Grapevine: A Family Celebration
By Rosalyn Queen on October 15, 2013 from The Grapevine
This past week our family had a wonderful celebration when we all gathered for the wedding of my daughter Leslie and Dixon Pruitt. As I pondered over the many weddings our family has celebrated, I counted that in my immediate family I have about eight and then I add the nieces, nephews and cousins and it comes to quite a large number. But the one this weekend was just a little different.
Leslie chose to have a "country" setting and we all dressed casual and most had blue jeans and cowboy boots. Never the less it was still beautiful. She was married on the Lang farm in Quiet Dell and the ceremony took place in front of the barn where we all sat on hay bales. The reception included a lovely country theme dinner and dance with music by the John Angotti Band. Leslie wore an old fashion lace dress and cowboy boots and was one of the prettiest brides I have ever seen. What else would you expect coming from her proud mother?
There was probably 175 in attendance and they danced the night away and ended the celebration with a fireworks display. I welcome Dixon into our family and wish them a long and happy life together. Every member of our immediate family was able to attend including my sisters and brother from Florida. Just a little note; we still had home made frittis made by my sister Cathy and all those wonderful Italian cookies. You might take us out of Italy but you cannot take the Italian out of us.
October is Italian Culture and History Month. We will be observing Columbus Day and many cities will be having a Columbus Day Parade. Although there are not any close by you can still take a minute to observe this special day. If you were traveling to Italy you could attend many festivals this month which might be the Chestnut and Hazelnut Festival in Sardinia, the world Pasta Day in Verdi; the Chocolate Festival in Perugia; the Grape Festival in Bolzano; and there Mushroom Festival in Piemonte.
I think the mushroom festival has moved to my own back porch. I have had an abundance of mushrooms and Dave and I have spent countless hours cleaning them and preserving them. I canned them in sauce and peppers and have put them down in the crock. My main source of mushrooms this year is from John Barnett. But my childhood friend Junior Heater from East View stopped by with a nice selection of mushrooms from his farm. He also brought me a jar of fresh honey from his bees. I will use this honey for my pita piata this Christmas. We have been sharing our mushrooms, but most individuals do not want to take the time to clean them so I send them after they have been put in the jars.
October is also the month of the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) Gala in Washington D. C.. It will be held on October 26 and as usual promises to be a great and exciting event. I hope that I will get to attend at least one more time. Log on to www.niaf.orgfor more information.
This past week the Calabria West Virginia Italian Heritage Association met at FSU. We are continuing on our quest to sponsor scholarships for students who would like to study in Italy. For those who might want more information contact Dr. Judy Byers at FSU. I was so surprised to have the opportunity to speak with Joe Tropea. You might remember that he was celebrated as the Italian American Man of the Year by the Festival. He is doing some extensive research on the Monongah Mine Explosion and he encourages us to work on our ancestral tree. So much of our history is being lost and we need to record it immediately. I hope to be able to get in touch with Joe and will bring you more information about him and his work.
I apologize again and again to all my newspaper readers who are not able to get the Grapevine in the Clarksburg newspaper. There is hardly a day goes by that someone does not tell me how sad they are that they can no longer enjoy the column. Well, it's time that we all learn to "go on-line" since that’s where most of the news can be found these days. The Grapevine can be read on-line EVERY WEEK on Connect Clarksburg or Connect Bridgeport. It is also still available in The Shinnston News and Harrison County Journal. For those of you who like to read a newspaper, you might try contacting the Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram and voice your interest in getting the Grapevine back in the Extra insert published on weekends. Keep in touch. I love to hear from you.
A happy Birthday to my husband, Dave and to all you October birthday babies. Enjoy this beautiful month and until next week "Now You Have Heard It Through The Grapevine."
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