January 15, 2000 Meeting Minutes

POINTers IN PERSON Minutes
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
George Koleas (#1527)

Pointers In Person, Chapter 22, met at the Italian Community Center, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Saturday, January 15, 2000.  Present at the meeting were, Nancy and Dick Boudreau , Charles and Madeline Carome (930), Stan and Lois Cozzuli (220), Tina Favero,  Mave Freyberg, Jean Karls, George Koleas (1527), Pat Moon,  Barbara Roberts (1202), Marie Roth (766), Vincent and Connie D'Orazio (3418), Pat and Art Therkelson (2356) and new members Frank Balistrieri, Ann D'Amico Skoczynski  and Josephine Loch. Our total membership continues to grow, as does our database, which now contains over 300 surnames. Some members can not attend meetings, but are receiving all minutes by either e-mail or U.S. mail.

We began by reviewing news and correspondence we have received since our last meeting.

Since our last meeting, our chapter has been accepted as an Italian Community Center Club.  This helps assure us of a meeting place and access to Italian Community Center members who share our interest in Italian Family history. The Italian Community Center is the heart of Milwaukee's Italian Community. It is located at 631 E. Chicago Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202. For membership information, contact me. We have been asked if we would like to have a display at Festa Italiana on July 20-23, 2000. We discussed the contents of a possible display.  We agreed that we would have a small display with at least two of our members in attendance at all times.  Our display would include: a map of Italy with push pins identifying all of the villages we are researching; a display of a family group sheet; a family tree and some other common genealogical records; our database and the POINT database to look up names for attendees; information about POINT and to add interest, we would raffle an Italian genealogy book for an entry that would ask participants to fill our a 2 or 3 generation family tree.  This may help us identify possible links to our surnames and increase interest in Italian family history.  We need volunteers to staff our display.  Please mark your calendars and consider volunteering for as much time as you can.

It appears that there are specialties developing  among the e-mail community. Pat Therkelson (2356) reported that she is working with a group called CFCV, which stands for Celle Di St. Vito, Faeto, Castelluccia and Valmaggiore.  The group specializes in researching surnames from those towns.  They have a website at http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Woods/5225/cfcvpage.html . George Koleas (1527) is corresponding with a group that is researching Alioto in Santa Flavia, Santa Elia and Palermo.

A few of our members are inviting you to visit their websites. Laura Lancione Bearskin  has a website of her Coca family at http://lancione-laura.tripod.com/index.htm

Susan Petta-Nokes has a website of her Petta family at www2.tscnet.com/~snokes. She also recommends checking Gen Forum for surnames.

Pat Ricci (203) contacted us on e-mail. She is researching Italians in Cumberland, Wisconsin. She can be reached at plr@pioneerplanet.infi.net.

Vincent D'Orazio(3418), reported on his recent trip to Italy. He had both successes and failures.  The failures occurred when he ran into overly zealous bureaucrats who would not let him view records, but insisted that he follow procedure and file the appropriate forms. From his experience, we can learn that we should always be patient and cordial with those who are in charge of records. Vincent will now write the appropriate letters and
hopefully the same officials will respond positively. His success came when he took a chance and walked in a store that bore his surname. The owner went home and got him a handwritten, multigenerational family tree. While one door closed, another opened for him! Remember to take a chance.  It can pay off. He also has had great success by asking for the town historian or poet.  Most towns have one. This is a person who takes the responsibility to compile the history of the village and those who lived in it. They can be a wealth of information.

Marie Roth (766) had found that trying to read Italian history texts was very difficult.  To solve the problem, she located school history texts, which were written in much simpler Italian. An added benefit was that they had a lot more pictures!

We discussed a few of our favorite websites that included www.ancestry.com ,
which contains several free searchable databases and  www.girimonti.com/icc/resources/letters/index.html, which has interactive Italian form letters.  The site also has information about Calabria and other parts of Italy.

 Our newer members asked for information on how to join POINT.  The address is: POINT International Headquarters, Box 14966, Las Vegas, Nevada 89114-4966. Membership is $40 a year in the U.S. for 4 issues of the newsletter and the annual directory. POINT has a website at http://members.aol.com/pointhompg/home.htm . POINTers in E-mail has a site at http://www.cimorelli.com/

Some members asked about joining the Italian Community Center.  Their address is listed elsewhere in these minutes.  Individual membership is $25 and family membership is $40. For more details contact the Italian Community Center. Make sure you let them know that you heard about them from our Chapter.

Several members also subscribe to Comunes of Italy. This magazine highlights a different Comune in each issue. Their address is: Comunes of Italy, P.O. Box 815, Royersford, PA 19468. It costs $25 for a 6 issue subscription. Their next issue will feature Palermo. For more information contact graceo@earthlink.net .
 
New member Frank Balistrieri is also the owner of The Italian Carretto, 1689 N. Humbolt Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202. His store, which sells Italian novelties, is named for his Father's Sicilian cart. Please visit him at his store at Humbolt and Brady Street. Just talking with Frank is worth the visit and there are some great Italian specialty stores nearby.

Our next meetings are Saturdays, April 8, and September 9.  All meetings will start at 11:00 a.m. and will be held at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

If you have any questions or want to volunteer time at our display at Festa Italiana, please feel free to contact me by e-mail.

George Koleas

P.S.
I have enclosed our most recent surname listing.  If you have not already updated your surnames or other information and wish to do so, please send me your updates and a self addressed stamped envelope, so I can make sure you get any future mailings. If you now have an e-mail address or a change of street address or if your area code number changed, please include that information with your update.

I hope to see you at the next meeting.

P.S.S.
Susan Petta-Nokes just rented the microfilm of church records from "Our Blessed Virgin of Pompeii Catholic Church".  She has them for a limited time and has graciously offered to do a quick look up (only up to 1920--due to privacy). She asks that you e-mail her at snokes@tscnet.com.

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