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PIP
CHAPTER #1 CHICAGO On the beautiful
cool Summer evening of Wednesday, July 19, 2000, forty-seven (47) Chicagoland
Italian genealogists gathered at Suparossa Ristorante Italiano in suburban
Woodridge, IL for the 31st time to enjoy a traditional family style Italian
dinner and an exchange of their genealogical experiences. Cav. Anthony
Lascio #1051 began the meeting by extending a warm Italian welcome to all the
attendees. Three (3) first timers
were requested to introduce themselves. They
were: Aurelio Abbatiello from Bloomingdale, Peggy Burns from Oak Lawn and
Virginia Louise from Willowbrook. Each
was given a resounding round of applause. Lascio spoke
about the upcoming 2nd POINT Conference in Austin, Texas.
Five (5) attendees indicated they had made reservations and several
others were still considering attending.
Anthony referred the group to the library table which contained a copy
of the 1st POINT Conference syllabus. A survey form was
distributed to the group which took ten (10) minutes to complete.
The survey was intended to provide valuable feed back to the PIP
Chapter Leader regarding the format of future Chapter #1's meetings; how the
group wishes to be seated for dinner and the meetings; topics of interest to
the membership; and suggested future speakers.
The survey results will be tabulated and reported at the Fall meeting. Absent member
Lisa Perkins requested that anyone with knowledge of the now closed St.
Columbkille Catholic Church pass along their information to her via email. Leader Lascio
took on a serious tone of voice to remind the group of the importance to RSVP
for the PIP meetings by the Sunday deadline prior to the Wednesday meetings.
He explained how the deviations from this policy causes havoc with the
restaurant and himself when the final head count keeps changing from Monday to
the Wednesday meeting date. Included
are: concerns about PIPsters who come to the dinner meeting and did not RSVP;
those who do not attend after reserving; bringing an unexpected guest;
reserving for a guest who doesn’t show up; and finally, some who do not RSVP
until Monday, Tuesday or even the Wednesday meeting date.
Anthony explained how he must provide Suparossa with a final attendance
count by Monday. Everyone was asked to please adhere to the RSVP policy by
exercising common courtesy, good judgement and positive understanding.
When Lascio’s “speech” was concluded he was given rigorous
applause. The next subject
on the program agenda was “Questions, Problems, Reports and
Announcements”. Numerous
attendees responded, as follows: Adeline Becia #2912
related a story of searching years for her father’s U.S. arrival as an Italian
emigrant and how unsuccessful and frustrating the results were. Finally, her
sister discovered a “journal” kept by their father which contained all the
data she had been seeking. But much
to her shock, he had been a true “Bird of Paradise” by traversing the
Atlantic back and forth nine (9) times with each trip fully detailed and
documented. She was overjoyed at this valuable find. Alex DeVolpi #4160,
reported on recent trips to Los Angeles where he visited the Pompeii exhibit,
the Los Angeles Italian Cutlural Center and New York City where he visited Ellis
Island. Alex plans to travel to Central Italy in August to research his maternal
roots. The Allens #1772,
Bob and Audrey, offered an extensive review of their recent teaching experience
where they taught 11 to 14 year old Italian children English at a grammar school
in Italy. The program was
offered by Elderhostel and was on a volunteer basis. It was an exciting and
rewarding experience. Next Linda
Fortunato #3769, explained how she received an email from Uruguay by someone who
saw her surname list posted on an Internet site. Hilda Rohmann #2352
received a German email from a researching inquirer about an ancestor on the
South side of Chicago. Jenny Khalaf #3902
stressed the importance of all local POINTers, placing their surnames on the
Chapter #1 web site. She noted that many of our group have not bothered to list
the names they are researching thus, missing contact opportunities worldwide.
The same is true with other genealogy sites which provide for the listing of
one’s surnames. The PIP Leader
fully concurred. Elizabeth Marrone
Esterly #3952 obtained an Italian Military document providing a wealth of
genealogical data including her father’s service in the Italo-Turkish war. Dan Niemiec #2304
asked the group how much money to send to Italian civil archivists who provide
record documents. The consensus was
no more than $10 each. Linda Messina Holda
#2055 reported that Chicago’s Newberry Library has many out of town telephone
directories. Linda also provided a half dozen copies of the syllabus for the PIP
Chapter #1 Conference which was held in May of 1995 at the Italian Cultural
Center in Stone Park. Sara Jacobs #2887
referred the attendees to the Google Internet site which has a great deal of
information available. The final twenty
minutes of the meeting was devoted to a discussion and interchange by the
attendees who were seated by the major Italian geographic areas; North, Central,
South and Sicily. Some chose to
share research tips and others browsed the library table. The meeting was
adjourned at 10:00P.M. with the announcement of Chapter #1's next gathering on
Wednesday, October 18h same time, same location. It will be the 8th anniversary of the first PIP
Chapter in America.
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© PIP Chapter 1, 2003 ~ Webmaster: LPRoots@yahoo.com ~ page last updated on Monday, March 10, 2003 |