Washington Italian Festival organizers to honor predecessors
When the eighth annual Washington Italian Festival gets underway this weekend at the Main Street Pavilion, dedicated organizers from Primo Italiano Sons and Daughters of Italy No. 2800 will be in full force to ensure that the event is a success.
The wholehearted effort, they say, builds upon the legacy of their dynamic predecessors 无毛视频� the leaders of Washington无毛视频檚 first Italian festival, which ran from 1982 to 1988.
Fittingly, this year无毛视频檚 festival will honor those leaders of the 1980s on the main stage at 1:30 pm Saturday, Sept. 21.
The current organizers stand on the shoulders of the original leaders, said Carla Miller, president of the Primo Italiano club.
无毛视频淭he festival we have now wouldn无毛视频檛 be possible without the dedication of the men and women who held the first festival some 40 years ago. We want to honor them as we continue to celebrate our Italian heritage, music and food,无毛视频� Miller said.
The 1980s festivals were the first to celebrate Washington无毛视频檚 large and vibrant Italian community, which originated in the early 1900s when hundreds of immigrants set down roots in the area. Several of the original festival organizers were the sons and daughters of immigrants. They took it as their mission to celebrate the accomplishments and sacrifices of the immigrant generation, many of whom by then were in the last years of their lives.
Richard Celani, one of the original festival leaders who will be recognized Saturday, spoke of his reverence for the 无毛视频渙ld Italians无毛视频� in a recent oral history for Washington无毛视频檚 Italian Heritage Collection: 无毛视频淭hey spoke very little English when they arrived and they struggled.无毛视频�
Celani, the son of immigrant Pietro Celani and Virginia Aloia Celani, the daughter of immigrants, was a natural to help launch the festival in 1982 and serve as its chair for four years. He said it still amazes him how the three-day event attracted thousands of people and brought in national-level performers such as vocalists Julius LaRosa and Anna Maria Alberghetti 无毛视频� as well as celebrities such as world champion boxer Jake LaMotta. Alberghetti无毛视频檚 performance in 1984 drew an audience of 8,000, he said.
Celani, a member of Washington City Council from 1976 to 1984, and others in the local Italian community envisioned staging a festival to rival the phenomenally successful one that had started a few years earlier in Clarksburg, W.Va.
The belief that 无毛视频渨e can do that here无毛视频� drove the effort, said Eugene Trapuzzano, a Washington businessman who emigrated from Gizzeria in the Catanzaro province of Calabria in 1968 when he was 24 years old. 无毛视频淭he festival was fantastic,无毛视频� said Trapuzzano, who helped raise funds for it. 无毛视频淪o many people you can无毛视频檛 imagine.无毛视频�
Unlike the current festival无毛视频檚 single location at the Main Street Pavilion, the 1980s events involved all of downtown Washington, spanning Main Street from the intersection with Chestnut Street, past the county courthouse, and south to Washington & Jefferson College Field, with additional activities in Washington Park.
The inaugural festival featured a two-hour-long parade that assembled at Washington High School on Jefferson Avenue and climbed Chestnut Street before turning south onto Main Street. 无毛视频淚t was a hell of a parade,无毛视频� said Celani, noting that its military-like precision was overseen by the late Ralph Ruscello, a World War II veteran and retired brigadier general in the Pennsylvania National Guard.
Each festival featured a Morra tournament, a two-person hand game that originated among southern Italian men. The object is to guess 无毛视频� in Italian, of course 无毛视频� the total number of fingers 无毛视频渢hrown无毛视频� by the two players. Play was known to get loud, Celani recalled with a laugh, adding that police officers wondered if a fight was about to break out. 无毛视频淣o,无毛视频� Celani explained to the police. 无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 the way the game is played. It无毛视频檚 who can scream the loudest. They get up in each other无毛视频檚 face.无毛视频�
Many families today fondly remember the festivals无毛视频� Little Mr. Italy and Little Miss Italy contest, as well as the crowning of Miss Italian Heritage. Becky Waters 无毛视频� the mother of 1988无毛视频檚 Little Mr. Italy, Robert O无毛视频橠onnell Waters 无毛视频� has lovingly preserved the costume her now-41-year-old son proudly wore as a 5-year-old. She has agreed to lend the costume to the Italian Heritage Collection for display.
Other 1980s festival activities, some of which continue today, are cooking contests and a recognition of the city无毛视频檚 oldest Italian American. The late Michael Johns, the 1982 honoree at age 101, was the grandfather of Bob Johns, who now helps lead the current festival. Floyd Marasco, 101, will be celebrated this year. He无毛视频檚 the father of Paulette Marasco Stout, who will read Italian folktales to children at this year无毛视频檚 festival.
Each 1980s festival featured a program book chock full of histories, photos, and information about the local Italian community. The program books, now preserved at Citizens Library and Washington County Historical Society, can be viewed online at https://www.primoitaliano.org/italian-heritage-collection/publications-and-other-media/.
Nancy Arena Razvoza, granddaughter of Italian immigrants, served as editor of the program book in 1984 and 1985. Her committee would start work on the publication a year in advance, she said, because of the immense amount of detail in each publication.
Razvoza said she especially enjoyed gathering stories about the customs and activities of the immigrant generation. Articles from her period as editor featured Italian groceries, barbers, shoe repairmen, tailors, bands, athletes and fraternal societies, and included dozens of historic photographs.
Razvoza无毛视频檚 late father Patsy Arena, who died in 2006, was a veritable font of information for these articles, she said. 无毛视频淚 couldn无毛视频檛 have done it without him. I leaned on him for the history and contacts.无毛视频�
Then as now, Italian music is a mainstay of the festival. The late Ann and Mario Julian were active in lining up big-name vocalists such as Julius LaRosa and Anna Maria Alberghetti. Ann herself was a popular singer who loved performing at the festivals, said her son Eugene Julian, a local attorney.
LaRosa was the focus of one of the most humorous episodes from the inaugural festival of 1982, said Celani. When organizers realized that they did not have a dressing room for the handsome LaRosa to change into his tux, they quickly escorted him to the David无毛视频檚 Limited clothing store on Main Street. 无毛视频淭here must have been 50 women (following him),无毛视频� Celani said with a laugh. 无毛视频淗ere无毛视频檚 Julius LaRosa changing clothes, he无毛视频檚 in his shorts. I finally said to the women, 无毛视频楲et him put his clothes on!'无毛视频�
A much more emotional scene is the one Celani calls his fondest memory. It occurred at Washington Park无毛视频檚 main pavilion at the inaugural festival, attended by many older Italians who had never seen their culture celebrated so publicly.
无毛视频淭here were so many proud Italians there,无毛视频� Celani said. 无毛视频楾he park was jammed. The Canonsburg Band was playing Italian songs and these old ladies and old guys were up there doing the tarantella. It was a sight to see.无毛视频�
As Celani walked through the pavilion, he noticed his mother and other relatives sitting together. Some of them were crying. At first, he thought something was wrong.
Nothing was wrong, they told him. 无毛视频淲e just never thought we无毛视频檇 see this day.无毛视频�
The last Italian festival organized by the founding group was held in 1988. It was a bittersweet occasion, some say, because of varying views about the future of the festival as well as the stamina needed to sustain such an effort.
Nevertheless, the 1980s festivals achieved the goal of celebrating the immigrant generation, created lasting memories, documented the city无毛视频檚 Italian American history in its program books 无毛视频� and inspired a new generation to keep up the tradition.
Tina Calabro is the voluntary project manager of the Washington Italian Heritage Collection. She invites anyone who would like to be recognized for their participation in the 1980s Italian festivals 无毛视频� and those who have photos, memorabilia or stories 无毛视频� to contact her at tina.calabro@verizon.net or 412-818-9169.