Category: Miscellaneous

Ci scusiamo. Al momento non è disponibile alcuna traduzione italiana per questa pagina.

Although Joe and Martha Trapani have not participated in IFAFA Conferences for a while, many of our members will remember this lovely couple from Amici Italiani in Rockford, IL. We’re sad to pass along the news that Martha passed away at the end of June, 2017.

Here is part of her obituary published in the Rockford Register Star from July 3 to July 6, 2017:

Martha Louise Trapani, 74, of Rockford passed away Thursday, June 29, 2017. She was born February 1, 1943, in Carbondale, IL, the daughter of Earl Tippy and Polly Ann Rogers. She spent her youth in both Central Illinois and Phoenix, AZ. She graduated from Sterling High School in 1960. After graduating from Cormer and Durand Beauty School, she moved to Leggi tutto “In Memoriam: Martha Trapani”

Ci scusiamo. Al momento non è disponibile alcuna traduzione italiana per questa pagina.

— by Dan Calkins, as posted on the FB page of Italian Community Center of Milwaukee Cultural Group

Phil Vassar (born May 28, 1964 in Lynchburg, Virginia) is an American country music artist. In 1999, he was named by American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) as Country Songwriter of the Year.

I know this because I looked him up on Wikipedia this morning. Why the interest? His name was stamped on the back of my left hand, a remnant of our yearly summer commitment, Festa Italiana. Rain preempted our plans to make it back to the festival grounds to catch his show, but we did attend the mass and procession in the morning, and, let’s face it, that’s really what Festa is all about for the Italians, at least the ones I know. I overheard a gal at the service say in mild disgust, “It’s the same thing every year.” I couldn’t have agreed more.

Flashback, 1992, some sort of Italian get together: I was still dating my wife-to-be; trying to fit in with the Italians was still a major challenge for me. It was mostly older folks at this get together and conversation was predominantly in Sicilian. I say “predominantly” and not “exclusively” only because the Italians Leggi tutto “An American Learns to Understand Italians … and Italy”

Ci scusiamo. Al momento non è disponibile alcuna traduzione italiana per questa pagina.

If you use Face Book, be sure to find IFAFA’s FB page and follow it. We post information about our members’ activities, folk events in both the U.S. and Italy, and other items of cultural or folkloric interest. Once you receive our posts regularly, please interact with us! Please visit frequently and boost the ratings by liking and commenting often on the posts.

It “boosts our ratings” the more people like and comment on the postings. Just looking at the page but not participating is not as helpful. We would also like to receive more news from IFAFA troupes and individuals that we can post. Even Leggi tutto “IFAFA Face Book Page”

Ci scusiamo. Al momento non è disponibile alcuna traduzione italiana per questa pagina.

Some sad news from Balliamo in Sacramento. Many of you will remember Alice Petta-Goldie who attended several IFAFA conferences in the past. The following paragraph is from her daughter.

It is with heavy heart I want you and your organization to know that my mother Alice Petta Goldie passed away in her sleep in the wee hours of June 15, 2017. She had her last dinner with friends and family at her Sons of Italy club meeting. She had a wonderful life!
Sincerely,
Peggy Alexander

Here is part of her obituary published in The Sacramento Bee on June 18, 2017:

Vita Alice Petta Goldie was born in Sacramento on August 16, 1924 to Elena Sclafani Relles Petta and Rosario Petta. She was born into a large and loving Sicilian family. Wow– what a life she lived!! She kept everyone striving to stay Leggi tutto “In Memoriam: Alice Petta-Goldie”

Ci scusiamo. Al momento non è disponibile alcuna traduzione italiana per questa pagina.

Shirley Martignoni Fedeli, formerly of Amici Italiani of Rockford, IL, now living in Michigan with her husband Gene, was recently awarded one of Italy’s highest honors. The President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, has conferred upon Shirley Martignoni-Fedeli the most prestigious honor of Cavaliere dell’ Ordine della Stella d’Italia (Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy). The distinction is bestowed upon individuals of Italian heritage living outside of Italy for extraordinary contributions to the preservation of the Italian spirit and promotion of Italy’s prestige and friendly relations with other countries through various activities. It is the highest honor the Italian government can bestow upon a person of Italian heritage residing outside of Italy.

The ceremony took place on June 2, 2015 at the National Italian- American Sports Hall of Fame on Taylor Street in the heart of Chicago’s Little Italy. Italy’s elected representative for Italian citizens living in North and Central America, Senatore Renato Turano, presented the Ribbon and Medal of the Order to her. The event was sponsored by the Italian Consulate of Chicago.

Shirley’s recognition by the Italian government was for 30 plus years of promoting and preserving Italian heritage and culture in Rockford, Illinois. She is a charter member of the Greater Rockford Italian American Association (GRIAA) and currently serves as director emeritus. Leggi tutto “Shirley Martignoni Fedeli Honored by Italian Government”

Ci scusiamo. Al momento non è disponibile alcuna traduzione italiana per questa pagina.

The Ties That Bind
— Jackie Capurro

The first time that I visited my paternal cousins in the Abruzzo region in 1976, the houses of the four families that belonged to my relatives were interspersed among another 10-15 houses on a single gravel road, Colle Marrollo, that ran along the crest of a hill outside the village of Scerni, inland from the Adriatic seaside town of Vasto. As we walked along the road, I noticed what looked like very large metallic rods attached to the exterior surfaces of the walls of many houses. When I asked what they were, I was told that they held the house together in the event of an earthquake.

At first, I thought that they were trying to see how much their gullible young American cousin would believe, but they weren’t joking. In fact, not only do these metal tie-rods truly hold the houses together, they also allow the occupants to “pull the walls back together” if they shake loose! I was intrigued!

Leggi tutto “Earthquake Tie-Rods”

Ci scusiamo. Al momento non è disponibile alcuna traduzione italiana per questa pagina.

Dear Ancestor

Author Unknown

Your tombstone stands among the rest
Neglected and alone.
The name and the date are chiseled out
On polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who care
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist
You died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you
In flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
Entirely not our own.
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
One hundred years ago
Spreads out among the ones you left
Who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot,
And come to visit you