Sicilians Bring Hard Work, a Rich History, and Talents to Rockford
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Funded by the Greater Rockford Italian American Association - GRIAA Spring 2012 P.O. Box 1915 • Rockford, Illinois 61110-0415 SICILY~SICILIA! (Continued from last issue) Sicilians bring hard work, alterations for Marshall Field’s for two years and then for Weise’s (now Bergner’s) for another 18 years. a rich history, and talents Phil and Nina both came from large families and had to Rockford four children of their own. Just five years after moving to American, they became U.S. citizens. Their family By Peggy Sagona Werner has now grown to include nine grandchildren. Three sons live in the Rockford area, and their only daughter Sicily is a country rich with natural beauty, history, cul- lives in Antioch, IL. ture, tradition, agriculture, and a character that is intrin- As much as they had embraced Rockford as their sically tied to its people, who are known for their warm home, the couple never forgot their roots and wanted and engaging ways, hard work and indomitable spirit. their children to be well aware of the places and people Many people made their way from Sicily to Rockford, where it all began. The family traveled to Sicily often. IL, decades ago and impacted the city with their talents “We wanted our children to see their grandparents and and strength of character. Two of those couples still live other relatives. We wanted them to know about the in Rockford, have made their mark, and have fond people we talked about all of the time. Now, with fami- memories and strong ties to their homeland. lies of their own, some of the children continue the tra- Phil and Nina Foti came from Sambuca di Sicilia to dition of travel to Italy to see relatives who still live America in the spring of 1960. They had been child- there,” Nina said. hood friends and lived within blocks of one another. Each time the Foti family would travel to Italy, they When they were engaged to be married, a Sicilian made several stops before settling down in Sambuca friend working in Rockford called and offered Phil a job. for a couple weeks. Once in Sambuca, they knew they The call to work in America hastened their marriage wouldn’t be going far, immersed in Italian hospitality, plans. surrounded by family and friends. Phil was offered a job as a woodworker at Weiman Family members gathered to reunite and share sto- Company on Eleventh ries of the past and present. Friends would come and Street in Rockford. The go as everyone talked, laughed, told stories, and feast- successful furniture manu- ed on food and drink. The close connections are what facturer was one of many it’s all about. along “furniture row” that “There is closeness among people over there. You gave Rockford the distinc- open your door, and your neighbor comes out to ask tion of being the second you about your largest furniture manufac- day. That doesn’t turing center in the coun- happen here,” try. Weiman’s, however, Phil said. was unique in that it was When Diego the first furniture-making Tarara came to business started by a Rockford from group of non-Swedish Aragona, Sicily, in men. Hand carved table by Phil Foti 1958, he didn’t Eventually, the business speak much moved from Rockford to English, but he North Carolina. The Fotis choose to stay behind, knew how to because they had just started a family and were calling Diego in field work. Rockford “home.” His great work ethic shortly paid off, when Anthony It wasn’t long, though, before Phil was back to work. Stacionis, the owner of AA Construction Company, He met another friend through the Sons of Italy, who offered Diego a co-ownership because he liked his was retiring from what is now Commonwealth Edison. work and didn’t want to lose him. That vacancy created a spot for Phil and he worked at Diego’s met his wife, Antoinette, through an uncle Commonwealth Edison until his retirement in 1993. who introduced them. She was also from Aragona, but Nina’s skills had her working with her hands, too. She grew up in Beloit, WI. They met in 1967 and were mar- had learned at an early age to crochet and sew and ried two years later. The couple had four children; was making all of her own clothes by the time she was 17. After raising her family, she went to work doing continued on next page Pappagallo ’12 Pappagallo ’12 continued from page 1 three sons who still live in the Rockford area and are all thing never changes. business owners and a daughter who lives in Nashville, “Family is all we care about. The world outside can be TN. falling apart, but all that matters is what is going on within Barely teenagers, Diego would have his children tag a family,” Diego said. along with him to work once in awhile, to get an idea of what it takes to make a living. “I wanted them to know where a dollar came from and I wanted them to have a good work ethic,” Diego said. Diego, the fourth of eight children, was the son of a sharecropper and landowner, so he grew up understanding the meaning of hard work and daily chores. “We were poor, but we were never hungry. We might not have had money in our pocket or in the bank, but we always had food. Farmers never went hungry,” he said. Taganu, a must for Easter dinner And they would barter with other farmers for fruits and meats. Antoinette’s Tarara Taganu In retirement, he works just as hard. He still goes to work and at home can repair or create just about anything. 1 lb. large rigatoni He loves to cook and has made his own wine, bread, 1½ lb. thinly sliced Tuma cheese spaghetti sauce, cheese, prosciutto, and more. He loves to 1½ dozen large eggs garden and grows a lot of the ingredients he uses in cook- 1 lb. grated Romano cheese ing. 1 c. chopped fresh Italian parsley “It’s incredible the things he does. He has so many hob- 1 tsp. freshly ground pepper bies and is always doing something. He is constantly on 1 tsp. salt the go. Everyone marvels at what he does, but that’s 1 tsp. cinnamon because he’s not doing it in their kitchen. I am proud of 1 tsp. saffron (powder) him, as long as he cleans up his mess,” Antoinette said. “Most people don’t understand why he does what he does Blanch rigatoni in salted boiling water for about 2 min- and they get a big kick out of him. He is a very unusual utes. After straining, rinse with cold water, and spread individual. But I can tell you one thing for sure, he gives pasta out to cool. In a large bowl, mix eggs, cheese, black away more than he uses. No one leaves our house empty- pepper, salt, cinnamon, and saffron. Mix with an electric handed,” she added. hand mixer for 2 minutes or until well blended. Add pars- Although most of the family immigrated from Sicily to ley and stir with a wooden spoon. Blend in the cooled America in the 1950s and 60s, there are still many nieces, rigatoni into the egg mixture. Stir. Mixture will be placed nephews and cousins who live in the hometown area. For into a 4-quart large baking dish. (I use the insert of my that reason, the Tararas have been back to visit many crock-pot in fact, Taganu, means baked in a clay pot.) times. Grease the large baking dish with butter or non-stick oil Italian roots grow deep. spray. Start to layer the egg/rigatoni mixture when layer- “Even though we have been here for 50 years, I never ing, alternate pasta and Tuma cheese. The last layer is feel far away. We are always in touch by letter and phone. finished with the remainder of the egg mixture. There is never enough time to spend with family and Bake at 400 degrees for about 1½ hours. To insure that friends,” Diego said. the Taganu is cooked, insert a long knife in the center of They have returned to the dish and pull out, if knife is clean and not wet it is Italy about eight times, done. the last time being in the Let cool and enjoy! spring of 2010. They especially love Easter in Taganu Tid Bits: Sicily and have been there three times for the • Sometimes we use a Bundt cake dish for a little variety. traditional Easter proces- • Some people use meat and chicken broth but my mother sional that lasts a whole always said, “ That’s not the way we did it!” In Aragona, week and is a reenact- they did not have a lot of meat to waste on the Taganu. ment of the story of Meat was a luxury. Sometimes broth was added if we Christ’s journey to the were running short on eggs. Remember, the people of cross and the Aragona, started to save eggs for their Easter Taganu, Resurrection. sometime around January. “Easter is a most fasci- • Back in Aragona, people would also line their clay pots with day old bread to prevent the Taganu from sticking to nating time in Italy,” they Easter procession in Aragona said. the bottom of the pan. Thank goodness, for non stick pans Respect and commitment toward family is deeply ingrained of today! in the Sicilian culture.