shave ice & gelato

After writing the "100 things about me" post, I googled Montefalcione, the birth place of my great grandfather, to see if I could find any good pictures of the village to share. I did find one nice panoramic shot of Montefalcione posted on a TrekEarth gallery. There is a copyright and so instead of copying the photos, I am providing the link straight to the picture. If you scroll down, you can read The Story of Montefalcione.

As I continued to google, I was astonished to find that there is a direct link between the famous North End St. Anthony Feast and the little village of Montefalcione! A group of Italians from Montefalcione who settled in the North End created the San Antonio Di Padova Montefalcione Society. This is a great link for more information and history on the society and the feast. There is even a page with the founding fathers, one of whom has the last name as my great-grandfather who lived in the North End of Boston when the society was formed and others who also could be relatives of mine.

The feast takes place the last weekend in Boston in the North End. It’s a huge event, with games, bands, parades, and of course, food. The highlight of the Feast is the ten hour procession of the Statue of Saint Anthony through the streets of the North End accompanied by devotees, marching bands and floats. The Statue of the Saint returns to confetti and streamers cascading from the rooftops. I have many fond memories of the North End, but have never been to this feast. Someday...

I found a few videos and slide shows portraying the feast. This one is my favorite. Warning, the music is very catchy!

If you are interested in learning more, here are a couple of interesting links:

The History of the San Antonio Di Padua Da Montefalcione Society

Saint Anthony's Society and the Feast

The four major sports teams in Boston are the Bruins, the Celtics, the Red Sox, and the Patriots (which is officially a "New England" team).

The Bruins, founded in 1924, are winners of five Stanley Cups: 1929, 1939, 1941, 1970, and 1972. My memories of the Bruins are of the Bobby Orr years when the Bruins won two Stanley Cups in 1970 & 1972.

The Celtics, founded in 1946, are winners of 16 Championship Titles: 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1986. This is the only Boston team that I would describe as a Dynasty. I pretty much remember them winning just about every year. This was my mom's big team. She LOVED the Celtics.

My beloved Red Sox, founded in 1901 as the Boston Americans. They later became the Boston Pilgrims, and then in 1907, the Boston Red Sox. They began playing in Fenway Park in 1912. They won the World Series Championship in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918 and then 86 years later in 2004 and again in 2007. My memories until recently have been of frustation, disappointment &heartbreak. I still loved them when they were losing and never gave up on them until the very last out year to year, but always hated hearing "wait til next year". It is hard to put into words the joy I have felt with the two recent wins. All I can say is that after 2004, when they lost, it was no longer that painful, heartbreaking loss felt year after year after year.