On November 12, 2005, a meeting was held at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 10:30 a.m.. Those in attendance included:
Members: Frank Balistrieri, Kristin Bushman, Nancy Bushman, Colleen Bettini, Joe Dentice, Tina Favero (4452), Elsie Fucile, Mave Freyberg, Dani Graf, Arlene and John Jorgensen, Lisa Joecks, Rosemary Joecks, Ruth Baldini Hendrickson, Filomena Lea, George Koleas (1527) Don and Marnie Krause(4882), Jeff Nesta, Steve and Jean Scalzo, Marie Roth (766) and Lynn Thrasher
New members include: Angelo Bellacera, Lynn Krenn, Hugh Swofford, Linda Ann Soliz
Guests include: Dan Niemiec (2304), Olga Fucile
New members were introduced.
· Angelo Bellacera is researching Angelo Bellacera from Partanna, Sicily and his wife Louisa Voi from Santa Ninfa, Sicily.
· Lynn Krenn is researching Zanchetti from Cagli, Pesaro and Lupini, Sicily
· Hugh Swofford is researching the family of Salvatore Vallone from Valledolmo, Palermo, Sicily and Santa Caterina Villarmosa, Caltanisseta, Sicily. Other surnames from Santa Caterina Villamisa include DiMartino, Scelso, Fiandaca, Stella, Macaluso and Leonardo. Also from Valledolmo, Palermo, Sicily is the surname Liberti
· Linda Ann Soliz is researching DiMaggio from Partinico, Palermo, Sicily
I described my participation in the National Geographic Society and IBM genetic research into the migration of Man. Details can be found at https://www5.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/
The Italian Roots Conference we attended on September 17 was a great success. It was such a success that the members of PIP Chapter 27 is offering a scholarship to one member of our Chapter for the registration fee for the fourth POINT National Conference in Los Angeles, October 6-8, 2006. Details for the conference will be available on the POINT website http://www.point-pointers.net/. If you will be attending the National Conference please contact me. We will have a selection process among the members of our chapter who apply.
Dan Niemiec (2304 ) has made copies of the conference book materials from the Italian Roots Conference on CD ROM. It is available to our members for a fee by contacting Dan at FamigliaBari@aol.com
Upcoming genealogical conferences include: Gene-A-Rama, at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, April 21-22, 2006. For details see http://www.rootsweb.com/~wsgs/meetings.htm ; 2006 National Genealogical Conference, Chicago, Illinois, June 7-10, 2006. For details see http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/2006Chicago.cfm
Denise Martin is writing an article for Today’s Wisconsin Woman on ethnic Christmas traditions. I asked members with e-mail to share their traditions with Denise. Denise thanks those who shared their traditions. Her article will be published and should be available December 1. Denise commented “…your members are a warm bunch of folks.”
At our last meeting we reported that Catherine Souse contacted us and is searching for information about her Corroo (Corrao) family. Catherine provided us with her family information. Peter Bellanti was able to use her information to locate her family in his research.
Jeff Nesta described his efforts over the past year and one half to obtain dual citizenship. Marie Roth (766) helped Jeff with some of the documents that were needed. Jeff was granted dual citizenship and displayed his new Italian passport.
Many public libraries offer access to Ancestry.com . Recently, some libraries are also offering Heritage Quest access. Please check with your local library to find out if one or both of these services are available to you. Some library systems make these resources available online.
Mike Aliota is considering forming a committee for another “Famiglia Reunion” either a few weeks before or after Festa Italiana.
Congratulations to Vince D’Orazio (3418) for his fine presentation at the Italian Roots Conference on the Origin of Surnames and the publication of his article “Tracing My Fathers Footsteps in World War I” in the Autumn 2005 issue of POINTers, Volume 19, Number 3, Issue #71.
Marnie Krause (4882) has a number of pictures without any identification. She is looking for resources to help identify the year when the pictures may have been taken. Family Tree Maker magazine had an interesting article on the subject. More information can be found at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/photos/photohelp.htm or http://www.cyndislist.com/photos.htm#Dating
Steve Scalzo described classes he attended at the Family History Center. Steve also attended a class by Bob Heck on fixing pictures. Bob Heck is a part of the Milwaukee PAF Users Group. Their website is http://www.mpafug.org/ .Once you are at the site, click on “calendar of events” for meetings and presentations schedule.
Marie Roth (766) mentioned that at the site http://gens.labo.net/ you can see your surname distribution in Italy, but also in the United States.
Dan Niemiec (2304 ) discussed allegati di matrimoni records. These are additional records filed with the marriage records that contain a variety of additional information on the bride and grooms family. For more details see http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/RG/guide/Italy9.asp
Dan suggested that when searching birth record films, you may find two to three times as many male births recorded if the first week in January. By delaying recording the birth, when the child came of age, compulsory military service was avoided for another year.
Dan also suggested to check http://www.familysearch.org/ periodically to see if additional films have been added to the LDS library holdings.
A foreign given name cross reference, in a variety of languages, including Italian, is available at http://www.rootsweb.com/~scoconee/names.html
Our next meeting will be on Saturday, January 14, 2006 at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, starting at 10:30 a.m. and concluding at noon. Please mark your calendar for the rest of our meetings during 2006 on Saturday’s, April 8, September 9 and November 11. We welcome anyone with an interest in Italian Family History. If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact George Koleas by e-mail or by calling (262) 251-7216 after 7:00 p.m..
Submitted by George Koleas (1527)
