangiapreti dicendo scontrosità dell’adulto che vede nella verità e nell’onestà valori sacrosanti da difendere. che “faro’ appello a la coscenza .. e ... le scuse le faro’ sortando a Cristo”.

Questa visione della vita e della poesia puo’ essere definita,come accennavo, Il Caticchio combatte “p’er progresso e pè la scenza, ossia per l’emancipazione dell’intradizionale nel senso che è un discorso che chi usa la penna fa da millenni, ma resta di un’ dividuo e se la prende contro chiunque, sia egli “prete e puro cardinale”, vuole impedirlo. attualità sconvolgente, proprio perchè coglie il groviglio csistenziale che ogni generazione da Per una persona che ha scritto centinaia di canzoni di cui moite di successo, non stupisce quando il mondo è mondo, deve risolvere. Questo è il testamento che Tonino Caticchio lega un sonetto su una cantante moderna che si scopre “la panza e un po’ più giù’” cd è”tutta al lettore: questa è la grandezza delle sue “fregnacce’. v lippe lappe e canta co le chiappe’

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PanoramItalia Recommends: Gomorra “The only weapon that until now hadn’t been used against the Cammora has worked ... literature.” - Roberto Saviano Gomorrah: A Personal Journey Into the Violent International Empire of Naples’ Organized Crime System, Roberto Saviano, Farrar Strauss Giroux editor, 2007, p.301

“A novel-investigation in the Dantesque circle of Naples.

As cutting as a blade.” - Francesco Anfossi, Famiglia Cristiana

Also available in french Gomorra: Dans l’empire de la camorra, Roberto Saviano, Gallimard, p. 356

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MUSICA CLASSICA - Musique classique - Classical Music

Intervista alla cantante Giorgia Fumanti Di Joey Franco iorgia Fumanti è nata a Fivizzano, un comune di 8.815 abitanti della provincia di Massa-Carrara in Toscana, però, è cresciuta ad Aulla, un comune situato a pochi chilometri dal confine con la Liguria. All'età di sedici anni, Giorgia ha cominciato a cantare nella corale parrocchiale di Aulla il cui direttore, colpito dal talento della giovane Giorgia, l’ha scelta come cantante solista.

Nel 2000, Maurice Velenosi, di MCM Entertainment Management stava ascoltando un duetto con il re dei Blues, Zucchero. L'altra voce del duetto era quella di Giorgia Fumanti. Velenosi ha subito intuito che Giorgia Fumanti aveva la stoffa per diventare una cantante famosa. Nei due anni seguenti, sotto la guida del suo manager Maurice Velenosi, Giorgia è andata a studiare al Conservatorio di Parma, un istituto superiore di formazione canora.

Nel 2003, Giorgia ha partecipato al programma televisivo “Les Divas du Québec”. Il suo primo album "Like a Dream" è stato lanciato nel 2004 in collaborazione con Vangelis. Durante la primavera e l’estate dello stesso anno, Giorgia ha fatto una tournée in Korea del Sud, Giappone, India, Italia, e, ovviamente, in Canada.

Nel 2006, il tenore Spagnolo, José Carreras ha invitato Giorgia a cantare con lui nella sua tournée asiatica, in Korea, Hong Kong e Taiwan. Il secondo album di Giorgia Fumanti "From my Heart" è stato lanciato l'anno scorso mentre stava esibendosi in una serie di spettacoli con il famoso cantante di musica leggera italiana Zucchero.

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Parlami delle tue influenze musicali.

Mi sono sempre piaciute le canzoni di cantanti come Barbara Streisand, Stevie Wonder, Phil Collins, e poi in modo particolare quelle di Andrea Bocelli. Mi ha colpito il fatto che con la sua voce così classica riusciva ad avere uno stile di musica orecchiabile, popolare. Era quello che volevo fare anch’io, ma non lo sapevo ancora. Anche Enya è stata una inspirazione.

Quando ho iniziato a fare yoga quella di Enya era una musica che mi aiutava molto a calmarmi, ad entrare dentro di me.

Ennio Morricone, fa parte di queste influenze?

Sì. Morricone è un grande maestro di musica, con una sua maniera veramente personale di comporre. Una voce come la mia va benissimo con il suo tipo di composizione musicale, perchè va del basso verso l’alto come quella di un soprano. Adoro il suo modo di scrivere musica.

È stata dura trasferirti qui a Montreal? È stato difficile ma bellissimo allo stesso tempo, perchè quando sono arrivata qui non sapevo parlare né inglese né francese, non avevo amici, non avevo famiglia, non avevo nessuno. C’è voluto molto coraggio. Sono arrivata qui nel 2002. Ho coninciato a guardarmi in torno e l'idea di iniziare a fare la cantante era un sogno che volevo trasformare in realtà. In questo lavoro, prima di farcela ed ottenere risultati passano degli anni. Non ero abituata a

questo modo di lavorare. M’aspettato di lavorare e guadagnare subito. Nel mio tipo di lavoro ci vogliono ore e ore di preparazione ed i frutti li raccogli dopo, e, se sei fortunata, ne raccogli tanti! Pero’ all'inizio è stata dura, cambiare paese, modo di vita, imparare l'inglese, il francese.

È stato emozionante cantare a Montreal?

Non è la prima volt ache canto a Montreal. Vi ho fatto il primo concerto nel 2003 a L’Oratoire St. Joseph, poi ho fatto due spettacoli a Place Des Arts ed un altro al Théâtre St. Denis. Montreal è veramente la città dove sono nata come cantante. Sono nata in Italia come persona, però sono nata qui come cantante.

Parlami di Aulla,la cittadina della Toscana dove sei cresciuta.

Aulla è una cittadina di quasi 11.000 abitanti al nord della Toscana, tra Massa-Carrara e La Spezia. È un piccolo centro dove tutti si conoscono, dove fare la cantante è impossibile perchè come realtà culturale Aulla non può offrire molto. Ora che sono lontana dall’Italia mi manca e riconosco il suo valore. È il paese dove sono cresciuta e anche se non e bellisimo lo porto nel mio cuore.

Com’è stato cantare con José Carreras?

Con Carreras è stato specialissimo, perche è uno dei tenori piu famosi del mondo che ha una voce bellissima. Abbiamo fatto cinque concerti insieme lo scorso dicembre e uno a Londra lo scorso giugno. Ho cantato cinque pezzi da sola e tre pezzi con lui senza microfono. Ero emozionatissima. Io ho una voce di soprano però non canto l’ opera e quindi avevo tanta paura, ma poi tutto è andato per il meglio.

E con Zucchero?

Con Zucchero è strano come sono andate le cose. Aulla è una cittadina che dista quindici minuti da Pontremoli dove Zucchero abita. Ho conosciuto Zucchero nel 1999 quando ero ancora in Italia, ero studentessa e la musica era per me allora ancora solo un sogno. Quando l’ho conosciuto per me era un idolo della musica e non avrei mai pensato che un giorno avrei potuto essere con lui sullo stesso palcoscenico. È un rapporto speciale quello tra noi due; mi rendo conto ancora di più ora quanto forte può essere la voglia di riuscire, di affermarsi, di credere nel proprio valore, in se stessi. Se hai talento, la determinazione e la costanza possono portarti veramente lontano. v

Joey Recommends E2

Original Release Date: November 13, 2007 Number of Discs: 2 Label: Sony International

This newly released Eros Ramazzotti compilation album is a must have for any Eros fan. The album contains two CD's featuring remixes, re-recordings, hits and duets. This is Ramazzotti's fourteenth album (including live and compilation albums), and his second Greatest Hits Album after Eros in 1997. From Pop to Rock, the first CD of this album features 14 remastered hits plus four new tracks. The second CD contains 17 hits "rivisited" by great artists such as "Musica è" (with Gian Piero Reverberi & London Sessio Orchestra), "Fuoco nel fuoco" (featuring Carlos Santana), and "Un'emozione per sempre" (featuring The Chieftains). This 37 track album also contains duets with Ricky Martin and Tina Turner.

Napoli Punto E A Capo Original Release Date: June 8, 1993 Number of Discs: 1 This is the premier album of Renzo Arbore and his Italian Orchestra. Renzo and his orchestra recreate Neapolitan classics from the master, Renato Carusone, such as Maruzella and Reginella as well as numerous neapolitan classics such as Era de Maggio and Anema e core. The album contains 10 tracks which will make you cry, laught and get up and dance (hopefully not all at the same time). Napoli Punto e a Capo is a rare album in which every track is as good as the next. Renzo Arbore would then release Napoli due punti. E a capo in 1994 and Napoli; punto esclamativo in 1995. Francesca Schiavo is the main female vocalist in this album, altough the the orchestra contains 12 gifted musicians and vocalists.

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The Legacy of Pavarotti

By Julien Proulx Professional chorister and holder of a Master degree in musical direction of the Université de Montréal, Julien Proulx is art director and conductor of Université Laval’s Orchestra since 2003.

his past September, the most famous tenor of all time, Luciano Pavarotti, died in Modena at the age of 71. During his remarkable 45 year career, Pavarotti’s accomplishments far surpassed those of other classical artists who had come before him. More than just an acclaimed singer, more than a man with enormous charisma, Pavarotti was an icon, a legend. He was celebrated around the world, but also denigrated by elitists who never appreciated the methods he used in order to seduce new listeners. To his fans, Pavarotti was someone who brought opera music to those who would never have the opportunity to attend a live opera performance. To certain critics, he was someone who perverted opera down to the level of pop music.

Pavarotti was the first classical singer to become popular over the boundaries of lyrical art.

As a matter of fact, many people with no knowledge of opera will recognize not only a photo of the tenor, but also his voice. Nevertheless, this popularity didn’t come overnight and his rise to fame was well planned and had a purpose. Pavarotti wanted to bring opera music to everyone, to enter into their homes, just as Caruso, Gigli and other great tenors had entered his life when he was a young boy.

Music played an important role in the Pavarotti home. Throughout his childhood, Luciano discovered music by listening, at his father’s side, to recordings of the great tenors of the day. He later sang in the town choir, but at that point in his life, considered music, like sports, to be just another hobby. Though he once said, after seeing a Mario Lanza movie, that he himself would become a tenor, Luciano never really thought seriously about music until the age of 19, at the end of his studies at the Istituto Magistrale. Luciano took singing lessons from that point on and, without realizing it, slowly began his successful career. Of course, we now think of him as the famous Pavarotti, but unlike most Hollywood stars, he was almost 50 years old when he actually became one. In fact, one of the keys to Pavarotti’s success was that he never missed a step. He studied vocal technique for 6 years before singing in his first opera. He then began performing

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in small opera houses and slowly sang his way into the opera world. Pavarotti was 34 when he made his first recording and did not have his New York triumph until the age of 39.

After his success in New York, Pavarotti was in high demand at all great opera houses and enjoyed newfound worldwide acclaim. But that didn’t seem to be enough. Remembering back a few years earlier to London and the great impact of his first television performance, he began to use all of that new media’s possibilities to bring opera music into living rooms everywhere. From then on, Pavarotti could be seen and, most importantly, heard more and more, presenting increasingly bigger concerts, on television. This new career path led him to experimentation with new kinds of performances and, much like the pop stars of the day, he began presenting popular concerts in parks and stadiums. It was a risky move, but as history shows, a successful one.

The natural beauty of Pavarotti’s vocal tone, his fantastic mastery of his instrument and his great musical generosity charmed everyone from opera connoisseur to new listener. Thanks to Pavarotti, people realized that they didn’t need to have studied music or to understand foreign languages in order to appreciate opera; they simply had to enjoy it.

We could, of course, question the methods Pavarotti employed in order to win over new listeners. Maybe he went too far in his attempt to please and seduce more and more fans, but it is difficult to judge him. He was the first classical artist to attempt what he did, and as with many other pioneers, mistakes were made. But Pavarotti also gave opera back its true root: people.

Opera is a complete art, created to reach everyone. It allows you to dream, laugh and cry all in the same evening. There is nothing elitist about opera, and Pavarotti, simply by proving that fact, forced the closed world of opera to rethink itself and its art.

But most of all, we will remember Pavarotti’s voice, his unique voice, recognizable above all others; a voice that has moved and seduced millions of people and will continue to do so for many years to come. If his dear friend, Princess Diana, was the People’s Princess, then Pavarotti was, truly, the People’s Singer. v

Arts et culture

Arts and Culture

TEATRO - Théâtre - Theatre

Le Piccolo Teatro di Milano: une heureuse venue à Montréal par Gabriel Riel-Salvatore our la première fois depuis près de 20 ans, le Piccolo Teatro di Milano et sa joyeuse troupe de la commedia dell’arte, visitait Montréal grâce à un effort concerté entre l’Istituto Italiano di Cultura et le milieu culturel québécois.

L’Institut de culture italien, la Place des arts et le Théâtre du Nouveau Monde présentaient ainsi, du 7 au 11 mai dernier, la pièce de théâtre du célèbre auteur Carlo Goldoni: Arlecchino servitore di due padroni, réalisée par Giorgio Strehler et mise en scène par Ferruccio Soleri.

Dans le cadre de cette entente historique, les amateurs de théâtre montréalais ont pu se divertir aux farces et aux pirouettes d’une troupe de théâtre loin d’être petite, malgré ce qu’en annonce son nom. En effet, cette commedia était interprétée par l’un des plus illustres théâtres au monde. Cette adaptation de la pièce du célèbre vénitien, jouée à peu près sans relâche depuis 1947 par Ferruccio et sa troupe, représente désormais un réel monument vivant. Cet exploit remet presque en cause l’idée même que le théâtre soit un art éphémère. Ce succès révèle aussi à quel point la culture du théâtre brille en Italie et comment la réputation d’une ville comme Milan peut jouir d’un monument culturel aussi prestigieux que le Piccolo Teatro di Milano, de renommée internationale.

Madame Lorraine Pintal, Directrice et générale du Théâtre du Nouveau Monde se disait ainsi honorée «d’accueillir en sol montréalais cette production qui a fait rêver entre autres, la Chine, la Russie, les États-Unis, l’Amérique du Sud et naturellement l’Italie.» Soulignant le 300e anniversaire de Goldoni, l’ambassadeur d’Italie Gabriele Sardo mentionnait comment «Arlecchino servitore di due padroni est un pur plaisir pour les sens et un hommage, non seulement à la commedia dell’arte, mais aussi à la pure tradition du théâtre romain.»

La magie de ce spectacle reposait entre autres sur l’impressionnante prestation du célèbre acteur et metteur en scène italien, Ferruccio Soleri qui interprétait les frasques du rusé Arlequin, insufflant au personnage le plus célèbre de tout le théâtre italien, une éternelle jeunesse. Depuis 1957, année à laquelle il s’associe au Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Soleri a su se construire une solide réputation grâce à de remarquables interprétations des Zanni et de divers personnages masqués de la commedia dell’arte. Désormais figure emblématique du Piccolo Teatro, Soleri pratique aussi la mise en scène depuis 1971. On compte parmi ses réalisations «Il corvo» de Gozzi, «I due gemelli veneziani», «La castalda» et «Il ventaglio» de Goldoni, et dans le répertoire lyrique «Livietta e Tracollo» de Pergolèse, «Il ratto del serraglio» et «La finta giardiniera» de Mozart.

Reste à souhaiter que cette heureuse venue à Montréal du Piccolo Teatro di Milano signale le début d’une grande collaboration entre les institutions culturelles du Québec et de l’Italie. v

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PHOTO: GERALDO PACE

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Portrait of an Artist: Geraldo Pace nspiration can often be a frustrating thing. It is not a skill that can be mastered, it has no sense of timing and it cannot be controlled. Sometimes it behaves like a petulant child, stomping into a room, boldly declaring itself and then disappearing again with exasperating speed. But like it or not, artists are tethered to inspiration – they depend upon it for guidance and for creativity.

Looking at his body of work, there is no doubt that Montreal-born photographer Geraldo Pace has made good friends with inspiration. Whether it’s his dramatic portraits, his bold conceptual shots, or his innovative fashion campaigns, Pace is forever proving that he is a master of imagination and beauty.

Pace discovered his love of photography at an early age. At 14, he was sent on a camping trip to Mont-Tremblant with his older brother and a Brownie Kodak camera. The photos were developed and it was acknowledged all around that Pace had a good eye. From that point on, the youngster was hooked.

“I purposely failed my high school exams at Loyola,” he admits with a smile. “I didn’t want to go on; I just wanted to take photographs.”

Beginning his career as an industrial photographer for Alcan, Pace was later hired by a commercial studio. The invitation seemed like a natural fit, but Pace later learned that landing such a plum position was a rare occurrence that was accorded to a precious few. Looking at his work, it is not hard to understand why he would be singled out from the crowd, there is a tightly wound drama to his shots, each work carefully planned and bursting with intensity.

Talk to the photographer about where his creativity springs from and you are greeted with a very modest answer. “I am always looking for the drama in a situation, it comes from deep within. But I don’t think you can really explain your style, it is simply directed from my nature. I have set incredibly high standards, measuring myself against my mentors, people like Richard Avedon and Irving Penn. In order to succeed, you have to set standards that are beyond your reach so that you are continually moving toward something. That is all I know, whether my work is good or not, only time and history will tell.”

But of course, one can measure success by the reactions Pace has received. His desire to strive for more and stand out from the crowd was noticed at a fashion shoot with designer Leo Chevalier. After shooting innumerable rolls of film according to direction, Pace shot a separate roll guided by his own vision. “We were in a large loft with huge windows and I instructed my assistant to go and stand out on the ledge. I wanted to capture the idea of suicide in the shoot.”

Pace’s vision won out and grew into a three-year campaign.

His exquisite work is born from the high standards that he sets for himself. On a shoot for a landscape series Pace gave himself the ambitious mandate of taking only one frame of each

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scene. “I am an absolute perfectionist,” he admits. “I put lots of pressure on myself and I am always trying to find something different in the shot. I drive everybody crazy – I think even Mother Nature wanted to cover her head and hide when she saw me coming.” The haunting images that came from the series caught the attention of Gilles Vigneault. The poet was so moved by the photos that he decided to collaborate on a book project, combining Pace’s emotional shots with his own powerful words.

One of Geraldo Pace’s proudest accomplishments is a portrait that he took of artist Alex Colville. “It is the most difficult thing to capture a face,” he explains. “You have to find a way to reveal that person’s soul. You must anticipate because everything happens in a moment, that one moment, that one shot where the person is exposed and is inviting you to capture the essence of who they are. It is a powerful thing to be able to stop time and grab that moment.”

For the past nine months, Pace has been working on a conceptual photographic project that is now permanently displayed on the main floor of Concordia’s Department of Engineering. The bold photos of five heads are inspired by the natural world and incorporate many of its basic elements.

“When I was first given this mandate, my first thoughts were about Nature - how we are all affected by Nature’s engineering genius represented by its animals, insects, and birds.

From the beginning of time, man has observed Nature, simply to serve himself. Man has patterned Nature when he builds bridges, skyscrapers and multiple dwelling spaces.”

Pace pushes his concept even further using the five heads to represent the five continents as well as the five key races that are all related to Mother Earth. Colourful and complex, each head represents a different material: earth, stone, glass, metal and wood. While the photographer has an explanation regarding the significance of each head, he readily encourages viewers to find their own meanings.

“Being an artist means being an interpreter and a teacher. All people have it within them to be an artist. All they have to do is observe, listen and make a contribution. It was crucial for me to create pieces that are attractive, eye-catching and show off both the seriousness and importance of Engineering in a fun way. It was absolutely imperative that these photographs capture the imagination of the youth because they are the future. If young people are continually intrigued by my work, it means that my work is still vital and that I am still contributing.”

Inspiration and boundless imagination are a potent mix – it seems that Geraldo Pace will be making a contribution for a long, long time. v

E V E N T I - É v é n e m e n t s - E ve n t s

Dean Nabil-Esmail, (Benefactors: Salvatore Guerrera, Diane Guerrera) and Geraldo Pace.

Concordia University New Public Artwork n Thursday, April 24th, 2008 Concordia University’s Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science unveiled a new public artwork titled Heads of Engineering. Created by conceptual photographer Geraldo Pace, this series of large, Surrealist-inspired photographs are installed along the interior passage of the Guy Street concourse of the Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex (EV Complex), visible to the public both from within the building and from outdoors along the Guy Street corridor. v

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Geraldo Pace

Dean Nabil-Esmail

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Events

BMW MINI Laval: 35 years and hasn’t stalled yet

By Melanie Porco

L’ E X C E L L E N C E À M O N T R É A L

t was a red carpet affair when BMW MINI Laval celebrated its 35th Anniversary April 23, 2008, with the D’Argenios playing host to family, friends, and their valued customers.

Velvet ropes lined the walkway as the newest and sleekest BMWs and MINI took centre stage.

Invited guests were treated to an evening of food, wine, and music.

A tone setting BMW, with its headlights on at the entrance of the dealership, recreating the invitation that was sent out, greeted guests.

The X6, M3, 1 series and MINI Clubman were unveiled that night. Spread throughout the entire 86,000 square feet dealership, BMW Laval’s 35th anniversary celebration and launch event utilized all available space, with the showroom, lounge, drive-through service area, and their Autogrill Bistro hosting the over 2,000 invitees.

Dignitaries Franco Paolo Venier, Consul General of Italy and Sergio Monti, Consul of Italy, attended, while former Montreal Canadiens great Yvan Cournoyer was also on hand. Giuseppe Borsellino (Groupe Petra), Maître Roberto T. De Minico, and Tony Le Donne (Boucherie Capitol) were among those representing the Italian business community. Local media personalities Frank Cavallaro (CBC), Ron Fournier (CKAC), Orla Johannes and Mose Persico (Entertainment Spotlight, CTV), Aaron Rand (Q92), and Tony Zara (Panoramitalia) mingled with guests. The night also took on an important cause, with the Angels of Hope team raising funds for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer, selling raffle items and pink bracelets.

Holding the title of Best Car dealership in Canada, BMW MINI Laval offered nothing but the finest as it celebrated this important milestone. DJ extraordinaire Daniel Desnoyers spun uptempo lounge and party music as food and wine stations encased the dealership. Guests were treated to tortellini cardinale, penne aglio e olio with sundried tomatoes, peperonata di salsiccia, pollo al porto, gamberi al limoncello, and filetto di basa aux agrumes from Andrea L’Authentique Ristorante and parmeggiano cheese, porchetta, and prosciutto from Boucherie Capitol. The premium Agostino Wines served up its “Il Primo,” while the Autogrill Bistro became the Illy coffee bar.

BMW MINI Laval, a family-owned business since its founding in June 1973 by Gerardo D’Argenio, operated under Auto Boulevard St-Martin Inc at the start. The BMW franchise was later acquired in 1975, employing a mere dozen people. In 2001, responding to the growing needs of its clientèle, the company moved to a new and more spacious location at 2450 Chomedey boulevard in Laval. Under the presidency of Carmine D’Argenio, son of Gerardo, sales increased by 151 percent and personnel by 120 percent. Since 2004, three different expansion projects have been completed to triple the size of the establishment and add the MINI division.

BMW Laval now has 180 plus employees and specialists with over 25 years of experience.

Among numerous accolades received over the years recognizing its superior customer service, BMW MINI Laval is at the helm of its industry. Managed by Ellie D’Argenio, daughter of Gerardo, the customer service department has doubled in size, greeting clients with a newly designed lounge and boutique, an enhanced service area and drive-through service reception. The Autogrill Bistro serves paninis, salads, and pizzas to customers and employees, with all proceeds going to a different non-profit organization each month.

When Carmine D’Argenio took to the podium at the 35th anniversary and launch event, he made sure that all guests understood where his family’s business sense and quality customer care came from. “On a personal note, I would also like to take a moment to thank the founder of this company, my father, Gerardo D’Argenio, for all the hard work, dedication, vision and passion that you have put towards building BMW MINI Laval. You are the driving force of this company.” v

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Le Gourmet Hot & Spicy FINE CUISINE ORIENTALE • FINE ORIENTAL CUISINE

• Plus de 80 mets à volonté alléchants fraîchement préparés • Vaste sélection de fruits de mer • Atmosphère musicale exceptionnelle • Un chef de renommée mondiale • Plus de 100 vins populaires

Découvrez la Différence LIVRAISON ET RÉSERVATIONS • DELIVERY & RESERVATIONS 7373, Décarie Montréal 514.731.1818

1955, boul. St-Martin Ouest, Laval 450.973.1818

5605, boul.Taschereau Brossard 450.656.1818

7e Soirée-bénéfice de la Fondation Magnani-Montaruli 27 500 $ pour le Programme International de Gastronomie Italienne ITHQ / ALMA a soirée-bénéfice annuelle de la Fondation MagnaniMontaruli a eu lieu le 17 mars à l’Institut de Tourisme et d’Hôtellerie du Québec, en présence du consul général d’Italie, Francesco Paolo Venier, et de quelque 140 convives ayant déboursé 250$ le couvert. Cette 7e édition a permis d’amasser 27 500$, grâce notamment à la tenue d’un encan mettant aux enchères 11 lots de produits viticoles haut de gamme, importés d’Italie. La Fondation Magnani-Montaruli a pour mission d’amasser des fonds pour offrir des bourses aux élèves des programmes de cuisine italienne et de sommellerie de l’ITHQ afin qu’ils puissent effectuer un stage de perfectionnement en Italie à La Scuola Internazionale di Cucina Italiana Alma. Il s’agit de l’un des plus prestigieux établissements d’enseignement de gastronomie italienne.

Les deux viticulteurs italiens invités cette année étaient: M. Gian Matteo Baldi (Cav. G. B. Bertani, Veneto), et M. Paolo de Marchi (Isole & Olena, Toscana). Ils avaient apporté, directement de leur vignoble, une sélection de leurs meilleurs vins pour accompagner le banquet préparé par trois professeurs de l’ITHQ, les chefs Igor Brotto, Elvio Galasso et Pasquale Vari, aidés de leurs élèves. Le service des mets et des vins était effectué par les élèves des programmes Service professionnel de la restauration et Sommellerie professionnelle de l’ITHQ. v

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Slow Food Montréal «Du Québec à l’Italie: entre savoir-faire et bon goût» e mouvement Slow Food Montréal a organisé le 29 avril dernier un souper dégustation au restaurant La Mer intitulé «Du Québec à l’Italie: entre savoir-faire et bon goût». Près de 200 convives sont venus déguster un menu cinq services essentiellement composé de poisson et préparé avec plusieurs produits biologiques du Québec et d’Italie en plus d’être entretenus sur les poissons du Québec par le Chef et ex-professeur de l’ITHQ Jean-Paul Grappe.

Des producteurs et artisans de Montréal ont été invités à faire Cocktail au restaurant La Mer découvrir leurs produits. Leo le Glacier, Caffé Adelia, Importation de vins et spiritueux Montalvin, Importation de produits fins Travaglini et les fromages Horizon Nature ont tous gracieusement collaboré au succès de l’événement. Une délégation de Gal le Macine, de la région de la Basilicate, a aussi honoré la soirée de sa présence. Les invités ont pu savourer les pâtes du producteur Pasta di Stigliano, faites à partir de blé de type Capella, une variété pratiquement disparu en Italie. Un paquet cadeau renfermant la Pasta di Stigliano, une bouteille d’huile d’olive Sapori Lucani et une jolie assiette de céramique ont été offerts à tous les participants.

Slow Food est un organisme international basé en Italie qui veille à la promotion du mieux manger et du mieux consommer. www.slowfoodquebec.com v

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Centre de Décoration St-Léonard SERVICE DE DÉCORATION À DOMICILE ET EN MAGASIN

Stores Hunter Douglas • Rideaux Papier-peints • Moulures Céramiques • Pôles • Literies NOUVEAU! Toiles • Articles de décoration Peintures • Faux-fini Découvrez notre nouvelle peinture Aura

TM

(514) 255-1644 7178, boul. Langelier, St-Léonard, Montréal (Québec) Tony Catania, propriétaire centredecorationstleonard@bellnet.ca

www.decorstleonard.com

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Events Carlo Bizzotto, Event co-Chair, Rosie Parasuco, Michael Mazzaferro, Event co-Chair

Second Edition

• 2 salle intime con capienza di 80 personne • Pista da Ballo • Menu personalizato per ogni occasione

Launch of Cento Miglia Race in Montreal

Call Now! / Appellez aujourd’hui!

1-888-633-9409 Free Delivery anywhere in Montreal

he Cento Miglia relay race is back for its second edition and promises to be better than last year. On April 10th, car enthusiasts, team members, and supporters gathered at Automobiles Etcetera for the official launch of the 2008 Cento Miglia.

Last year, the Cento Miglia was able to raise over $315,000 in support of the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, the SainteJustine Hospital Foundation and the charitable endeavors of the FCCI. April 10th, the launch date, also coincided with the birthday of the Cento Miglia’s Co-Chairman Michael Mazzaferro’s late son, Gabriele. Gabriele’s short life inspired his father to start the Cento Miglia, together with Carlo Bizzotto, in order to raise funds for children who are in need.

Rosie Parasuco, wife of fashion guru Salvatore Parasuco was present at the event and announced that Parasuco will pledge $100 for everyone who is wearing a pair of Parasuco jeans at this year’s rally.

The team orientation cocktail will be held on June 19th. July 5th is the date reserved for the Cento Miglia Rally.The race will start at the St. Raphael golf course and will continue to Lachute, and come back trough the Deux-Montagnes region and wrap up at the St. Raphael golf course on Île Bizard. The second annual rally represents a great cause and an unforgettable day of fun, friends and food.

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Stone Coated Steel Tegola di Terracotta (clay tiles), look great but not made for Canada.

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Uno studio / specchio del linguaggio cinematografico

Federico Stroppiana alla Galleria YellowFishArt ederico Stroppiana presentava alla Galleria YellowFishArt, la sue ultime fotografie, per la prima volta a Montreal, dove risiede attualmente. Un lavoro condizionato dalla fascinazione di una immagine che racconta una storia, che ingloba un personaggio e un’emozione in una situazione… che è per il fatto medesimo, uno studio/specchio del linguaggio cinematografico.

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FEDERICO STROPPIANA - VHSC 27 MARZO-21 APRILE 2008 Galerie YellowFishArt 3684 Boul. St.Laurent, Montreal Tel. 514- 840.0808 www.yellowfishart.com

À NOS LECTEURS SI VOUS CHANGEZ D’ADRESSE, S.V.P. veuillez nous aviser afin d’ÉVITER DES frais inutiles d’expédition POSTALE. CONNAISSEZ-VOUS DES GENS QUI NE REÇOIVENT PAS notre MAGAZINE? SI OUI, ILS PEUVENT S’INSCIRE GRATUITEMENT À WWW.PANORAMITALIA.COM

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La CASSA POPOLARE CANADESE ITALIANA versa 2 750 000 $ di “ristourne” ai suoi soci-membri Negli ultimi sette anni, sono stati distribuiti 11 850 000 $ uno di questi. Infatti, la Cassa popolare Canadese Italiana versa una parte dei profitti netti ai soci-membri qualificatosi.

Così, gli eccellenti risultati ottenuti durante l’esercizio finanziario terminato il 31 dicembre 2007 permettono, ad ogni socio-membro qualificatosi, di ricevere una parte della “ristourne” totale de 2 750 000 $.

CENTRE D’ENTREPOSAGE D’ARMES enr.

Roland Bertoldi

Vous déménagez?

Vous partez en vacances?

Conflit matrimonial?

Nouvelle adresse à partir du mois de juin

Alors CONFIEZ vos ARMES au CENTRE D’ENTREPOSAGE D’ARMES enr.

333, 4e rue Laval, Qc H7N 2A6 Tél.: (450) 668-4321 Cell.: (514) 386-2381 Fax: (450) 668-1039 Courriel: rbertoldi@msn.com

Service d’enregistrement d’armes et successions NOUS ALLONS CHERCHER & LIVRONS

ANGELA DI VIRGILIO JOSÉE DIONNE AVOCATS - ATTORNEYS DROIT CORPORATIF ET COMMERCIAL / CORPORATE AND COMMERCIAL LAW VENTE ET ACHAT D’ENTREPRISE / ACQUISITION DROIT CIVIL / CIVIL LAW DROIT FAMILIAL / FAMILY LAW MÉDIATION FAMILIALE / FAMILY MEDIATION 1, WESTMOUNT SQUARE, SUITE 820, WESTMOUNT, QC H3Z 2P9 •

514.932.2725

L’expérience avant tout!

Antonio Crescenzi Agent immobilier affilié

514-354-6240

Membri del Consiglio di sorveglianza: Massimiliano Bernardo, Carmine Mercadante, Mariano De Carolis, Nicodemo Panetta

a Cassa popolare Canadese Italiana è lieta di presentare il resoconto delle attività finanziare relative all’anno 2007. L’attivo totale al 31 dicembre 2007 è di 482 milioni di dollari. Questo risultato è da attribuire al consolidamento dell’attività della Cassa nell’ambito della collettività in cui opera, e grazie alla solidarietà ed all’impegno di tutto il personale che ha contribuito a stringere maggiormente i legami tra la Cassa popolare Canadese Italiana e la comunità. Il direttore generale della Cassa, il signor Mariano A. De Carolis ci ha inoltre fornito con grande soddisfazione i seguenti dati: • Totale prestiti: 359 milioni di dollari • Totale depositi: 431 milioni di dollari • Totale volume d’affari: 833 milioni di dollari • Profitti dopo le imposte: 5,7 milioni di dollari Tutti i dirigenti sono lieti della fiducia che i membri-soci riconoscono a questo istituto finanziario ed approfittano dei buoni risultati per ringraziarne i membri stessi. Il raggiungimento degli obiettivi prefissi è conseguente all’unione di tutte le nostre forze ed alla cooperazione di tutto il personale nell’intento di offrire a tutti i nostri membri servizi finanziari di ottima qualità.

I soci-membri della Cassa popolare Canadese Italiana aderiscono ad una cooperativa di risparmio e di credito, un’istituzione solida ed efficiente che concede notevoli privilegi. L’eleggibilità ad una “ristourne” è

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Questo è il grande vantaggio di essere soci-membri della Cassa popolare Canadese Italiana!

Diventa membro-socio anche tu! Apri un conto corrente presso uno dei nostri centri-servizi.

La Cassa popolare Canadese Italiana continua ad incoraggiare le iniziative locali e ad offrire il suo sostegno monetario agli organismi di beneficenza della comunità. D’altra parte, nell’impegno sociale della Cassa si realizza uno dei capitoli importanti della sua missione di cooperazione attiva. Come afferma il direttore generale Mariano A. De Carolis; “Il gesto va oltre il semplice atto di generosità, perché il nostro proposito è di assolvere al nostro dovere di solidarietà verso la collettività: la cooperazione costituisce la ragion d’essere della Cassa popolare Canadese Italiana e sforzi importanti sono stati fatti per partecipare alle nostre attività.

Infatti, alla voce “doni e sponsorizzazioni”, i contributi hanno raggiunto circa 95 000 $ nel corso del 2007; in altre parole la nostra partecipazione nell’aiutare gli organismi comunitari è reale e costante.”

Questa rimessa di fondi sta a dimostrare alla comunità il vantaggio nell’essere una cooperativa.

Diversi organismi che operano in vari settori, quali i servizi di assistenza, l’istruzione, la cultura, il tempo libero, le fondazioni e gli sport, testimoniano la stretta collaborazione fra la collettività e la Cassa popolare Canadese Italiana. v

Superfantastico

Un’emozione che si vive con entusiasmo ed allegria

David Perin Maruca Agent immobilier affilié

PA S Q U A L E A RT U S O & ASSOCIÉS

Pasquale Artuso Avvocato di Fiducia Consolato Generale d’Italia Caroline Francoeur Avvocatessa T.: 514.259.7090

Valérie Carrier Avvocatessa Elena Milioto Avvocatessa

Pierre Fugère Avvocato - diritto criminale e penale

Julie Therrien Avvocatessa

Joseph W. Allen Avvocato dal 1976 diritto dell’immigrazione

F.: 514.256.6907

artmars@securenet.net

Complexe Le Baron, 6020, rue Jean-Talon Est, bureau 630 Montréal (Québec) Canada H1S 3B1

TO OUR READERS Please advise us of any change of address. This is crucial in keeping our mailing lists up to date and eliminates unnecessary expenses. DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO STILL DOES NOT RECEIVE OUR MAGAZINE? IF SO, T H E Y M AY S U B S C R I B E F R E E O F C H A R G E AT WWW.PANORAMITALIA.COM

l 13 è per gli italiani un numero fortunato. La tredicesima edizione di Superfantastico di domenica 13 aprile al teatro Maisonneuve di place des Arts si è volta sotto questo buon auspicio, ed è stata, forse, la migliore edizione, la più bella per la maturità artistica dei partecipanti, per l’affluenza del pubblico, per la linearità dell’evento, svoltosi tanto semplicemente tanto quanto è stato invece complesso costruirlo.

Tutto questo grazie a la professionalità delle diverse equipe tecniche, la Kloda per il suono e l’illuminotecnica, Action production di Nunzio Gioiosa e John Abarno per il video, il gruppo di CFMB radio Montreal per il coordinamento dietro le quinte, il tutto sapientemente diretto dal regista della serata Guido Diodati.

L’unica difficoltà è stata per i membri della quotata giuria; Marco Calliari, Ivan Barry, Farley Flex, Larry Mancini e dall’Italia Paola Palma e Massimo Luca, che hanno così votato: al primo posto Jessica Taddio, che ha cantato “A chi mi dice”dei Blue, al secondo posto Priscilla Zarco con “Cinque giorni”di Michele Zarrillo e al terzo posto Olga Vallejos con “Vivo per lei”d’Andrea Bocelli.

Le sorelle Alessandra e Felicia Tropeano, che hanno interpretato in duo “Strada facendo”di Claudio Baglioni, hanno vinto l’inedita categoria voto popolare, espresso tramite il sito web.

Superfantastico è un prodotto autentico, non condizionato da nessuna logica di mercato. Ci si partecipa per il piacere di partecipare e non per qualche mirabolante promessa di carriera. Di questo dobbiamo ringraziare gli ideatori e organizzatori di Superfantastico, Silvana Di Flavio e Nick De Vincenzo, che hanno saputo far crescere la manifestazione in un ambiente sano e pulito.

Apertura + Coro 5487; Giuria 6521; Jessica Taddio 1 posto canta 6610; Jessica Taddio premiata 5706; Le tre vincitrici 6843; Olga vallejos 3 posto premiata 6821; Olga Vallejos canta 5582; Priscillia Zarco 2ndo posto; Priscillia Zarco Premiata 6825; Silvana & Nick 5588; Silvana & Nick 6534; Sorelle Tropeano 6768; sorelle Tropeano premio People’s Choice 6847 v

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1934 - Fifa World Cup Italy

1936 - Olympics

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1982

2006

EURO’08; Road to the second Italian Dynasty Champion. What is a champion? Different people will enunciate varied definitions on what a champion is; one that wins first place or first prize in a competition, one that is clearly superior or has the attributes of a winner,

By Joey Franco etc, etc. According to me, a champion is a survivor, an individual or a team that is left standing at the end of a long gruelling competition, whether by luck, merit or a superb and masterful combination of both, as we witnessed in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. But is being a champion sufficient to leave an eternal legacy of superiority, or is there an extra step to take in order to inculcate a legacy of greatness.

Dynasties are more than survivors, or champions, they are repeat champions.

Dynasties eliminate any inkling of a doubt that luck was involved in their triumphs and attributes their greatness to simply merit. Lots of it!

Over the past 80 or so years of world soccer, only four nations could contest having established truly great dynasties which have transcended the way the world game is played. The honours of being the first international soccer dynasty goes to our beloved Azzurri, Pozzo’s Azzurri.

To this day, Vittorio Pozzo; the only coach to ever win two world championships, is still considered by many as one of the greatest coaches of all time. Italy’s dominance in the 1930s began at the 1934 World Cup held in Italy, led by the legendary Giuseppe Meazza. The 1934 tournament was Mussolini’s version of the Berlin Olympics, as il Duce mixed soccer and politics as a way to showcase the dominance of his nation not only on a political front but at the athletic front. The final, held in Rome on June 10 th saw the Azzurri defeat Czechoslovakia 2-1 with goals from Raimundo Orsi and Angelo Schiavo.

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The 1936 Berlin Olympics reserved a Gold Medal for the Azzurri as they trounced the Austrian “wunderteam” in the final. The 1938 World Cup would seal the Italian national team’s dominance in the ‘30s. The Azzurri beat the then-mighty Hungarian national team 4-2 in the June 19th final held in Paris.

Brazil’s golden era began during the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, as they became the first nation to win the Jules Rimet Trophy (World Cup) outside their own continent. The Brazilians would replicate in 1962, and win the 1970 World Cup against the Italians in Mexico City. With players such as Carlos Alberto, Jairzinho, and the talismanic Pele, the 1970 squad is regarded as the greatest formation in the history of world soccer.

The third dynasty is symbolized by the incomparable captain, Franz Beckenbauer.

Beckenbauer’s Germany won Euro’72 and then won the 1974 World Cup on home soil by defeating the Netherlands and their brand of “total football”. The Germans were European and World Champions.

France would do the opposite of Germany by winning the World Cup on home soil and then winning Euro 2000 against, well, I don’t think I need to remind anyone about that. The Zidane era dynasty would not end at the Euro’00 tournament. France would win the 2001 and 2003 edition on the Confederations cup, an eight team super tournament which features the champions of each of the six FIFA continental Confederations, the winner of the World Cup, and the host nation.

No team in history has yet to establish a second dynasty. In the past Brazil has come close, so have the Italians at Mexico’70 after their 1968 “renaissance” triumph at Euro’68. Donadoni’s men will enter the 2008 European Championship in Austria and Switzerland as Champions, but a 60cm tall sterling silver trophy will draw the line between champions and legends. v

• AUTOS NEUVES • USAGÉES CERTIFIÉES • VENTE

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Final tournament schedule

3453, St-Martin Laval • Québec H7T 1A2

T. 450.680.1691 F. 450.680.1692

nick@universrestobar.com • www.universrestobar.com 6778 St-Laurent Montréal Québec H2S 3C7 514 276 6569

8693, St-Denis Montréal, Québec H2P 2H4 Tél.: 514-858-5823 www.ristoranteluce.ca

Saturday 7 June 2008 Grp A Switzerland 1 Grp A Portugal 2 Sunday 8 June 2008 Grp B Austria 3 Grp B Germany 4 Monday 9 June 2008 Grp C Romania 5 Grp C Netherlands 6 Tuesday 10 June 2008 Grp D Spain 7 Grp D Greece 8 Wednesday 11 June 2008 9 Grp A Czech Republic Grp A Switzerland 10 Thursday 12 June 2008 11 Grp B Croatia Grp B Austria 12 Friday 13 June 2008 13 Grp C Italy Grp C Netherlands 14 Saturday 14 June 2008 Grp D Sweden 15 16 Grp D Greece Sunday 15 June 2008 Grp A Switzerland 17 Turkey Grp A 18 Monday 16 June 2008 Grp B Poland 19 Austria Grp B 20 Tuesday 17 June 2008 Grp C Netherlands 21 France Grp C 22 Wednesday 18 June 2008 Grp D Greece 23 Russia Grp D 24 Thursday 19 June 2008 QF Winner Grp A 25 Friday 20 June 2008 Winner Grp B QF 26 Saturday 21 June 2008 QF Winner Grp C 27 Sunday 22 June 2008 QF Winner Grp D 28 Wednesday 25 June 2008 SF Winner #25 29 Thursday 26 June 2008 SF Winner #27 30 Sunday 29 June 2008 Winner #29 F 31

12:00 14:45

Czech Republic Turkey

Basel - St. Jakob-Park Geneva - Stade de Genève

12:00 14:45

Croatia Poland

Vienna - Ernst Happel Klagenfurt - Wörthersee

12:00 14:45

France Italy

Zurich - Letzigrund Berne - Stade de Suisse

12:00 14:45

Russia Sweden

Innsbruck - Tivoli Neu Salzburg - EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim

12:00 14:45

Portugal Turkey

Geneva - Stade de Genève Basel - St. Jakob-Park

12:00 14:45

Germany Poland

Klagenfurt - Wörthersee Vienna - Ernst Happel

12:00 20:45

Romania France

Zurich - Letzigrund Berne - Stade de Suisse

12:00 14:45

Spain Russia

Innsbruck - Tivoli Neu Salzburg - EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim

14:45 14:45

Portugal Czech Republic

Basel - St. Jakob-Park Geneva - Stade de Genève

14:45 14:45

Croatia Germany

Klagenfurt - Wörthersee Vienna - Ernst Happel

14:45 14:45

Romania Italy

Berne - Stade de Suisse Zurich - Letzigrund

14:45 14:45

Spain Sweden

Salzburg - EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim Innsbruck - Tivoli Neu

14:45

Runner-up Grp B

Basel - St. Jakob-Park

14:45

Runner-up Grp A

Vienna - Ernst Happel

14:45

Runner-up Grp D

Basel - St. Jakob-Park

14:45

Runner-up Grp C

Vienna - Ernst Happel

14:45

Winner #26

Basel - St. Jakob-Park

14:45

Winner #28

Vienna - Ernst Happel

14:45

Winner #30

Vienna - Ernst Happel

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1978

Sports

1983

1986

1993

1996

2008 Montreal GP; 30 years in the making illes Villeneuve, Jones, laffite, Piquet, Arnoux, Alboreto, Mansell, Senna, Boutsen, Berger, Prost, Shumacher; Michael and Ralph, Alesi, Hill, Hakkinen, Raikkonen, Alonso, Lewis Hamilton.

There it is folks; 30 years of F1 history at the île Notre-Dame circuit crammed up in three of the most incoherent sentances ever. 19 drivers have won the Montreal Grand Prix since 1978. Michael Shumacher has won it a record seven times, and piquet has stood on the tallest step of the podium three times. Ferrari has registeres a total of 11 wins with McLaren just behind with 10.

From 1967 to 1977, the Canadian Grand prix was disputed at Mosport Park, located north of Bowmanville, Ontario. The Canadian GP also took place at the Mont Tremblant circuit a couple of times within the decade.

In the late 70s, many drivers refused to race at Mosport, claimingthe track was too dangerous, calling it narrow, dangerous and “outdated”. In december of 1977, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau suggested that the Canadian Grand Prix might have a new home in Montreal, more specifically, on the island site of the 1967 World’s Fair; Île Notre-Dame.

Construction of the track, which had been designed by Roger Peart, a British engineer established in Montreal, began on June 20th 1978.

On October 8, 1978, 22 elite drivers, the best in the world at the time, raced on the newly-built Montreal venue in front of 72,000 spectatore. On that chilly October day, the car cross the finish line first was none other than the hometown hero Gilles Villeneuve’s number 12 Ferrari.Villeneuve would never win the drivers world championship as he was killed during the Grand Prix trials in Belgium on May 8, 1982. However, he did win the admiration of numerous motorsport fans not only in Canada and Italy, but across the world. The week following Villeneuve’s death, the executive committe of the canadian GP decided to rename the track in honor of the late driver. Many changes have come about since the very first race in 1972. For starters, by 1982, the Montreal race was held at the beginning of the summer rather than in the fall.The racetrack itself has undergone a number of modifications; the south section of the track was redisigned, garages and a control tower were construct-

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2001

2007

by: Joey Franco

ed just before the west-hairpin, in 2002 The eastern hairpin was shortened by 30 yards.

The 1991 race did not fall short of anyone’s expectations. After dominating the race from the start, Nigel Mansell ‘s engine collapsed during the last lap and Nelson Piquet’s Benetton-Ford gracefully accepted Mansell’s gift and crossed the line for his 23rd and final career win. The most notorious race would have to be the 1999 race where title-winners such as Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher all came to an abrupt end by hitting their car against the the “Quebec wall” at the exit of turn 13. Who of course, can forget las’t year’s race, when Polish driver Robert Kubica’s spectacular airborne crash which gracefully left him with just a few bruises and scratches.

In 1996, Jacques Villeneuve would try to do what his father had done on that cold autumn day in 1978, and till this day, the closest he has come to winning the Montreal race was a second place finish. The Villeneuves, however, are not the only father and sone combinations to have competed in the Canadian Grand Prix; a total of six fathers and sons have participated including Jack and David Brabham, Graham and Damon Hill, Wilson and Christian Fittipaldi, Mario and Michael Andretti, and Keke and Nico Rosberg. Nelson Piquet’s son Nelsinho and Satoru Nakajima’s son Kazuki are both expected to participate in this year’s race.

The Montreal circuit is als a venue which has given many drivers their first ever victories in the upper echelon of motorsport; Gilles Villeneuve won his first race on that fateful day in 1978, Thierry Boutsen in 1989, Jean Alesi in 1995, and Lewis Hamilton last year.

Altough the circuit has been modified over the years, the enthusiasm of the montreal crowd has not downsized. Crowds have continued to increase year after year, reaching over 336,000 fans over the three day event in 2005. Millions more watched trough their televisions and listened by radio. To be exact, the 2005 Canadian GP was the most watched Formula One racethe world and third most watched sporting event on the planet, behind the Super Bowl and the Uefa Champions League final. As a Montrealer, I consider myself truly fortunate to be able to assist such a truly unique event. Most people have never seen a formula one car in person. We have the opportunity to assist and experience this world renowned event first hand year after year. v Service en français - english - Italiano - spanish

Lorenzo Lagatta Agent immobilier agréé E tempo di VENDERE!

Per una vendita in TRANQUILLITA chiamatemi

Direct 514.825.6860 Bureau 514.329.0000 Internet www.infocasa.ca

ALLIANCE INC. Courtier immobilier agréé Franchisé indépendant et autonome de Re/Max Québec Inc.

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