Tag: Heritage
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Feeling Sicilian Heritage From Having Your Hands In The Dough
When hosting a family heritage tour, I aim to recreate the feeling of “wow, this is familiar!?” I want my guests to recall the sensation of being in their grandmother’s kitchen, like I remember feeling my first visit to Sicily in 1996. Images from my childhood flashed before my mind’s eye – – the scent…
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A Fishing Boat In Porticello Inspires Me To Remember
Commercial fishing boat in Porticello (Palermo Province), the village where my grandfather was born and lived before emigrating to the United States in April 1913 My grandfather was 17 years old when he emigrated. First, like many from Porticello, he went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he worked as a marble mason. Eventually, he settled in…
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Heritage Visit To Valguarnera Caropepe
One of my favorite things is to connect my clients to their heritage. Even better is when we can unite someone with a distant relative. Yesterday, thanks to our local insider in Valguarnera Caropepe, Paolo, Maryann met Franca, her third cousin for the first time! They share the same third greatgrandparents. Tears all around! Just…
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Morning Light In Porticello, Sicily
Last night I had a dream that I was staying here in Porticello, my grandfather’s fishing village. Last year when I was staying here in an apartment, I delighted in waking up early and walking through the port to see the light on Monte Catalfano and Capo Zafferano and the fisherman and boat repairmen doing…
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Released: Ameri-Sicula: Sicilian Culture In America
It’s here! Ameri-Sicula: Sicilian Culture in America, edited by Mark Hehl and published by Legas. See my chapter on page 100. “Cannoli: The Gateway to Discovering My Sicilian Heritage,” discusses how my father’s sweet tooth opened a sublime world to me. To order your copy, you may use the form below, which best supports this…
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Lena’s Sicilian Ancestral Town Visit
Today we have clients visiting the Late Baroque Sicilian Town of Palazzolo Acreide for a heritage experience. They’ll start their day here, at the Municipal Hall’s office of vital records with their local, expert English-speaking guide. Lena and her children John and Carole, will visit la Chiesa di San Sebastiano where Lena’s parents married before…
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My Roots Research In Sicily
What do you think? Is there a likeness? I often help our Experience Sicily clients conduct heritage research in Sicily. When I’m with them (which I love!), or we connect them with locals to assist at the municipal offices of vital records (Anagrafe). Well, this week, I turned the tables on myself. I’ve been staying…
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Marge, The Mayor, and Her Cousin
Today, I cried when I received a text with the attached photo from our Experience Sicily clients traveling in Sicily. With help from our guides and friends of Val di Kam and Pattitour Viaggi, Marge (second from the left, who turned 84 years old last week), her daughters, and her son-in-law not only found information…
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Now He Knows
What an eventful day! The best part however, was assisting Experience Sicily’s friend Tom research his heritage in his grandmother’s hometown of Sambuca di Sicilia. Within minutes of us arriving, the women of the Office of Vital Records were on the case, pulling out old books and sorting out possible relatives. We learned grandma’s birthday…