MICHAEL NANNA REMEMBERS SANTA CRUZ - 2ND EDITION WITH PHOTOS

Ivano:
I've included a 'new' revised text below. In addition I've attached three pictures I would apprecaite that you would post on the same blog two of my grandfather Herman and one of my geat grandfather Gustavo. Two of the pictures di mio caro Nonno, Herman the poiliceman and the navy master at arms chief along with the picture of 'il mio bisnonno' Gustavo Nanna and his brother taken in Italy.

Here is the Edited version below:



I just received your book 'La Nostra Costa (Our Coast) Wednesday (a paperback copy). Now I am looking forward to getting a hardback copy of this book. I'm still digesting much of what you say (and don't say). I will write a comprehensive sketch sometime in the future. I will say this….. your book speaks straight to my heart.

Please note that my wife Tania (of 20-years this April), and I left California over 10-years ago. The last time I visited the Santa Cruz area was in 1997, to see my maternal Grandmother, Ruby Violet Strong (only weeks before her death). She was born in San Francisco in 1906. Needless to say, I've been out of the area for quite a spell now. Your book, however, does bring back sweet memories.

A little about me, I was born at Santa Cruz Hospital in 1956. Of course this is the same hospital that you were born in (only 19-1/2 years apart). I am the grandson of Ermano Vincenzo Nanna (Herman Vincent Nanna Sr.) who was born in 1909 in (Comune di Fivizzanno, provincia di Massa e Carrara, Italia.) I am the second son of Herman Vincent Nanna Jr. who was born 1932 in Hollister California. My Grandfather was a Santa Cruz Police Officer. My Great-Grandfather, Gustavo Nanna worked at the Pacific Cement and Aggregates Inc. plant in Davenport and lived with his wife Maria off of Chestnut St., Santa Cruz in the 1930's to 60's.

Gusatvo was also from Fivizanno, however; (for some unknown reason) although an Italian citizen and not originally from the Fivizzanno area and I'm told possibly from another country? Of course, this is a matter of interest to me and I am still investigating, through Nanna family members living in Fivizzanno. A possibility is that Nanna was not his real surname, rather a Catholic name given to him or his father as a newly converted immigrant to Italy. Gustavo did later immigrate to the US.
Today, my wife and I live in Louisiana near the center of the State. My wife is from Brazil (Brasileira, della estado de Parana, a cidade de Curitiba) and speaks fluent Portuguese. I do enjoy the colloquial Italian expressions in your book -che bello- they are so much like Portuguese from the south of Brazil. By the way, it was a nice touch with the off-color Italian expressions. I think that you are making a statement here, sure wished I had grown up in a household that spoke Italian.


Tchau,

Michael E. Nanna

MEMORIAL DAY - La Costa E La Guerra - Marvin Del Chiaro

IVANO SAYS: In 'La Nostra Costa', I have a whole chapter on the Coast and WWII. In fact in an end note (p.54) I mention the all Black 54th Coastal Artillery Battalion that guarded the Coast during this time period. In a reminder letter regarding the special ceremony in Santa Cruz honoring the Battalion, Retired US Army Colonel, Marvin gives some special insights about the Unit. Thought you might like to read it.


To: Undisclosed recipients:

Hi everyone, and especially former members of the old 422nd MP Co., (PCS).

I'm sure most of you are well aware of the upcoming ceremonies, but just in case:

Do you remember our First Sgt. in the 1960's, at the 422nd, Russell Dawson? He's now 93, and will be honored, along with another former member of the 54th, down at the Santa Cruz Lighthouse on West Cliff Drive on this Wednesday, Veterans Day, at 1000 hrs. (see Ramona Turner's article in Monday's Santa Cruz Sentinel for more details). If you can't find the link, email me, and I'll send you further information on the article. It was on the front page of the Xtra section of the Sentinel.

If you can make it, come by, and then join us for a lite lunch and video presentation by Chuck Woodson, at the Veterans Hall down by the old Post Office in Santa Cruz. Sam Farr and Bill Monning and other local dignitaries plan to be there. It should be quite an impressive ceremony, especially for those of us who remember the air raid drills, the "blackouts", the maneuvers, and the sandbagged trenches and gun emplacements along West Cliff Dr. during WWII.

The unit has a special place in the hearts of my family members, as part of the unit had a bivouac site located on/adjacent to my grandfather's (Ferrari) cattle ranch in Davenport, and for years after the war, you could still see the old latrine building and other temporary camp structures on the right side of the "old road", north of the cement plant and New Town, and just a few yards south of our "cheese room" building, which is still standing today, I believe, the one with the cupola.

Many of these young men (unit members) established quite a wonderful and lasting friendship with my family, and came over and played cards at night, and exchanged food from their mess hall for fresh eggs, milk and cheese from my grandfather's ranch/dairy. Members of the unit affectionately called my grandparents "Papa" and "Mama", and returned to visit them after the war.

Marv

STORIES OF THE 'OLD COAST ROAD' BY LaNORMA

LaNORMA AND 'THE OLD RANCERE'

THE 'OLD CARRETTONE" - COAST RD. CHASE CAR

IVANO SAYS: It has been quite some time, but LaNorma has written another very special article for us to enjoy. Thanks Norma.

We on the Coast Road and the people in Davenport have so much history to share and we are all so interconnected in some way. My family lived in Newtown when I was born and lived there until I was about 3 years old.

The Coast Road was quite windy and had uphills, downhills and - - oh so many curves. If driving on one of those hills (especially Laguna and Gulch Ranch hills) you did not want to get behind one of those cement trucks. In those years,the cement was packed in bags and tied to the front and back trailers of the truck. When they went towards Santa Cruz they tried to get a run at some of the hills to make it up the other side, but even then they slowed way down and if you were behind them you just had to be very patient! And hope that none of those bags came undone!

When the “new highway” was finished around l955, it made it so much better. From where we lived, next to Beltrami’s (In Ivano’s book, he calls it Serafina’s.) which was just south of Laguna (where we had all those 'pickanickas'),it was a breeze to drive to Davenport. When I was l6, I felt so independent to be able to drive to Gregory’s (in Davenport) with relative ease and to get myself a quart of “hand packed" vanilla ice cream. Boy that was yummy and it was such fun being in town at good “ole Davenporto”.

Going back to the old road -- I so vividly remember having to get a ride on the Greyhound bus to go to Santa Cruz. There were three shifts at the Cement plant, thus three buses per shift ran up and down the Coast Road from Santa Cruz to get the workers to and from the plant. ( Note: Many of the workers who originally lived in Davenport now could afford to live in Santa Cruz, considered by many to be a more 'desirable' place to live.)

We would wait for the bus out in front of Beltrami’s either for the morning or afternoon shift changes. The first bus always honked twice meaning it was full and the second bus would pick us up. Sometimes the second bus would honk three times to tell us that it was full too and that the third bus would do the “honors” of picking us up. We could always hear the bus chugging up the hill on the Laguna curve and then start picking up speed on the downhill towards our house. Fortunately, the third bus always seemed to pick us up.

When I go up the old highway now, I am amazed at how narrow it is. To load and off-load passengers, the Greyhound and even the yellow school buses would have to stop right in middle of the roadway – no space to pull to the side. Other traffic on the road would simply have to wait until the loading and off-loading of passengers was completed. (Guess this was way before “road rage”.)

I also look at the highway and am marveled at all the history and things that happened on it. A vivid memory I have is of the 2 dairies that had to cross their cows from the west- side to the east-side (and vise versa) of the road. (As Ivano describes it in his book the Coast Road itself runs north and south to and from Santa Cruz, “Haffa Moom” Bay and - - “San Franceezco”.) One was at the Scaroni Dairy (now the RED, WHITE and BLUE Beach) The other was at the Annand and DalPorto ranch area (located a little north of where the Rodonis now sell their pumpkins). In the
1950’s, Frank Borges and his family had the dairy and sometimes Mr. Borges would get sick - - so his daughters Della, Vera and I would stop the cars and trucks to get the cows across the highway. Sometimes I wonder how that would go in today’s world?

Another interesting thing that happened in about the same area (not sure if it was late 40's or early 50’s.) A California Highway Patrolman named Danny O’Connell made a car stop. Apparently, seeing that Officer O’Connell was preoccupied with writing the ticket or examining the offending vehicle, the two male occupants of the car took advantage of the situation by running and jumping into the CHP patrol car. They actually “hijacked” it. Not to be 'out-done', Danny quickly commandeered a passing cement truck to be his “chase car”. Of course the cement trucks were much lighter and could go faster when they were going back up to Davenport to reload. Don’t know all the details, but it all ended well. I think the car was picked up on Bonny Doon Road. (This story reminds me of the “chase” as described by Ivano
in “La Nostra Costa”, with a “shotgun totting” Joe Gemignani, Dante Ramaciotti and Bronco Comelli giving chase in the “Old Carettone” up the Coast Road in an unsuccessful attempt to capture a couple of car thieves.)

I also remember my Dad and Mom talking with their friends (other “old timers”) about the times during WWII when you couldn't’t turn on your headlights because of the Blackout restrictions. Can you imagine being on the highway with no headlights (of course it wasn’t like today when we absolutely have to jump in a car and go somewhere, anytime.)

I do not remember as I was too young, but I do recall my Dad talking about how he would drive from the Grossi ranch where he was a partner, and go all the way to Newtown shinning a flashlight out the window of the car. (Remember how Ivano described his father almost being arrested for using a flashlight while feeding the rabbits. Although my father was a naturalized citizen, he wasn’t even supposed to have a flashlight when my Mom was in the car because she, like Ivano’s father, was an alien and not a citizen.) Can you imagine driving a stick shift car and holding a flashlight out the window to see where you were going. To make it that much more difficult the Grossi Ranch happened to be located just before Yellowbank. So there were several curves, ditches and hills before the road finally became a straight-a-way (near Bonny Doon Road) to Davenport. All I got to say is thank God for the white line in the middle of the road!

LaNORMA

ADDIO MI BELLA LOUISA

IVANO SAYS: The remembrance below on Louisa Presepi first appeared in the Santa Cruz Sentinel: www.santacruzsentinal.com

Louise J. Presepi, passed away Friday October 16, 2009 at Driftwood Convalescent Hospital. She was 101.

Louise was born in Davenport on July 10, 1908, the daughter of Battista and Candida Zanette Fadelli. She grew up in Santa Cruz and was a graduate of Santa Cruz High School. She attended business school and later began a long career at A.T&T where she retired as an administrative secretary.

She was described by her family as a very generous person who gave to numerous charities. She was a devout member of Holy Cross Catholic Church, the Sons of Italy, Italian Catholic Federation, Santa Cruz Old Timers and Retired Telephone Employees Association. She loved people and enjoyed attending numerous social activities. She enjoyed playing bridge, traveling and going out for meals. Never having a driver's license Louise walked most anywhere she needed to go.

She is survived by her cousins, Angela Zanette Marchesin and her husband Enrico of San Mateo, Larry Soletti and his wife, Barbara of Oakland, Virginia Soletti of San Mateo, Diana Wolfe and her husband Laurence of Portland, OR and Peter Fadelli and his wife Eda of Napa; she is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, god children and her extended family in Italy. She was preceded in death by her husband, Amerigo "Piccino" Presepi, sister, Edith Petrini, brother, John Fadelli and her dear friend Elsie Tori.

A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at Holy Cross Church, 126 High St, Santa Cruz, CA, Friday October 23, 2009 at 11:00 am. The funeral procession will leave from Benito & Azzaro Pacific Gardens Chapel, 1050 Cayuga St, Santa Cruz, CA, Friday morning at 10:30 am. A vigil prayer service will be held at Pacific Gardens Chapel Thursday evening at 7:30 pm. Friends are invited to call at Pacific Gardens Chapel on Thursday from 4:00 pm until service time. Entombment will be at Holy Cross Cemetery, 2271 7th Ave. Santa Cruz, CA

The family wishes to express their deep thanks and gratitude to Dr. Michael Conroy for his dedication, warmth and fine medical care and to her caregivers and the dedicated staff at Driftwood Convalescent Hospital.

Contributions may be made to Sienna House, 108 High St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 or to Oakland Elizabeth House, P.O. Box 1175, Berkeley, Ca. 94701.
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IVANO SAYS (CONT'D): Those of you who have read my book know that Louisa and her husband Amerigo (Piccino) Presepi were an integral part of the La Nostra Costa Story.
On page 38 I write: "When my father bought into Il Golce, there were six or seven partners,including Amerigo (Piccino)Presepi,the foreman. Coastal Italians often called the foreman il bosso [boh so], the boss. Piccino [pee chee no]was married to Louisa, a fine-looking and very amicable Italian woman. The one thing I selfishly regretted about Piccino and Louisa was that they had no children for my brother and I to play with."

I go on to say that although I personally liked Piccino, he was looked upon by the ranceri as a hard driving boss and not very well liked. This did not escape Louisa, who collared me at a social function a few years back and advised me that I was much too hard on her husband. It took me some time to soothe her feelings, but I think I succeed when I reminded her that her husband's role as a "bosso" su per la costa would not be forgotten because of the book.

ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL NEWS

IVANO SAYS: FIGLIO DELLA COSTA LIDO CANTARUTTI HAS INFORMED ME THAT HE IS CIRCULATING THE FLYER BELOW AT HIS ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL THIS YEAR.
MILLE GRAZIE, LIDO. SEMPRE AVANTI



LA NOSTRA COSTA (OUR COAST)



DID YOU KNOW THAT LIDO CANTARUTTI’S FIRST HOME WAS A WIND-BLOWN SHACK ON THE NORTH COAST OF SANTA CRUZ? READ MORE ABOUT LIDO AND HIS TENACIOUS CANTARUTTI FAMILY IN:

IVANO FRANCO COMELLI’S BOOK, “LA NOSTRA COSTA” (OUR COAST), AVAILABLE ON LINE AT: http://www.authorhouse.com/ OR ORDER AT YOUR FAVORITE BOOKSTORE.



THREE FRIULIAN FAMILIES: CANTARUTTI-COMELLI-TAURIAN



Taken in an artichoke and Brussels sprouts field on the North Coast of Santa Cruz, Lido is seated at extreme left. His brother Reno is seated next to him. Parents Guido and Evelina Cantarutti are standing directly behind them. (Courtesy: La Nostra Costa Photo Archives, C. 1947)

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“La Nostra Costa” (Our Coast) A Family’s Journey To And From The North Coast of Santa Cruz, California (1923-83), by Ivano Franco Comelli is published by Authorhouse (1-888-280-7715). For further information and reviews on his book, Ivano invites you to visit his website: www.lanostracosta.com-a.googlepages.com

FIGLIO DELLA COSTA - MARIO ESPOSITO REMEMBERED

Ivano says; The below remembrance of Mario Esposito was first published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel: www.santacruzsentinel.com

On September 20, 2009, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend, Mario Joseph Esposito passed away at home, surrounded by his family and loved ones at the age of 86. Mario was an icon in the County of Santa Cruz and well known and loved by many, many people.

Mario was born to Ciro and Maria Esposito in Santa Cruz on May 20, 1923. He spent his whole life in Santa Cruz County and graduated from Santa Cruz High School.

Mario worked for the County Bank of Santa Cruz for 29 years. His trust, friendship and hand shake will be forever remembered by those who knew him at the bank. In 2004, Mario returned to banking joining forces with Community Bank, currently Rabobank, as Vice President/Business Development Officer. He was instrumental in bringing in millions of deposits and loans as well. He was an incredible inspiration to the organization and staff.

Mario has achieved and accomplished many things throughout his life and has given so much to this community. He was named as Outstanding Young Man in 1958 in Santa Cruz; was awarded the Jaycee's Distinguished Service Award; served three terms as President of the San Lorenzo Valley Chamber of Commerce and then Treasurer; Director of Santa Cruz County Tuberculosis and Health Association; served on the SLV elementary school PTA board and was one of the founders of the SLVUSD school board. He started SLV Little League as a coach and a leader and remained active within the organization; director of the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce and Goodwill Industries Board. In 1999, Mario also served as the BIG SIR in the SIRS organization as a director and chairman and received the life achievement award in 2006. He was a leader in the United Way, Red Cross and Sons of Italy. In 1991, he joined the Mall Walkers and was very involved in the program.

For 45 years, Mario was a member of the Santa Cruz Elks Lodge and served on many chairs and committees and was Exalted Ruler. He started the Monday Night Football Game dinners at Elks which were very popular as he is an avid Forty Niner fan they won on 09/20/09. He was also voted Elk of the Year in 1999. Mario also enjoyed annual trips with his wife, family and friends to Scottsdale Arizona to watch the major league baseball Spring Training.

Mario never "retired", after 29 years at County Bank, he opened up several restaurants, started his own flower business Mario's Roses and went back to banking in 2004 until 2009.

Mario is preceeded in death by his first wife June Esposito.

He is survived by his wife Lois Esposito of 36 years and his children Jeffrey Esposito, Debra husband Stephen Sanders and Nicol Esposito. His other children Steven Traylor, Robert Traylor and Sandi Evans. His sister Gloria Giovannoni and his grandchildren, Paul, James wife Deanna, Christopher, Ashley, Stevie, Michael, Jacob, Christina, Erin, Daniel, and Andrea. Great grandchildren, Zoe, Joshua, Ethan and Jared with one on the way!, and many other family members.

The family extends their appreciation to all the caregivers and Hospice of Santa Cruz that were a part of Mario's life over the past several months. Thank you for your care, comfort and response.

Services will be held on Monday, September 28, 2009, at 11:00a.m.at Twin Lakes Church 2701 Cabrillo College Drive, Aptos, California 95003.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Mario Esposito Scholarship Fund, SLV Alumni, P.O. Box 1405, Felton, CA 95018. God Bless.



ADDIO MARIO. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN ACROSS IL ULTIMO PONTE. IVNO

ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL - 2009

('clicca' on banner for enlarged image)

LIDO CANTARUTTI ANNOUNCES FILM SELECTIONS FOR HIS ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL - 2009

Figlio della Costa, Lido Cantarutti is putting on another spectacular presentation for his Italian Film Festival -- 2009, in San Rafael, Oct 3 to November 14. For a list of the Italian Films to be presented, please go to Lido's website: http://www.italianfilm.com/

All shows will be at the Marin Center Showcase Theatre, San Rafael, California, with screenings at 5:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. each evening.

All films are in Italian or original language with subtitles in English. All films suggested for mature audiences.

Single ticket $13, series ticket (for all 6 films) $72. Advance purchase recommended.

Ticketing and further information about the Festival are available from the Marin Center Box Office at (415) 499-6800, or on the Festival website: http://www.italianfilm.com/.