THE KING OF JORDAN VISITS THE WHALE CITY BAKERY - DAVENPORT, CA

---- THE ORIGINAL DAVENPORT BAKERY------
Mary and Gilbert Caiocca standing on the corner of Coast Hwy 1 and Ocean Ave, where the Whale City Bakery is now located, c.1945. Photo courtesy of Dave Scott, William Caiocca's stepson.*

Patty Morelli (left) and LaNorma in front of the Whale City Bakery.
(Photo courtesy of La Norma.)

Patty (left) and Whale City Bakery Official King Greeter (OKG) Amy . ['Clicca' on photos to view enlarged image.] Photo courtesy of LaNorma.

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THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE WAS DERIVED FROM INFORMATION PROVIDED ME BY LaNORMA:


Towards the end of summer and early fall last year (2007) – the King of Jordan (Abdulla II) and his wife (Queen Rania) were visiting San Francisco. Since the King’s next stop was to be in Monterey, he decided to ride down the Coast on a Harley Motorcycle. Off he went with his entourage of bodyguards, etc. (some riding in passenger cars, others on motorcycles of their own) down Coast Hwy 1, passed ‘Haffa Moom Bay’ passed Pescadero, passed "La Slida" and onto Davenport. At which point, as many of us who have taken a similar trip down “la costa” have experienced, His Majesty (on the left in photo) needed a break from the long ride.

As providence would have it, the King commanded his entourage to stop at the Whale City Bakery for a much needed restroom and refreshment stop. The owner Emad Ayad was not there, however; his Official King Greeter (OKG) Amy was. The bodyguards, wanting to make sure that security was in place for this most necessary stop, came in first. They made contact with OKG Amy and told her that the King of Jordan was about to enter her historic establishment and most seriously wanted to use the restroom. OKG Amy then led the bodyguards to the sole bathroom in the Bakery. After a thorough inspection of the rest room and establishment, the King was given the “go ahead” to enter the Bakery.

Apparently, OKG Amy made such an impression with the bodyguards, that they established a friendly rapport with her. This was especially true when she informed them that Mrs. Ayad (wife of the owner) was originally from Jordan.

As a gesture of good will and unbeknown to the His Majesty, OKG Amy gave the bodyguards a big apple pie for the group to injoy when in Monterey. The bodyguards thanked OKG Amy and along with the King continued on their way to the City of Monterey.

When the King and his entourage subsequently arrived at their hotel, the bodyguards in the presence of their King brought out the apple pie. Being surprised by having such a delicious pie in his presence, the King asked the body guards where they had obtained such a delicious morsel . (As we all know, what Kings want to know, Kings will always get to know.) The bodyguards promptly informed His Majesty that OKG Amy at Whalers (Whale City Bakery) had given it to them as a gift.

Whereupon, the King reminded his bodyguards that it is the custom of their culture to always acknowledge a gift and thus they were obligated to reciprocate with a gift of their own. He commanded the bodyguards to immediately to go back with a gift. Promptly obeying the King’s command, two of the bodyguards drove all the way back to Davenport with a gift from the King of Jordan.

Much to the surprise of OKG Amy, the King’s gift was a very expensive watch, with the official insignia of Jordan. (LaNorma actually saw it and describes the watch as: “Gorgeous and awsome".)


And now for the moral to this story which is: "If you happen to own a restaurant in Davenport (or anywhere 'su per la costa' for that matter) make sure that you hire and Official King Greeter. When nature comes a-calling, one never knows who might drop in."

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*The Whale City Bakery was originally known as ‘The Davenport Bakery’ and was owned by the Caiocca’s, Gilbert, Mary, William and Leo. It was later purchased by the Morelli’s (Patty’s mother and father) and re-named the Miramar.

After her own hotel ( Hotel D’Italia) in Davenport, was destroyed by fire (1945), my Godmother Pina Micossi entered into partnership with the Caioccas and then continued on, for a time, with the Morelli’s. Thus, the Davenport Bakery, Miramar, and presently the Whale City Bakery has some serious “La Nostra Costa” history behind it.

Thank you very much for your visit, Your Majesty.

Ivano Franco Comelli is the author of “La Nostra Costa” (Our Coast), published by Authorhouse (2006): http://www.authorhouse.com/

Home: http://www.nostra-costa.blogspot.com/

LIDO'S ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2008

'Clicca' on images to enlarge.



'FIGLIO DELLA COSTA' LIDO CANTARUTTI ANNOUNCES PROGRAM FOR ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL IN SAN RAFAEL, CA, OCTOBER 4 TO NOVEMBER 15, 2008.

FOR LIST OF FILMS TO BE PRESENTED, AND DIRECTIONS TO THE MARIN CENTER SHOWCASE THEATER, PLEASE GO TO LIDO'S WEBSITE: http://www.italianfilm.com/







Future Italian Film Festival Director Lido Cantarutti with Gervasio 'Bronco' Comelli (my father) in Felton, Ca 1946.
(Read about the Cantarutti Family in my book
"La Nostra Costa", Chapter 13, ' Tre Famiglie Friulani
(Three Friulian Families)

MAL OCCHIO BY LAWRENCE DISTASI

THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE ATTENDED ONE OR MORE OF MY PRESENTATIONS HAVE HEARD ME MENTION THE NAME LAWRENCE DISTASI, THE PROJECT DIRECTOR OF THE HISTORICAL PROJECT UNA STORIA SEGRETA. LARRY WAS ALSO THE EDITOR OF THE BOOK "UNA STORIA SEGRETA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF ITALIAN AMERICAN EVACUATION AND INTERNMENT DURING WORLD WAR II." HE WAS GRACIOUS ENOUGH TO INCLUDE MY ARTICLE : "WRONG SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY" IN THE BOOK.

LARRY HAS RECENTLY COME OUT WITH A PAPERBACK VERSION OF "MAL OCCHIO", A BOOK ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN HARD BACK. BELOW IS A SYNOPSIS OF THE BOOK WITH ORDERING FORM. I HAVE ALSO INCLUDE A SHORT BIO ON THIS AMAZING MAN.

NOW IN PAPERBACK--WITH A NEW AFTERWORD BY THE AUTHOR.....
MAL OCCHIO
{evil eye}
The Underside of Vision
By Lawrence DiStasi

Starting from memories of his own Italian American family, Lawrence DiStasi launches an inquiry that ultimately probes universal dimensions of the human psyche. Intrigued by the folkway of mal occhio (evil eye), he follows a spiraling path into realms that have haunted humans in every Western culture.
Not only in Italian villages, but on every continent, from ancient times to the present, there are people who believe that a glance can cause illness or physical harm to those it strikes: young children, dairy cows, field crops, and pregnant women. Early observations of his great-aunt’s ability to diagnose and cure these attacks--with incantations and drops of olive oil in a bowl of water--were the author’s introduction to the rituals, amulets, and other preventatives that surround this core of belief.
But the book does not stop there. DiStasi investigates the social and cultural dynamics of evil eye: its influences on child-rearing, domestic relationships, and ethnic worldviews, its source in images of the mother goddess, spirals and vortices. Finally, Mal Occhio confronts the problem historically symbolized by the evil eye: the pervasive anxiety associated with vision. And DiStasi’s interpretation of eye symbolism, as evidenced in motifs that appear throughout the ancient world, is his contemplation, finally, of the self itself---its shifting nature, its estrange-ment, and humankind’s struggle to make it whole.

______________

“This is one man’s fancy on folklore raised, by quest of curiosity and quality of language, to literary contribution.” Art Seidenbaum, Los Angeles Times

“Lawrence DiStasi’s Mal Occhio is a classic of Italian American literature. This new edition, with its fresh Afterword, reveals the author at his best. DiStasi’s work shows how a focused and informed attention can find in things that others have overlooked or forgotten the sources of a resonant historiography with deep roots and wide implications. Mal Occhio proceeds from the study of humble and ancient material practices to a contemplation of the abiding dilemmas of human existence.” Robert Viscusi, Wolfe Institute for the Humanities, Brooklyn College



Please send _______ copies of MAL OCCHIO: The Underside of Vision by Lawrence DiStasi
@ $15.95 each copy. Please add $3.00 per copy for postage and handling. California residents add 8% sales tax. Send check or money order to: SANNITI PUBLICATIONS,
P.O. Box 533, Bolinas, CA 94924

Total enclosed $_______________


(Orders can also be placed by sending an email to: lwdistasi@sbcglobal.net.)

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Lawrence DiStasi
Lawrence DiStasi has worked as a writer, editor, teacher and historian since graduating from Dartmouth College (BA) and New York University (ABD). He has taught literature and composition at Gettysburg College, the University of California at Berkeley, and most recently in the Fall Freshman Program at UC Berkeley Extension. Since 1994, he has been project director of the historical exhibit, Una Storia Segreta: When Italian Americans Were "Enemy Aliens," shepherding it to more than fifty sites nationwide, and spearheading the movement it generated to pass "The Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties Act", signed into Public Law #106-451 by President William Jefferson Clinton. His published books include: MAL OCCHIO: The Underside of Vision (North Point Press: 1981), Dream Streets: The Big Book of Italian American Culture (Harper & Row: 1989), and Una Storia Segreta: The Secret History of Italian American Evacuation and Internment during World War II (Heyday Books: 2001). He lives in Bolinas, CA. View my complete profile

LA NOSTRA COSTA PRESENTATION AT THE SANTA CRUZ MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY OCT 11

Ivano (right) with Andrew and Jean Hsu on their mushroom farm 'nel buco' on the Gulch Ranch, located on the Coast Road, 2.5 miles north of Santa Cruz. Ivano practically grew up 'nel buco' (in the hole).

Ivano will be making a presentation at the Santa Cruz Museum of Arts and History on
Saturday, Oct 11, from 10:00a-1200n. Hope to see you there.


Borrowed the announcement below from the Santa Cruz Sentinel website: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/



Researchers Anonymous: La Nostra Costa
Saturday, Oct 11 10:00a to 12:00p
at http://events.santacruzsentinel.com/santa-cruz-ca/venues/show/11917-museum-of-art-history-the-mcpherson-center, Santa Cruz, CA
Join Ivano Comelli, author of La Nostra Costa for a lecture and discussion about the history and development of Davenport and the North Coast. Location: MAH Auditorium, 10am
Price: free/donations welcome
Phone: (831) 429-1964
Event Web Site
Age Suitability: 18 and up
Tags: There are no tags.
Join Ivano Comelli, author of La Nostra Costa for a lecture and discussion about the history and development of Davenport and the North Coast. Location: MAH Auditorium, 10am
Event Web Site
Categories: Museums, History
Creator: tmyers
Creator: tmyers