Christmas Gathering in Richmond
A big thank you to Father Alberto Mengon for arranging our Christmas event at the Salesian High School in Richmond. We had nearly 100 attendees. Club President Giuseppina and VP Lino brought versions of their own crauti and Maria Mortati and her husband Mark served up their delectable salad. Lunch was followed by music, samples of Lino’s homemade grappas, and even a little dancing. Everyone was impressed with the venue, and if Father Alberto can work his wizardry, we will return to Richmond in the
future.
Joe Maffei
Joe Maffei last attended an event about 10 years ago. In the meantime he established his own firm in Oakland, Maffei Structural Engineering, married Holly and had two boys, 3-year-old Dario and 1-year-old Gabriel. His maternal grandparents, Ricardo Agosto Amistadi and Stella Mussi, were from Roncone in the Valli Giudicarie. They immigrated to Langeloth, PA in the 1920s. Joe’s father’s family was from Toscano. Joe was delighted to meet others from Roncone at the Christmas event, and we were thrilled to meet his lovely wife and kids.
Davide Carmeci
Davide Carmeci was born and raised in Trento and attended Liceo Classico G. Prati. He received his Masters in marketing and communication at the University of Bologna. He worked as a manager for Italian and European companies in the digital media and information and communication technology industries. He moved to California in July 2012 to work as a business development associate for a Silicon Valley incubator. He recently started working as a business development manager for WebRatio, Inc., a software company. Here is his linkedin.com page: http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidec.
Davide’s father was an Italian born in Tripoli. His family was involved in the trade between Italy and Libya. They moved to Trento to join members of the family that had previously relocated there. Davide’s mother, Mariapia Regensburger, is from Castel Tesino.
Greg Genetti and his wife Mary
New members Greg Genetti and his wife Mary attended our get-together in September.
Greg is the owner of a CPA firm in Campbell. The Genetti family is from Castelfondo in
the Val di Non. They immigrated initially to Hazelton, Pennsylvania surrounded by many
other Trentini who worked in the local mining industry. Hazelton has always
had a very active Trentino club, and the first US/Canadian Trentino (ITTONA) convention was held there. Lodging was provided at none other than the Genetti Inn & Suites. At our event Greg was delighted to meet Max Cologna whose family is also from Castelfondo, and Gemma Angeli Zueck whose brother, Padre Angeli, says Sunday mass in
Castelfondo. We look forward to sharing more good times with Greg, Mary and the
numerous other Genettis in the Bay Area.
Every two years ITTONA, the organization that represents the Trentini of the US and
Canada, puts on a convention. Our club hosted the convention 10 years ago, and this year it was held in Ogden, Utah, home to many Trentini immigrants. Max Cologna and Olga Degiorgio Disney from our club are originally from the Ogden area, and they were on
hand for the event. Our Stockton representative, Bob Zanoni, was also in attendance. Bob wrote a letter to the Ogden club praising them for organizing such a fabulous event.
Bob’s family is from Cloz in the Val di Non, as are many other members of our
club and the Ogden club. The Mayor of Cloz, Maria Floretta, travelled the
distance to attend the convention. Mayor Floretta has written a book in Italian on the Trentino immigrant experience entitled Nelle Viscere di Queste Miniere, which gathers letters and stories of Trentino immigrants. The mayor was certainly delighted to be surrounded by so many of her compatriots abroad.
Alberto Tafner, President of the Trentino nel Mondo Association, was present and delivered a formal address that chronicled the role of the association in assisting Trentini emigrants and their descendants over the years. He also highlighted two pivotal moments in recent
Trentino history, the first being Italian annexation in 1919 and the second the granting of special autonomy to Trentino-Alto Adige after WWII. The latter meant that the Italian speakers of Trentino and German speakers of Alto Adige (South Tyrol) had to learn to coexist in peace and harmony. As he pointed out, that was not easy at first.
Between 1956 and 1967 the area was rife with domestic terrorism, causing damage to bridges, railway tracks, utility lines, etc. and the loss of 21 lives.
Bob representing the Circolo Trentino di San Francisco with the club banner
In 1972 the Provinces of Bolzano, i.e., Alto Adige, and Trento received certain autonomy from each other and from the central government, and that has seemed to
bring peace to the area. With peace has come economic vitality.
