May 21, 2019 To Mendicino with Domenico Part 1 Town Hall

Wow!  This was the reason we came and I can't believe it's over already.  So much happened in one day.  I will have to divide this post into parts.

We began our morning with lovely Kala on the terrace and our breakfast.  This morning we had cappuccinos instead of espresso.

At 9:00 a.m. Domenico Boi came to pick us up.  He is a heritage specialist and a warm, intelligent, capable man just a tad younger than my daughter Angie.  Once he picked us up, we were off north to the village of Mendicino where Rosaria Reda (my dad's grandmother) and her sister Carolina were born. 

A few weeks ahead of our arrival we had sent Domenico what information we had about our family.  We knew their birth dates and the names of their parents was really about all.  Domenico then researched all the information he was about to present to us today. 

The drive was about an hour north.  We arrived in town, found a place to park, and then headed to a coffee shop (Bar Greco) next door to the town hall where we used the "facilities" and had a coffee.  There we met Domenico's friend, Antonio Rubino, who would also accompany us for a time. 

Domenico, Patty, Laura

Bartender, Antonio, Mario, and a relative from Argentina

 Next, we went next door to the town hall and climbed a few stairs :) to the records office.  Domenico explained as Patty and I listened in amazement and the clerk pulled out a ledger book and opened it to the page where was written in calligraphy the record of Rosaria's birth.  It was all in Italian but it was clearly her.  We didn't cry but it definitely evoked an emotion!

We also saw the birth records for Carolina and for Dominic Caputo (Carolina's husband).  The elections are coming up this week in Calabria so people were coming in to get their ballots and to register for the election during the same time we were getting our records photocopied.  It was a friendly office as you will see in the video.  Antonio's aunt is one of the clerks in the office.

While we were there, Antonio and Domenico told us that the mayor of Mendicino wanted to meet us, so we walked out into the hall and there he was!  He brought us into his office where we chatted and took a photo and he said he would meet up with us later.

After getting the birth records photocopied, we left the town hall and went over to a different nearby cafe where the mayor once again came over to sit with us and get the "story" of why we were in Mendicino.  We took several photos again and then "boom" we were on his Facebook page. He is running for reelection as mayor, and I think we contributed to his campaign promise to promote Tourism of Origins in Mendicino.

Antonio Palermo, cafe owner, Domenico, Antonio Rubino, Patty, Laura