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

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.