VISIT US ON-LINE AT - The Italian Club of Tampa

L’Unione
ITALIANA
The Official Newsletter for the Members and Friends of The Italian Club of Tampa
WEBSITE: www.Italian-Club.org JULY/AUGUST 2004
“On Immigrants”
Submitted by John Iorio
There are as many views of the
immigrant experience as there are
immigrants. Nevertheless, in the
shared experiences of being
uprooted and of being strangers in
a strange environment, we can all
recognize ourselves in the
experience of others. What scraps
of music and words, unforgettable
landscapes, fading faces must have
passed through immigrant minds
during the long American nights as
they pondered their self-imposed
banishment, illusory opportunities,
and the frenzy of instability
Empathy is not difficult. Where we
do not share the experience, we
have had other experiences close
enough.
They did not all come through Ellis
Island. Some came in through
Canada, some through New
Orleans or Mexico. I came in
through Providence, Rhode Island
aboard a ship called the SS.
Providence. Wherever we entered,
we became part of the metaphor of
Ellis Island and the metaphor
minted our kinship to others for a
lifetime.
Carmine Saraceno, friend and poet,
wrote the following prose poem
about the experience of new
arrivals. It was read over
Minnesota Public Radio.
Saraceno hails from Calabria and
teaches high school in Tampa. He
left a successful practice as a
medical doctor to go into teaching.
I offered to take over his lucrative
practice, but he convinced me that
my lack of training, experience
and knowledge in the field would
stand in my way.
At the base of the Statue of
Liberty there are words that were
not read by the immigrants.
Continue on page 5.
The Statue of Liberty
Upcoming Events
JULY 4 - INDEPENDENCE DAY
AUGUST 12 - BOARD MEETING
AUGUST 29 - FESTA DELLA
MADONNA
SEPTEMBER 6 - LABOR DAY
SEPTEMBER 9 - BOARD
MEETING
SEPTEMBER 18 - THEMED
DINNER
DANCE
OCTOBER 2 - WOMEN OF
EXCELLENCE
AWARDS
OCTOBER 14 - BOARD
MEETING
OCTOBER 30 - GUAVAWEEN
VISIT US ON-LINE AT:
www.Italian-Club.org
The Italian Club Office Hours:
Tuesday thru Friday
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Saturday
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
The mission of L’Unione Italiana is to preserve and honor the culture, traditions and heritage of the Italian Community
and to maintain the historical facility as a functioning memorial to the working class immigrants.

JULY/AUGUST 2004
President’s Message
Last week our nation’s 40 th President, Ronald Reagan, passed
away after a long and courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
The entire country mourned, as we watched his State Funeral in
Washington, D.C., with his final burial on the grounds of his
California library. It was a grand farewell, to the “Gipper.” His
faith in America uplifted an entire Nation. Our Club also lost a
great member and friend, with the death of Evelyn Darrigo. She
was always there for the Italian Club, the Cemetery and for the
Ladies Auxiliary. We also lost in death Grace Savarino, at the age
of 93. She supported our club with her graceful attendance to
many functions. The presence of these two ladies will be sorely
missed.
The Tampa Bay Lightning made us very proud with their winning
of the Lord Stanley Cup. Tampa is no long just a Bucs town. It is
a now the town of the Bolts, as well. I want to especially
congratulate, their Italian-American coach, John Tortorella. It
was a great victory for all of Tampa. Members, you’ll be hearing
more about the Bolts and the Italian Club in the very near future.
L’UNIONE ITALIANA
1731 East Seventh Avenue
Tampa, Florida 33605
LUnione@Italian-Club.org
813-248-3316 • 813-247-4387 fax
NEWSLETTER STAFF
Editor: Krista L. Jones
Co-Editor: Alice R. Mueller
OFFICERS
Joseph Capitano, Sr., President
Sal Guagliardo, Vice-President
Stephanie Cannella vanBelzen, Secretary
Jay Anthony, Treasurer
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Joe Caltagirone, Grace Campisi,
Angela Daxon, Al Garcia Jr., Jamie Granell,
Felicia Kopelman, Linda Lastra,
George Migliori, Vince Pardo,
Don Pellegrino, Rosalie Perrone,
Wayne Piazza, Violet Rodriquez and
Honorary Board Member Fortune Bosco
ADVISORY BOARD
Joseph Capitano, Jr.
On club news this month, the air conditioner was struck by
lightning. The air conditioning will be down for an entire month.
It hit the chiller and the compressor. We are also experiencing
some water intrusion into the building and are now seeking to find
a solution to our problems, along with some roof leaks. We will
keep you posted.
The club has plans in the works to start an Italian Club Krewe.
The Club has been represented for the past two years in the
Sant’Yago Knight Parade with a float. Interest is on the rise and
plans are in effect. If you have an interest please phone Krista
Jones for future information. The Italian Club Ladies Auxiliary
had their 50’s party with great success! The Memorial Day
Service at the Italian Club Cemetery was a momentous event.
Congratulations to both organizations. Please note that in the
month of July there is NO Board Meeting. See you all in August.
Have a safe and wonderful summer!
Special thanks to the following supporters
DAVINCI ($500)
Lisa DeBartolo The Bromley Companies
John Puls, Jr. Bennie & Joyce Lazzara
Carol LaMonte Eugene & Celesta Greco
Ralph & Betty Hughes Vigo Importing Co
Central Park Village Youth Services, Inc.
BENEFACTORS ($300)
AJ’s Outdoors, Inc. Dan & Vera Iovino
Sebastian Castellano Delores Lastra
Ronald & Shannon Christaldi
Patrick & Cynthia Cimino Rene Rodriguez
Sam C. Colucci Sunny Florida Dairy
Gerardi Construction Mike Trentalange
Marathon Ashland Petroleum
PATRONS ($200)
Jack Almand Hon. Jess Juliante
Jay Patrick Anthony Benjamin LaMonte
Frank V. Campisi Vince & Jan Pardo
John A. Caporice Richard & Velia Parrino
Jimmy & Sandy Violet Verroca Rodriquez
Chillura
Scott Steady
John & Jana Curatelli TECO
Angeles Ferlita Jim & Linda Taggart
Kenneth & Madlein Ferlita
John & Marcy Green Peter & Deborah Tagliarini
Village Lawn Care, Inc.
Joseph Capitano, Sr.
PAGE 2

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Ybor City-Paradise Lost
The Neighborhood of Chiaroscuro
Written by Gilda Ferlita Capitano, Cultural Chairperson
Continued from the May/June 2004
issue...
On April 9, 1996, Jacob Buchman,
who lives on Harbour Island, was
asked questions about his Jewish
background and the part his family
played in the heartbeat of Ybor
City’s past. His grandparents were
Jacob and Jennie Buchman. His
grandfather, Jacob, emigrated from
Odessa, Russia, along with his two
brothers in 1896. They lived for a
while in Plant City, Florida, before
settling in Ybor City.
“Remember,” the younger
Buchman said, “Russia was
oppressed by the Czar, so America
became their new home.” The
elder Jacob had a son, Louis, born
in 1913, right in Ybor City. “My
father was raised right on 7 th
Avenue and 19 th Street. In 1906,
my grandfather opened Buchman’s
Department Store, it closed in 1970
or so, after Urban Renewal had
affected the merchants in Ybor
City,” recalls Buchman.
Louis Buchman spoke Yiddish,
English, Spanish, and Italian. “My
grandfather wanted his children to
especially speak Spanish and
Italian, so they could better deal
with everyone in town,” says Jacob
as he continued, “we grew up right
on La Septima, he made his living
there and he lived there until he got
married. In 1948, he opened
Modern Home Furnishings, owned
the building and operated it for
quite some time.”
Buchman’s Department Store was a
dry goods store, and its employees
were from different ethnic
backgrounds. “There were many
Jewish merchants there,” said
Buchman. He continued, “The
Warsaws, whose daughter, Sandy
Warsaw Freedman, later served
Tampa as its first female mayor,
had the Jewel Box jewelry store on
La Septima. The Verkaufs had a
clothing store. Sammy Argintar,
along with his son Andy, still owns
and operates Max Argintar Men’s
Wear located at 1522 E. 7 th Avenue,
which his father, Max, started in
1908. These stores were open till
late – until the customers left.” Mr.
Buchman went on to say:
I can assure you the Jewish merchants
made good use of the Ritz Theater as a
babysitter for their children. I can still
remember my Dad giving me a nickel for
the movies and twenty-five cents for ice
cream. My parents made me work in the
store after school hours. Mom worked
right along with Dad. The blacks had no
choice but to buy from an all white ethnic
group, because there were no black
proprietors.
“Dad and Mom went to all the
dances at the Italian Club. They
developed close relationships with
the Italians,” recalled Buchman,
“and, when I was growing up, most
of my friends were Italian, the
Diecidues, the Datos.” Jacob
Buchman concluded with:
PAGE 3
Ybor City will never be a neighborhood
of families again. It is too expensive. It
is for entertainment, because the square
footage price cannot be afforded by a
family.
Bessie Vaccaro Vacanti, of Sicilian
parents, grew up on 11 th Avenue
and 15 th street, but now lives in
Tampa Heights. “We had a grocery
store around the corner, till the big
supermarkets opened up. They
killed all the small stores,” she
said. “We had a lot of Cuban and
Spanish neighbors, because this
was considered West Ybor and
most Italians lived East” she
remarked. She remembers jumping
rope with her Cuban playmates and
singing this song, “El patio de mi
casa e particular.” She said even
boys jumped rope too, and
hopscotch was also in vogue. She
also remembers her father going
towards Palmetto Beach in South
Ybor City to a fig farm. She
remembers they were the most
gorgeous figs she has ever seen in
her life. “They didn’t seem real,”
she said. The figs in her father’s
basket would have put Cleopatra’s
figs to shame. Mrs. Vacanti feels
her neighborhood was safe,
friendly, even though ethnically
mixed, they got along together.
An interview with her daughter,
Angie Vacanti Cannella, who grew
up at 2403 14 th Avenue between
Continued on page 4.

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Continued from page 3.
24 th and 25 th streets, tell us she had
Italian neighbors, but also several
black families, because this was
East Ybor. “Miss Rose’, and Afro
– American, lived next door to us.
She was a super ironing lady, and
we treated her like family. She’d
come and iron in our home,” she
recalled. The house next door to
‘Miss Rose’ was the large Valenti
family, who later made it big in
produce. “We felt we were all
good neighbors,” stated Mrs.
Cannella.
She remembers when, in 1946, her
grandmother, Angelina Greco
Vacanti, transformed her living
room for the feast of St. Joseph.
“Nana had twenty-six young
people, representing different
saints, sitting around a huge table.
People came from all around Ybor
to pay homage to St. Joseph and to
eat a plate of “meatless,
cheeseless” (which is the custom)
spaghetti. Many people, the
Valenti family and Ficarrottas,
came to help in the preparation of
sfingi (beignet), gidi, carduna, and
fried cauliflower,” Angie recalled.
“No grated cheese was used over
the spaghetti; the custom is to
brown bread crumbs (mudica) in a
hot skillet until crispy. This was it
replace the cheese. This
represented the “sawdust” of St
Joseph’s occupation, since he was
a carpenter,” Mrs. Cannella
concluded.
To be continued next issue.
TAMPA
AGRIGENTO
SISTER CITIES
If You Are Interested In The
TAMPA SISTER CITIES
Contact Vince Pardo at:
E-Mail: PardoV@aol.com
or
813-908-6440
Drawing provided by
Joseph Caltagirone
Krewe of
L’Unione Italiana
Do you want to have fun Do
you want to be in a parade
instead of just watching Would
you like to join the Krewe of
L’Unione Italiana
Yes, we are developing, for the
very first time, a Krewe to
participate in local parades and
eventually parades in other
cities! We hope to be ready for
the 2005 Sant’Yago Knight
Parade. Please join our
committee to help build this new
Krewe for the Italian Club.
For the past two years, the
Club has rented a float to
participate in the Sant’Yago
PAGE 4
Knight Parade. But we now
want more….we want identity
and a continued string of events
to give the members something
else to participate in. We have
a design for the float and
costumes, which span the ages
from Roman era to the medieval
era.
Participation is open only to
members of the Club.
Membership fees will be in
addition to the annual dues.
We want to leave a legacy for
others to follow. If you are
interested, please call Linda
Lastra at 254-8100 or email
don105@verizon.com if you
would like to receive information
and are interested in being a
Krewe member.

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Continued from page 1.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses
Yearning to be free
The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, the
tempest tossed, to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden
door.”
The new arrivals would not have
thought of themselves as “huddled
masses” or “wretched refuse” or
“homeless.” But for millions,
America was the “golden door” of
opportunity. Coming from a
stratified culture, there was little
opportunity for people of talent to
rise above their birth stations. But
while opportunity beckoned in the
new world, the doors did not open
easily. For many it was a
traumatic experience and Ellis
Island was far from idyllic. Here is
Saraceno’s view of new arrivals as
he experienced it first hand:
“Twelve Facts about the
Immigrants: A Prose Poem”
They were not Italiani, but rather
Calabresi, Siciliani, Napolitani,
Abruzzesi and would remain so
until they died in places like
Providence, Rhode Island and
Hershey, Pennsylvania. They
thought that “Italia” was the name
of the King of Piedmont’s
daughter.
They did not believe that they’d
find the streets of America full of
money, but enjoyed saying so to
those staying behind.
The men knew how to cut stone,
how to lay bricks, how to fish, how
to coax fruits and vegetables from
rocky soil, how to strike fear into
the hearts of oppressors.
The women knew how to cook,
how to keep house, how to raise
children, how to coax fruits and
vegetables from rocky soil, how to
strike fear into the hearts of
husbands.
Their name for Ellis Island was la
isla d’lacrime, “The island of
tears.”
They began life in the new world
shunted through chutes from
holding pens to processing stations
on the modern model of efficiently
slaughtering livestock.
Their coats were pinned with tags,
they were given papers, asked for
papers, the papers were stamped,
they were asked for the stamped
papers, the stamped papers were
exchanged for new papers, they
were asked for the new papers, the
new papers were stamped and the
tags on their coats were exchanged
for new tags.
Some with bad eyesight, pinkeye,
or glaucoma were chalked with an
“X” and shunted to a pen to be
shipped back.
Others, baffled by the question
“Are you an anarchist” went with
the more agreeable answer, and
then wondered why they were
marked with an “X” and shunted to
a pen with the blind.
They believed with all their hearts
in the pursuit of happiness, and
had pursued it all the way to this
maze of chutes.
On the boats with kerchiefs around
their faces and caps with the
earflaps pulled down waving tiny
American flags and smiling with
slightly bewildered eyes, they all
looked just like children.
Congratulations to our member
Peter A. Tagliarini, AIA
for being appointed by Governor
Jeb Bush to serve a four year term
as a member of the Florida
Building Commission, Department
of Community Affairs, State of
Florida.
The Commission is responsible for
updating and maintaining the
Florida Building Code and
operating programs which support
code implementation. The
Commission is comprised of
twenty-three members representing
many sectors of the construction
industry and government and has
over one hundred members serving
on its committees.
PAGE 5

JULY/AUGUST 2004
On May 1 st we had a meeting/luncheon and a marvelous time socializing while
playing an old, but fun game of cards. Many of us recalled the past as we played
the game of “settemezza”. Many Italian families played this game during the
holidays. I wonder how many of you remember.
Our 50’s Dinner-Dance was held on June 4 th . It was lots of fun. The “Male Figura
Sisters” performed and we are told that we are getting better and better. We have
to guard against getting too good. We might have to change our name. The dance
floor was full all night as everyone enjoyed the music of the 50’s.
Our next event will be Festa della Madonna. Please call Pati @ 874-2897 or
Rosalie @ 886-7595 for tickets and seat reservations. This is one of our most
attended events, so please call early. Tickets will not be sold at the door. The
deadline for reservations is August 22 nd . Your advance check insures your
reservation. An Italian dinner will be served. De Leon will play many of our
Italian favorites as well as American tunes. Children are needed to participate in
the program. Please call Violet @877-6836 or Rosalie@886-7595 for information.
This is a wonderful way to teach your child some of our culture.
Ben Venuti to the following new members: Josie Moreno, Rosanne Ligori, Joanne
Bernaldo, and Diane Anastasi. We are happy that we are growing, however, we
will be missing two of our recently departed sorelle, Gussie Naples and Evelyn
Darrigo.
Our ladies always make us proud. Please note the following:
‣ Loretta Traina Campo was appointed principal of Yates Elementary.
‣ Jeanette LaRussa Fenton was appointed Director of Lobbying for
Hillsborough County.
‣ Rose Barbie and Rosalie Perrone retired after teaching in the
Hillsborough County School System with 33 and 35 years, respectively.
‣ DON’T FORGET….La Festa della Madonna!
‣ Ci vediamo…LE DONNE…
PAGE 6

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Festa della Madonna
August 29, 2004
Italian Club Ballroom
Doors Open 12 Noon
Program 12:30 pm
Italian Dinner 1-2 pm
Dancing 2-4 pm
Featuring……”I Bambini”
Adults $15 Children (4-12) $8
Under 4, Free
No tickets will be sold at the door.
Make your reservation Early!
Deadline is August 22 nd .
Call Patricia Heath @ 874-2897 or Rosalie Perrone @ 886-7595
for tickets………Grazie!
PAGE 7

JULY/AUGUST 2004
La Moda di Primavera Fashion Show
ttOTo To
The Italian Club Ladies
Auxiliary hosted a fashion show
at the Crown Plaza Hotel in
Tampa, Florida, on March 13,
2004. The Ladies enjoyed a
luncheon, boutique browsing,
silent auction, and fashion
show. There were over 200
people in attendance. It was a
great time to catch up with the
latest and greatest styles in
fashion. It also helped raise
money for a very important
cause and gave many ladies the
chance to catch up with old
friends and family. Thanks to
the Ladies Auxiliary for making
this event such a huge success.
PAGE 8

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Directory Update
The 2004 Membership Directory will be arriving in your mailbox by August. If you noticed any errors in
last year’s directory and have not already notified the office, please do so by July 10. The office number is
(813) 248-3316.
Italian Instructor Opportunity
The manager at the Language Playhouse in North Tampa contacted us to see if there were any Italian Club
members who would be interested in a paid position teaching Italian to toddlers. The qualifications are as
follows:
--Candidates must be native or native-quality speakers of Italian and are selected for language
skills, effectiveness and enthusiasm with young children, and ability to learn management skills.
Please contact Melissa Andresen at (813) 964-8800 or at melissa@languageplayhouse.com for more
information about the opportunity.
YES, I WANT TO BE A MEMBER OF THE ITALIAN CLUB
NAME__________________________________________ DATE OF BIRTH________________
ADDRESS____________________________________________________________________
CITY__________________________STATE__________________ZIP CODE________________
EMAIL______________________________________________________________________
PHONE #____________________________ SPOUSE’S NAME___________________________
MEMBERHSIP TYPE (ANNUALLY):
Student ($25)_______ Senior, 65 yrs + ($50)_______ Individual ($100)_______ Family ($150)_______
CONTRIBUTORY (TAX-DEDUCTABLE)*
Patrons ($200)_________ Benefactor ($300)_________ DaVinci ($500)_________
I would like to assist in the following areas:
Governance & Membership_______Social/Calendar______Building______Finance_______
Communications/Public Relations_______Cantina_______Grants________Cultural_______
Italian Club Cemetery, Inc._______Italian Club Ladies Auxiliary_______Newsletter_______
Please send this application and a check or money order payable to:
The Italian Club of Tampa, Inc.
Post Office Box 5054
Tampa, Florida 33675
*Contributory Members should make checks payable to ICBCTF (The Italian Club Building & Cultural Trust Fund)
PAGE 9

JULY/AUGUST 2004
“Ear of Dionysius”
Submitted by
John Iorio
Many strange things have
happened in the Ear of Dionysius.
We know because the cave keeps
no secrets as Gorge and Lisa were
to discover.
On the second day of their ten-day
trip through Sicily, students of the
Florida State Program in Florence
had a busy scheduled, beginning
with the performance of a play at
the ancient theater in Syracuse
followed by a visit to the nearby
Ear of Dionysius.
The ancient city was much larger
than the Syracuse of today. Larger
than Athens itself, it had been
settled by Dorians, and soon
became not only the leading city of
Sicily but of the Greek world.
Archimedes, the great scientist,
was its famous son. Aeschylus
spent time here and Plato had even
spent a night in jail here when he
The Ear of Dionysius
told King Dionysius he spoke the
words of a tyrant. Its theater was
built in the 5 th century BC, and its
diameter of 453 feet makes it one
of the largest buildings remaining
from the classical world. Time and
gravity have reduced its 61 tiers of
seats to 46. Little is left of the
stage, but our students had no
problem staging part of “Oedipus
Rex.” I found the performance
stirring because it affirmed the
continuity of history. As I listened
to the American accents lacing the
sun-tamed air, I thought back 2300
years when the same play stirred
the air with Greek sounds. The
tragedy of Oedipus, vanquishing
time and space, made us one.
Breaking away from the group,
George and Lisa decided to
explore the countryside on their
own and walked to the back of the
theater. The wild vegetation amidst
the deep, cool, jagged gorges
softened the Sicilian sun. They
walked to a clearing and beheld a
large cave with a stony, vertical
lip-like entrance.
They glanced at one another and
their instant communication
provoked exciting tugging as they
approached the Ear of Dionysius.
A Sicilian worker smiled the smile
of a thousand years of knowledge.
He warned them about the cave,
but they smiled back benignly and
disappeared into the darkness to
profess their love for one another.
They emerged some time later, and
while making their way back to the
theater, they ran into their
classmates standing at the rim of
the cave, waiting and listening.
PAGE 10
The Greek Theatre
Normality recaptured, they listened
to the lecture.
The professor spoke about
Alcibiades and the Sicilian
expedition. “Alcibiades, playboy,
con man, adventurer — brilliant
and audacious — conceived and
planned the Sicilian expedition.
But trumped-up legal charges
prevented him from participation.
The expedition pitted Greek
coalition forces against Syracuse
and its coalition forces in 414 B.C.
as part of Athens’ larger war
against Sparta. Athens was
determined to put Syracuse in its
place. The colonists from Greece,
now Sicilians, had grown too
powerful much like the American
colonists vis a vis England.
Furthermore, Dionysius was
aggressively courting the best
technologists of warfare. The
battles by land and sea were fierce.
The best of the Athenians were
committed to the battles while
most of Sicily joined the
Syracusans. At the most dramatic
and decisive point, 200 vessels
heavy with soldiers fought a battle
won by the Syracusans after they
had sealed off the one-mile outlet
of the harbor. Many Greeks were
killed on land; many fled to
Continue on page 11.

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Continued from page 10.
Catania. In the end, 7000
surrendered and many died slowly
in a nearby quarry and the Ear of
Dionysius. The Greek historian
Thucydides gives the details of
their imprisonment. “They were
without shelter, without sanitation,
and allowed one half pint of water
and one pint of food a day. After
ten weeks those who survived
were sold into slavery.”
George and Lisa found it all
boring, irrelevant to their fervid
emotions.
The instructor turned his attention
to the cave. “Here we are standing
above the Ear of Dionysius, a cave
artificially created as a prison.”
George and Lisa smiled at one
another, their hands interlaced.
The professor lectured on, “This
cave, about 75 feet in height, is
famous for its acoustics —
acoustical qualities that have
spawned legends. It was built so
that the sounds, moans, even
whispers of prisoners starving to
death could be heard clearly from
the top, where we are standing by
Dionysius. You might say it was a
kind of invasion of privacy
managed by the Marquis de Sade.”
The lecture suddenly became
relevant.
George and Lisa exchanged frantic
glances. George whispered
intensely to a fellow student. “How
long have you all been here before
the lecture”
“A while,” he said and smiled too
broadly for George’s peace of
mind. “We had to wait for
everyone to arrive.”
George and Lisa succumbed to
high-wire panic. They didn’t know
how much the others had heard,
but every gesture, glance and
whisper fueled their worst fears.
While the students walked down to
the entrance to test the acoustics,
George and Lisa quietly slipped
away from the group. Later they
quietly slipped away from the
program.
I suspect that George and Lisa
have married and live happily
somewhere. I’m sure that they and
100 other students will long
remember the Sicilian Expedition
and always remember the
acoustical qualities of Ear of
Dionysius.
PAGE 11

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Membership
Felicia A. Kopelman
Saluti! Cent’anni! Congratulazioni!
The Membership Committee would like to introduce a new column that we hope will be a continuing
tradition in the newsletter. Every newsletter we will announce any recent births of babies, anniversaries,
graduations and any other special events that have occurred in our members’ lives. Please submit your
information including the name, date, and event to Felicia at bfkope@yahoo.com or by calling her at
(813) 269-7486. You may also email or send photos. We feel that this will add a personal touch to our
newsletter and contribute to our sense of family here at the Italian Club.
We would like to Congratulate
Alice and Gunner Mueller
on the birth of their son:
Daniel John Mueller
May 31, 2004
7lbs 15oz
20.5 inches
Daniel John Mueller
Mille Grazie!
The Membership Committee is also adding a column for people to thank other members for their help or
their encouragement. You may submit your name or ask that the information be printed anonymously.
Please submit these thank-you’s to Felicia at bfkope@yahoo.com or by calling her at (813) 269-7486.
*A “huge thank-you” to Stephanie Petrucelli for being so supportive and for being a tremendous
help to the Club. You are the best!
*Kudos to Jay Anthony for being such a nice guy and for being such a help to the Executive
Board with his accounting expertise.
*Felicia would like to thank her Membership Committe for helping her call and welcome new
members every month and for hosting the May New Member Reception.
*A huge thanks to Ron Christaldi for advising the Governance Committee and the Krewe
Formation Committee. He has spent numerous volunteer hours advising us as we ensure the
survivability of the Club in the future.
*An anonymous member would like to thank Rosalie Perrone for all of her hard work leading
the Ladies Auxiliary.
PAGE 12

JULY/AUGUST 2004
FESTA DELLA MADONNA is celebrated the last Sunday in August in
Alessandria della Rocca, Sicilia where it originated, as well as in Tampa,
Florida. Many Tampanians are descendants of this village. The story tells of a
blind girl and her mother walking through the hills of Alessandria searching for
herbs. The Madonna appears and restores the sight of the child and asks that a
shrine be built in her honor. The people of Alessandria continue to honor her
to this day. For further information please click on the Alessandria della Rocca
website: http://www.alessandriadellarocca.it/. Please help us to continue this
tradition in Tampa by encouraging your child to participate in the program on
August 29, 2004. Call Rosalie @886-7595 for particulars.
PAGE 13

JULY/AUGUST 2004
“The Master
Cookbook”
Submitted by John Iorio
At fifteen, I worked with notable
apathy in a restaurant in Belmar,
New Jersey. The chef, Giovanni,
joyless from birth, reminded us
that cooking was a quest for the
absolute. “Read Platina on taste,”
he would shout. “Read Platina on
the nature of foods. Read
Platina....” I had no idea who
Platina was. The 16-hour day
prevented my going to the library;
the eleven dollars a week ruled out
book buying. Decades later, I
realized that Giovanni had not
been mispronouncing Plato.
Platina was a real person who lived
500 years ago.
The Renaissance, mother of many
visions, beginnings and attitudes
that we now claim as our own, had
a habit of categorizing all human
activity into major and minor arts
or, to calm Giovanni, fine and
useful arts. Cooking became a
useful art. Post-Columbian
imports, such as the potato and
tomato from the New World and
spices from the East, rose cooking
to where it had never been. Yet, a
few centuries earlier, priests
berated peasants for seasoning
their boiled pasta with salt and
pepper. Self-flagellation must have
followed when peasants began to
use tomatoes on their ziti.
The Romans under the Republic
had a very simple diet – bread,
honey, olives, and cheese for
breakfast; grains and vegetables
and fruit for dinner and always
wine, often diluted. Only the rich
were able to reach for the meat and
fish. Later, under the Empire,
excess reigned, giving us the
eating and drinking scenes that are
now a staple of Hollywood Roman
films. Some historians have even
seen the Roman kitchen as another
reason for the fall of Rome. The
wealthy had gone to pot – the lead
pot. The lead poisoning lowered
the birthrate and health of the
upper classes so that they were
unable to supply leadership during
the late stages of the Empire.
Moral: stay poor.
Not until the Renaissance did
cooking emerge as an art, and
Bartolomeo Sacchi penned the first
cookbook in 1474. Better known
as Platina, a Latin version of his
birthplace, Piadena, near Cremona,
his book, De Honesta Voluptate et
Valetudine (Of Worthy Indulgence
and Health), became for centuries
the final arbiter of culinary
disputes. The title was especially
apt for a time of corruption and a
weakening of church doctrine – a
time of skepticism. Once heaven
was shorn of its rewards and hell
of its terrors, humans were free to
pursue pleasures of the world. As
Platina said, “What evil can there
be in well-considered indulgence”
Platina, who studied science and
Greek culture, rose high in Vatican
circles and before going into the
kitchen, had written an acclaimed
History of the Popes. However,
Popes and power change and to be
out of favor was a euphemism for
PAGE 14
jail time. Platina’s view of Pope
Paul II as an ogre of vanity and
greed did not help his resume. For
almost a decade, Platina was in
favor and out of favor, in prison
and out of prison. The kitchen
seemed a good career move.
Platina’s cookbook gives not only
recipes but also advice on related
matters like sex and exercise (both
in moderation, he says). It is also a
guide to foods. His book rests on
two important Renaissance beliefs
– the science of humors and
ancient Greek moderation.
An ancient theory has it that the
body is governed by four humors
allied with the four elements:
Blood (air), choler (fire), phlegm
(water), and black bile (earth). The
humors gave off vapors that
ascended to the brain. An
imbalance among them (bad
humor) would make a person
sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic or
melancholy. Agita, for example,
indicates bad humor. A committee
meeting with everyone having
agita would make for a bad
afternoon. A balance of the humors
was called “good humor.” Platina,
in an old variation of you are what
you eat, argued that food could
regulate the humors.
Steeped in Greek culture, Platina
also believed in moderation and
proportion in all things. While his
major meal included three courses,
the portions are modest, beginning
with vegetables, followed by meat
and completed with fruit and
cheese. And of course, always
Continue on page 15.

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Continued from page 14.
wine, for “a meal without drink is
considered not only disagreeable,
but indeed unwholesome.” This is
not far from Italian meals today.
After Platina, Italian cooking
spread throughout the world. When
Catherine de’Medici moved to
Paris, taking with her fifty Italian
chefs, French cuisine was born and
Platina’s influence was there.
Let me leave you with one of
Platina’s recipes.
Wash carefully 1 ½ pounds of
Swiss chard before steaming it for
5 minutes. Squeeze dry. Take a
pinch of saffron and dissolve in
three tablespoons of hot water.
Beat four eggs and then add the
chard, saffron two teaspoons of
marjoram, three tablespoons of
minced parsley, a quarter pound of
grated provolone, salt, and pepper.
Pour it all into a partially baked
pastry shell and top it with dabs
butter. Place it in the oven of about
350 for about 30 or 40 minutes.
And you thought the quiche was a
recent fad.
I suspect this recipe will still scent
kitchens 500 years from now,
assuming we are still into food,
and one wonders what cookbook
another Giovanni will exhort
others to read in the year 2504.
The Italian Club
Cookbook
We still need submissions for
The Italian Club Cookbook.
For more information please
visit our website at
www.italian-club.org.
You can download a recipe
submission form from the
website or contact
the office for one.
PAGE 15

JULY/AUGUST 2004
PAGE 16

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Ladies Auxiliary 50’s Dance
PAGE 17

JULY/AUGUST 2004
“Ethnic Coalition
Challenges
DreamWorks”
April 8, 2004
The Italian Tribune
Submitted by: Felicia A. Kopelman
My former boss called me recently to tell
me that Italian American groups were
protesting outside my former company’s
office building in Universal City,
California. This also happens to be the
same building that houses Steven
Spielberg’s company, DreamWorks. She
said that many of the signs said
“disgraziato” on them and she wondered
if I knew why this was the case. Shortly
afterward, I saw this article in the Italian
Tribune. It explains it all.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A national
coalition of ethnic organizations has
written to Steven Spielberg expressing
serious concerns about reported
stereotyping and gangster elements in
DreamWorks’ forthcoming children’s
movie Shark Tale, scheduled for release
in October.
The National Coalition Against Racial,
Religious, and Ethnic Stereotyping
(CARRES) was founded in January by
four of the nation’s leading Italian
American organizations: the Columbus
Citizens Foundation, the National Italian
American Foundation (NIAF), the Orders
Sons of Italy in America (OSIA) and
UNICO National.
To date more than 20 Italian American
organizations as well as the American
Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the
National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs,
and the Polish American Congress have
joined CARRES.
Shark Tale is being produced by
Spielberg’s company DreamWorks SKG,
under the direction of one of his partners,
Jeffrey Katzenberg. According to the
DreamWorks website, Shark Tale is a
“gangster comedy” that features sharks as
mafia characters, who belong to the Five
Families, a large syndication, which
includes killer whales, hammerheads, and
Frankie, a white shark who is a “natural
born killer.” Nearly all have Italian last
names. (See www.sharktale.com).
In its January 21 letter to Spielberg, the
CARRES coalition asked DreamWorks to
change the gangsters’ last name in Shark
Tale to ones that do not call to mind a
specific ethnic group and to remove all
script elements that identify them as
Italian, including dialogue using such
terms as “fuhgettaboutit,” “capeesh,” and
the like.
With its letter, CARRES sent the results
of two recent studies. The first revealed
that from 1928 to 2000, Hollywood
produced nearly 1,100 films featuring
Italians or Italian American characters.
Of these, 73% portrayed them as
criminals or buffoons.
The other Zogby International Poll of
1300 teens, aged 13 to 18, of different
racial, religious, and ethnic backgrounds
revealed that 78% of the teenagers
thought the most appropriate roles for
Italian American characters on television
or in the movies was as gang bosses or
waiters.
“Clearly, movie and TV stereotypes
shape perception,” said CARRES
spokesperson Dona De Sanctis. “Shark
Tale’s plot sounds like ‘Nemo meets Don
Corleone.’ That kind of movie would
cause a tidal wave of unwholesome
stereotypes to hit yet another generation
of impressionable children. Once on
DVD and video, these stereotypes will
have a multigenerational shelf life.”
“Italian Americans are tired of seeing
themselves relentlessly portrayed as
violent people who live outside the law,”
De Sanctis said. “We plan to use every
tool available to us to make sure that the
American public knows our concerns
about movies like Shark Tale that
perpetuate this unfair and untrue
stereotype,” she continued.
For more information on the work and
the missions of CARRES, contact
CARRES spokesperson Dona De Sanctis
in Washington, D.C. at (202) 547-2900,
or access her email: ddesanctis@osia.org.
Artists Wanted
On behalf of The Italian Club and Maria Capitano (Club Member/Artist), we are proud to
announce our 3rd annual Fine Arts Concert in the Club’s very own “Connie Spoto Walter
Theatre” on November 18th - 21st, 2004.
In addition, we would like to extend an invitation for club members whom are also artists to
audition for the concert.
If you are an artist including a poet, singer, actor, musician, painter, photographer or dancer
and would like to be considered to present your art or perform in the concert, please contact
Maria Capitano at 813-267-7551 for more details by August 31st.
PAGE 18

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Ciao Bambini,
Come state Avete studiate How are you I hope you have studied. When you go to
Venice you will be able to enjoy it more if you can speak with the natives.
Many people enjoy Venice because of its uniqueness. As you have heard, some of the
streets are full of water. A common form of transportation is by vaporetto or if you are
willing, the gondola. If you venture into a gondola, you will be treated to the beautiful music
of Italy as the gondolier is also an accomplished singer.
Venice is also known for its beautiful glasswork. The glass factory is a popular site. Glass
blowing demonstrations occur throughout the day. The results are exquisite. The delicacy
of the form of art is what makes it so expensive and a treasure to behold. Venetian glassware
may be purchase in many countries throughout the world as its beauty is appreciated
everywhere.
Lets learn some new words……..
Water…aqua gondola…gondola glass…vetro
Sing…canta esquisive..squisito glassblowing…
Art…arte expensive…caro soffiatura del vetro
Steamer…vaporetto factory…fabbrica
Find the words. Trove le parole. Ciao, Rosalie Castellana Perrone
Aquaejetjyukesquitolrktjscarolekjscantasongkdtsartekjh
endvetrolkejsvetrolkeosoffiatureadelvetrolkejvjvaporetti
ogondolasutsttudilefabbricakeleksosquisitolkjciaoooooo
PAGE 19

JULY/AUGUST 2004
English Versions of
Italian First Names
Submitted by Vince Pardo
The other evening I got into a discussion with a friend
about some of our Americanized first names. We discussed
how his name (Tommy) wasn’t an Italian name. Did his
parents just like the name or was it an Americanization of a
given name in his family. He mentioned that although there
weren’t any similar names in his family, Tomasso is the
Italian version of Thomas. I mentioned that I had a great
uncle named Gaetano, but we called him Tom. Yet,
Gaetano can also be Guy. My name was Americanized to
Vincent instead of Vincenzo. My father’s name was
Vincenzo, but even my grandmother called him Jimmy. I
always likened it to people named Robert, being called
Bob. What’s the explanation I’m not sure, but I became
curious and found a few websites that translate Italian first
names into English. Some translation examples are:
Calogero = Charles
Giuseppe = Joseph
Dominica = Dora
Enrico = Henry
Giacomo = Jack
Salvatore = Sam
You can check out other names at these sites:
Italian Given Names and their English Equivalents
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/8783/
givename.html
Italian Names-Italiansrus
http://www.italiansrus.com/resources/names.htm
Italian Names and the History of Names
http://www.anzwers.org/free/italiangen/italynames.html
First Name Translator
http://www.daddezio.com/genealogy/italian/names.html
“Fontana del Tritone”
Rome, Italy
Welcome New Members
May 2004
David Greco
Giuseppe Maniscalco
Philip V. & Liana N. Martino
Joanne Rossano
Melissa Pasciuta Rodriguez
Josephine Cagnina Suarez
Robert E. Turner
June 2004
Vincent Collura
Elia Conto
Glenn & Theresa Fasani
Brandon Spicola
PAGE 20

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Ceramic Tile & Porcelain
Residential & Commercial
* Flooring Wall to Wall
* Fabrication of Marble & Granite
* Slabs for Vanity & Kitchen Counter Tops
* Custom Fireplaces
* Roman Tubs
* Conference & Dining Tables
813-884-2382
(ONE BLOCK NORTH OF HILLSBOROUGH AVE.)
PAGE 21

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Friends Of
L’Unione Italiana
We extend a special thanks to the following supporters for their specific commitment to help the Club’s Newsletter.
Please join as a Friend of L’Unione Italiana now! Call the office for information.
Ruben & Yuyi Alfaras
Joe & Dora Caltagirone
Philip & Jennie Caltagirone
Grace S. Campisi
Dr. & Mrs. Felix M. Cannella
Felix M. Cannella, Jr.
A. Nicole Capitano
Frank David & Cristiana Capitano
Joseph & Gilda Capitano
Joseph, Jr. & Michelle Capitano
Nick & Angie Capitano
Nina & Rosario Ciccarello
Violet Conte
Laura DeLucia
Tom & Anna Maria DiCesare
Nick DiMaggio
Victor & Mercedes DiMaio
William J. Ferlita, Sr.
Jennifer A. Fisch
Dr. & Mrs. Angelo L. Greco
Dan Iovino
Frank F. Megna
Rose P. Midulla
Rosalie Nocilla
Carol Olive
Maria Leto Pasetti
Violet Verroca Rodriguez
Jim & Linda Taggart
Stephanie M. Cannella-vanBelzen
Peter & Margo Valenti
First National Bank
Italians in Alabama
More than 100 years ago, a
colony of Italian farmers and
laborers arrived in a heavily
wooded area in Alabama that
they named “Daphne”. The
colonists were in awe of the
beautiful trees and flowers that
grew wild in the area. So they
named the area Daphne who
was the beautiful woman that
that the Greek god Zeus turned
into a laurel tree.
These immigrants did not go
directly to this area from Italy.
Most were in the Midwest
working in cities and on farms,
when they were lured to south
Alabama by Alessandro
Mastro-Valerio, an Italian who
bought large parcels of land
around Daphne. He offered
property to other Italians who
came to farm the rich land selling
it to them for $1 an acre. He
believed that the Italians could live
better in this environment than in
the cities of the Midwest. The
industrious Italians cleared the
land and started crops and cattle
farms that continue today. Later
they established sawmills, shops,
cotton gins and restaurants.
They also held on to their heritage
by passing on the customs and
religion of the old country. They
formed a mutual aid society much
like Tampa’s Italian Club, known
as the Progressive Italian Society.
The Society aided immigrants in
their acclimation to the new
country and established a
PAGE 22
cemetery. In conjunction with the
local church, they annually
sponsored Festa Italiana, serving
family recipes handed down for
generations.
When heritage is important, Italian
traditions can survive even in the
Deep South.
The Alabama Great Seal

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Festa Sponsors 2004
DA VINCI SPONSORS
BP Amoco
TECO
Brown-Forman
The Radiant Group LLC
Clear Channel
The Tampa Tribune
Colonial Bank
Thomas Financial
Pepin Distributing
Vigo Importing
DONATELLO SPONSORS
CGM Services
National Distributing Co., Inc.
Coca-Cola of Florida Star Brands Imports
Ferrari of Central Florida Sunny Florida Dairy
Gerardi Construction, Inc. The Bromley Companies
Gonzalez Funeral Home Tile World of Italy
Mastro Subaru
RAPHAEL SPONSORS
Econo-Blast LTD., Inc. Rossiter Construction
Fowler White Boggs Banker San Pellegrino
Handex Group, Inc.
Seven One Seven Parking
Hill, Ward, & Henderson Shell Oil Products US
La Tropicana, Inc.
Sparky’s Oil Co., Inc.
Lazy Days RV
TECO Street Car
Lumia & Valenti Produce United Cab
Mavilo Wholesalers
Yellow Cab of Tampa
Morrick Construction, Inc. Al Dato
Norris Samon Pump Service John Puls, Jr.
Tom Shannon
MEDICI
Acclaimed Business Forms Lykes Insurance
All Points Equipment MacEwen Group
Arena Travel
Olivia Tobacco Co.
Busto Plumbing
Patrick Turtle
Caldeco Mechanical Services Platinum Bank
Corral Wodiska
Publix Supermarkets
Ed Jacobs Insurance
RMC Property Group
Empire Investment Properties The Fone Connection
H.C.C.
Trenam, Kemker
Hunt Douglas
University Commercial Ctr. LTD
Jonathan Graham
Stephanie Cannella vanBelzen
Leto Sanitary Service Paul Ferlita
Love Joseph, Inc.
Universal Structures
Environmental Compliance Service
AMICI
Affordable Homes
Garcia Enterprises, Inc.
Agliano Associates, Inc. Martino Mortgages
Architectural Designs, Inc. Regal Lanes
Ardaman & Associates, Inc. Salem Law Group, Inc.
Don Pellegrino Realtors West Coast Auto Brokers
First National Bank
Violet Rodriguez
RESTAURANT SPONSORS
Acropolis Greek Restaurant Joffrey’s Coffee Company
Barley Hopper’s
Johnny Carino’s Country Italian
Beef O’ Brady’s
La Terrazza Ristorante
Bellisimo Restaurant
M.M.S.I. Espresso Service
Benedetto’s Ristorante Mr. Empanada
Bernini of Ybor
NL Streaks Inc.
Big City Tavern
Olympia Bakery
Bonefish Grill
Palm Restaurant
Caffé Paradiso
Rattlefish Raw Bar
Carmine’s Seventh Avenue Sacino’s Formal Wear
Catering by the Family Sonny’s BBQ
Catering Partners
Spartaco Trattoria Italiana
CDB’s of Tampa
StoneChef Caterers
Cellini
That’s Amore
Columbia Restaurant
The Laughing Cat
DiVino Ristorante
The Melting Pot
Gino’s Restaurant & Bar Tony’s Ybor Restaurant
Green Iguana
Villagio Ristorante
Housewife Bakery
Westshore Pizzeria
Iavarone’s Steakhouse
PAGE 23

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Memorial Day
The following article is the
Memorial Service Speech given by
John Iorio at The Italian Club
Cemetery.
Today is not an occasion for grieving,
but a day if observance – a day for
honoring and remembering. The dead
do not ask for much.
For many, Memorial Day has lost its
memorial dimensions amidst the
scurrying for surf and fishing,
shopping and feasting. This is all
right as long as we remember that the
freedom to do such things – our way
of life – was bought by the sacrifice
of others. If we don’t remember, it’s a
sad commentary on our society.
As you know, Memorial Day began in
1868 to honor the dead of the Civil
War. Today, half dozen wars later, we
honor all the dead.
But honoring the dead has been part
of cultures since ancient times. A
nation or community that does not
honor the dead will not have
longevity.
We have much to learn from them.
The dead are never silent. At times
they speak in thunderous
denunciation. At times they speak in
thunderous affirmation. “Learn the
lessons!” They say. The least we can
do is listen. They do not ask for
much.
So by honoring them we learn from
them. And what do we learn For me
they pass on four lessons:
1. That war brings out the worst
and the best in people.
2. That our way of life is based
on the sacrifice of others.
3. That we must recognize the
difference between humility
and arrogance.
4. That the past must be
honored.
Let me explain. We are living in
troubled times. We are now fighting
two wars. One is traditional with
armies, with land and cities to
capture. The other is new to us. It is
without boundaries, with spiritual
infra-structures and invisible battles.
No matter what kind of wars we fight,
however, they always bring out the
worst and the best in people. The bad
we know. It is in the news every day.
As wars become more remote with
planes and smart bombs as opposed to
sword and arrow, the news becomes
more immediate, so that today we
escape nothing. The good and the bad
sit daily by our morning coffee.
For some, war releases the constraints
of moral expectations and what is left
are the beleaguered values that are
instilled in them. If individuals have
weak or no values, war offers and
opportunity for all that is negative and
PAGE 24
destructive in human beings. In those
with strong and positive values, war
releases the capacity for compassion,
sacrifice and help. All these values
are first learned at home and later
affirmed in war.
For every soldier I knew who shot
prisoners, there were thousands who
did not. For every soldier who raped,
there were thousands who did not.
For every soldier who dehumanized
others, there were thousands who
showed the humane face of America.
Somewhere in France there is a man
in his seventies who probably
remembers that as a young boy,
crippled and stumbling among the
garbage pails where we threw our
leftovers, he could not compete with
the others and often left without a
scrap of food. A group of us saved
part of our meals for the boy for a
week or so. It was not significant
enough to make the news, but it was
significant enough to reveal humane
values that endured in hardened
soldiers.
The dead also tell us that our lives are
based on sacrifice. St John said,
“Greater love hath no man than this:
that a man lay down his life for his
friends.” In Iraq, 800 have already
done this. In the Battle of the Bulge,
for fifty days we had 1500 casualties
a day including 400 dead.
They did not die as Democrats or
Republicans. Ideology withers in
combat. They did not die as black or
white or Asian Americans. They did
not die as Catholics or
fundamentalists. Their sacrifices
transcended politics, transcended race
and transcended religion. New
Yorkers died for Mississippians and
Mississippians died for New Yorkers.
Continued on page 21.

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Memorial Day
Continued from page 20.
They died for their families, their
friends and for people they did not
know.
The dead teach us about humility and
arrogance in low and how places.
Soldiers learned humility from the
dreadful bombardments. They
learned humility from facing enemy
tanks with out tanks of your own.
They learned humility from the cold
and hunger. They learned humility
from viewing dead bodies strewn on a
field like unwanted laundry.
Humility was strength because the
soldiers came to know themselves in
an honest way. Then, they went on to
overcome fear and do their jobs.
Arrogance, however, comes wrapped
in self righteousness. It listens to no
one and hears only what it wants to
hear. It made German soldiers in
World War I inscribe on their caps,
“Gott mit uns” (God is with us). It
leads to unearned confidence. It
takes you to A Bridge too Far.
Arrogance is a dangerous weakness.
The Bible and the ancient Greek
Tragedies warn us that arrogance is a
prelude to a fall.
And finally, the dead tell us to honor
the best of the past and learn from our
mistakes. The worst arrogance is to
say that history is bunk.
Someone has said that those who
neglect history are like mules with no
pride of ancestry and no hope for
posterity. We do today partly because
of what we did yesterday. We do this
year because of what we did last year
and we do with our lives partly
because of our history.
If you darken the mind by closing the
blinds against the past there will be no
vision of the future.
Finally, there is one more lesson from
the dead I have not mentioned. That
is we must find another way other
than war to learn these lessons of
humaneness, sacrifice, humility, and
history.
So, by honoring the dead we are
learning from them and, therefore,
honoring the living and the future.
We are, in other words, being reverent
and reverence is the face of humane
people.
No, this is not a time for grieving but
a time of celebrating what we learn.
And the dead do not ask for much,
only a place in our memories. The
rest will follow.
813-884-2382
(ONE BLOCK NORTH OF HILLSBOROUGH AVE.)
PAGE 25

JULY/AUGUST 2004
PAGE 26

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Italian Club Cemetery Committee
Memorials
AMERICO “MAC” TRAINA
Loretta Campo
BUSTER AGLIANO
Mr. & Mrs. Joe Caltagirone
Mr. & Mrs. Vincent J. Pardo
GENE TESTON
Mr. & Mrs. Joe Sedita
JUDGE ROBERT SIMMS
Mr. & Mrs. Joe Caltagirone
Mr. & Mrs. Vincent J. Pardo
Mr. & Mrs. Joe Sedita
GUSSIE NAPLES
Italian Club Ladies Auxiliary
THERESA CAPITANO
Mr. & Mrs. Philip Caltagirone
Mr. & Mrs. Vincent J. Pardo
ANGELO ALFIERI
Mr. & Mrs. Philip Caltagirone
Mr. & Mrs. Joe Caltagirone
Italian Club Ladies Auxiliary
DR. DON CAMMARATTA
Mr. & Mrs. Joe Sedita
ANGELO URSO
Mr. & Mrs. Philip Caltagirone
Italian Club Cemetery Inc.
For those of you who were not able to attend our Memorial
Service on Sunday, May 30 th , you truly missed a memorable
time.
Mass was held at 11 A.M. with Rev. Father Michael Adams
from St. Lawrence Catholic Church officiating. After mass,
Professor John Iorio gave an excellent talk on the value of
Memorial Day. We were so impressed that we asked Professor
Iorio for a copy, which is printed in this newsletter. Following
his talk, the procession proceeded to the Rotunda where fifteen
(15) civic organizations presented a donation and/or wreath.
After taps and lowering of the flags, Father Adams gave his
closing remarks in Italian. We then went back to the
Mausoleum for delicious food, desserts and refreshments,
which were donated by our members of the Cemetery
Committee. I wish to take this opportunity to thank each
organization (listed below) for this contribution and to my
committee members, goes my heartfelt thanks for this
dedication in preserving our historic cemetery.
Grace S. Campisi, President
JOE M. GRECO
Mr. & Mrs. Vincent J. Pardo
Mr. & Mrs. Joe Sedita
EVELYN DARRIGO
Grace S. Campisi
Jean P. Lala
Italian Club Ladies Auxiliary
Mr. & Mrs. Joe Sedita
LORETTA C. HERRERA
Mr. & Mrs. Joe Sedita
ANGELINA SAN FELICE
Mr. & Mrs. Joe Sedita
Donations
Rough Riders
La Nuova Sicilia Unita Lodge 1251
Opti-Mrs. Club of Ybor City
Ybor City Lions Club
Italian Club Ladies Auxiliary
United Civic Organization Inc.
Columbus Celebration of Tampa Inc.
Centro Astauriano de Tampa Inc.
Ybor Round Table Inc.
Nature Coast Lodge No. 2502 O.S.I.A.
St. Cloud/Kissimmee Sons of Italy
Latin American Fiesta Association Inc.
Loggia Mona Lisa No. 2699 O.S.I.A.
Italian Cultural Club
Peter Yammarino
Our sincere condolences go to the family and friends of
the following Club Members who have passed away:
JOSEPH LICATA JR.
Tom P. Martino & Family
Evelyn Darrigo
Grace Savarino
PAGE 27

JULY/AUGUST 2004
Ybor City Midwife Records
The records of a Tampa midwife named Maria Messina
Greco have been located and are being computerized by
Mr. Danny Perez. The records document births
performed by Mrs. Greco in Ybor City from 1908 to
1939. Most of the documents include the name of the
parents and the parent’s birthplace. LoCicero,
Tamborello, Traina, Pardo, Diecidue, Leto, Ferlita and
many, many more names appear in these historic
records.
For more information, go to the Tampa Midwife
Records of Maria Messina Greco website at:
http://www.faithfuldeliveries.com/midwife.htm. The
Italian Club is extremely grateful to the Greco family
and Danny Perez for making this information available.
Italian Club Building & Cultural Trust Fund, Inc.
1731 East Seventh Avenue
Post Office Box 5054
Tampa, Florida 33675
NON-PROFIT ORG.
US POSTAGE
PAID
TAMPA, FL
Permit No. 2877
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
PAGE 28