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ItaUan speakers, 'Professor Macaroni Spaghetti The Organ Grinder' winning the 'Best
Sustained Character'."*' Fred's second placing in an 'Old School-day Story'
competition revealed the vivid memories he had retained of those years. Fred lived to
84 years, dying in 1950. The year before his brother's death, CharUe had celebrated
his 86th birthday with a party attended by four generations of the Vanina family, an
event considered sufficiently interesting to receive mention in the local press.*" Chariie
feh deeply the loss of his brother Fred, often on a wet, dull day, walking to his old
blacksmith's shop to reminisce with a few friends around the forge. Also possessing
the strong constitution of the Vaninas, Charlie continued his daily regimen of early
rising, hard physical labour and not retiring to bed before 9.00pm. He chopped all his
own firewood in the bush paddock adjoining his home, believing that at certain phases
of the moon the wood would be better for burning ~ one of the traditional peasant
beUefs passed on to him from his family.** When Charlie died in 1956, his funeral was
one of the largest ever seen in Hepbum.
Biasca, which had by that time fallen into disrepair, was sold and its new
owners decided to pull it down. Before doing so, they invited one of the Vaninas who
had grown up in the house to a final inspection. Reflecting perhaps her desire to
forget the immigrants' stmggles, she refused, claiming to be glad to see the last of the
old place where, every Saturday aftemoon, she and her brothers and sisters had been
forced to eat sponge-cake dipped in wdne spills. Ironically, the owners named their
new home Biasca Two, preserving the memory of the Italian speakers at Hepbum.
Informed by some of the town's elders of the local lore, a piece of the old house ~ the
original step to the veranda ~ was retained to bring good luck. Several members of
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