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News and Events ~
December 2007
News from The Craco
Society:
Fr. Nick Mormando has kindly
donated a large amount of material to the Society to assist
other members in researching family history. The material
consists of selected vital records from Craco that he acquired
while researching his family.
Besides the obvious information in
the records about the event this material also contains valuable
information about the individuals who were listed as witnesses.
These individuals are identified by name, occupation, age, and
father’s name. This information about an ancestor
appearing in these records can be used to add to you family
history.
The records mainly come from the
period of 1901-1910. Although they do not reflect all the
vital records for the town during these years they include
several items recording events occurring in New York that were
sent back to Italy to be recorded in the Craco vital records.
A list in alphabetical order by
last name of individuals listed in the records is posted on the
Craco Society website on the Genealogy page. Click
here
to view this page now.
To obtain more information about
an individual or a copy of the record that is listed please
contact
sperof@comcast.net with your
request.
You may have noticed on our Welcome Page
underneath the toolbar located in the left hand column, a link to the
AltaVista Babel Fish website. This link enables visitors to view
our entire web site in Italian. We hope this translation tool
allows our Italian speaking visitors to enjoy our website and all
the valuable information contained within it. We also encourage
our English speaking guests to try it out and brush up on their Italian
skills for our group trip to Craco this summer!
Registration is currently underway for all Founding Members to renew
their membership to The Craco Society for 2008. Besides individual
memberships, plans are also available for households and families.
These extended membership plans not only allow the Society to expand its
membership, but enables Founding Members to purchase memberships as
gifts for friends or relatives. Remember, in order to take
advantage of the Founding Member discount, all applications must be
renewed by December 15, 2007. Additionally, Society items such as
books and DVD's can be ordered as gifts. Please contact Fred Spero
at
Sperof@comcast.com for further details.
The
Board of Directors and dedicated volunteers have
been organizing a summer 2008 group trip to
Craco. After researching many options, we have
decided not to use a tour operator. At this
point, we are ready to make arrangements with our
chosen resort, the Magna Grecia, located on the
beach in Metaponto (www.magnagreciavillage.com).
Occurring in early to mid June, it will be an eight
day/seven night event including half-board
(breakfast & dinner with wine & water), bus
transfers from Rome or Bari airports on a Saturday,
a bus to take us to New Craco and Old
Craco (allowing time for exploring, touring, records
research, meeting family) and optional day trips
from the resort. The optional day trips
include:
·
Metaponto
temple & small museum
·
Policoro
excavation site (Roman ruins) and small museum
·
Matera sassi
and old city tour with lunch at a local restaurant
·
Pulglia: the
trulli in Alberobella and church-caves
Many
members have expressed interest in traveling abroad
either before or after the group get-together in
Craco. We are more than pleased to announce
that Ciao Tours, a private tour operator
specializing in family and individual travel, is
offering customized add-ons. From farm stays
in Tuscany to personalized tours of your Italian
relatives’ villages and journey to the New World,
Ciao Tours can arrange everything. You can
check them out at:
www.ciaotours.com
As you gather together with family and friends over
the holiday season, we ask that you discuss the
feasibility of a summer trip to Craco in June 2008.
Please respond to Lena Camperlengo (lenacamperlengo@hotmail.com)
as soon as possible if you are interested in joining
this exciting adventure. There is no financial
commitment at this point.
We are seeking a general number of interested
parties and optimal travel dates as we negotiate
with Magna Grecia Village.
Events this Month in Craco:
Dicembre
Olive oil
December 8: Immaculate Conception 
•December
13: Santa Lucia
 •
Natale –
presepio, pettole, baccala, Tombola
§Pick
olives and bring them to the frantoio (press) to make
olive oil. It is customary
to sample the new olive oil by toasting bread at the frantoio
and drizzling the first few drops of the virgin olive oil on the
toasted bread.
§Dec
8: Celebrate
l’Immacolata – feast of the Immaculate Conception – there
will be a small festa, but no processione.
Will make nativity scene with handmade clay figures, and
moss gathered from
the fields.
§Dec
13: Celebrate Santa Lucia – will soak ceci, grain and cook
it for several hours and offer it to poor people.
My brothers and sisters remember having this “porridge” for
breakfast on the feast day of Santa Lucia.
§During
the week of Christmas – will make pettole, panzerotti filled
with a sweet chestnut or
ceci filling, also make cartellate.
§Christmas
Eve – eat baccala (cod) and other seafood, midnight mass.
§Christmas
Day – families gather to play Tombola using orange peel as
Tombola markers.
§New
Years Eve – not a major event.
Click
here to view A
Year in Craco. Events in Craco for every month are
listed. Thank you to Joe Rinaldi in Canada for his
contribution to this page.
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Craco Society (Inc.). All Rights Reserved. |
