Father Alberto Mengon was ordained a priest 50 years ago as a member of the Salesians of Don Bosco. Father Mengon was born and raised in Piazzola, Val di Rabbi. He is currently pastor at Saints Peter & Paul Church in North Beach, but before that, he worked at schools and parishes in Watsonville and Richmond, California and in Sierra Leone, Africa. In March he travelled to Sierra Leone to celebrate this milestone with his former colleagues and friends.

At the end of August, he will travel to his native Val di Rabbi for another celebration. Father Mengon, congratulations on reaching this milestone and thank you for your years of service!

This was the title of an article published November 3rd of last year by the L’Italo- Americano newspaper based in Los Angeles. The author was club member Bianca Friundi, who works at the Museo Italo-Americano in San Francisco and writes occasionally for the newspaper.

Bianca grew up in Milan, but her mother hails from Pergine Valsugana. Luca is one of our board members and is the US representative to both the Province of Trentino (“consultore”) and the Trentini nel Mondo Association (“coordinatore”). In the article Luca talks about the history and composition of our club, our goals, and the fact that we just celebrated our 35th anniversary. On a more personal level, he recounts his move to California 25 years ago and his friendship with Father Efrem Trettel.

A big thank you to both Luca and Bianca for being such wonderful club ambassadors!

To read the article please go to:
http://www.italoamericano.org/story/2015-11-30/luca-dorigatti

Rosemary Marcellin, nee Rauzi, passed away on January 13th at the age of 86 in Ripon, near her birthplace of Stockton. As a child Rosemary spent six months in her father’s hometown of Cloz in the Val di Non. She was preceded in death by her husband of 68 years, George Marcellin. She was an avid golfer and engaged in many charities. We send our condolences to her older brother Frank Rauzi and the entire family.

Flora Rosek nee Rizzi passed away in Stockton on July 20th at the age of 86. She was originally from Superior and Rock Springs, Wyoming, where many Trentini settled to work in the mines. In fact, the Circolo Trentino of Wyoming is located in Rock Springs. We send our deepest condolences to her family.

Jim Boin’s partner, David Tureaud, passed away from an apparent heart attack. David was a mere 50 years old. David enjoyed attending our Circolo Trentino events and was very accepting of Jim’s passion for all things Trentino and Italian.  He was also a friend of the Circolo’s Facebook page. Our deepest condolences to Jim.

Last July our club was featured in a 2-page article in the Trentini nel Mondo magazine, which included various photos from the past and from our 35th anniversary cruise on the Bay.

Click here to access the July issue, and then click forward to the article. In the same issue you will also find a photo of the 19 world representatives (“coordinatori”) to the Trentini nel Mondo Association, including USA’s Luca Dorigatti.

Every summer the Province of Trentino organizes a youth exchange program.

Unfortunately, our club has not had a participant in the last couple of years. Emily Kalstad of the Seattle Club took advantage of this program last summer and spent time with the Schwarz family of Smarano in the Val di Non.

Then, 26-year-old Giulia Schwarz spent time with the Kalstad family in Seattle. Giulia’s mother is a member of the Menapace/Pilati family from Tassullo and related to our club members Linda, Valerie, and David Pizzorno.

Giulia came to California to do some sightseeing and to visit her relatives. Several members of our club hosted and assisted her: Dan Aspromonte and his son Daniel, Lino and Janet Rizzi, Michael Job and Heidi Vitlacil. Dan Aspromonte even discovered that his cousin and Giulia’s father attended high school together in Cles and were the best of friends. It’s certainly a small world!

During the summer of 2012, the video documentarian Vincenzo Mancuso interviewed around 20 members of our club. Due to the constraints of time, snippets from only a handful of those interviews were used in the documentary. Included were club members Silvia Torresani Prevedelli, Gemma Angeli Zueck, Vero Oliveri, Ralph Yob, our president Giuseppina Piasente Alvarez, our treasurer Laura Floriani Vitlacil, and of course, Father Efrem Trettel.

Vincenzo produced documentaries on several Trentini clubs in the US under the auspices
of the Trentino Historical Museum Foundation. For years Father Efrem produced radio and
television broadcasts for the Italian community of the Bay Area. Father Efrem donated his some of that material appears in the documentary.

Here it is possible to see the documentary about the SF area. Enjoy!!

Club officer Luca Dorigatti spent few weeks vacationing in Italy this summer with his family. During a visit to the Trentini nel Mondo office, he was asked to speak about our 35th anniversary cruise on the Bay. To listen to the 5-minute interview on Radio Italia 60, click here.

Luca also spoke about our club’s history, mentioning in particular the pivotal roles played by Father Efrem Trettel, our president Giuseppina, and Dr. Bruno Fronza. Luca  joined the club soon after he arrived in  California 24 years ago. He became good  friends with Father Trettel, who officiated at his wedding and baptized his children.

Maurizio Tomasi, editor of the Trentini nel Mondo magazine, conducted the interview.
There is a special treat at the end of the interview when Luca’s daughter Eryka and son Nicolas greet the radio audience.

The Trentini nel Mondo Association regularly broadcasts news, interviews, etc. on
Radio Italia 60. A link is located on the right side of the Association’s homepage: trentininelmondo.it.

For 3 weeks in June, 17 high school students from Liceo Bertrand Russell of Cles in the Val di Non visited San Francisco. This was not your typical sightseeing adventure. This group came to  volunteer in the community. They assisted the homeless at Glide Memorial Church, supported  recycling efforts at Recology and SCRAP, and lent a hand at  Alemany Farms, a community garden project. Michael Job, our club’s “ambassador” in San Francisco, assisted the group in finding lodging and volunteer opportunities. He shared some chocolates with them just prior to their departure along with a note on behalf of our club:
Circolo Trentino di San Francisco would like to thank you for coming to San Francisco and leaving your hearts here, working with our homeless at Glide and helping to beautify Buena Vista Park. Your journey has been a true labor of love. Grazie mille! Keep peace in your hearts. A big thank you to Michael, and of course, a big thank you to the students and teachers  from Cles

The Seattle Trentino Club is the newest of the 21 that exist in the US. It was founded less than 10 years ago, primarily by descendants from the town of Revò in the Val di Non. They are a very active group, and this summer they sent to Trentino one of the five Americans that participated in the youth exchange program. Her name is Emily Kalstad, and the family is from Dambel in the Val di Non. Next year the group hopes to host the Coro (Chorus) San Romedio of the Val di Non. Perhaps we can convince the group to come to California as well!

To follow the Seattle Trentino Club, we invite you to join them on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/seattletrentinoclub/.