No Picture of Tom at the Dinner

Tom, our Mille Cugini Treasurer, was one of the hardest working members at the dinner. He was the go-to man if you needed anything. He made a trip to FMeyer's for the strainer and another trip to Haggen Foods for more cake. He solved a lot of problems and gave us logical guidance.

Today he has already made deposits for the lodge, at the bank and at the dump! and returned a cooler to Tony.

Here he is with Chelsea last year at Chelsea's graduation from Immacualte.

The Real Cooks

Robert G. is the man in charge of boiling the water and every last noodle! Here he is reviewing the new kitchen at St. Mary's with the contractor after the dinner.






Robert, Ian and Joe D. cook the past outside in HUGE pots on propane burners. They aren't allowed to dump the hot water on Father's lawn!




This is Joe D., another outdoor cook. They started at 8 AM and finished about 8 PM. Good volunteer hours!!


Oh, yeah, see in the background. A whole club of Red Hat Ladies attended our dinner.









A kitchen contractor on the left discusses the goods and bads of the newly-remodeled kitchen with Head Gravy cook Steve D. And you all probably know the cook on the right, Chris C. We owe it all to the cooks!!

Randi and Kauleen were in charge of getting the pasta drained and onto the plates, an important job all by itself. See their picture below.




And this is Ian, the cook's apprentice who has been cooking pasta at the church since he was about 6! He is the son of Margaret and Dale and brother of Sarah. Margaret is full-blooded Italian. See her below working in the kitchen.

That's Peter in the background. He served beverages all day with Tony P., and also acquired the new vinyl Mille Cugini sign which we put out front, and he brings and stores all the sandwich board signs.

Mangia!

Many of the members of Mille Cugini (1,000 cousins), Sons of Italy Marysville Lodge #2659, are still working. Besides writing blogs, I need to write a special article with pictures for the Northwest Italian News. I'll try to get you a link for this.

We're also washing aprons, towels, rags, and returning them to the church. Bimbo Bakeries, dba Oroweat donated all the dinner rolls. Several pounds of pasta were donated by Nana Carmela's Ristorante in Monroe and so the pasta we purchased needs to be returned to the lodge, as well as more of the aprons, banners, flags, and much more. Pots, carafes, vases, huge coolers, propane burners and tanks, and many more items are stored at members' homes. It all has to go back!

SHS Class of '61 enjoys some spaghetti!! Ginger, Marilyn and Bonnie. Rita S. and family were also at the dinner: Rita, Gerry, Kim, Matt, Sam, Vince, Beau and Madison.

A record number of dinner tickets were sold, both in presales and at the door. Monies earned go to support our lodge, St. Vincent de Paul, Coolie's Anemia (Italian children are affected by this), Alzheimer's foundation, Marysville Food Bank and to pay for the use of St. Mary's.

Former GLNW Sons of Italy Treasurer Mary S., with GLNW Past President Dorothy S. and current Grand Lodge President Diane Scillo. After the dinner, Dorothy took home the prize!!

Selling tickets for the raffle were Annette and Cheryl with an unidentified customer. Patti (not pictured) and others also sold tickets, and together they raised a nice sum for our lodge, our charities and our scholarships. All of the raffle prizes were donated by members and merchants. Cheryl is still delivering prizes.

Surprise, Pat!!

Dierdre showed up!! She recognized Uncle Tom and Aunt Mary, also cousin Chris, from THE Poker Party last February. And, we introduced her to Randi and Kauleen. She is a "girlfriend" of Chuck's and special friend to Annette and Patti. These 3 ladies have Windermere connections.

Spaghetti Dinner Worker Bees

Tony with Mario Brock (It's over!)

Margaret waiting for another load to come out of the dishwasher!

Mary D. and Rose Mary after the last leaf of lettuce had been served!

Finally, it was over! Still smiling!!

Canonica Chianti Classico from Barolo

This is a picture of the label of the Canonica Chianti Classico wine. Vince found it on the internet.

Thursday Thirteen Fourth of July Planning!!!

Thirteen Things about the Fourth of July 1. We have to start planning for the Fourth of July. We always have a "blowout" affair since we live on an Indian reservation. Yes, some of the neighbors have had their windows blown out with the repercussions! We're a teensy bit calmer here at 226 than down the beach where they lost the windows. 2. We have a very small neighborhood parade complete with floats, lots of red, white and blue crepe paper, costumes and PIRATES! We don't tell people where our parade is because then we'd have to get permits, block off streets and all that. Currently we have a parade of bikes, trikes, wagons, tractors and golf carts with cute kids and gnarly adults dressed for the occasion! 3. "Boom City" is just a couple miles from here, an awesome sight unto itself. Be prepared to duck if you go and enjoy the awesome sites. Boom City has all the tempting, booming delights a pyromaniac would want!! 4. I pulled in a picture of a few blasters Chris brought home from Boom City last year. (The picture is at the top, cuz I'm untalented at placing pictures in my postings). Chris is our head pyromaniac and MJ is his chief apprentice! 6. We have food: Shish-ka-bobs, salmon, hamburgers, hot dogs, oysters, potato salad, fruit salad, watermelon, hot beans in a pot if Tony comes, and more. And the food lasts all day and we eat all day! Everyone keeps bringing more food and more drinks. It is a family affair and no one has ever gotten out-of-hand. 7. We have birthday cake. Chris' birthday is the 3rd and he celebrates by blasting all night on the 4th. 8. People come from miles around, sometimes from Italy, some from Long Beach, Olympia, Grand Coulee, Burlington, even Marysville!! 9. Tom has been putting on this grand festa since 1985! 10. Sometimes we hold pots, pans or cookie sheets over our heads to protect us from falling fireworks debris. 11. Sometimes we have to yell "Incoming!" to the neighbors when our fireworks go astray. 12. We blast the fireworks off a platform over the water out towards the middle of the bay. 13. Either before or after our fireworks are over, the City of Everett puts on a civil, much larger, less noisy, less-dangerous-to-us display. We can also see a bit of the Lake Stevens fireworks display and a great display put on by the citizens of Everett where fireworks are outlawed! (14. Oooops! I forgot a very important fact so I have to list 14!! The 4th of July is Tom and Mary's anniversary, 16 years and a couple of them were great!! Happy Anniversary, Tom!!)

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Did I mention the volunteers?

In addition to immediate members of the Canonica familiy who work most of the day at our spaghetti dinner, other close members de la famiglia also volunteer:

MJ has worked with us since she returned from New Orleans during Katrina and we truly appreciate her help. She even went to the Health Permit class with Papa and is highly qualified in the food handling departent, food storage and cooking temperatures. MJ clears and resets tables along with Megan, Madison and Chelsea, helps serve the dinner, and is a great resource for me to lean on.

Erin has splashed "gravy" and tossed meatballs and sausages onto plates for at least 5 years and we truly appreciate her sticking with us thru all the dinners. All of her family enjoys being Italian at our dinners.

And new to the hash slinging this year are Kauleen and Randi! Randi actually is Italian, being a Canonica offspring! (I don't know if Kauleen is Italian or not.) Welcome to you both!! We have lots of jobs and know you'll quickly pick up on what needs doing. I don't know exactly what spot Denise has planned for you but I'm thinking of a couple posts that need filling. Thanks for volunteering!!

Thanks to all of you for extending the extra effort to work with us!!! Viva Italiana and Italian wannabes! We love the culture, the language, the heritage, the people like Chiara and her family, and strive to enrich our lives with them.

Maybe V will find us another Italian member of our family at this dinner!!

Corrections to the Spaghetti Dinner Article in Today's Paper

About the Herald writeup on the dinner, there are a couple items a bit incorrect:

Only the sauce and the meatballs are handmade; the sausage is store-bought! We do use cans of sauce, paste, tomatoes to make the "gravy". And we have never made $100,000 in our lives!! Each year we give approx $1000 to charities and sell scholarship raffle tickets to fund our scholarships.

Further, the fact that Denise Canonica is our hardworking, stressed-out, HBIC was also left out!

And the two pictured in the article make great monetary donations!!

Giovanni Canonica's Barolo Wine Vineyard

Tom's cousin Charlene C. and her daughter Chandell are currently in Barolo, Piedmonte, Italy, visiting with cousin Giovanni and touring his grape vineyard. How exciting! To learn more, go to www.barolodibarolo.com, click on English, and then vineyards. You'll see Giovanni's name and there's a picture of him. Vince has found the Canonica Barolo wine online so we can order it. Charlene said in her email that it is difficult to purchase the wine in Barola and import it from Italy for herself, so we'll try ordering it online.

The beginning of the story:

Originally there were three Canonica brothers, Tom's grandfather Ferdinand who was a butcher in Italy and moved to Everett, Vittorio who became a shopkeeper in Snohomish (Vic's Market still exists), and the third brother (name unknown, possibly Giovanni) who stayed in Barolo making wine. Ferdinand was married to Patrina and they had lots of children including Charlene's dad Charlie and Tom's dad Angelo. Charlie was born in Barolo and Angelo, the youngest, was born in Ladysmith, BC, Canada. Ferdinand and Patrina came to the US via Canada, not Ellis Island.

The Canonica's also had other children, Virgie, Margaret (Margo), Clemmie and Babe. The boys were Vic, Charlie, Angelo and Tom in that order. Tom remembers as a kid visiting Aunt Virgie and Margaret's house in Garlic Gulch on Flora Avenue in Georgetown in South Seattle. He remembers going to the train station with his dad to bring home the zinfandel grapes that would come in on boxcars from California and they would make their own wine. Tom's best memory is the smell of the kitchen in Aunt Clemmy's house and how wonderful all the Italian food was.

This post will be a work in progress, and I'll add more as I get details from Tom and possibly from Larry and Charlene.

Spaghetti Dinner this Saturday, June 7th at St. Mary's

The big day is almost here! It's time to enjoy a plate of pasta, meatballs and sausage, with a salad and a glass of wine. Just like in the old country!! Tell your mama, tell your pa! Bring them to St. Mary's this Saturday, 4200 88th St. NE, Marysville, Washington. The dinner is open to the public. Tickets are: adults, $10; children 4 to 10, $5. Raffle tickets will also be sold.

Steve D. is making the gravy. Oroweat is donating the dinner rolls. Nana Carmela's donated the pasta. All the Italians and Italian wannabes will be cooking and serving, playing Italian musical favorites, selling raffle tickets and giving away prizes. The hours are 2 to 7 PM.

A portion of the proceeds from this fundraiser support Coolie's Anemia, the Alzheimer's Foundation, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. Mary's Catholic Church.

The proceeds from the 50/50 raffle go to our local scholarships. Below are a couple pictures of this years' scholarship recipients. You may see them, their parents or their grandparents working at the dinner, so be sure to give them your congratulations!

Mother Susan G., recipient Michael G., President Coco, and dad Robert G.

Michael receives his scholarship certificate May 21, 2008.

Mother Lori B., Alan B. and Mille Cugini Lodge President Coco G.

Coco presents Alan with his scholarship certificate.

A 50/50 raffle is held at our Mille Cugini #2659 Spaghetti Dinner to raise money to sponsor the scholarships for sons, daugters and grandchildren of the local lodge members. This Sons of Italy Lodge is in Marysville, Washington. (Mille Cugini is Italian and translates to "1,000 cousins".)

This year five scholarships were given out. The two sons of members above were present at the award ceremony and meeting. Other winners were Christina Del G., daughter of Ronald Del G., lodge member from Lake Stevens, Rebecca J. and Gina D., granddaughters of lodge members Mary and Frank D. Congratulations to all!!

We hope to see you all at the spaghetti dinner. Denise is the chairman and has worked and stressed over this for months! Give her a hug! Tickets are available at the door and from this and all local lodge members!

Ciao!

Pictures of Memorial Day Weekend 2008

A few happy moments. In a rush. More soon!

Home from Coulee!

We had a great time and took pictures which I will try to post tomorrow. Allison, Pat, Randi and Kauleen are wonderful, gracious hosts! It was great to see Ryan and DeWayne after several months, and Tammy and Vince, and Dave and Pam, Cori and John, Spencer and Bella, Bruce and Jesse, Barb and Dick, Tory and Girlfriend, Joe and JD, and of course all the Canonicas. I hope I didn't leave anyone out! It was a really good weekend. More tomorrow!

Friday Fill-Ins

Friday, May 16, 2008


1. There is absolutely NO way you can get me to jump in this cold bay, except maybe to try to save a life!

2. Today's weather forecast reminds me that summer is almost here!

3. I cannot live without my New York crossword puzzle and coffee in the mornings.

4. Making another quilt and getting a suntan are two things I'd like to try.

5. When life hands you lemons, squeeze them for all their worth and save the juice for blackberry pies and of course lemonade!

6. Learning to swim in the Pilchuck River is one of my favorite childhood memories.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to having the house, beach and deck full of kids and grandkids, picnics and lemonade, sandy wet towels and suits, and suntan lotion, tomorrow my plans include more of the same and maybe staying cool in 90 degree weather and Sunday, I want to do more of the same!

Thursday Thirteen Things Thought Today

Thursday Thirteen
Things Thought About May 15, 2008

1. Payday! Score!!
2. Planting corn! Tom and I planted 4 rows and it's warm and we should eat well and prosper (this fall)!
3. Paying bills online; I did it for the first time today!
4. Four bald eagles kept swooping over our deck so I hid our cat Midnight in the house.
5. It's the Ides of May and it feels pretty good! Sunshine at last and being outdoors and on the beach! Hooray!!
6. The mountains were out, too, in all their glory and still sparkling white with snow!
7. All the granddaughters will be here tomorrow, we hope, to bask in the sunshine!
8. Colin got to go to the Zydeco Festival near the San Diego airport last weekend, and also to Lego Land.
9. Eight Common Loons were swimming out front yesterday, in the misty showers and fog.
10. Veronica will have her birthday next weekend at Life is Good and I will miss her. Randi will also have a celebration there.
11. Chloe auditions for a part in a Shakespeare play this weekend in Seattle.
12. Tomorrow we will buy lots of flowers and fill all the pots on the deck with hopes of having beautiful color by the Fourth.
13. When the strawberries are ripe in the fields at the end of June and first part of July, the wild mountain blackberries will be ripe in the woods and it will be time for picking.

1. The white chocolate mocha had an extra secret ingredient; it was cinnamon!
2. I can see the new moon through my window.
3. Right now, I need a hug.
4. To see MJ, Chloe, Ronnie and Frank is where I went Thursday night; it was nice to feel the love.
5. "Why does having a tooth pulled hurt so much?" Frank asked.
6. All I can think of is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to working on my quilted Christmas tablecloth, tomorrow my plans include possibly a movie with MJ and Chloe and Sunday, I want to be pampered!

Thursday Thirteen "T" Destinations

Thirteen Destinations starting with T(Places I have experienced or think I would like to experience) 1. Tortola, an island in the British Virgins, West Indies, the Caribbean 2. Tahiti, , Society Islands, South Pacific (or any tropical island) 3. Taj Mahal, white marble structure built in Agra, India 4. Toowoomba, town in SE Queensland, E. Australia 5. Timbuktu, Mali, Africa, or any place far, far away 6. Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy, home to Chiara and family 7. Torino, Piemonte, Italy, home to Chiara-Due and native region of the Canonica's (Barolo) 8. Table Mountain, near Capetown, South Africa 9. Tennessee, a hot southern state that was fun, Opryland and Memphis, USA 10. Tonga, an island kingdom in the SW Pacific 11. Tortilla Flat, Arizona, outdoor jazz sessions at an intersection northeast of Apache Junction 12. Thailand, formerly Siam, exotic kingdom in SE Asia 13. Times Square, downtown New York, New York, USA

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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A day to forget

I've been pondering all day trying to think of something substantial to say and it's just not there. Tom is razor clam digging in Copalis, or has been for two days, very successfully. He stayed at Cliff and Linda's in McCleary two nights with my car since C & D had his truck in Coulee. This morning when I talked with him, he was just finishing breakfast with Cliff at the Rusty Tractor in Elma and from there he was heading to Seaview to see his brother Larry. Larry had a tachocardia (??) episode with his heartbeat over 230 a week ago Sunday so he landed in a couple hospitals and had a pacemaker/defibrilator implanted. And he now sounds good and is doing well. On his next trip to Cabo, Larry will have to remember to bypass the xray machines at the airport and have the "personal" patdown! A lovely experience.



A couple of weeks ago, we had a flock of 29 Common Mergansers out front on the water, 5 males and 24 females. Today the Eagles are fighting in the gloaming and trying to find easy food. Our new cat Midnight, who came to us from who-knows-where, has gotten used to our house and thinks she should always be inside poking around. And Angelo, our English Springer Spaniel has decided, in Tom's absence, that the recliner is the place to curl up when soaking wet from a swim in the briny bay! (All the rest of the furniture is covered and somewhat waterproofed for this occurrence but the recliner is ill-prepared.) Last night I wondered why I had a wet backside after sitting in the chair.



Well, anyway, remember, I said Tom had my car. That leaves me with his red F250 Ford pick up. And, I kept Megan and Madison overnight last night so Denise could leave early for PM school in Bellevue this am. We did great, jumped up at 6:30, showered, dressed, ate, jumped in the truck after rounding up Angelo from the neighbors, hummed into the Everett Avenue house to pick up some things for Megan. Plenty of time to make it to school on schedule. Then I remembered I needed to leave the girls' overnight bags in the house and so I slammed the truck in park and hit the emergency brake. Normally, this is no problem, but the brake release is broken and total frustration ensued. I'm not supposed to step on the emergency brake! I knew the brake release was broken. With flashlight and screwdriver in hand, I set about manually releasing the brake, but to no avail. I have watched Tom and Chris do this magic trick, but alas, I was not privy to the secret of releasing the emergency brake via screwdriver. Frustration, frustration, calls to Chris in Seattle, calls to Tom in Elma. What's a woman to do?!! Vent! Called the schools to say the girls would be late; rounded up Angelo who kept escaping the truck onto Everett Avenue. I locked Angelo in the truck and the girls in the house watching morning TV, (all before 8 am mind you) and I walked the two blocks to the Auto Repair shop, asked the mechanic to come help. He walked back to the truck with me, hit the magic spot with the screwdriver and Voila! The emergency brake flipped off. End of story, except I handed the guy 20 bucks, and he walked back to his shop. Then I delivered Megan to her school and Madison to her school and made it home in one piece. I then took my blood pressure medicine and my daily aspirin, curled up back in bed with Angelo on the floor beside me, cooled down and slept. Another day conquered!! or is it, Another day conquered me???!!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Friday Fill-In #70
1. Two of my favorite ingredients in a drink are Kahlua and cream! (along with a little vodka and a splash of Pepsi over ice, making it a Smith and Wesson.)
2. Veronica and Lynn often amaze me. (My two Awesome daughters, so clever and bright! Where'd they get that?!!)
3. You can keep doing that forever, the dog is at Joe's. (My dog Angelo is always at his friend Joe's, next door.)
4. Lima beans and kernel corn, mix it all together and voila! You have succotash! (Isn't that what Sylvester says in Tweety Bird?)
5. If I had a yard with a garden, I would love to grow wisteria and hydrangeas. (Oh! That is what's in my garden!)
6. Showering is best au naturel. (Imagining Tom in the shower in his gardenwear: Carhartt coat, gloves, boots, and all!)
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Grey's Anatomy, tomorrow my plans include picking Chelsea up at the mall and Sunday, I want to spend $600 on a new wardrobe like my unnamed friend did!