Ross Todaro Jr., founder of the Poggioreale in America Association, visits with WTAW’s Chelsea Reber about their first reunion, which will be held this Saturday at St. Anthony’s Church in Bryan.
Italians from Poggioreale, Sicily started settling in the Brazos Valley as early as the mid-1870s. Many descendants of these families remain in the community.
Last year, Todaro founded the association to connect the Sicilian village with the thousands of descendants living in the United States.
Click here to learn more about the Poggioreale in American Association.
Listen to “Ross Todaro, Jr. of the Poggioreale in America Association” on Spreaker.
News release courtesy of the Poggioreale in America Assocation:
Bryan, Texas — The Poggioreale in America Association is honored to announce the schedule of events surrounding Poggioreale in America Reunion 2019 on Saturday, June 22 at 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.The main reunion will take place at St. Anthony’s Church, 401 S. Parker Avenue, Bryan, Texas. Over 300 guests are expected including representatives of Bryan, College Station, and Brazos County.
Special guests in attendance:
Signore Mimmo Cangelosi, Mayor of Poggioreale, Sicily Cavallieri Pietro Maniscalco, of Sydney, Australia, International Good Will Ambassador for Poggioreale
Features at the Reunion: Luncheon, Family History Displays, Speakers, Poggioreale Vendors, Local Authors
A little history of the Poggioreale Italians:
Italians from Poggioreale, Sicily, began arriving in the lower Brazos Valley as early as the mid-1870s when a few families settled near Bryan.
Businessmen in Bryan had long advertised in European newspapers for immigrants to come and help revitalize the local economy.
Large numbers of Italians from Poggioreale and Salaparuta, in the Sicilian province of Trapani, and from Corleone and Cefalu, in the province of Palermo, began responding to this plea around 1880.
Over 50% of the Italian immigrants came from the city of Poggioreale.
Many of these hardworking sharecroppers settled in the community of Steele’s Store, near FM 50 and SH 21, endured numerous floods, and eventually acquired enough land of their own to make a decent living.
By the 1890s, Brazos County had one of the largest inland agrarian communities of Italians in the United States.
Today, many of these families still farm the land in Steele’s Store and many others own businesses and have become civic leaders in Bryan and College Station.
Some of the many families who are descendants of the Poggioreale, Sicilian-Italians: Angonia, Stratta, Termini, Todaro, Maniscalco, Cangelosi, Scarmardo, Fazzino, Lampo, Patranella, Perrone, Salvaggio, Salvato, Carraba, Canavese, Patranella, and many others.