TONIGHT, WE CONTINUE OUR LOCAL SERIES LOOKING AT THE ITALIAN
AMERICANS, AND HOW MUCH THEY CONTRIBUTE TO OUR WAY OF LIFE
HERE IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS.
THIS IS ALL IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE PBS SERIES, THE ITALIAN
AMERICANS, THIS MONTH ON WGBY AND PBS, AND WE ARE SUPPORTED BY
A GRANT FROM THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING.
TONIGHT, WE TAKE YOU TO MOM & RICO'S SPECIALTY MARKET ON MAIN
STREET IN THE HEART OF SPRINGFIELD'S SOUTH END.
RICO DANIELLE OPENED THE MARKET ALMOST 40 YEARS AGO, AND NOW HE
REFLECTS ON HIS FAMILY, HIS PASSION FOR THE GAME OF BOCCE,
AND THE IMPORTANCE HE PLACES ON SIMPLE TRADITIONS LIKE FAMILY
DINNERS AROUND THE KITCHEN TABLE.
>> BORN HERE RIGHT IN SPRINGFIELD, MASS, AND MY FAMILY
HAD MOVED HERE TO THE SOUTH END WHEN I WAS AT THE AGE OF FOUR
BACK IN 1957.
AND TO THIS DAY I STILL LIVE IN THE SOUTH END OF SPRINGFIELD.
>> MY DAD WAS DOWN HERE.
HE GREW UP DOWN HERE, HE KNEW EVERYBODY DOWN HERE, SO THEY
KNEW WHO I WAS.
SO IT'S MORE OR LESS, I COULDN'T GET INTO TROUBLE.
EVERYBODY KNEW WHO MY FATHER WAS, SO I HAD NO CHANCE.
>> WE HAD COBBLESTONE STREETS.
WE STILL HAD THE RAILS FROM THE STREETS.
IT WAS A WONDERFUL PLACE.
LEFT-HAND SIDE OF THE STREET WAS ALL ITALIAN, RIGHT-HAND SIDE OF
THE STREET WAS ALL FRENCH.
FRENCH-CANADIAN, YOU KNOW, SO THERE WAS THE ITALIAN
NEIGHBORHOOD.
EVERYBODY HAD A LOT.
YOU GOT TO KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR.
YOU WERE THREE STREETS OVER, AND THIS IS ROMANO, WHAT ARE YOU
DOING OVER HERE?
>> THE SUNDAY DINNERS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS, AND MOM WOULD BE
IN THE KITCHEN COOKING A HARDY ITALIAN MEALS, AND THEY LOVED TT
ITALIAN BREAD ALONG WITH THEIR MEALS.
>> MY HOUSE, BY THE CLOCK, WAS A DEFINITE DINNERTIME.
THERE WAS NO EXCUSES.
SUNDAY WAS 1:00.
THERE WAS NO EXCUSES.
AND THERE WAS NO CHANGE IN THE TIMES.
AND IF YOU WERE LATE, YOU HEARD ABOUT IT.
>> IN THOSE DAYS, SHE USED TO BE ABLE TO PUT THE REFRIGERATOR,
TAKE EVERYTHING OUT OF THE FRIDGE, AND THEN IT WAS A 100%
MEAL.
THE GREAT THING ABOUT THOSE WOMEN, THEY CAN COOK WITH
NOTHING.
>> THERE WAS A BIG INPUT ON HOW THE SOUTH END CHANGED.
MY DAD WAS BORN RIGHT OVER HERE, WILLIAMS STREET, AND IT GOES ALL
THE WAY THROUGH, THE HIGHWAY CUTS IT OFF.
YOU COME DOWN AND VISIT MY AUNT, WHO LIVES IN THIS BLOCK.
ONCE THE HIGHWAY CAME IN, IT TOOK OUT SOME OF THE HOMES THAT
WERE THERE.
>> SO, IT TOTALLY CHANGED THE DOWNTOWN, SOUTH END AREA
IMMENSELY.
AND THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE GOT TODAY, IS NOTHING LIKE IT WAS
BACK IN THE LATE 1950s AND EARLY 1960s WHEN I WAS YOUNGER
>> I CAME TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1954.
I WAS FOUR YEARS OLD, AND FROM THE PROVIDENCE OF SOLERNO FROM
ITALY, AN HOUR AND A HALF SOUTH OF ROME, IN SPRINGFIELD, THERE
IS MORE PEOPLE FROM THAT LITTLE TOWN HERE THAN THERE IS OVER
THERE, AND IN SPRINGFIELD, THERE IS, I WOULD SAY, AT LEAST 67
BUSINESSES HAVE BEEN IN BUSINESS OVER 35 YEARS, FROM THAT VILLAGE
, AND THEY WERE OUR NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR.
[INAUDIBLE], ALL FROM THE TOWN I WAS FROM.
MY MOTHER, MY FATHER, FOUR SISTERS, AND I AM THE ONLY BOY,
AND WHEN I GOT OUT OF THE SERVICE, I WORKED FOR THE
TELEPHONE COMPANY, AT&T ON BRIDGE STREET, AND THEN IN 1975,
1975, I GOT LAID OFF.
THEY LAID OFF EVERYBODY UNDER FIVE YEARS, IT WAS 1800 PEOPLE
THAT GOT LAID OFF FROM THE PHONE COMPANY, AND I STARTED THIS IN
1976, WITH MY MOM, SISTERS WORKED AT THE COURTHOUSE.
I QUICK AT THE COURTHOUSE TO COME HERE, WE GOT VERY BUSY, AND
THAT'S HOW I STARTED IN 1976.
I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING, I STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM
DOING, BUT I'VE BEEN HERE 39 YEARS NOW.
THESE ARE SOME OF THE PICTURES, I HAVE COLLECTED THROUGH SINCE
1976, YOU KNOW.
THIS IS WHEN WE PLAYED TOUCH FOOTBALL, AND THAT'S WHERE I
GREW UP.
THIS IS THE SCHOOLYARD, AND WE DO THAT EVERY YEAR SINCE 1950,
AND BROUGHT THEM BACK IN 1976, AND I'VE BEEN DOING IT FOR 39
YEARS.
AS I GOT OLDER, I GOT DEEP INTO BOCCE.
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL SPORT, WHERE YOU SEE THE TEN-YEAR-OLD KID
PLAYED THE GRANDMOTHER.
WE NEED MORE OF THAT TODAY.
AND EVERY SCHOOL SHOULD HAVE A BOCCE COURT, AND EVERY ELDERLY
HOME SHOULD HAVE A BOCCE COURT.
THAT COURT, THEY SEE HOW THE, YOU SEE THE PEOPLE GET OUT OF
THE WHEELCHAIRING REAL QUICK.
MY HEART IS HERE.
I BUILT UPSTAIRS INSTEAD OF MOVING OUT.
LIFE IS AT THE KITCHEN TABLE WITH THE FAMILY, EVERYTHING IS
POOF.
EVERYBODY HERE, YOU KNEW EVERYBODY FROM -- YOU ARE
TALKING 20 STREETS ON MAY STREET, FROM ONE END, STARTING
DOWN THERE, NER RED ROSE TO THE STATUE.
HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE IN THE STREETS, EVEN UP UNTIL
10:00, 11:00.
MOST OF THE STORES CLOSE AT 11:00 AT NIGHT.
SO EVERYBODY KNEW EVERY FAMILY.
YOU DID SOMETHING WRONG, AND THEY FOUND OUT ABOUT IT NEXT
DOOR, A FRIEND, AND SHE WOULD CHASE YOU WITH A BROOM, AND WHEN
YOU GOT HOME, YOU WOULD GET THE BACK HAND OF YOUR MOM CHASING
YOU WITH THE WOODEN SPOON, SO IT WAS A DETERRENT.
KIDS GREW UP BETTER BECAUSE YOU HAD A BACK HAND AT HOME OR A
BROOM, AND, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS MORE RESPECT.
IN THOSE DAYS, THE LOOK, AS WE CALLED IT, YOUR FATHER WOULD
JUST GIVE YOU THAT ONE LOOK.
THE SECOND ONE WASN'T A LOOK.
BUT YOU GOT THE LOOK.
AND YOU KNEW IT.
AND YOU DID USUALLY NOT MAKE A MISTAKE THE SECOND TIME.
>> THERE WAS A SENSE OF UNDERSTANDING THAT THIS IS THE
NEIGHBORHOOD YOU LIVE IN.
AND EVEN TODAY, WE STAYED IN SPRINGFIELD, AND I TELL PEOPLE,
I GREW UP IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE WE DIDN'T HAVE MILLION
DOLLAR HOMES.
WE HAD MILLION DOLLAR NEIGHBORS.
>> EACH WEDNESDAY THIS MONTH, WE HAVE OUR OWN LOOK AT THE ITALIAN
AMERICANS OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS, RIGHT HERE ON
CONNECTING POINT, AND I DISCOVERED A REMARKABLE THING IN
MY RESEARCH.
I DISCOVERED SOMETHING SOMEONE HAD WRITTEN ABOUT THE ITALIANS
AND HOW THERE IS STRANGE FOOD, HOW THEY WOULD TAKE THE STUFF
CALLED SPAGHETTI, AND THEY WOULD SLURP IT INTO THEIR MOUTH, AND I
THOUGHT WOW, WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY BECAUSE EVERYBODY EATS
SPAGHETTI, BUT EVERYTHING WAS NEW THEN.