L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2014 www.italoamericano.com 8 Italian Cultural Center Continues to Grow San Diego's Italian Cultural Center will be holding a memor- ial service for its co-founder and V i c e P r e s i d e n t , G r a z i e l l a S p i n e l l i a t O u r L a d y o f t h e Rosary Church, in Little Italy on Saturday, December 13th at 12 p.m. Following the funeral a r e c e p t i o n w i l l b e h o s t e d b y Graziella's sister at the church hall. Upon attempting to teach her native Italian language to San Diegians, in 1971, Professor S p i n e l l i w a s t o l d " I b e l i e v e there's little to no interest, but let's give it a shot; if the stu- dents enroll, you have a class, if they don't, you don't." She did- n't take that advice, instead co- founded and helped to make ICC what it is today. R o b e r t o R u o c c o , c u r r e n t President of ICC, believes it is going as strong as she would have liked. He encourages the c o m m u n i t y o f S a n D i e g o t o "Join us in our effort to make ICC the best place in San Diego to study Italian, and to learn more about Italian Culture! Your m e m b e r s h i p w i t h t h e I t a l i a n Cultural Center is vital to offer the many important classes and e v e n t s p r o v i d e d t h r o u g h t h e Center." "If you don't know the lan- guage, you cannot promote the culture," stated Ruocco, adding that "it is our mandate." The I t a l i a n l a w y e r , i s a l s o t h e P r e s i d e n t o f B a l b o a P a r k ' s House of Italy and is very pas- sionate about his mandate to promote the Italian language and culture, as well as Italian ances- try. "Italians are a very passion- a t e p e o p l e , a n d t h a t i s t h e essence of our culture," stated Ruocco, who is also attempting to find Italian-Americans who would like to obtain dual citi- zenship. According to Ruocco, approximately 70,000 students a n d I t a l i a n s h a v e l e f t I t a l y because of the lack of employ- ment there. Also because of an "absent government, and years of depression, many people have immigrated here, more than ever before," stated Ruocco. "We need to recreate children of Italians; with new Italians we need to build a bridge between the Italian and American cul- tures," stated Ruocco. "Little Italy, here in San Diego, is the biggest community of its kind in the United States, so it is the n e w e s t b r i d g e c o n n e c t i n g a bridge over the ocean to Italy," he added. "The passport to travel this bridge is in our hearts." The President of both HoI and ICC also stated that there are approximately 250 members of HoI and that there are approx- imately 40 Italian organizations throughout California. "We meet e v e r y t h i r d S u n d a y o f t h e month," explained the president, adding that the HoI hosts lec- tures, musical and educational events. "This is not just a club, it is a family." H e s t a t e d t h a t t h e r e a r e approximately 10,000 Italian families in San Diego County, but only approximately 4,350 a r e r e g i s t e r e d I t a l i a n s . According to Ruocco, "Italians help build the foundation of America." He recalled that dur- i n g W W I I , m a n y I t a l i a n s migrated to America for various reasons. "We were barbers, con- struction workers, and especially fishermen, as San Diego's early origins will show. We were not drunks, druggies or irresponsi- ble." According to Ruocco's man- date of promoting Italian Culture ROBERT GALLO and Language, the ICC will be celebrating its academic year, The Festa di Natale, on Sunday, December 14th from 5:50pm to 8 : 3 0 p m a t O u r L a d y o f t h e Rosary Parish Hall, as a culmi- nation of the year's successes and activities. "Be ready for a s c r u m p t i o u s d i n n e r a n d t h e f a m o u s t o m b o l a w i t h a r i c h e x t r a c t i o n o f g i f t s , " a d d e d Ruocco. "What a wonderful autumn term we've experienced," said Ruocco, adding that "The month of October, as usual, has been full of Italian initiatives which saw the ICC as a protagonist." The ICC booth on Columbus Day was visited by many people in the community, requesting i n f o r m a t i o n o n h o w t o g e t involved with "learning of our beautiful language, and getting involved with our culture." T h e m o n t h o f I t a l i a n Heritage launched its 8th annual I t a l i a n F i l m f e s t i v a l . " P r o f . Laruccia and his indefatigable s t a f f , l e d b y p r o f . A n t o n i o " L i t t l e " I a n n o t t a , a n I C C teacher, featured an incredible program of new Italian movies for the San Diego Italian Film F e s t i v a l a t t h e M u s e u m o f P h o t o g r a p h i c A r t i n B a l b o a Park and at La Paloma theatre in Encinitas," recalled Ruocco. I l c a r a t t e r e i t a l i a n o , T h e Italian Character, a documen- tary film of orchestral music, featured by the SDIFF hosted a full house of movie-goers and was augmented by a question and answer session hosted by the director, Angelo Bozzolini at the film's end. SDIFF con- cluded its movie showings with a gala dinner and special show- ing of the comedy, Una piccola impresa meridionale, A Small Southern Enterprise. Counsel member Madafer, Roberto Ruocco (standing in middle) receiving the city award for the Italian day in San Diego in presence of the then consul general of Los Angeles Nicola Faganello (on Roberto's left) Graziella Spinelli The Italian Cultural Center building

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