L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 21 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017 LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Dear Readers, February notes with an Italian connection: *** Amore makes the world go round but Italians make it worth the trip, is worth repeating as Valentine's Day, February 14 th , is the official day of love and giving gifts of exquisite chocolate is promoted by confectioners. Apostolato Radio Christiana founder Fr. Efrem Trettel, OFM died January 20, 2017. He was 96 years old. He had fans all over California as he sang, played his accordion, began radio broadcasting Mass in Italian and organized Italian outings for over 48 years. A Franciscan friar, he was born in Predazzo, Italy and came to San Francisco in 1953. *** Baci (kisses) were inspired in the 1920's, by a sort of Italian version in chocolate, of Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones we Got a thing Going on" situation in song. The silver and blue package of Perugina's Baci, is often imprinted with "the story of a kiss". In 1922 in the heart of Perugia, Italy, a young Perugina chocolatier was inspired to create a special dark chocolate and hazelnut confection for her beloved. It was a clandestine relationship and into each wrapper she slipped a secret love note. Unwrap a Baci today and discover messages of love and friendship still nestled inside the signature silver and blue foil." *** Chocolatier, Luisa Spagnoli was born in Perugia in 1877. In her early 20's she married Annibale Spagnoli, with whom she opened a grocery and began making her own chocolates. In 1907, she founded the company Perugina together with her husband Annibale Spagnoli, Francesco Buitoni, Leone Ascoli and Francesco Andreani. This was initially located in the center of Perugia, with just 15 employees. After Italy entered the First World War in 1815, Luisa, with her sons Mario and Aldo, had to carry on work alone. But instead of business going down, she managed the company in an excellent way and just a few years after the end of World War I, the company had grown to over 100 employees. Meanwhile, Francesco Buitoni, one of the partners, called his young son, Giovanni Buitoni, who at the time had just finished school. Giovanni was 20 years old, brilliant and with an excellent intuition for management that he applied to help the company grow even more within a few years. Luisa was ten years older than Giovanni, married, and with two kids. However the great synergy they had in the business, and the chemistry they had in their personal lives, made the two fall in love and create one of the most successful collaborations in chocolate Italian history. In 1923, Luisa observed that bits of hazelnut granola were thrown away as waste from other chocolate productions. Luisa created a chocolate candy that she called "Cazzotto", "Punch", because of its shape that reminded her of a fist. Giovanni Buitoni loved the invention but understood that what wasn't working was the name. No one would like to buy a box of "punches", but maybe people would love a box of "kisses". After they changed the name into "Bacio", "Kiss", and added little love messages in the wrap of each chocolate (the story goes that this was inspired by the messages that Luisa and Giovanni would secretly exchange), the Baci Perugina soon became extraordinarily popular in Italy and eventually in the world. Perugina chocolates and their trade marked "Baci" are now owned by Nestle, based in Switzerland. *** Chinese Americans, many of them residing in Chinatowns adjacent to our dwindling "Little Italy" neighborhoods throughout the United States began celebrating a New Lunar Year last week. In the spirit of being good Neighbors I am sharing this info with you: On January 28, 2017, millions of people around the world rang in the Lunar Year of the Rooster. Individuals born in the year of the Rooster, are said to be confident, loyal and honest. They are highly motivated, sociable, and take pride in their accomplishments. Roosters love to be extravagant if resources allow and make good philosophers. The Rooster is the tenth of 12 zodiac animal signs associated with the Chinese lunar calendar. As the most important holiday of the year for many Asian communities, the Lunar New Year is celebrated primarily by people of Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tibetan, and Mongolian heritage in many parts of the world. In the United States and elsewhere, the occasion is marked in various ways, often with parades and parties. Vendors at outdoor markets sell flowers, toys, food, and other items for celebrations. Musicians play drums to celebrate this time of renewed hope for the future, with drumsticks sometimes painted red for luck. Many families present red envelopes (hongbao), with money to children and loved ones. People eat foods that bring good luck, such as kumquats and rice cakes, and hang festive lanterns as decoration. *** Chance In Life, is the new name of Boys' Town and Girls' Town of Italy, an organization founded by Msgr. John Patrick Carroll-Abbing in 1945 for abandoned children left on the streets of Italy after World War II. I know many of our Readers have supported Boys and Girls Towns of Italy for over five decades, not only financially, but by volunteering behind the scene at annual fashion shows, galas and events throughout the U.S. Many visited Boys Town in Rome or hosted meet and greets with Fr. Carroll-Abbing when he visited California, the San Francisco Bay Area or the East Bay where he had large, enthusiastic and generous support from the Italian-American Community. Fr. Carroll-Abbing died in Boys' Town of Rome, at age 88, in 2001 and had been working on day-to-day management up to the day he was felled by a stroke. The Board of Directors at Boys' and Girls' Town of Italy decided on a name change to A Chance in Life, because the organization has a great need in other countries like Ethiopia and India and now has built Boys and Girls' Towns far beyond the Borders of Italy. *** I want to share the early days of Boys' Town of Italy with you and bring you up to date with A Chance In Life. Contact info Gabriele Delmonaco, President and Executive Director. A Chance in Life 250 E. 63 rd St., Suite 204, New York, NY 10065. Office: 212-980-8770, achanceinlife.org Shoeshine "Hotel". After the war, orphaned and abandoned children all over Europe were shining Shoes, panhandling and stealing to survive, Monsignor Carroll-Abbing, posted to the Vatican, that he found some of them in the caves outside the walls of Rome. "I said to the Pope, someone ought to do something". Pius XII agreed. But when the monsignor began, he said, all he had was the Pope's permission to assist the refugee population of Italy. He started with what he called his Shoeshine Hotel, a basement shelter in a war-damaged abandoned school. He made just one ironclad rule, one that his charges did not seem to mind. They had to be back in by 5:30 p.m. The boys then freshened up and prepared dinner. The younger ones peeled potatoes and set the table. The older ones cooked a healthy meal, usually a minestrone or a dish of donated baccalà, dried cod. The monsignor recalled that the quality of the fare gradually improved with the experience of his young cooks. The principle that all have to pitch in to keep the community afloat remains to this day. His concept of giving troubled children love and –his motto- "a chance in life" grew as he organized such shelters all over Italy. All told, he was credited with feeding and clothing more than 180,000 children. Monsignor Carroll-Abbing organized eight additional permanent children's villages and 40 temporary shelters. He built 30 children's day-care centers in the poorest areas of southern Italy, and he arranged to have all of them managed by other religious and civic charities. Boys' Town and Girls' Town of Rome remain self-governing communities supported largely by the organization that he founded for that purpose in the United States. Boys' Town of Rome occupies a campus outside the city proper, an average of 120 youngsters from 10 to 18 who receive vocational training. Girls' Town of Rome, founded in 1956, is on the edge of town near the Vatican, a spacious villa donated by Linda Darnell, the actress. It houses 20 to 25 young women 15 or older. John Patrick Carroll-Abbing was born in Dublin and went to Rome in 1930 to study for the priesthood. He was ordained at 23 and was named a monsignor in the Papal Household soon after. An Irish citizen, he entered the diplomatic service of Pope Pius XI in 1937, after having received doctorates in sacred theology and canon law. Besides his work directly with troubled youths, he was active in child welfare worldwide. He received many honors in and beyond Italy. In 1987, Monsignor Carrol-Abbing became the 29 th person and the third non-Italian to be made an honorary citizen of Rome. The other two were American, Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

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