Fabulous Ferragosto Festival Held at the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum

In spite of overcast skies and intermittent drizzle, a good size crowd joined in celebration of Ferragosto at the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum on Sunday, August 15. Children, with faces painted by Melissa of FaceArtByMelissa.com, crafted tambourines and masks, played on a miniature bocce court on the museum lawn and were taught the Tarantella by Museum educator Janet Grillo. Meanwhile adults participated in a bocce tournament on their own twin courts set up behind the museum. Guests were treated to tours of the museum by Professor Louis Leonini, who told them the stories of the lives of the men for whom the museum is named, and the history of the little house itself.

The free event was sponsored by Villa Vosilla Italian Boutique Resort, located in Tannersville, NY; Ciao! Italy &?Carrani Tours, who create customized tours of Italy to fit every budget; and EMI Euromonde, Inc., an agency that specializes in the recruitment of bilingual and multilingual personnel.

Food was an integral part of the day's festivities, and sumptuous fare was generously donated by Staten Island businesses and restaurants-Alfonso Pastry Shoppe, Angelina's Ristorante, Bari's Pizza, Bistro Restaurant, Brioso Restaurant, Casa Milla Ristorante, Da Noi, Italianissimo Ristorante, LiGreci's Staaten, Moretti's Bakery, Mother Mousse, Nino's Restaurant, Panini Grill, Pasticceria Bruno, Pronto Pizza Cafe, Renato's Pastry Shoppe, Tony's Brick Oven, Top Tomato, Trattoria Romana-as well as Marco Polo Restaurant in Brooklyn. A wine tasting tent featured wines from different regions of Italy supplied by Jean's Fine Wines & Spirits.

The day's raffles were made possible by donations from A Taste of Italy, Bocelli Ristorante, Il Buco Restaurant, the Italian Tribune, Jean's Fine Wines & Spirits and La Casa Della Bomboniera. Everything Goes Book Cafe and Montalbano's Italian Food Specialties offered invaluable assistance in setting up the event.

Le Nozze di Carlo, a New York quartet that plays "good-time ethnic and pseudo-ethnic music," were so entertaining, and people were having so much fun that, when the drizzle turned to light rain, stalwart members of the audience huddled under umbrellas and stayed as long as the band played.

This was the first year GMM has celebrated Ferragosto, and although it is one of the most popular holidays in Italy, many of those who came to the Festival said they'd never heard of it before. Ferragosto began in 18 BC, as Feriae Augusti (Latin for "Festivals of the Emperor Augustus"), when Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus renamed the sixth month of the Roman calendar from Sextilis to Augustus after himself. He declared the month should be dedicated to a series of festivals marking the end of summer's labor in the fields and anticipating the harvest to come.

The most important of these celebrations was dedicated to Diana, the Goddess of the woods and fields, as well as fertility and maternity. With the advent of Christianity, people turned to the Virgin Mary for help in these matters. But the Feriae festivities were so deeply rooted that, rather than trying to override them, the Roman Catholic Church shifted them to a Christian focus, so the 15th of August became a Holy Day of Obligation to commemorate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Begun in the church in Jerusalem that was said to be Her resting place, the observation of this religious holiday spread through the rest of the Empire under Mauritius in the late 500s AD, but was only formally proclaimed by Pope Pius XII in 1950.

But those at the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum celebrated Ferragosto in the modern way-as a time to relax, enjoy family and friends, and of course, some really good food.

The Garibaldi-Meucci Museum is owned and operated by the Order Sons of Italy in America.

The Garibaldi-Meucci Museum was the home of Antonio Meucci, the true inventor of the telephone, and a refuge to Giuseppe Garibaldi, the legendary hero who championed the unification of Italy. For over 50 years the museum has fulfilled its mission to preserve the legacies of these great men, and to promote understanding of the Italian-American heritage through cultural, artistic and educational programs and classes.

Regular museum hours are 1 p.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $5 per person, members and children under 10 are free. Call ahead for groups of 10 or more. The first floor of the museum is wheelchair accessible, but the restroom is on the second floor. At press time, program funding has been provided through the Order Sons of Italy in America; by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; the Office of the Staten Island Borough President, Richmond County Savings Foundation; Northfield Bank Foundation, and by grants allocated by New York State Senator Diane Savino and New York City Council members Vincent Ignizio and James Oddo.