Texas Tavola Transcript
Texas Tavola Transcript
Scene 1: On speaking Italian
Woman 1: (Speaking in Italian)
I love being an Italian. I was never ashamed of being an Italian. At
school, even. I can speak it fluently, the dialect.
Woman 2: When she started school, she could not speak a word of
English.
Woman 3: I was fixing to tell you that, but she beat me to the draw. My mother worried about that, bless her heart, but I learned. I made it.
Woman 4: My mom and my dad both speak, spoke fluent Sicilian, but they would not teach us because they thought we would have trouble in the schools. So he landed in New Orleans, on the ship there La Guardia is where he landed. And, my dad worked on a banana boat when he landed there, before he came to Texas. And he couldn’t speak a whole lot of English and he was such a hard worker. They would tell him to slow down and he didn’t understand it and he would work twice as hard. That’s what he used to tell us.
Scene 2: Early years of discrimination
Man 1: They came because they were good working with their hands and this property was low and it’s got bottom land because the river is just a mile thataway, probably east. They were able to buy this property cheap, because nobody else wanted, because it did flood, but it’s very, very fertile. It’s very sandy. It’ll grow anything.
Woman 1: Long, long time ago, they were kind of discriminated against, I thought. Until they came up in the world.
Man 2: Let me tell you how bad it was. We’d have a place out that the church owns now. They didn’t used to. It was called Fellowship Hall. All of the Italian men, when they came here, they got their money and put it together and built a little bitty place called Fellowship Hall.
What was Fellowship Hall? It was in case your daughter wanted to get married, you’d have a place to do it. Because the people that were here wouldn’t rent you anything. So, there was definitely discrimination.
Man 1: I think it changed and got better when Italians proved themselves. That they were able to work, hard, and buy things and be something in the community besides migrant workers. And own. You see a lot of these farmers out here, they’re wealthy. I mean, that’s the bottom line. And they’re wealthy because their parents and their parents’ parents farmed this land. And now they’re farming the land and its still a good thing for them.
Scene 3: The Tavola tradition
Woman 1: Well, you know it was a tradition they started in Italy. I remember my mother-in-law having one every year. And she made a promise that if her son would come back from the service, she’d continue to have the alter in honor of Saint Joseph. And it’s a wonderful tradition, because really, you feed the poor from this table.
That’s what the symbolic thing was from in Italy. They were starving and they could not plant food—they finally planted the Fave—but they promised that if St. Joseph would do them the miracle of bringing them food, they would feed everybody in the town. So, it still goes on. It really has that meaning.
Monsignor John Malinowski: Well I’ve seen from the very simple alters to the very ornate
alters. I would consider this one to be one of the ornate alters itself. I’ve seen simple ones. Back in the ‘70s, in a little house, these little people that lived. They had cracks in their flooring where you could see chickens underneath there, and they had a wood stove. But yet they had that altar that meant so much to them. And it made you feel humble, it made you feel humble to know that these people themselves were in need and yet they are trying to help other people in need.
Scene 4: Cooking for the Tavola
Man 1: (Unintelligible talking on phone.)
We cooked them two hours.
Man 2: Two hours. Two hours of stirring. Good through.
Mary Ann Reina: My name is Mary Ann Reina. My husband is Joe Reina and we’ve lived here all our lives. My grandmother had deep devotion to St. Joseph, so I guess I followed her footsteps. Vancie and I have grown up here together. We’re very close friends. I have had five alters myself. This is my oldest daughter here, Sharon, and I’m hoping that she will take up the tradition.
Actually, in my grandmother’s days, all you that would see was fig cookies, biscotti, haystacks, the rings. But then as the modern generation came, well they started adding the fancy cookies and the candies and everything. Right here, this tray here, we’re taking out enough that we will be serving the 24 saints. What they’ll do is they’ll be serving the Saints on a plate. There will be three--we always serve three items on the plate to represent the trinity.
Woman 1: I think most of the alters in the days ago, they weren’t as elaborate as this. I think they were more like the fig cookies, the decorative fig cookies, and the breads, and they did more of the decorative breads.
Women 2: We have shell casings that have been cut to make a crescent, so when you cut around the cookies, it makes a scalloped edge.
Woman 3: This is the bullet that we were talking about. They saw it off to make it rounded. And so they use this to cut the dough and it leaves that the scalloped edge all the way around. And you have to make sure you push it all the way the dough so that it cuts through the bottom layer of dough also.
Vancie Todaro: We started cooking on March the fifth. We’ve been cooking for two weeks, and we’ve had beautiful help. It’s been overwhelming. Ya’ll are going to get me to break down here. The people have just been great. I’ve had at least 25 or 30 women here every day helping to bake. And the donations have been coming in. The outpouring of the devotion to St. Joseph is just unbelievable. I can’t start to tell you how overwhelming that is.
When I started baking, I said ‘This house isn’t mine for the next two weeks. It’s St. Jospeph’s.’ And he’s been working miracles. He really has.
Woman 4: I come in dedication. In volunteering, the hours that you can spend in giving your time and fellowship. It’s wonderful. You can’t have better friends than this. And it’s open to anybody. They just come and go as they can. And everybody just shares friendship and fellowship and it’s great.
Monsignor: And this also brings about community and fellowship. Fellowship, as we call it in the church, during the novena, during the baking and making. And because you’ve got so many people involved and so many different ideas, and how one idea prevails. It’s about how to disagree and still agree.
Woman 5: These are cardunes. These are artichokes, from the artichokes. And what we’re doing is that we’re cleaning them and taking all the leaves off. And then they’re going to cook them. Fry them. Fry them with breadcrumbs, is I guess how they’ll go. And, anyway, this is what they look like, right here. This is what we have to clean. All of these.
Woman 6: What we’re doing is we’re preparing vegetables. They’re what’s called fried vegetables. We’re preparing them today and tomorrow we’ll mix them with breadcrumbs and cheese and seasonings. As far as the tradition goes—well, I’m sure Vancie can explain it better than I can—but, it’s an effort to feed the saints one of every type of vegetable, everything that’s going to be on the alter. They serve it to the saints that day.
Woman 7: I think in Louisiana—and you’re from there—they sometime serve fish in the pasta, in the spaghetti. And see, we’re here, we use…
Woman 8: Eggs.
Woman 7: …nothing but eggs.
Woman off camera: That’s what my mom used.
Man 1: The ladies inside, there are getting to be fewer and fewer folks who know how to do that. This here, anybody can do this.
Scene 5: Poggioreale
Circe Sturm: So this is Poggioreale Veccio. The old Poggioreale. There is also a Poggioreale Nuovo, which is right down the hill from here, where people rebuilt. But, this is the town where my relatives came from, when they immigrated to the United States and landed at the port of New Orleans and then went to Texas.
It’s where most of the Sicilians from central-east part of Texas originate. Not just Poggioreale, but Poggioreale, Salaparuta, Corleone, these little hill towns that are right here in this part of Western Sicily. And, what we have left in Poggiorieale Vecchio is what was destroyed by a major earthquake that hit the Belice valley in 1968. It’s an old ghostown. But there is still so much that you can see of the place and get a sense of what it was like to live here at one time.
Scene 6: Prayer
(Vancie singing in Italian. Call and response)
Prayer: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Response: As it was in the beginning, so it shall every be, a world without end. Amen
(All Singing)
Prayer: Our father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Response: Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
(All singing.)
Scene 7: The Legend
(Performers singing)
Monsignor John Malinowski: I asked Ross ‘why all that smoke’. He says, ‘Well, it’s incense’.
He says, ‘It chases away the bugs and mosquitos and it’s the holy smoke.’
According to legend, there was a famine in Sicily many centuries ago. The villagers, the people of the village prayed to St. Joseph, foster father of the infant savior Jesus Christ for his intercession before the throne of God. Their prayers were answers. With the ending of the dreadful famine, a special feast was held in the honor of St. Joseph.
It is very important that we continue this tradition, in our culture, in your culture. So that we can understand and you can be able to pass this down. It’s simple in it’s setting, but very powerful in it’s meaning.
Prayer: God from God, light from light. True God from true God. Become, not made, one in being through the Father. Through him all things remain. For us men and for or salvation, he came down from Heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man.
All to neighbors: Peace be with you.
Scene 8: The Tavola
Woman 1: Go to the door and knock.
Monsignor: Okay, you go, ladies go first. Me and Joseph behind. I’m Jesus. Oh, I’m
sorry.
Vancie: Who’s there.
Man 1: Jesu, Giuseppi and Maria.
Vancie: We have no room.
Man 1: We’re going to the back door?
Woman 1: Yes, were going around.
Vancie: Who’s there.
Man 1: Jesu, Giuseppi and Maria.
Vancie: We have no room.
Man 1: We have to go around.
Woman 1: There is not place for us here.
Vancie: Who’s there.
Jesu, Giuseppi and Maria.
Vancie: Come in Jesu, Giuseppi and Maria
Monsignor: Lord Jesus, bless this alter, all this food, these candles, and those who visit
it. We ask this in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Unintelligible chatter.
(We need some more bread)
Man 2: We raise our glass to St. Joseph. We ask for your intercessions to the Lord Jesus for us, that all of our prayers and intercessions may be answered. In Christ’s name, Viva.
All: Viva la patriarche de San Giuseppi. Salud.
(Anointing hands and feet. Kissing hands and feet)
Scene 9: The Significance
(Chatter. People in line for food, talking to each other.)
Man 1: How are you doing?
Man 2: How are you doing?
Man 1: Long time no see.
Man 2: It’s good seeing you.
Man 3: Dr. Cotropia has been developing a vaccine against AIDS. And this is my third time being here with him and his family. And he’s made a promise to St. Joseph that if he would help him with the vaccine—that so far, we’ve been getting very promising results—that it would be a contribution to humanity.
Man 3: And you being a scientist, have been working on one for eighteen years, a vaccine for years, that he’s made a….
Dr. Katrella: a dedicated effort at a vow that if we complete this we’re going to have an Alter to St. Joseph every year.
(For how long)
Until our lives are terminated.
Woman 1: I will probably take my big piece that represents the Virgin Mary and freeze it and shellack it. It will stay forever and ever. Some will eat them. They are all blessed. You can’t dispose of them. The have to be eaten. A lot of people will break them up into breadcrumbs if they don’t get them eaten and they will put them out for the birds to eat. Or they have to be buried. Or they have to be burned. But you cannot waste and throw them away. It’s my understanding.
(handing out bags, saying goodbyes)
Circe Sturm: Oh, well you just call us and we’ll (unintelligible). Do you want to see my
pretty stuff?
Woman 2: unintelligible
Circe: Yeah, look at this. So, I’ve got a bottle of wine and I’ve got the pignolati
shaped like the haystack. I’ve got all the cookies from the alter and I got the special bread with the fava bean and the St. Joseph. And then I’ve got lemon to represent the citrus from Sicily.
Woman 2: Oh, really.
Circe: And then this is the special alter bread with the fig cookies. I don’t know if I can get this out of there.
Woman 2: I know. It’s beautiful.
Circe: Look at that. And these things represent St. Cosmos fish. The fish, right.
Woman 2: That’s the fish. A lady was showing all that to me.
Circe Sturm: And this is new life. And then, I get a card of the Saints. And Vancie
gave this to us because the two Saints are doctors, and Randy and I…
Woman 2: …are doctors. Oh, that’s nice. She made it meaningful.
Ross Todaro: I really had a lot of fun doing it. I got a little tired last night, but I really had a lot of good help. I really appreciate the crowd and all the ‘thank you’s and I thank them and everything.
Man: I’ve just—the memories are really good. I’ve had a good time with the people around me and I hope we’re able to do this for a really long time.
Woman 2: Well, as I told my cousin’s wife, ‘Thanks for the wonderful memories.’ I’m going to cry. I can’t talk about it. Because I think this is going to be the last one. Though, it felt good. Is this where they say cut in the movies?
Woman 3: They don’t believe in stuff like that.
Woman 4: Our children and our children’s children. This is something that will just fade away, because—it’s not that they don’t believe in it—they don’t want to go through the trouble of having it.
Woman 3: They don’t participate in going to the trouble, which is not trouble, but I mean, the work and everything.
Woman 4: It’ll die out.
Monsignor: I think one thing we’re concerned about now is who is going to take over. Your young people, they are living a different type of lifestyle. But, I think the culture and the tradition will prevail. There will be somebody that will continue. You won’t have as many of them as you had before, but the culture will survive. It’s too strong.
Miranda Lewis: I wan’t to say about it…that it is really, really, really, really, really pretty.
Circe Sturm: Are you Italian?
Miranda Lewis: Yes.
Circe: Do you know where your family’s from in Italy?
Miranda Lewis: Oklahoma.
Circe: Do you know where they’re from in Italy?
Miranda Lewis: Poggioreale
Mary Ann Reina: It’s just a wonderful feeling. It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s very rewarding. And we just pray that St. Joseph will bless Vancie and Ross for opening their home to us to help celebrate this beautiful feast day.
Vancie: I feel wonderful about the day. I think it was a tremendous success. Everything was perfect. Everything just went like clockwork. The friends, the family were just outstanding. The crowd was just overwhelming. I am just very thankful to St. Joseph.
I feel in my heart that perhaps I have fulfilled my promise. I feel in my heart this time that maybe St. Joseph is pleased with the Alter and with the work that we have done.
I’m going to feel let down. We’ve had two wonderful weeks with wonderful friends surrounding us. Tomorrow, it will be a let down, but I know that my friends are there if I need them. And we have another Alter coming up with them in four weeks and so we’re going to help them any way we can.
God bless you. May St. Joseph enter your prayers. I know he has. And God be with you. And viva lu patriarchu di San Giuseppi.
