My View of Life on the Dock
Derrick Hopkins took the flag for two consecutive wins, joining only a handful of Greasy Pole walkers to do same. As he did in both courtesy rounds and his win on Friday night, he seamlessly walked the walk. Odds are he may take the flag tomorrow night, too.
Thunder clouds passed overhead threatening the sporting events. Most of the afternoon was cloudy with a few raindrops but just after Derrick’s amazing win, the sun burst through the clouds. Viva San Pietro!
PLAYTIME STORIES CELEBRATES FIESTA WITH A LIVE PERFORMANCE OF
LAURA M. ALBERGHINI VENTIMIGLIA’S
NONNA, WHAT IS ST. PETER’S FIESTA?
ON JUNE 29 AT GLOUCESTER STAGE COMPANY
A Live Fiesta Theater Performance for Young Audience Members Age 2 and Older
and An Opportunity to Meet the Author
Gloucester Stage Company proudly announces a special Playtime Stories event celebrating St. Peter’s Fiesta with a live performance of Laura M. Alberghini Ventimiglia’s NONNA, WHAT IS ST. PETER’S FIESTA? on Saturday, June 29 at 10 am at Gloucester Stage, 267, East Main Street, Gloucester. An engaging combination of children’s stories and live performances for ages 2 and older, Playtime Stories offers young children the unique opportunity to experience the fun and magic of live theater as they watch their favorite books come to life onstage. To celebrate Fiesta on Saturday, June 29 the Playtime Stories Company will read and perform Gloucester resident Laura M. Alberghini Ventimiglia’s new book, NONNA, WHAT IS ST. PETER’S FIESTA? and Tomie dePaola’s STREGA NONA. Following the performance audience members will be invited to join the Playtime Stories Company in fun and interactive workshops and crafts relating to the story. On June 30 audience members can craft their own Seine boat and participate in Playtime Stories Seine Boat Races at GSC and make their own Fish magnets.
Playtime Stories is pleased to welcome special guest author Laura M. Alberghini Ventimiglia to sign copies of her new book which will be available for sale. According to Youth Acting Workshop Director and Teacher Heidi Dallin, ” We are honored to have Laura at this Playtime Stories special event to celebrate Fiesta for the second year in a row. She is an inspiration to our audiences and the young performers in the Playtime Stories Company. Last year’s Fiesta Playtime Stories was standing room only – the biggest audience we have had in Playtime Stores history! The actors and I could not wait to bring Laura’s story back this year. NONNA, WHAT IS ST. PETER’S FIESTA? is now a Playtime Stories tradition. ”
Each Saturday from June 29 through August 17 the Playtime Stories Company, consisting of veteran members of the Gloucester Stage Youth Acting Workshop program and special guest narrators perform a children’s story against the backdrop of the story’s illustrations as well as create a dynamic weekly series of interactive events related to the story. “We have had a great response to the Playtime Stories program over the past four summers, ” points out Dallin, ” It is a terrific way for YAW to reach out to younger audiences to spark their excitement in live performance. Many of the veteran YAW students in the Playtime Stories Company have been involved in the YAW program since they were 5 years old and now they will inspire the next generation of YAW students!”
Playtime Stories explores different stories ranging from classic fairy tales to new stories to works by local authors. The Playtime Stories season consists of July 13: MAGIC 101: The Magic Tree House: Stage Fright on a Summer Night and The Magic School Bus: Inside a Beehive ; July 20: A DELIGHTFUL DAY of Dr. SEUS: The Lorax and Horton Hears a Who; July 27: MYSTERY MAYHEM: Scooby-Doo and Where’s Mommy?; August 3: FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO READ ABOUT THEM: Where the Wild Things Are and Pegasus, the Flying Horse; August 10: BONJOUR! ADVENTURES IN FRANCE: Madeline and The Little Prince; and August 17: SUMMER FINALE: Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Quiet Cricket; and Judith Viorist’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
All Playtime Story performances are held at 10 am at Gloucester Stage, 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA. Admission is $5 for one child (includes one free adult). Free coffee and donuts provided by Jim’s Bagel and Bake Shoppe. For more information or tickets, call the Gloucester Stage Box Office at 978-281-4433 or visit http://www.gloucesterstage.com
Playtime Stories Cast members with Author Laura M. Alberghini Ventimiglia and Translator Diletta Ballati at Gloucester Stage Photo by Heidi
Good luck to all walkers, lets make this a great experience for all participants and lets make this an event that the city can always be proud of.
Let the Games begin
Viva San Pietro
The St Peter’s Fiesta & the Greasy Pole are trademarks of the St Peters Fiesta Committee.
Huge shout out to underdogs Iron Village for winning the most nail-biting, neck-in-neck, toe-to-toe men’s seine boat race ever seen in the history of the Saint Peter’s Fiesta races. Congratulations Iron Village!!!!
Inspired Greasy Pole Dad costumes –
Saturday Greasy Pole Walker Frank Pacheco with his adorable son Xavier
https://www.instagram.com/p/BktvI7QHMZZ/
God Bless America – In thinking about our beautiful country of immigrants and wondering, how does it feel to be a new immigrant in the America of today? History is again repeating itself in the horrendous mistreatment of the Central American refugees.
“God Bless America” was written by Irving Berlin one hundred years ago (1918) while Berlin was serving in the Army, but he set the song aside at that time. Berlin, born Israel Baline, was the son of a Jewish cantor fleeing persecution in Russia. With the rise of Hitler, in 1938 Berlin felt the time was right to release “God Bless America,” as a peace song. The backlash was immediate. Critics said a Jewish immigrant shouldn’t get to celebrate America as his (Berlin also wrote “White Christmas,” “Easter Parade,” and the popular Thanksgiving song “Plenty to be Thankful For.”)
In 1940, an American Nazi sympathizer wrote in his organization’s pro-Nazi newsletter “(I do) not consider G-B-A a ‘patriotic’ song, in the sense of expressing the real American attitude toward his country, but consider that it smacks of the ‘How glad I am’ attitude of the refugee horde of which Theodore Roosevelt said, ‘We wish no further additions to the persons whose affection for this country is merely a species of pawnbroker patriotism – whose coming here represents nothing but the purpose to change one feeding trough for another feeding trough.”
Does this response to Irving Berlin’s beautiful, patriotic, and now much beloved song sound familiar? Whether emigrating from Europe to America to escape religious persecution (the Pilgrims), starvation from the great potato famine (Irish), abject poverty, exploitation, and violence (Southern Italians and Sicilians), oppressive legislation and poverty (Eastern European Jews), or gang violence and rape (today’s Central American refugees) America is a country of immigrants and refugees. This is our past, our present, and our future. Irving Berlin arrived in America when he was five years old, the same age as many of the children being torn away from their mothers and fathers, some without any hope of ever being reunited with their parents. Imagine if Israel Baline had been torn from his mother’s arms, would we have the beautiful musical legacy given this country by one of her most famous sons?
This photo is for Scott Memhard 🙂
Sunday Walkers and Bathing Beauties
Snapshots from Gloucester’s 91st Saint Peter’s Fiesta celebration opening night ceremony. Viva San Pietro!
Photos From Ron Gilson
The members of St. Peter’s Fiesta Committee in collaboration with Buttieri Press are pleased to announce the release of an illustrated children’s book that explains the meaning behind the traditions of Gloucester’s St. Peter’s Fiesta.
Nonna, What is St. Peter’s Fiesta? is the story of a young boy, Joey, and his cousins Amelia and Jacob who accompany their grandmother during the weekend festivities, learning as they go, about this annual celebration.
Nonna, What is St. Peter’s Fiesta? is written through the eyes of children and aims to preserve an understanding of the values behind the tradition.
Every child has her or his favorite book, a book they want read to them again and again. As Joe Novello, Committee President, points out, “When they have a book they enjoy, they always pick that book to read and have it read to them. At some point there is a connection and the meaning of the book comes across, which is the intent. Then when Fiesta comes they can relate to it because the story has been read to them a hundred times. It’s embedded in them.”
The author, Laura M. Alberghini Ventimiglia, is a Gloucester resident whose family has a history of being involved with Fiesta. Even before the Fiesta began in the Italian neighborhood known as the Fort, relatives were living there and four generations experienced first hand the true meaning of Fiesta. This experience now extends through to the sixth generation with the author’s grandchildren.
Ventimiglia was inspired to write the book during the 2015 Fiesta. Participating with her children, grandchildren, and extended family members, she noticed that while everyone was having fun; the majority of people were enjoying the Fiesta as if it were a carnival. She realized that the further away from the original Fiesta, the further away participants are from knowing and understanding the meanings of the values behind the tradition.
She approached St. Peter’s Fiesta Committee members with her idea of a children’s book. They recognized the same dilemma of time. Committee members thought it was a great idea and decided to support the project because a children’s book could explain how the Fiesta started and what it was about. Anthony Cusumano, Committee Treasurer, described it appropriately. “So many years, generations have passed that maybe the younger generation had lost the original meaning. We wanted to bring it back to its roots. Help the young kids today know what the whole meaning of Fiesta is, what the meaning of the novena is, the greasy pole contest, the seine boats and so forth. We wanted to get back to the times when that’s what the Gloucester fishing fleet was about.”
Ventimiglia worked with Committee members for two years, gathering their ideas, and keeping them informed of the progress of writing, illustrating, and finally printing. She also spent months researching early Fiesta stories through microfilmed newspaper articles and interviewing people including Sara Favazza. Favazza is the youngest child of Captain Salvatore Favazza who commissioned the original statue in 1927 leading to the founding of the Fiesta tradition. “Sara was an amazing resource and infused her energy for the Fiesta into our work,” Ventimiglia says. “She was generous with her time, met frequently with me and even invited the illustrator, Maura O’Connor, and me to lunch. Maura dubbed Sara, ‘Fiesta Royalty’.”
Favazza describes Nonna, What is St. Peter’s Fiesta? as “a beautiful book, a wonderful book that every child would love to have.” She says, “It’s marvelous. Every parent in Gloucester should buy one to read to their children to find out what the Fiesta is all about.”
Committee members say they are looking forward to this year’s Fiesta. They describe Fiesta as a time for family and friends, “a time for people to get together and reunite,” according to Novello. “As generations grew and spread throughout the country, Fiesta became a time when people return home, return to Gloucester knowing they will see people they haven’t seen in a year.” And, every year Committee members try to do something special. A special happening this year will be the release of Nonna, What is St. Peter’s Fiesta?
A family and friends release by the Committee for the 2017 holidays generated great excitement about the children’s book spurring tremendous anticipation for the upcoming sales to the general public.
Illustrator O’Connor, a graduate of Montserrat School of Art, lives in Beverly yet visited Gloucester often sketching the workings of its harbor. Diletta Ballati who lives in Italy and considers Gloucester her American home, translated the book into Italian, available online at https://buttieripress.com/festa.
The book also includes a brief history of the Fiesta, photos from the initial years, and photos by Kim Smith and Bridgette Mathews of last year’s 90th celebration.
All proceeds from sales of the book go to The St. Peter’s Fiesta, Inc., a 501c3 organization aimed at preserving this Sicilian-Italian American tradition of Gloucester’s fishermen.
Scheduled to be released to the public on June 1, 2018, accompanying events throughout the month include:
June 1 to June 30 –The Bookstore of Gloucester – Artist of the Month, the original illustrations of the book will be on display.
June 2 – Sawyer Free Children’s Library kicks off events with the official children’s book launch from 10:00am to 11:30am with the author, illustrator, and Sara Favazza. The event is co-hosted by The Bookstore of Gloucester.
June 9 – Cape Ann Museum will host a CAM Kids program from 10am to 12 noon.
June 16 – Sawyer Free Children’s Library hosts a Fiesta Children’s Program from 10:30am to 11:30am with authors Laura M. Alberghini Ventimiglia and Alice Gardner with activities from their books Nonna, What is St. Peter’s Fiesta? and St. Peter’s Fiesta: Gloucester, Massachusetts.
June 29 to July 1 – St. Peter’s Fiesta Kiosk by the Altar will have books available to purchase.
June 30 – The Bookstore of Gloucester will hold a book signing from 1pm to 3pm with the author, illustrator, and Sara Favazza.
Books are available at each of the above events and at the following:
The Bookstore, 61 Main Street, Gloucester
Harbor Loop Gifts, Building Center of Gloucester, 1 Harbor Loop, Gloucester
Cape Ann Museum, 27 Pleasant Street, Gloucester
Buttieri Press, https://buttieripress.com
Sara Favazza unveiling the new Saint Peter, Saint Peter’s Fiesta opening ceremony, 2017.
Me in my happy place. Alice’s title is “Pure Joy” and that is precisely how I feel when working on film projects. Thank you Alice for sharing your photo from Saint Peter’s Fiesta. I LOVE it!
Congratulations again to Randy Sweet, the Saturday (and Friday) 2017 Greasy Pole Champion!
Fantastic Walks Saturday Walkers, and Wonderful Costumes, too!
Several of the GP Walkers have asked how much I would charge to print photos of their walk. No charge. If you would like a photo that you have seen here on GMG, please drag it off the post onto your desktop, or take a screenshot, and send it to me in an email. I will send you the highest resolution file, which is best for printing. You can print however many you would like for your personal use. My email address is kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com.
Here are links to Sunday’s walk, and I will try to post Friday’s early week:
Randy Sweet Your 2017 Saturday Greasy Pole Champion
Snapshots from Fiesta opening and closing night ceremonies Viva!
Photos of our Sunday Greasy Pole Walkers walking The Walk. Congratulations again to second time winner Jake Wagner, who was walking in memory of his Dad, John Wagner. Sunday was one of the most exciting Greasy Pole events ever, with outstanding walks and legendary losses.
Lenny Taormina, the agony!
Jake Wagner Sunday Greasy Pole Champion
Hat Ladies Amy and Robyn out did themselves in wonderfully whimsical Fiesta hats in honor of Saint Peter’s Fiesta 90th anniversary celebration.
And they sure know how to throw a fabulous party and mini Saint Peter’s procession! The Saturday Greasy Pole Walkers rallied at the sisters Orchard Street home before heading over to walk the walk.
Photos from the Fiesta Ferris wheel taken Thursday evening. Click the slideshow to see larger.
Jake Wagner, with Mom Robin, sister Mackenzie, and brother Nick
Jake and very proud brother Nick
Steven Leblanc always keeping an eye out for, and giving advice to, the young walkers.
Good Morning Gloucester 