Thank you to the person who brought this down the dock for me. Sorry I didn’t get your name.
Ron Gilson writes in-
Good morning Joey:
Over the years I have refrained from commenting on various interesting community posts on your blog. Who’s interested in an old man’s perspective?
However, today’s wedding story on your blog represents not only a detailed account of a prominent Italian commuity wedding, but more importantly, to me, it is a detailed slice of our all important fishing community history.
In 1938, all the up and coming leaders of the Italian community fishing fleet were listed as principals in this wedding. They were the future players about to write Gloucester fishing history. The Curcuru’s, Ciaramitaro’s, Branceleone’s, Strescino’s, D’Amico’s, Calamo’s, Novello’s, Orlando’s, to name a few, were all in attendance. It was a wedding spectacular!
Ten years later, Capt. Joe Ciaramitaro, in his highligher Benjamin C., would lead the fleet in the redfishing game, along with Capt. Sam Nicastro in his F/V Felicia; Capt. Chris Cecilio in his F/V Mary and Josephine; Capt. Rico Strescino in his family owned F/V Balilla and later in the Boston vessel Agatha and Patricia; the Brancaleone brothers in their family vessels Joseph & Lucia and St. Victoria; the Novello’s in their new Bonaventure and the Calomo and D’Amico families in their highline seiner, Ida & Joseph.
These Italian vessels and their crews and many others played a major role in the prominence of Gloucester’s fishing production in that era. It will never happen again, and this wave of Italian-American immigrants should never be forgotten. It was an unforgettable time in our city’s history!
Ron Gilson
