Maria Grazia Pastore, Maria De Rosa and Lorenzo Sabetti visited Toronto in the fall of 2019, to promote the Fortore Magazine, take part in a fund raiser, and catch up with friends and family. One of their objectives was to visit Roseto PA, which they had not done before, so we did a road trip, driving down October 30th, with visits October 31st and returning to Toronto November 1st. This was all done quite last minute, and we were fortunate to have a few people help set things up for us.
The first stop was the Municipal offices, where we had arranged with Cathy Martino to meet people, including the Mayor, Joseph C. Angelini. Of particular interest to the visitors were some of the plaques and pictures, including the former mayors of Roseto PA, most with Rosetani last names.
Note: Click on the underlined phrases to link to a website giving more details and history on the places we visited.
After leaving the Municipal offices, we did a small tour of the town, including the Roseto Bakery, Ruggiero’s Market, where we missed the 100 year old matriarch of the store, and the church.
The next stop was a visit arranged by Jim Dotta and his sister Anita Dotta to Jim Gloria and Angelina Wolf Gloria at the Totts Gap Art Academy. Angelina Wolf Gloria is the daughter of Dr. Stewart Wolf. This is the site of Dr. Stewart Wolf, who established a medical research facility here, where much of the research on the Roseto Affect into longevity took place. Jim Gloria reviewed some of his artwork, and showed us a poster of a mural in Bangor, featuring Andrew Pollo, who is well known to Roseto Valfortore. Angelina Wolf Gloria is Dr. Wolf’s daughter, and talked to us about her father’s research and her career as a dancer, along with the work at the Academy.
It was time for a quick refuel at Jane and Nick Rosato’s house. We cut the meal short to go explore the town and cemeteries, taking in the many names common to Roseto Valfortore. We also visited Joe DeFranco of JDeFranco & Daughter’s catering, enjoying a quick cup of espresso while we visited.
Since it was getting dark we headed back to Jane and Nick Rosario’s place to enjoy the rest of the meal which they had prepared, and we had asked them to put on hold while we explored. Our apologies for that, but we wanted to see some things in daylight which gets in short supply in the afternoons at the end of October.
The next day we drove home via Letchworth State Park in New York State, Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Heavy rains had caused a lot of flooding through New York State, and the Letchworth River was running high, fast and muddy, as was Niagara Falls. We arrived at Niagara Falls late in the day, with a combination of wind blowing the mist in the right direction, and the late sun providing rainbows over both sets of falls.
On behalf of ourselves and our guests from Italy, I would like to thank our hosts in Roseto, PA. You showed amazing hospitality and warmth on short notice, and it was a pleasure meeting everyone.