L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2014 www.italoamericano.com L'Italo-Americano 5 For mer Mayor Sam Allevato Speaks on his Italian-Amer ican Family History Dec. 20, Sat.- Orange County American Italian Women Christmas Luncheon. 11:30 - 2:00pm, Mission Viejo Country Club. Live entertainment will include Bob Farrell on piano and singer Shari Cyrkin. 26200 Country Club Drive Mission Viejo. For more information contact Lucy Gallo (949) 472-8218. Dec. 20, Sat. - Newport Italian will be celebrating Christmas with a visit from Babbo Natale who will be collecting children's letters, and taking photos with them plus they will be serving vine brule' a hot spicy Italian wine, bruschette, and grilled chest- nuts and even panettone. Perhaps you'll see a shiny new Vespa you'd like S anta to d eliver!!! RS V P elis ab etta@ newportitalian.com by December 17th. Newport Italian is located at 1536 Newport Blvd. Costa Mesa, 92627. Dec. 31, Wed.– Celebrate New Year's Eve at Romeo Cucina Dinner & Dancing Party – 4-8:00pm regular menu & seating . 9:00pm New Year's Eve Celebration with live music & DJ, spe- cial menu and party favors. Call for reservations: (949)831-4131 28241 Crown Valley Pkwy Ste H, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677 Jan. 13, Tues.- Lex Romana Dinner Meeting - Italian American Lawyers of Orange County - 6:00pm Cost is $45 for members $50 for non members. For location and more information contact Joe Ferrucci @ lex_romana@aol or call 949.600.5370. Jan. 15, Sat.- Orange County American Italian Women - OCAIW meeting 11:30 - 2 PM Il Fornaio 18051 Von Karman, Irvine 92612 $25 per person. Live entertainment featuring Joyce Garro former Dean Martin Golddigger singing the songs of Dean Martin For information call Lucy Gallo 949-472-8218 Jan. 18, Sun. - Italian Movie Bowers Museum 1:30pm recep- tion/2:00pm screening of Io Viaggio Sola - I TRAVEL ALONE A FIVE STAR LIFE (2013) For directions and more info go to: http://www.bowers.org/ Jan. 20, Tues.-Welcoming Reception. Meet the new Italian Consul General Antonio Verde. 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Event time to be adjusted). Bowers Museum, Santa Ana. Join the Orange County community of leaders, restaurateurs and key members from businesses, Italian American organizations and their members in welcoming our new Consulate! For information (714) 567-3600. Sam Allevato is one of San J u a n C a p i s t r a n o ' s m o s t esteemed city council members, a past mayor of the city, and a full-time Italian-American fam- ily man. A f t e r a c a r e e r i n l a w enforcement spanning 33 years, Allevato attained the level of Detective Commander for the I r v i n e P o l i c e D e p a r t m e n t i n California, before becoming mayor of San Juan Capistrano in 2010, and city council mem- ber in 2014. L o o k i n g b a c k , A l l e v a t o r e m e m b e r e d t h a t h i s f a t h e r "always [reminded] him that [he] was 'Italian-American' and that we live in a great country." His grandparents separately immigrated to West Virginia from San Giovanni in Fiore, Reggio Calabria, Italy in the early 1900s. They were so in l o v e , b y O c t o b e r 1 9 0 2 t h e y were married. A l l e v a t o ' s g r a n d f a t h e r worked in the coal mines trying t o m a k e m o n e y f o r h i s n e w family, which soon included A l l e v a t o ' s f a t h e r , S a l v a t o r e who was born in 1904. When his parents split up, Salvatore moved back to San Giovanni with his father, who soon remarried and made the Allevato family even bigger. Unfortunately, when Fascism s p r e a d t h r o u g h t h e c o u n t r y , Salvatore's father did not want him to join the Italian army. When he turned 18, he travelled b a c k t o W e s t V i r g i n i a t o reclaim his American citizen- ship, and to find for his mother, whom he had never met as an adult. When he found his moth- er in Clarksburg, West Virginia, h e w a s m e t w i t h m a n y o p e n a r m s b e c a u s e s h e , l i k e h i s father, had also remarried and had children. Salvatore now had multiple half-siblings in both Italy and the United States. Salvatore immediately got to work and entered in the coal mining business, same as his father. Allevato relayed what harsh conditions in which his father worked. "You worked twelve [hour] days, six days a week for [five dollars per week]. You had to pay for your own shovel, pick ax, helmet, boots, etc. and you w e r e o n l y p a i d i n c o m p a n y script called "Dawson Dollars" [ f r o m D a w s o n C o a l M i n e Company] which could only be used in the Company Store. You lived in Company housing and paid them for your rent. You o w e [ d ] y o u r s o u l t o t h e Company Store." Salvatore was only 19 at the time, and it was a hard way of life. He lived with other coal miners in an all-male boarding house, until he met the woman he would marry, Sam's mother, Ms. Mary Bitonti. She was also b o r n i n C l a r k s b u r g , b u t t h e young couple had more in com- mon than West Virginia. Her f a m i l y h a d a l s o i m m i g r a t e d there from San Giovanni, mak- ing nearly all of Allevato's fam- ily from the same small town in Italy. A f t e r t h e y w e r e m a r r i e d , Salvatore and Mary settled in Dawson, West Virginia, where t h e y h a d t w o c h i l d r e n , Allevato's brothers. The depres- sion hit Dawson hard, though, and they had to move the family to Akron and Cleveland, Ohio. After a few years, they eventu- ally made it back to Clarksburg, West Virginia to open a grocery business. It was then that Sam Allevato w a s b o r n , o n H a l l o w e e n , October 31st, 1947. W h e n t h e K o r e a n W a r began, Allevato's brothers were stationed in California as sol- diers in the army. "They told my dad that they weren't coming back [to West Virginia] after the war because C a l i f o r n i a w a s s o b e a u t i f u l w i t h … m o r e o p p o r t u n i t i e s , " Sam relayed. S o , i n J u l y o f 1 9 5 0 , Salvatore sold his grocery store a n d m o v e d M a r y , S a m , a n d himself to California to settling in the East Los Angeles area. S a m s t a y e d i n s u n n y California and married Vicky in 1967. They moved to San Juan Capistrano in 1976 and they h a v e t w o c h i l d r e n , S a m Christopher and Tiffany, two grand-children Zoey Isabella and Maxwell Liam, and a son- in-law, Michael Martinez. Upon discovering he still had f a m i l y i n S a n G i o v a n n i , Allevato flew out to visit them in 2008. " T h e y a r e s e c o n d c o u s i n s that own businesses in the town. They are very warm and wel- coming to their long lost rela- tives from America!" Some things never change, a n d i n t h e A l l e v a t o h o m e , Italian heritage can be found a r o u n d e v e r y c o r n e r . T h e Allevatos are devout, practicing Roman Catholics, and appreci- ate the ties Catholicism has with San Giovanni. E v e n t h e m e a l s i n t h e Allevato home are right out of Italy. "We always have the large f a m i l y d i n n e r s , u s u a l l y o n S u n d a y s , w h e r e w e a l l s i t around the table and catch up on all the family happenings." Allevato also has hopes that his children and grandchildren continue appreciating their her- itage. He and his son are cur- rently trying to obtain Italian citizenships, and he plans on encouraging his grandchildren t o d o t h e s a m e . H i s g r a n d - daughter, Zoey Isabella, attends Holy Family Cathedral School in Orange, California and is in the school choir. They will be p e r f o r m i n g f o r t h e P o p e i n Rome next year, and Allevato hopes that this will inspire a love for the country he holds so dear to his heart. Throughout his life, Allevato reveals that his biggest inspira- t i o n , h a s b e e n h i s f a t h e r , Salvatore Allevato. Allevato believes that his father "person- ified the American dream" and "was a steady influence on [his] life until his death in 1995." "He came to America with nothing in his pocket and was able to build a wonderful life for my mother and my three brothers through hard work, thrifty values, [and] strong fam- i l y c o h e s i o n … h e r i t a g e i s something to be proud of and celebrated." EMILY QUINN Sam Allevato

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