PIP Chapter #1 Chicago
Meeting Report
by Cav. Anthony Lascio #1051 (Father of Pointers In Person)

On the beautiful Indian Summer Wednesday evening of October 18^TH  45 Chicago area Italian genealogists gathered for the thirty-second time at Suparossa Ristorante Italiano in suburban Woodridge for dinner and a meeting.  The occasion was also the eighth (8TH) anniversary of the founding of America’s first PIP Chapter.

After the usual welcome by Cav. Anthony Lascio #1051,  three first timers were asked to self introduce themselves. They were: John Beyer of Burbank, Gen Naumann of Addision and Lou Gould of Glenview.

Anthony then apologized for several blank meeting announcement postcards which some of the PIPsters received. The problem was traced to a printer gremlin.  Mamma Rosa (Rose Ducato #1812) was thanked for providing dozens of her now famous home made cannolis which has become an annual anniversary treat.  Mamma Rosa received a resounding round of applause.

Anthony began the business portion of the meeting buy announcing the change of one meeting date for the year 2001.  Instead of scheduling each Chapter #1's gatherings on the third Wednesday of every third month, the first meeting will be held in February rather than January from now on.  This means it will be four months between the October gathering and the February meeting, two months between the February and April meetings, then the regular schedule of July and October follows.

The results of the July survey was reported.  Five questions were asked at the July 19^TH 2000 meeting concerning: the meeting format, meeting content, seating arrangements, guest presenters and topics of interest.  Lascio stated the majority desired to keep the format as is; a large variety of content/topics were indicated with no clear choice; most wish to eat with their friends but meet according to Italian regions; an extensive list of presenter topics were given; and a significant number of speaker suggestions with PIP members as the most popular choice.

All of the preceding will be taken into consideration as future dinner meetings are planned by the PIP leader.

Rose Ducato gave a report on the Second POINT Conference in Austin, Texas discussing the highlights of what she considered to be a very outstanding and successful event.  Six members of Chapter #1 attended.  Regarding the next such conference scheduled for Salt Lake City in the year 2002, Anthony took a quick survey to gauge how many from Chapter #1 would consider attending the Salt Lake City event.  About half the group, twenty plus, raised their hands.  Are you taking note Chapter #24?

Lisa Perkins, the PIP Site Webmistress gave a brief report updating “what’s new” on the site.  Again, Lascio decided to survey the group to determine who does and doesn’t utilize this feature of Chapter #1 Chicago.  Only four PIPsters who were present do not have a computer and, therefore, access to the site.

Next, Tony introduced Deanna Spingola #2393 who reported on the new data available at the LDS Naperville Branch Family History Center.  Deanna also provided a handout listing the updated additions.

Arlene Gould inquired whether the LDS Salt Lake City catalog was on fiche as well as on line.

Lascio informed the group that Ancestry has announced that early in the year 2001, the entire US Census up to and including 1920 will be available on line.  There will be one fee for access to members and a higher fee for non-members.

Gerald Feranga #1763 provided an interesting report on his recent trip to Potenza Province in Basilicata, Italy.  Though unprepared and defying all of the recommendations about how to plan a genealogy excursion to Italy, he was treated royally by everyone he encountered, including the civil and church archivists, plus a variety of new found cousins.  He made several posters and booklets available which he brought back from Italy for free distribution.              

Adele Becia #2912 was excited about receiving a 1913 passenger arrival record from the National Archives in Washington.

Lisa Perkins displayed a book depicting the history of her ancestral town she obtained on her recent trip to Italy.

Audrey Allen #1772 referred everyone to a wall of the restaurant where she hung two giant family trees, one paternal, the other maternal, displaying 510 ancestors dating back to the middle 1500's. There were a number of questions regarding the charts including whether the pedigree charts surnames should be written in Italian, Latin or English. The recommended answer was Italian, although it is always the personal choice of the genealogist.

Alex DeVolpi #4160 presented several Venetian carnival masks he obtained on his recent trek through Northern Italy.

Hilda Rohmann #2352, conducted some research on the Internet and had a response from a “possible” relative which resulted in the receipt of several pictures of ancestors she had never seen photographed previously.

Karen Bucaro #3774 visited the Galena, IL area and while there discovered a small genealogy display at the historical center which featured quite a bit of material on understanding tombstone markings.

Susan Lehrmann informed the group that every Saturday at 8AM, the local Public Broadcasting Channel has an ongoing thirty minute program on genealogy.  She also presented a picture from Abruzzi of her ancestral town’s patron saints.

Jenny Khalaf  #3902 asked the group to provide her with information regarding Italian town web sites. She is accumulating this information to include on her web site which now has over 2500 resources.

Ann Cioccia reported that on her most recent trip to Italy, she discovered cousins for whom she had been searching for over seventy years.

Between this segment of the meeting and the next, Anthony asked the group to rise and face the flag of the Kingdom of Italy for the playing of the “INNO DI MAMELI”, the Italian national anthem. This feature is part of every anniversary (October) dinner meeting and also, October is Italian Heritage Month.

The final business of the evening was gathering the attendees by their Italian region of interest for a thirty minute informal brainstorming session.

Following this, the meeting was adjourned at 10PM until the next gathering of Chapter #1 which is scheduled for Wednesday, February 21, 2001 at Suparossa Ristorante Italiano once again.