The Festa della Repubblica on June 2nd of each year celebrates the creation of the modern Italian nation. That occurred after WWII when citizens voted 12,717,923 to 10,719,284 for a republic rather than the House of Savoy monarchy. The members of the monarchy then fled in exile.

Each year the consul general invites members of the Italian community to celebrate this national holiday. This year the celebration was held at the St. Francis Yacht Club, and members of our club were present. They had the honor of meeting Janet Napolitano, former Arizona Governor and Homeland Security Secretary in the Obama administration, and currently the president of the University of California system.

Her father’s family is from the province of Foggia in Puglia, the heel of Italy, not from Naples, which is implied by her name.

On May 17th our club celebrated its 35th anniversary with a cruise on the San Francisco Bay leaving from Alameda. Nearly 100 attendees delighted in the experience. Present were some new members, Bruno Nardelli, Renata Gasperi and Maria Masè.

Bruno Nardelli
At the age of 5, Bruno Nardelli’s father emigrated from the Trento suburbs of Gardolo/Roncafort to Argentina. As a child, Bruno participated in the  activities of the Circolo Trentino di Comodoro Rivadavia in Patagonia, the world’s southernmost Trentino club. Argentina and Brazil have more Trentini clubs than any other countries, with 57 and 60 respectively. Bruno studied at the University of Trento for 5 years while volunteering at the Trentini nel Mondo Association. He then transferred to Houston for work and now to the Bay Area.

Renata Gasperi
Renata Gasperi was born and raised in Milan, but her father was from Caldonazzo in the
Valsugana and her mother (last name Perazzolli) was from Mattarello, a suburb just south of Trento. Renata lives in San Francisco with her husband Don, whose family is from Lucca in Maria Masè was last in Giustino 50 years ago. “I felt like Heidi, gathering wild flowers from the sides of the road, eating strawberries and raspberries that grew everywhere, along with chocolate and bread, attending vespers in the evening at St. Lucia, then filling our pails with milk from the mountains. It was a long time ago, but the memories linger.”

Welcome Bruno, Renata and Maria to the Circolo Trentino di San Francisco!

BUON COMPLEANNO RAMONA

On April 21st Ramona Antonioni Krausnick turned 70. Tanti auguri! Her husband Mike Krausnick treated her to Terra Mia in Livermore, whose owners also operate the Mezzaluna Restaurant in Half Moon Bay. Mike, our club’s unofficial photographer along with Roger Ecker, hid birthday notes throughout the house for her to find. She also contacted via Skype her relatives in Trentino and became very emotional. One of them offered her a tissue via the monitor screen. The couple then headed to Hemet in Southern California to see “Ramona”, America’s longest running dramatic play.

Ramona’s father was from the Val di Rabbi, but her mother’s family was from a small
village in Abruzzo, Montenerodomo. Nancy Pelosi’s grandfather, Tommaso Fedele
D’Alessandro, was born in the same village in 1868. Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the US
House of Representatives. In September of last year, Mike and Ramona visited Washington, DC.

They asked their congressman, Eric Swalwell, whom they knew from his years on the Dublin City Council, if he could arrange a meeting with Congresswoman Pelosi. They were treated to a private tour of the Capitol, and then had a chance to chat with Minority Leader Pelosi about their common heritage. Upon departing, Pelosi gave them a warm embrace. As Ramona said, she was very “gracious”.