2021, New members:

John Zanoni

Last year we sent out an appeal for 2 new board members and for 2 youth board members. John Zanoni has stepped up to fill one of the positions. All four of John’s grandparents came from Trentino, Zanoni, Franch and Flor from Cloz in the Val di Non and Panizza from Vermiglio in the Val di Sole. His parents, Bob and Ruby (Franch) Zanoni, are longtime club members. Bob was the club’s Central Valley Representative for years and was instrumental in putting on the Stockton holiday celebration. John and his wife Sarah were both born and raised in Stockton and both attended Sacramento State. John recently retired after working 40 years as an accountant, serving the construction and real estate industries. The couple lived for 30 years in Las Vegas, but now they spend most of their time at their second residence in Reno to be closer to parents and family. John and Sara have 4 kids and 4 grandchildren. Two of their kids participated in the Trentino youth exchange program, Amanda in 2004 and Connor in 2012. John stated: “I’m joining the board to stay connected with other Trentini,
expand my knowledge of heritage and relationship with others in the club, and help recruit other Trentini and youth to join and be involved
“.

2019, New members:

Sara Merzi

September of 2019 club president, Giuseppina Piasente Alvarez, hosted our annual picnic at her home in Sonoma. We had two surprise visitors, the Trentina Sara Merzi, accompanied by her partner Stefano Santo Sabato from the heel of Italy, Lecce, Puglia. Sara was born and raised in Trentino. Her father Bruno was from the city of Trento. Her mother Luisa and maternal grandparents, Roberto Viola and Silvia Tait, were from Mezzocorona. Stefano founded Mediasoft, a software company with headquarters in Puglia, Rome and Verona. He and Sara then created a branch of the company in San Francisco, a start-up called Fyberloom, “weaving fragmented data into integrated knowledge.” Sara has been senior vice-president of Mediasoft since 2017. Previously she worked in China and Mexico. She was an active member of the Trentino Club of Mexico City.

New club member Sara Merzi, 2nd from the right; also from the left, Dario Zuech, Dan Aspromonte, Gemma Angeli Zueck and Marjorie Zuech

Agricultural Woman of the Year

Ag Against Hunger chose Silvia (Torresani) Prevedelli as the 2019 Agricultural Woman of the Year for Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties. Silvia was born and raised in Cloz, Val di Non. She immigrated in 1966 to work alongside her husband Frank at Prevedelli Farms in Watsonville, California. Frank’s parents, Arturo Prevedel and Errina Menghini, immigrated from Brez, Val di Non. The Val di Non is well-known throughout Europe for its delicious apples, namely the Melinda brand. The Prevedelli family produces 36 varieties of organic apples. They sell their apples along with an assortment of other fruits, vegetables, homemade jams, etc. at more than 10 farmers markets in the Bay Area and beyond.

Silvia at the Prevedelli Farms in Watsonville

Web site: https://www.prevedelli.com

Spring get-together 2018

For this year Spring get-together we met at a new venue Zio Fraedo Restaurant on the Vallejo waterfront. Board member Maria Mortati gave a captivating presentation on the world-renown knife sharpeners of the Val Rendena. Maria’s maternal grandparents, Polli and Bassi, were from Giustino in the Val Rendena. Maria is a museum curator, and as part of a research project, she created an exhibit on knife sharpening.

At Zio Fraedo. On the right, Greg McGarry, our participant in the 2017 Trentino youth exchange, meets Rosie Disney, our 2018 participant; on the left, Luca Dorigatti, board member and the Western US representative to the Trentini nel Mondo Association

Maria Mortati’s exhibit on knife sharpening from the Val Rendena

Passages 2017, Remembering those we lost.

Robert Leo “Buck” Frank (1938-2017)

Laurel Frank informed us that her father, club member Robert Leo “Buck” Frank, passed away September 29, 2017 in Santa Cruz. Buck’s paternal grandparents, Corrado Franch and Maria Gembrini, were from Cloz in the Val di Non. His grandmother’s brother was the well-known Scalabrinian of Merano, Father Modesto Gembrini. Buck worked as an operating engineer and ran the Frank Christmas Tree Farm started by his parents in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Romeo Zuech (1938-2017)

Romeo Zuech passed away in San Luis Obispo on July 20, 2017. He was born and raised in Brez, Val di Non. He had an illustrious career in aerospace, creating various alloys, including those used on the first lunar landing. Coincidentally, the day he passed away, July 20th, was also the date of the first moon landing. His fascinating life story has been chronicled in several Trentino publications. On the day he passed away, the church bells in Brez rang several times in his honor.
Upon retiring from aerospace, Romeo launched a new career in winemaking. He founded Piedra Creek Winery in San Luis Obispo, with the Trentino eagle embedded in the logo. His signature wine, San Floriano, is named after the patron saint of Brez. The dominant grape in this wine is Lagrein, a typical varietal of Trentino-Alto Adige. The winery is now managed by Romeo’s wife, Margaret, and their grandson, T.J. As a final note, Romeo had a passion for soups. He compiled a bilingual booklet of recipes in English and Nones, the dialect of the Val di Non. Over the years we have published some of these traditional recipes from the Val di Non.

Lucia Morandini Hotmire (1942-2017)

Lucia Morandini Hotmire passed away on March 31, 2017. She was from Tezze di Grigno in the Valsugana. She met and married US Army Major David Hotmire in Vicenza. Lucia was an avid scholar of literature at the Monterey Institute for International Studies and the University of California Santa Cruz. After her husband passed away, she met and formed a life with fellow Trentino club member, Oliviero “Vero” Oliveri, originally from Roncone in the Val di Chiese. They spent 25 cherished years together.

Minnie Franceschetti Laugero (1916 – 2017)

Minnie was born in Santa Cruz. She moved to Escalon as small children, and there she remained. Angelo Franceschetti, Minnie’s father, and Raffaele Franceschetti were brothers from Cologna, now a district of Pieve di Bono. Minnie worked for Escalon Packers and Escalon Premier Brands (Heinz) for 65 years, retiring at the age of 94!

Natalie Franceschetti Morino (1917 – 2017)

Natalie was also born in Santa Cruz and she moved to Escalon as small children, and there she remained. Raffaele Franceschetti was Natalie and Sketti’s father, and was the brother of Angelo Franceschetti (Minnie’s dad). Natalie and Sketti’s mother, Antonietta Nicolini was from Daone, also in Trentino.
Natalie worked for the Escalon State Bank prior to WWII and then for the Escalon School District.

Giuseppe “Bepi” Dorigatti

Board member Luca Dorigatti lost his father, Giuseppe “Bepi”, August of 2017. He was 81. From 1996 to 2014 Luca’s father was the head of referees for the Italian Federation of Winter Sports in Trentino. He began refereeing athletic events in 1967. The safety of athletes was of paramount importance to him. He loved all sports, and from 1961 to 1991 was a volleyball referee. He was described in the newspaper as someone who was charismatic and generous, with a great passion for his work. He had to be exceptionally organized to manage on weekends over 100 referees in 10 different sport activities. At his funeral the church overflowed with attendees. As Luca said, “it was touching to know how many people were close to him and benefitted from his presence and friendship. I was lucky to have such a fantastic man in my life.”

Pat McFadden

Club member Linda McFadden’s father, Pat McFadden, passed away August of 2017 in Rock Springs, Wyoming at the age of 88. He worked at F.B. McFadden Wholesale for over 75 years, a bulk food supplier. He was married to the Trentina, Reka Santini. Many Trentini immigrants settled in Rock Springs, primarily to work in mining. Linda’s maternal grandfather worked as a coal miner in Rock Springs. He was from Pavillo in the municipality of Tassullo, Val di Non. Linda’s maternal grandmother was a Floretta from Cloz, also in the Val di Non.

Vivian Gennai

Vivian Gennai, a native San Franciscan and retired pharmacist, passed away March of 2017 at the age of 97. Daughter Janet and son-in-law Lino Rizzi are club members. Lino, a native of Cloz, Val di Non, is our club’s vice-president.

Antonietta Floriani in Zentile

Founding club member Laura Floriani Vitlacil lost the last of her sisters in Trentino, Antonietta Floriani in Zentile.