Thursday, January 29, 2009

UPDATE ON CAMERON BY MARVIN DEL CHIARO

Marvin Del Chiaro (in his official Roaring Camp Conductor's Uniform), wife Elaine and little Cameron. (Photo courtesy of Marvin Del Chairo).

Hi everyone, I think most of you know that our grandson Cameron, now six years old, injured his eye late in December, 2006.He's been undergoing numerous eye surgeries over the past two years, and we are grateful that he has not lost his eye, so far; his sight has not been restored, but we are also grateful that he can detect something moving (much like you would detect if you had your eyes closed on a sunny day, and some object crossed your field of vision). He plays a great game of soccer, and finished his first year in Little League T-Ball. Recently, it became obvious that he was also having difficulty breathing through his nose, and his doctors could not specifically determine if he was born that way, or if the fall also damaged his nasal septum. This morning, Cameron underwent a rather lengthy surgical procedure at Stanford Medical Center's Lucille Packard Children's Hospital, to correct the problem; the surgeon (the head of pediatric surgery) said that the septum was definitely damaged by the fall, and he was able to reconstruct/repair the damage. He's home, resting well, and now the challenge is to keep him quiet for a month; he can walk around, but no physical activity.............which is like asking a Brahma bull not to buck. Please join me in praying for Cameron to listen to his parents............... Let me take this opportunity, on my, Elaine's and all the family's behalf, to personally thank you all for your concern, prayers, good wishes, and encouragement during these past two years. God Bless You all. Marv
----------------------------
The above is a recent photo of Marv taken in Capitola, soon after he attended the Porter Memorial Library Presentation in Soquel. Marv failed to mention it, however, he has just undergone major surgery himself.
Marv is the one on your right (without his official conductor's uniform.) Also included in the photo (l-r): Sgt. Peter Graves (SJPD Retired), his wife Vera, Ivano,
Dolores Contreras (SJPD Retired) and Marv. (Photo courtesy of Sgt. Peter Graves.)

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

MRS. HELEN SONNEBORN'S CITIZENSHIP CLASS - 1945




(Please 'clicca" on newspaper article for enlarged image. Then this very special article will become very readable.)



MRS. HELEN SONNEBORN taught many of the Italians (and others) 'su per la costa' about our Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and other important documents and historical events pertaining to theUnited States of America. The Italians loved her and much of their success of becoming U.S. Citizens they attributed to their much admired teacher.


IN 'LA NOSTRA COSTA' (P. 225) I WRITE: "While Bronco was telling his stories Valentina was having a real good time. She was very happy that she had passed her examination. This was the only time that I would ever see Valentina even halfway intoxicated. She had had quite a few drinks and was singing and dancing. This was indeed unusual. The Valentina I knew usually did not drink and was quite the serious lady."*

AFTER READING the above article everything (for me) falls into place. The party at 'Serafina's" must have come at the end of a very long day of celebrating. No wonder Valentina was "halfway intoxicated".


------------------
*Copyrighted by Ivano Franco Comelli --as it appears in "La Nostra Costa" (Our Coast), A Family's Journey To and From The North Coast Of Santa Cruz, CA. (1923-1983) published by Authorhouse 2006. Please visit Ivano's website: http://www.lanostracosta.com-a.googlepages.com/





Tuesday, January 20, 2009

LA NOSTRA COSTA HISTORICAL DOCUMENT

IN MY BOOK 'LA NOSTRA COSTA' I WRITE ABOUT A PARTY THAT WAS HELD AT 'SERAFINA'S' (BELTRAMI'S) 'SU PER LA COSTA' TO CELEBRATE MY MOTHER VALENTINA BECOMING A UNITED STATES CITIZEN CIRCA 1945-46 (PGS. 223-224). LaNORMA SENT ME THE NEWSPAPER CLIPPING BELOW. IT LOOKS LIKE VALENTINA HAD A FEW FRIENDS WHO MADE THE GRADE WITH HER . CHECK OUT THE NAMES AND OLD ADDRESSES LISTED. THIS SHOULD BRING BACK MANY FOND MEMORIES TO FAMILY MEMBERS. SEMPRE AVANTI AND GOD BLESS AMERICA.





'CLICCA' ON NEWPAPER CLIPPING TO VIEW ENLARGED IMAGE.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

THANK YOU PORTER MEMORIAL LIBRARY

LINA BRESSANI GEMIGNANI. THE PHOTO THAT WON THE HEART OF 'UN FIGLIO DI FERRO' - C.1947



THANKS TO THE PORTER MEMORIAL LIBRARY AND STAFF. IT WAS A GREAT EVENT WITH MANY NEW FRIENDS (AS WELL AS SOME FAMILIER FRIENDS) OF "LA NOSTRA COSTA" ATTENDING. WHAT A GREAT GROUP.

A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO MY AUNT LINA BRESSANI GEMIGNANI FOR HELPING ME TELL HER STORY OF BEING A GERMAN PRISONER OF WAR IN WWII AND HER AMAZING STORY ON HOW SHE CAME TO AMERICA AND MARRIED MY UNCLE JOE GEMIGNANI (UN FIGLIO DI FERRO). AS I WRITE IN 'LA NOSTRA COSTA' LINA AND JOE'S STORY IS ONE FOR THE BOOKS (AND PERHAPS THE SCREEN).






























THE OLD RANCERE E TRE BELLE DONNE DELLA COSTA. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: ANGIE BELTRAMI, FLORA BARGIACCHI
ANECITO AND LaNORMA. (Photo courtesy of Sgt. Peter Graves, SJPD Retired)

Thursday, January 01, 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2009 EVERYBODY




BRONCO AND VALENTINA E FAMIGLIA- ' SU PER LA COSTA'- C. 1945
(PHOTO: LA NOSTRA COSTA PHOTO ARCHIVES)
Ivano Comelli is the author of "La Nostra Costa" (Our Coast), A Family's Journey to and From the North Coast of Santa Cruz, California. He will be appearing on Jan 14, 2009, at 10:30 AM, at the Porter Memorial Library, 3050 Porter Street, downtown Soquel across from the U.S. Post Office. Join Ivano as he will recreate (in his guise as the 'Old Rancere') true events as recorded in
"La Nostra Costa". Hope to see you there.