Washington’s Bellosguardo reunion a labor of love
Program Booklet, 1985 Washington Italian Festival.
The 1949 Bellosguardo reunion at Dicio’s Lake, near Eighty Four
The name Bellosguardo translates to “beautiful view.”
Tom Resciniti Demont of McMurray brings a laptop computer with an extensive database of Bellosguardo-area families and records dating back to the 1800s.
Tom Resciniti Demont of McMurray offers genealogy help at the annual Bellosguardo reunion. His ancestors are from the nearby town of Roscigno.
The 72nd Bellosguardo reunion held Aug. 6 attracted about 100 descendants of immigrants from Bellosguardo and surroundings towns.
Angelo Musto of Washington, left, and Jerry Croce of Bridgeville help plan the annual reunion. Croce emigrated from Bellosguardo; Musto from nearby Castel San Lorenzo.
The annual reunion was held at the stone pavilion in Washington Park.
Immigrant and restauranteur John Valitutti, left, is seen cooking at the Bellosguardo picnic in the 1940s.
Situated at the top of a hill, the southern Italian town named Bellosguardo translates to “beautiful view” in English, and that’s how natives Serafino “Jerry” Croce of Bridgeville and Angelo Musto of Washington help people visualize it.
“No matter where you live, you have a view that’s beautiful,” says Croce. “The valleys, the mountains.”
The two friends have heartfelt ties to the town of about 800 residents in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of Italy and to the many people in Western Pennsylvania and beyond whose roots lie there.
Those ties have led them to help organize the annual Bellosguardo reunion, which has been held in and around Washington since the early 1930s. It’s a celebration of culture and memories held on the first Sunday in August at Washington Park.
On Saturday, Sept. 23, the annual Washington Italian Festival will honor current and past leaders of the Bellosguardo reunion for their effort to keep their heritage alive. The recognition ceremony is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on the main stage of the Community Pavilion in downtown Washington.
In the early 1900s, immigrants from Bellosguardo and neighboring towns such as Roscigno, Aquara, Ottati, Sant’ Angelo, and Castel San Lorenzo emigrated to the United States for better economic opportunities. Like thousands of Italian immigrants of the time, many were attracted to Western Pennsylvania for its thriving industries. Over time, others followed, a pattern called “chain migration,” in which established immigrants helped others from their hometowns get settled.
Croce and Musto were part of chain migration, although they came to the U.S. in the early 1960s, decades after the initial wave of immigration. Upon arrival, they became friends through their shared roots and chosen careers. Both are hairdressers.
Croce was born in Bellosguardo in 1941. At age 19, he arrived in Bridgeville, joining his uncle, Angelo Croce, who had emigrated years earlier. A few years later, Jerry Croce would convince his father, mother and brother to emigrate. Jerry’s wife, Judi, and adult daughters Lisa, Gina, and RoseMarie also help with the annual reunion.
Musto was born in 1945 in the town of Castel San Lorenzo, about 10 miles from Bellosguardo. He came to Washington at age 17, joining his brother Antonio Musto. Their parents, Luigi Musto and Rosa Capozzoli, also spent years at a time in Washington. Angelo’s wife, Antonietta, also from Castel San Lorenzo, and adult children – Luigi, Rosana, and Elena – participate in the reunion.
For the Croces and Mustos, the Bellosguardo reunion creates a bridge to their heritage, and they are committed to keeping the tradition going.
History of the reunion
Immigrants from the Bellosguardo area – “Bellosguardesi” in the vernacular – who came to the city of Washington in the early 1900s mainly settled in the Fifth Ward around the East Maiden Street corridor. Familiar family names include Nicolella, Resciniti, Valitutti, Longo, Tucci, Sorice, Merlo, Pepe, Capo, Carozza, and Raffaeli.
In the early 1930s, these immigrants launched an annual picnic and established Washington as the gathering place for Bellosguardo families from as far away as Philadelphia, New York City and Toronto.
“Washington was always the centerpiece of the reunion,” said Croce.
Carla Nicolella Mast of Washington grew up attending the reunion and has served on the organizing committee for many years. She is the granddaughter of Antonio and Nicolina Macchiaroli Nicolella, natives of Bellosguardo and nearby Roscigno, respectively. Antonio and Nicolina helped found the reunion and were active in it throughout their lives. Five generations of Mast’s family have attended the reunion.
The location of the picnic has evolved over the years. According to a history published in the program booklet of the 1985 Washington Italian Festival, the first location was Guy Tucci’s farm on Vance Station Road in Washington. Other locations include Lake Dicio near Eighty Four, Caroselli’s Forrest Villa Park near Route 19 in South Strabane Township, Cabana Beach Amusement Park in Cecil Township, and the American Legion post on Park Avenue in Washington.
Since the 1980s, the picnic has been held at the stone pavilion in Washington Park. The pavilion, built in the 1920s, has a special significance for the reunion. Stonemason Pete Celani, who emigrated from Aquara, helped build it, said Mast.
The peak years for the reunion were the 1980s and 1990s, when many of the original immigrants were still living and the younger generations of their families attended. During those years, attendance could reach 200 people or more.
“We were filled to capacity,” said Croce. “So many people would come that we had to bring extra tables.” Activities included bocce, horseshoes and other games. There was music and dancing the traditional Tarantella. Entertainment included the I Campagnoli dance troupe.
Recalling the picnics from her youth, Mast laughs. “I remember a lot of wine drinking.”
“Homemade wine,” added Musto.
Then as now, attendees feast on homemade pasta, meatballs, eggplant, hot sausage and other Italian specialties, said Mast. “No hot dogs and hamburgers.”
Families became close to each through the picnics, said Croce. “When you come to America, the gravitation is always to the people you came from. They become part of each other. The picnic was an opportunity to get together without distractions. That was the fun of it. Reminiscing stories of Bellosguardo was the main attraction.”
Keeping the connection alive
The immigrants who arrived in the early 1900s are long gone, but their spirit remains as organizers look back on the 72nd Bellosguardo reunion. The Aug. 6 event attracted about 100 people to the familiar stone pavilion in Washington Park. Memories, music, bocce, and homemade food are still a mainstay.
“Our focus is to try to reach as many people as possible,” said Lisa Croce Dykstra, Jerry’s daughter. “Families that might have gotten lost over the years, or they don’t even know that this still goes on.” A Facebook group called “The Annual Bellosguardo Picnic” helps bring people on board and allows them to connect between reunions.
Another task for organizers is to engage the younger generation. Dykstra grew up helping at the reunions. “I remember painstakingly filling eight million water balloons,” she says with a laugh. Dykstra’s four sons and five grandchildren participate each year. “None have missed a reunion, and they all want to visit Bellosguardo.”
An additional reunion activity in recent years is on-site genealogy research. Tom Resciniti Demont of McMurray brings a laptop computer with an extensive database of Bellosguardo-area families and records dating back to the 1800s. Demont’s ancestors are from Roscigno, located about three miles from Bellosguardo. He has identified his own ancestors back to 1625. To date, he has helped about 15 families trace their roots.
Demont travels regularly to Bellosguardo and its neighboring towns, as do some of the others involved in the reunion. Stepping back in time and place provides opportunity to reflect upon the culture they come from. “People from Bellosguardo are the kindest people,” Demont says. “Helpful.”
Croce attributes that characteristic to the agricultural way of life: “They grow olives, grapes and wheat. Those are the three main things that sustain the community. The joy in helping each other when the harvesting comes creates a kind of friendship, almost like a family. They are very kind and open people. The main thing is to help each other.”
Likewise, the Bellosguardo community kept the attachment to those who left for America, said Croce. “They stayed connected. Many never got to see each other again, but they maintained the connection.”
Jerry’s daughter Lisa traveled to Bellosguardo with her grandparents to visit relatives in 1980 when she was 16. “It was the most beautiful experience of my life. I didn’t want to leave,” she recalls. “I left a piece of my heart there.”
Even more profoundly, she realized that her grandmother, who by then had emigrated permanently to the U.S, was seeing her two sisters for the last time during that trip. “This was goodbye for them.”
“It’s so difficult for the immigrant to explain what it is like to leave home and go to a strange land,” said Jerry. “It’s still emotional for me, even today.”
The reunion is like a balm for that separation, says Croce, now the oldest immigrant at the annual gathering. “The joy of reuniting again, it brings that joy back.”
Tina Calabro is the voluntary project manager of the Italian Heritage Collection, Citizens Library. For information or to share historic materials related to Italian immigration to Washington, email tina.calabro@verizon.net or call 412-818-9169.
If You Go The 7th annual Washington Italian Festival is Saturday, Sept. 23, from noon to 8 p.m., at the Community Pavilion, 139 S. Main St., Washington. For information, visit www.primoitaliano.org/festival/.
The 7th annual Washington Italian Festival is Saturday, Sept. 23, from noon to 8 p.m., at the Community Pavilion, 139 S. Main St., Washington. For information, visit www.primoitaliano.org/festival/.