Volume 13 Issue 3 Fall-Sept ember 2011 The VIC Board Members Contact these people for information or help about any VIC activities: President Adele Dienno 802-862-2595 Vice-Presidents Don Catalano: 802 660-8914/Barbara Guiduli 802-862-4200 Secretary Carol Usher 802-863-2487 Treasurer Audry Rini 802-878-0990 Board Julie Bonanno, Adrienne Donohue, Marge Oppold, Barbra Marden, Nancy Specht, David Tomasi, David Usher Il Messaggio Publication Dates Quarterly, Mar 1, June 1, Sept. 1, Dec. 1 Deadlines for submissions: 15 days prior to publication. Submit content to editor: [email protected]Membership Anyone wanting to join the VIC can do so by contacting Carol Usher at 802 863-2487 or [email protected] for an application or online at website below. Membership is $25. annually for individuals, $35. for families, and $15. for full- time students. VIC Website: www.vermontitalianclub.org Vermont Italian Club P.O. Box 3155 Burlington VT 05408 Il Messaggio Inside this issue: Win a trip to Tuscany!! 2 Club Information:List/Logo 3 VIC Members: Art/Language 4 VIC Member News cont. 5 Italy:Travel/Book Review 6 Italian Finances/Calendar 7 Who We Are – Julia Ely 8 We are dedicated to promot- ing and preserving Italian culture in Vermont You can choose an electronic or a paper copy of Il Messaggio by con- tacting the editor: [email protected]Dedication and Celebration of Burlington’s "Little Italy" October 8 th , 2011 Many people today have no idea that the area from Battery to Church and Pearl to College was once the home of a thriving com- munity of immigrants mostly from Italy. Their community consisted of 140 homes, lush gardens, thriv- ing businesses, community social centers, and Catholic schools and churches. In the 1960‟s this area became the center of Vermont‟s largest urban renewal project. The last home was razed in 1968. Families were scattered from their community as room was made for our downtown district. As Italian-Americans who love their heritage and culture, the Vermont Italian Club is planning a celebration to commemorate this once vital community and recog- nize the families connected to that history. In doing so, we will fulfill the wishes of the club‟s founding president, Dr. Ken Ciongoli. We cordially invite all club members and the community to join with us Saturday, October 8 th . The day will begin at 1 PM with the unveiling of an official state historic marker on the corner of Battery and College streets. Sena- tor Patrick Leahy and others will be honored guests. Our program will then move to the Main Street Landing were we will have a showing of the film, "Champlain Street Urban Renewal Project" by Continued on page 3...
The fall 2011 issue of Il Messaggio published by the Vermont Italian Club.
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Volume 13 Issue 3
Fall-Sept ember 2011
The VIC Board Members
Contact these people for information or help about any VIC
activities:
President Adele Dienno 802-862-2595
Vice-Presidents Don Catalano: 802 660-8914/Barbara
Sat Oct 8, 2011: Dedication and Celebration of Burlington’s "Little Italy," 1pm, Intersection of Battery and College streets, Unveiling of Historic Marker. 1:30-5pm ,Main Street
Landing Building, "Mini" Italian Festival with film, food, music, and fun.
(contact Adele 802-862-2595)
On-going VIC events
Italian Conversation Classes: 2nd and 4th Wednesdays, St. Michael‟s College, St. Edmonds Hall, Room 101, 7
-9 pm (contact Franco 802-899-3869)
Italian Movie Night: On a TBA schedule (contact Franco 802-899-3869)
Amici Luncheons: Members and friends meeting monthly at various venues. Make reservations.
(contact Joyce 802-862-6055)
Italy in the News
Italy’s Financial Woes
Italy‟s financial pain has increased recently
as its debt ballooned to 118% of Gross Domestic
Product ( by comparison, the U.S. ratio is 93% and
Greece is 136%) making bondholders nervous and
demanding higher interest rates to balance the
higher risk of default. The European Central Bank
then stepped in, as they have in Greece, to buy It-
aly‟s bonds to minimize the likelihood of default
and to protect the value of the Euro.
In response, Italy‟s government has agreed
to several austerity and restructuring measures to
balance the budget in 2013 rather than years later.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “The pack-
age—a mix of spending cuts and tax increases,
including a "solidarity tax" for high-earners—
aims to calm market turmoil and make sure Italy
isn't the next victim of Europe's debt crisis.”
A prime target of spending cuts will be reducing
the number of national lawmakers, now approxi-
mately 1,000, by half and eliminating several
provincial governments. These cuts will elimi-
nate 5,000 elected jobs plus several thousand
related jobs said Cabinet Minister Roberto Cal-
deroli on August 13, 2011. The measures are
planned to take effect at the next local elections.
The Italian public has been critical that in
this time of economic weakness, political and
government jobs had been spared and, as in the
U.S., many believe that high income earners
should pay more taxes. Prime Minister Berlus-
coni, the richest Italian, proposed a „solidarity
tax,‟ an extra 5% of income tax on gross salaries
above €90,000 (~US$ 128,000), rising to10% for
salaries above €150,000 (~US$250,000).
Perhaps Italian voters will agree to whit-
tle down these local and regional/provincial po-
sitions, but eliminating the 500 or so national
lawmakers will require changes to Italy‟s consti-
tution, not an easy process. (Submitted by
David Usher)
V e r m o n t I t a l i a n C l u b
P . O . B o x 3 1 5 5
B u r l i n g t o n V T 0 5 4 0 8
on day 1 there!) This started
our cooking careers. I
worked my way up from pas-
try cook at a Four Season‟s
Hotel in Houston to assistant
at the Boston Ritz to Pastry
Chef at the Meridien Hotel
(the first woman to hold that
position). My art background
enhanced my culinary career,
and I made hundreds of show-
pieces, chocolate sculptures,
edible paintings and sugar
pieces. I won a number of
culinary art awards. It was a
delicious career.
During those busy
years of cooking, Italy was on
the back burner, so to speak.
Retirement 1 ½ years ago
Cyprus, Lebanon, Malawi
Africa, Turkey. While
living in Lahore, West
Pakistan I studied art at
Panjab University where
the life drawing models
were the homeless from
the streets outside.
My awakening to
the beauty of Italy started
when my family was able
to visit there twice during
our travels in the 1960‟s
while overseas. When I
returned to the US, I stud-
ied art at Pratt Institute and
later attended the Culinary
Institute of America
(where I fell for Stephen
Baietti, my future husband,
changed that. We have
been studying the Italian
language, the most beautiful
of languages, passionately.
We have been able to visit
Italy twice in the last 1 ½
years, backpacking, travel-
ing by rail and bus. And
when home in Vermont,
working on my pastel land-
scapes of Italy and being an
active member of VICA,
Italy does not seem very
far. Of course, everyone is
always planning their next
trip to Italy. This fall, our
plan is living on rural farms
in a working capacity with
the organization known as
WWOOFer!
I was born in
Washington DC and,
from an early age, was
captivated by coloring,
drawing and painting.
Because of my father‟s
work in the government,
my teenage years were
spent overseas in a num-
ber of countries—
WHO WE ARE: To better acquaint you with who we are on a personal level, this featured section of Il Messaggio is reserved for a
short autobiographical “portrait” of a VIC member or a place in Italy from which a member’s family emigrated. This issue features