2023
January – Annual La Befana Party
Saturday, January 7, 2023, 1:00pm – 4:00pm PST
Casa Italiana – Italian Cultural Center (Burien, WA)
It was great fun seeing those of you who made it to our La Befana celebration in January! We got to meet some of you for the first time, and hope you will come again to our events!
We have not been able to meet for our La Befana party in person since 2020, so it meant a LOT to us to be able to welcome La Befana together, and to invite in the new possibilities of 2023 communally.
Here are some photo montages from the event (click to enlarge).
2022
August – Annual Polenta Picnic
Sunday, August 28, 2022, 1:00pm – 5:00pm
Casa Italiana – Italian Cultural Center (Burien, WA)
THANK YOU to all of you who came to our Seattle Trentino Club Polenta Picnic! It felt especially wonderful, since we haven’t cooked polenta together since 2019.
The weather was beautiful, and Casa Italiana, our host, was warm and welcoming in their hospitality! Some of you traveled very far to get here (Paul Antonioni from Vancouver, BC; Sallie Sprute from Wallace, Idaho; and Dan Zadra from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho) and we appreciate that! We know that there were many others who wanted to come this year and could not. We missed you!
As the words of the commemorative button/badge, designed by Anne Zadra, say: “We go on together!” And indeed, we do. Our memories are of folks who are grateful to be together, sharing food, friendship, and fun. We so enjoyed meeting those of you who were there for the first time, meeting new members, and seeing dear long-time members. We hope you will join us as members and return to future gatherings!
The beautiful accordion music of Bonnie Birch really added to the festivities. Thank you to our anonymous sponsor!
The polenta was delicious and seemed to cook in record time. For all of you who wanted to help stir the copper pot and didn’t get a chance, please come again next year!
It wouldn’t be a polenta picnic without the “tonco” or meat gravy that is ladled over the polenta. MANY THANKS to the hard-working and talented Tonco Team of Laureen Rogers and Anne Zadra. Well-done!
Congratulations to our grand prize winner, Sherman Blood! And to all the “Soldi per i popi” penny-jar winners: Fino Roberson; Kai, Luca, and Lilla Lenzi..
August – ITTONA Convention
International Tyrolean Trentino Organization of North America
August 4, 2022 through August 7, 2022
Albany, NY
This was the 24th convention of Trentino clubs throughout the US and Canada, with representatives from Trentino in attendance. The formal presentations by Ivo Finotti, Lynn Serafinn, and Mary Beth Moser were recorded and may be viewed on the ITTONA Facebook site:
https://www.facebook.com/ITTONAAssociation
March – STC Anniversary Celebration
Sunday, March 20, 2022, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm PDT
Casa Italiana – Italian Cultural Center
13028 1st Avenue South, Burien, WA 98168
Our beloved STC was formed on March 20, 2010. On Sunday, after a two-year delay due to COVID, we finally got the opportunity to celebrate our “10th” anniversary. This was our first gathering at Casa Italiana, the new Italian Cultural Center, which was a wonderful venue for this event.
Thanks to everyone who came and who were with us in spirit, and to all of you who offered your congratulations from afar! It was great to see each other again!
We have added some photos from the party at the end of the anniversary video. CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE VIDEO ACCESS PAGE.
January – La Befana Party
Thursday, January 6, 2022, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm PST
Online Zoom Event
Our annual La Befana Party was an online gathering this year. It was an informal social gathering, just to see each other and hear each other’s voices again.
Guests were asked to bring something meaningful to share related to our heritage: an item, a story, a remembrance, a song, a special food. . . . The stories were fantastic. Thanks to everyone who shared and who attended.
2021
April – Online Event “Meet the Filmmaker! An Interview with Vincenzo Mancuso”
Monday, April 12, 2021 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
(Online Zoom event – recording available to participants)
Vincenzo Mancuso, our invited guest speaker, is the documentary filmmaker who conducted twenty-seven interviews of our members in 2017 and 2018 in Washington, Idaho, and Montana.
Vincenzo talked about a project near and dear to our hearts, his Trentini Americani memory project that features the immigration experience of Trentini in the United States. www.italoamericani.org/support.html
Vincenzo brought us up to date on the project and showed us a moving six-minute clip featuring some of the interviews he filmed in Wallace, ID. We are so grateful to Vincenzo for his work to document our family stories! Our memories are in the hands of a caring, passionate, and professional person.
From a meeting participant:
Tonight, I have the most profound feeling of connectedness with you all through the sacred stories of our ancestors – their pain, their courage, their resilience, their great love of their homeland and nature that I feel almost as if I have been initiated into a new and special tribe. A tribe that respects and carries on those traditions that are filled with the essence of what it means to be human. A tribe that collectively helps each of us to better understand and imagine the lives of those whom we may not have even had the chance to know. Vincenzo, thank you for seeing the importance and necessity of collecting our people’s stories and of seeing their inherent worth and beauty. Bravo!
Just being in a tribe like this, I feel so much less alone. I am not one to join clubs or socialize much; but this experience is so much more than a club – it’s more like a sodality whose mission it is to pay tribute to and better understand the never-ending story of human migration. It gives us a chance to study what those who leave the “old country” in search of a new home are truly made of, and to hope, that maybe, just maybe, a remnant of their courage abides within each of us. Thank you for a beautiful evening. Angela Branz-Spall
January – La Befana Party
Wednesday, January 6, 2021, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Online Zoom Event
Our annual La Befana Party was an online gathering this year. We saw a video of some of the Christmas Markets in Trento; Babbo Natale (Bruce Johnson) shared some of the Christmas traditions in Trentino; Joan Barker (piano) and Maria Johnson (voice) shared a beautiful rendition of Silent Night; Anne Zadra read us the beloved story of La Befana told and illustrated by Tomie de Paola; and Bruce Johnson sang La Montanara, which he kindly translated into English. Although we could not audibly sing together, given the way that the Zoom online-platform works, we watched some spectacular YouTube videos of evocative Trentino songs. (You can find the music and videos on the Culture section.) Thanks to Pat Penaranda, Alexia Cortes-Johnson, and Sofie Fliss for helping the bambini to be there! La Befana gave us all a great gift that night: being together.
2020
STC Family History Hour
Mondays, October 26 – December 28, 2020, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Online Zoom Event
A ten-part series focusing on the family history of some of our Seattle Trentino Club members.
From October 26 to December 28, 2020, we hosted a ten-week series: the Seattle Trentino Club Family History Hour. It was a great opportunity to get to know each other better and to meet some of our geographically distant members for the first time. Jan Agosti, Annie Zadra, Joan Zadra, Dan Zadra, Clete Boldrin, Fernanda Say, Dorothy Whitney, Mary Beth Moser, Angela Branz-Spall, and Santina Branz each shared interviews of their family history, supplemented by photos and a question-and-answer session. The stories we heard each Monday night were inspiring. It was a truly meaningful way to spend time together, especially over the span of the holidays, during which time many of us were isolated. You can read some of these stories in the Family Stories section. The Italian magazine Trentini nel Mondo published an article about our gatherings in their November/December 2020 Issue. A copy of the article in Italian and in English is posted in the News and Notices section. Thank you to everyone who was able to participate for making this such an enjoyable experience!
From Anne Zadra, STC Board Member, on our weekly Family History Hour gatherings:
The unstable and frustrating times that we are in right now require solutions for peace-filled hearts and spirits. Seeing each other and relating the knowledge and memories of our ancestry and our past through Zoom has provided a great reminder of precious and courageous moments in our family histories that I think gives hope for better times.
Eleventh Annual Polenta Picnic
CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Sunday, August 16, 2020, 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm
Des Moines Beach Park – Founder’s Lodge
Our annual club picnic at which we make polenta together, share great food, and celebrate summer.
24th ITTONA (International Tyrolean Trentino Organization of North America) Convention
CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC
July 30, 2020 through August 2, 2020
Albany, NY
CLICK here to see the ITTONA 2020 Convention Flyer
This is a great opportunity to meet members of clubs throughout the US and Canada, plus representatives from Trentino.
Seattle Trentino Club 10th Anniversary Celebration
CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Saturday, March 21, 2020, 3:00 pm
Frankie’s B Town Bistro
653 SW 152nd St., Burien, WA 98166, 206-946-1334
It’s our anniversary! A big one!
Come celebrate. It would be wonderful to see you there!
Annual La Befana Party
Sunday, January 5, 2020, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Angelo’s of Burien, Burien, WA
The annual party of the club to celebrate the arrival of La Befana, Babbo Natale, and the beginning of a new year.
2019
Annual La Befana Party
Sunday, January 6, 2019, 1:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Angelo’s of Burien, Burien, WA
(Due to a power outage, this event was held at Round Table Pizza of Burien.)
The annual party of the club to celebrate the arrival of La Befana, Babbo Natale, and the beginning of a new year.
Tenth Annual Polenta Picnic
Sunday, August 11, 2019, 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm
Des Moines Beach Park – Founder’s Lodge
Our annual club picnic at which we make polenta together, share great food, and celebrate summer.
2018
Annual La Befana Party
Sunday, January 14, 2018, 1:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Tyee Yacht Club, Seattle, WA
The annual party of the club to celebrate the arrival of La Befana, Babbo Natale, and the beginning of a new year.
23rd ITTONA Convention
International Tyrolean Trentino Organization of North America
August 2, 2018 through August 5, 2018
Westin Hotel, Downtown Cleveland
Cleveland, OH
This a great opportunity to meet members of clubs throughout the US and Canada, plus representatives from Trentino.
Ninth Annual Polenta Picnic
Saturday, August 18, 2018, 1:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Des Moines Beach Park – Founder’s Lodge
Our annual club picnic at which we make polenta together, share great food, and celebrate summer.
2010
Seattle Trentino Club Founding Meeting
Sunday, March 20, 2010
Cafe Revò, Seattle, WA
The club founders gathered and officially formed the club.