The
first Ciociari came to Windsor at the beginning of the Century.
From the records found, it appears the first families who came
to Windsor were Raimondo Fusciari and Luca Matassa, in 1905,
from Casalattico.
1911 – Petrozzi family from Sora, and Giovanni and
Altiero Morelli from Casalattico, came to Windsor.
1913 – 1925 – Many other families from
Casalvieri, Belmonte Castello, Ceccano, Casalattico, Sora,
S. Elia Fiume
Rapido, Torrice, Ceprano, Ripi came to Windsor and area.
1950s – The emigration of the Ciociari in Windsor
came after almost the total destruction of the Valle Comino
and the Cassinate of the Second World War. Windsor was the
final
destination for many families because of the closeness to
Detroit where many of their relatives and friends lived.
Nostalgia always growing, the Ciociari families embraced the
dream of having a club of their own to enjoy a few hours
among friends, hear their own dialect, maintain their artistic,
folkloristic, religious
and cultural traditions, in order to preserve them for future
generations.
1972 – On July 10th, 1972, there was a general meeting.
Present were Arcangelo Lombardi, Pasquale Carducci, Bruno
Tomaselli, Pietro Irabella, Tony DeLuca and Americo Rizza.
They decided
to form a club for the Ciociari.
On the second and third meeting, the group got bigger. The elections
were held and the first administration was formed with Steve
DeLuca as President.
1973 – The membership at that time represented eight
Ciociari towns and they decided to name the club the Ciociaro
Club. On June 5th, 1973, 62 persons were members of the
club. On July 20th, a bank account was opened for the club.
On November
25th, about 110 members were present and it was decided
to buy the land on North Talbot Road.
1974 – On January 20th, there were 155 members. They
discussed the qualifications to become a member of the Club.
It was decided that should be born in Ciociaria, children of native
Ciociari or residents of Ciociaria. Domenic Lombardi and Gianni
Tomaselli
presented the club at the Freedom Festival for the first
time. In April, by the initiative of Americo Rizza, Gianni Tomaselli
and
Luigi Tosti, it was decided to form a Ciociaro Folklore Group.
On July 28th, two years after the founding, the Club’s
membership had reached 474, and it was decided to accept
young people as
junior members. On September 8th, the design by Pat McGuire
was accepted as an architectural plan for the building. These
plans
allowed for a typical Italian hall to accommodate 1200 people
to be built by November of the same year.
1975 – On June 1st, 1975, a motion was made to finalize
plans for the construction of the first phase of the Club. The
Recreation Committee, with the Bocciofila, worked with enthusiasm
to build
the boccia fields, which are still in the same place today.
On October 12th, Cesidio Acchione, with a bulldozer from D7L,
started excavating for the construction of the building which
was
started
a few days later by Tony Rea’s company.
1977 – On February 5th, 1977, Anna Saurini, Director
of the Folklore Group, organized the first Banquet which
had an
attendance
of 1100 people.
1987 – The Club committed to a major project, the
construction of the entrance with the second hall. This masterpiece
was
built as replica of the Monastery of Montecassino, and with
stone and marble
brought from Italy.
The Ciociaro Club has always been very generous with the community
and has collected money for the earthquakes in 1971 and 1981,
with a contribution of $26,000, which was the largest contribution
by a single organization.
The Club also was a promoter of many community and social events,
and many musical performances including the popular songs
of Napoli, the Sbandieratori of Cori, the Subiaco Symphony,
the new theater of Rieti, etc.
The Ciociaro Club has a very important role in the Italian community
and has contributed much, not only to revive the identity of
the
Ciociari, but to add enormously to the prestige
of Italians. |