Dear Readers,
Since September is the month to celebrate Labor Day I want to continue my focus on those unselfish and often unsung “heroes” of Italian-American organizations throughout the U.S.A. ...the volunteers. A few weeks ago I attended the 30th Italian-American Family Festa sponsored by the IAHF (Italian American Heritage Foundation) in San Jose, California by a group of civic-minded Italo-Americano business and professional men who volunteered their time, energy and money to help grow and mature the fledgling organization known as the Italian American Bicentennial Committee, now the Italian American Heritage Foundation.
In October 1975, when the San Jose Bicentennial Commission was offered the chance to bring the Armed Forces Bicentennial Band there, it had to look for a sponsor, being under-funded by the city government it served. Rocco Pisano, first vice-chairman of the Commission, went to Don Lima with the problem. They called San Jose’s Italian- Americans to the cause and soon formed the Italian American Bicentennial Committee.
The Italian American Heritage Foundation was an idea that had been waiting for its time, bringing all the varied strains of the sons and daughters of Italy together to preserve and recognize the contributions of their ancestors to the American culture. They started looking around for a place to establish an Italian cultural center. In late 1978 the owner of the now defunct Hawaiian Gardens, Mrs. Tena Parino LoCurto, died, leaving an estate valued at $1,083,798 according to probate records.
To settle the estate the Gardens had to be sold and Murphy Sabatino, Don Lima, Joseph Perrucci and John Bruzzone made a commitment to guarantee a loan for the purchase of the property for the IAHF in June of 1979. The Hawaiian Gardens soon became the Italian Gardens in name as well as in fact when the inaugural ball for new officers was held in January 1980 and attorney Richard Arzino was installed as President.
Again volunteers went to work physically refurbishing IAHF’s new home, and others went to work by digging deep for the fundraisers, such as this “signora”: “It is with great joy that I write out this check for the IAHF Cultural Center Development Fund, for I know that every check brings the dream of our parents and grandparents closer to being a complete reality.
People all over the country have asked me about the phenomenal growth of the IAHF and the secret of its success. I have replied that the IAHF has been blessed from the start with leaders like Domenic Cirincione, Don Lima, Murphhy Sabatino, and continued with John DeVincenzi and Rocco Pisano, men who have always asked what can I do for the IAHF, not what can the IAHF do for me, and the membership has followed in the same spirit.”
The enthusiasm and accomplishments of the IAHF in less than its first decade surpassed even the most optimistic of expectations. However, by 1983 a difference between founding fathers had resulted in a new dynamic group called The Italian Men’ s Club, formed by Murphy Sabatino as president, doing their thing at the Italian Gardens. IAHF moved its headquarters to 425 North 4th Street, San Jose, CA 95112, telephone: (408) 293- 7122, where it continues to flourish today.
The IAHF was blessed with a trio of outstanding presidents in its formative years: Don Lima (1975-1976), Murphy Sabatino (1977) and John De Vincenzi (1978). It continues its outstand- ing leadership these days with President Ken Borelli and officers Joe Ponte, VP Adminstration, Nancy De Vincenzi, VP Programs, Delia Schizzano, VP Promotions, Paul Stabile, Treasurer, Suzi Azevedo, Secretary, and the dedicated and talented IAHF Newsletter editor Judy V erona Joseph - volunteers all.
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An “abbondanza” of talent entertained the crowds at the 30th Italian-American Family Festa this year. Among them were Pasquale Esposito, singer extraordinaire, longtime Festa favorite and crowd-pleaser Don Giovannis, Bella Sorella, the Ricco Dancers, Bella Ciao and Alfio making his premier performance in Northern California.
Alfio, the Italo-Australian singer with parental roots in Calabria and Sicily, pleased Italian-American Family Festa crowds in San Jose, California the moment he stepped on the “Roma” stage at the Festa site in beautiful Guadalupe River Park between Julian and Santa Clara Streets in downtown San Jose. Alfio, ensconced in sartorial splendor, rather than the torn “pantalone” look favored by some of our male entertainers these days, proceeded to wow the audience with songs selected from his album, “Classic Rewind”, a musical tribute to great Italo-American singers born to Italian immigrants in the United States, just as he was born to Italian immigrants in Australia.
IAHF President Ken Borelli and committee knew that Alfio had been a crowd favorite at New York’s 10-day Feast of San Gennaro, which draws thousands of joyful celebrants back to Little Italy (around Mulberry, Canal and Grand Streets) each year, but the quality of Alfio’s voice and talent far exceeded everybody’s expectations.
In his remarks to an admiring and applauding audience Alfio Bonanno said he selected songs from his album, “Classic Rewind”, as a tribute to America’s great singing sons of Italian immigrants. He also shared some interesting facts about each song or singer. Among them were: South of the Border (Frank Sinatra) “Popular singer and Academy Award winning actor Francis Albert Sinatra was born December 12, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Our fathers were both Sicilian and we kept our real names.
Many of Sinatra’s big hits have been performed and recorded numerous times so I chose ‘South of the Border’ to show that he did a lot more than the songs we all knew him for. This song was also recorded in Italian, called ‘Stella D’argento’, and is one of the songs my father loved to play on the accordion.” I Have But One Heart (Vic Damone) “Singer and television personality Vito Rocco Farinola was born June 12, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York.
Taking the maiden name of his mother, Vic Damone broke into show busi- ness with the help of Perry Como. Although this song was performed in the 1972 movie, The Godfather by Al Martino as Johnny Fontane, the role was actually offered first to Vic Damone. This song was adapted from the famous Neapolitan folk song ‘O Marenariello’ and is special to me, as I played my father’s accordion for the solo. When my father came to Australia in 1957 from Sicily he carried this accordion with him and I am so excited that it was used on my album after 51 years.”
Where Do I Begin, theme from Love Story (Al Martino) “Singer and actor Al Martino was born Alfred Cini on October 7, 1927 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Martino started his early career as a bricklayer and commenced his singing career after serving in World War II with the US Marines. Al Martino played the role of Johnny Fontane in the 1972 movie, The Godfather and sang the theme song for the film, but the most successful song by Al Martino was ‘Spanish Eyes’, one of the 50 most-played songs int he world.” Alfio’s management in the USA is Magic Bean Entertainment, Nina Bueti, (917) 660-5757. Y ou can also visit www.alfiomusic.com for more information.
