A PUBLICATION OF THE ITALIAN CULTURAL SOCIETY Fall, 2019 VOLUME 21 ISSUE 2 Messaggio del Presidente Gentili membri di ICS, Bentornati a tutti! Ai nostri nuovi membri, The South Macro Region of Italy benvenuti a un’esperienza tutta italiana di arte, letteratura, cinema, musica, cucina, lingua, storia e amicizia. Il nostro obiettivo è di darvi l’opportunità di apprendere e godere della cultura italiana tramite una serie di attività (elencate per tutto questo notiziario) che quest’anno si concentrano sulle sei regioni del “Macro Regione Sud” mostrato sulla cartina a sinistra. Nel cominciare il mio ultimo anno come Presidente, vorrei riconoscere la mia omissione di ringraziamento, durante il Pranzo dell’arrivederci in aprile, ai nostri professori d’italiano e la loro Direttrice, Donna Lenzi, che senza sosta continua a dare del suo proprio tempo e talento a ICS. Il Abruzzo is the northernmost region of nostro programma è ottimo grazie al suo the six regions that make up Italy’s South impegno. Grazie Donna e professori. Tom Caione Macro area, often described as, the leg è un altro membro che dietro le scene continua a and boot. To the east, Abruzzo borders on the Adriatic Sea as does Molise, its essere una parte integrale degli eventi di ICS. southern neighbor, followed below by Puglia, which forms the heel of Italy and Questa è la buona occasione per ricordare a tutti is bordered by both the Adriatic and the che ICS funziona bene grazie al volontariato. Ogni Ionian Seas. To the west of Puglia are the anno, sul modulo di adesione vi chiediamo di regions of Campania and below it, elencare i settori dove potreste aiutarci a Basilicata (the ankle), whose western continuare il buon lavoro. Mandate pure una border for both is the Tyrrhenian Sea. email a me o a qualsiasi membro del Consiglio per South of Basilicata, the foot of Italy’s discutere come donarci un po’ del vostro tempo. boot, is the region of Calabria as you can La scadenza per far sì che la vostra informazione see from the map above. personale venga stampata sul Membership During the period 1890-1920, some 10 Directory è il 15 settembre. Vi prego di non million Italians, mostly from these dimenticare che il Pranzo della festa di Colombo regions (and Sicily) emigrated from Italy viene pagato separatamente, looking for work and a better life. Many non facendo parte dell’opzione settled in the United States and were our del Gold e Silver Pass, i quali forebears. It is not uncommon even today anche loro sono disponibili per to hear Italian-Americans speaking the l’acquisto fino al 15 settembre. dialect of their parents’ and grandparents’ La compera dei biglietti per gli region and not toscano, which has been eventi singoli iniziano allora. the standard Italian language since the Unification of 1861. We all know a few Ci saranno dieci eventi words in dialect, don’t we? quest’anno: sei Pranzi (quattro Cont. on page 3 Cont. on page 2 Messaggio del Presidente cont. from page 1 con conferenze), due Ricevimenti pomeridiani di musica con stuzzichini e prosecco, e due Cene: Cena Natalizia e quest’anno, una Cena Rustica per la quale vi chiediamo di venire con abbigliamento popolano e di partecipare nell’atmosfera di divertimento, incluso musica dalle sei regioni, e anche una tarantella o due. Come sapete, durante l’anno i temi delle conferenze, della musica e dei pasti che offriamo rappresentano le regioni di concentrazione (aspettatevi dunque salsa al pomodoro). Abbiamo adesso un modo per i membri di ricevere informazione sul sito web sui film e sulle attività di Amicizia. Andate sulla scheda “Events Calendar”. Vi troverete adesso due tasti, uno per i Film, l’altro per il programma Amicizia. L’anno promette di essere entusiasmante e soddisfacente. Unitevi a noi. Benvenuti! Dr. Joseph Crivelli Presidente President’s Message Greetings, To all our members, welcome back! To our brand new members, we especially welcome you to an Italian cultural experience of art, literature, movies, music, cuisine, language, history and good companionship. Our intent is for you to learn and enjoy Italian culture through a mix of activities (enumerated throughout this Newsletter) which, this year, concentrate on the six regions of Macro South Italy shown on the map on page 1. As I begin my final year as your President, I want to acknowledge my omission of thanks at our Farewell Luncheon in April to our teachers of Italian and their Director, Donna Lenzi, who has joyfully and unceasingly given of her time and talents to ICS. Our program is excellent because of her work. Thank you, professori and thank you Donna. Tom Caione is another person who is and has been an integral part of ICS goings-on, behind the scenes. Thank you, Tom. This is a good time to remind everyone that ICS functions because of its volunteers. Each year, on your membership application, we ask you to list any area where you might help continue the good work of ICS. Feel free to email me or any Board member to talk about giving a bit of your time. The deadline for having your personal information printed in our Membership Directory is September 15th. Please do not forget that the Columbus Day Luncheon is paid for separately and is not part of our Gold and Silver Pass options. The options are on sale until September 15th as well. Member purchases for individual Events begin then. We will have ten Events this year: six Luncheons (four lecture-luncheons), two afternoon musical Receptions with finger food and prosecco, and two evening Dinners: the Christmas Dinner and, this year, a Cena Rustica, where we ask that you come in peasant attire and participate in the ambience and fun, including music from all six regions and even a tarantella or two. As you know, during the year the subject matter of the lectures, the music, and the meals we offer are representative of the regions we study (expect tomato sauce). We now have a way for ICS members to receive information on our website about our Movies schedule and our Amicizia activities. Go to the “Events Calendar” tab. You will now see on the right side two buttons: one for the Movies schedule, and one for the Amicizia schedule. Our year promises to be an exciting and fulfilling one. Come join us. Welcome! Dr. Joseph Crivelli President (My thanks to Dr. Grace Mannino for the Italian version) 2 Macro region cont. from page 1 Looking at the map you see that Abruzzo is in central Italy, but “in terms of its culture, language, history and economy,” it is considered a region of Southern Italy with beaches to the east and, on the west, the Apennine mountain range. Historically, Abruzzo was associated with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Its motto, which aptly describes both its physical beauty and the character of its people, is “forte e gentile.” In the Middle Ages, the popes and their army dominated the region, followed by the Normans, Spain and then, the Bourbon Dynasty. From a very poor region, Abruzzo, in recent times, has become the richest region in Il Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy), growing to about 80% of Northern Italy’s per capita income. Major cities include Pescara, Teramo, Chieti and L’Aquila, the capital. Montepulciano and Trebbiano are two world class wines. One can travel on the now famous Highway A14 (Bologna-Taranto), known as the “Adriatica,” a wonderful road that runs through the coastal towns of Emilia Romagna, Marche, Abruzzo, Molise and Apulia. With these six southern regions, tomato sauce is a staple with each region’s individual pasta. The Abruzzesi prefer spaghetti and spaghettoni (alla chitarra) and gnocchi. They have soups, lamb, pork and many fish offerings on their menus, and desserts include ricotta, mozzarella, pizzelle and anise- flavored cakes. Are you reminded of your own family’s cuisine? After Aosta Valley, Molise is the second smallest region in Italy, just south of Abruzzo from which a part separated in 1963. Its capital is Campobasso of the same-named province. The other province is Isernia. Very much like Abruzzo, Molise is mountainous with some 20 miles of beachfront/ coastline on the Adriatic. Pescara Airport in Abruzzo connects with Highway A14 and is not far for tourists visiting Molise, a region of small farms and food processing businesses. Its only manufacturing comes from a Fiat plant in Termoli. Because of the lack of any other work, degreed and over-qualified young people fled the region in a large-scale emigration between 1950 and 1970. There are many museums and archeological sites as well as music festivals and church functions to see. Two ethnic minorities living in the region are from Croatia and Albania. If you take the A14 south past Molise, you will be traveling through Puglia (also known as Apulia) with its capital of Bari, along the longest coastline of any Italian region until you reach Italy’s heel and the town of Salento. Along the way, you can go inland to the town of Alberobello with its trulli houses. On the west Puglia is bounded by the regions of Campania and Basilicata. Puglia’s southern border juts into the Adriatic Sea. at the heel and, going west, the Ionian Sea. Unlike the other regions, Puglia has many industries, though limited. Besides olives and agriculture, they include aerospace, automotives, food and beverage, furniture, mechanics, publishing and footwear. The region has two airports: one in Bari and the other in Brindisi. Unfortunately, these industries are not sufficient enough to support the area’s workforce.