My sister Cathy, my brother Bill, and my daughter Lisa and their families are in Italy.  Their main purpose was to visit San Giovanni in Fiore to see the house that our father was born in.  The house is located at #97 Via Cucina and still is inhabited by the Oliverio family.  We feel that this family is related to us through our real grandfather Giovanni Oliverio, who was killed in the Monongah Mine explosion. They were thrilled to be able to see this house and to walk the streets where my father took his first steps.  He was born in this house in 1905 and left Italy for West Virginia in 1911.

 

Pietro Mazza served as their host while they were in San Giovanni and made sure they visited the church and other places of historical significance to my father.  Pietro was the perfect host and I got such wonderful reports from them as to how helpful he was. They were also able to visit with Francesco Fabiano and his wife, who are our relatives on the Burnett side.  When they left San Giovanni they traveled to Rome.

 

Early Sunday morning I got a call from Lisa and she wanted me to hear the Pope's blessing from St. Peters.  They will be there for another week or so visiting Tuscany, Venice and Florence.  The only complaint that they have is that the temperature hovers around 100 every day. This is the time of year when most of the Italians go to the ocean for relief.

 

Pietro and his wife Pasaqualina will be here this year for the Italian Festival.  They will be staying at the Best Western and I hope that any of you who might have questions or that might want to visit with them will contact them there. He is our best connection with San Giovanni.  If he has helped you in the past, you might consider making a donation to his little museum and office in San Giiovanni. We thank him for all he does for all of us San Giovanese.

 

A special birthday wish for Ron Fragale.  May he have many more in good health.

 

I hear people saying that the rain and weather has affected their gardens.  I do not see to much damage to ours and I am so enjoying the produce that we get almost every day. If you have room in your garden now is the time to plant some fall crops such as Swiss chard, cabbage cucumber and broccoli.  You should also be getting ready to can your peppers and tomatoes.  I cannot stress enough how great it is to get a mess of chard out of the freezer for that winter minestra.

 

I remind you every week of how fast summer is going by, and it is now August.  You still have a little time to plan a mini vacation before school starts.  End the summer by being a kid again.  Go to the playground and swing on the swings or if you fit, go down the sliding board. You will enjoy being a kid again and this just might start you on your physical activity for the fall.

 

August is National Sandwich Month and National Peach month.  Did you know in ancient times the Romans put meat and other food between pieces of bread.  They called this treat "offula". The word sandwich caught on when the Earl Of Sandwich began eating meat on bread during his card games so he would not have to leave the card game. Now you know the rest of the story.

 

Stay in touch. I love hearing from you all and until next week "Now You Have Heard It through the Grapevine."