Pietraroja Italy

I was going through some of my papers and came across a couple of interesting pieces of information about Pietraroja Italy, where the Manzellis came from. Actually, there are apparently 2 Manzelli families currently listed in the phone directory for Pietraroja. That's a lead I may want to follow.

According to Steve Barbieri, one of your Manzelli cousins, the village of Peitraroja (spelled with a j) was founded a very long time ago and gets its name from a Spanish dialect and it means "red rock". Guess we might have been able to figure that out with Spanish 101. The village got its latest name in the 17th century when the townspeople mined red rocks for making cosmetics. The letter "j" was replaced by "i" when another dialect became the national language. This dialect did not contain letter "j". After WWII the letter "j" was put back into the name as proudly displayed by the town monument.

Apparently there had been a tradition in Pietraroja to conduct a town fair the first weekend in Sept. At this fair, the single women auctioned off baked goods to all the single men (do I hear an "Oklahoma" refrain in the background?). The winner "kept" the woman. Again according to Steve Barbieri, at least one ancestor may have obtained her spouse in this manner--but not your direct ancestor (whew).

This picture Steve sent me back in 2001 seemed to say it all for Pietraroja. He describes it as a mountain top view of the village. I think it's beautiful.

Spring update from Harpursville! This is one crazy place. Did you hear about the stabbing we had on campus last week? Here's the lowdown and maybe it's not that big of a deal for some of you, but it was pretty disturbing for us. Ryan was one of the witnesses they questioned. It's not that much like Law and Order! Makes the bomb threat evacuation pale in comparison. Never a dull moment.

Amy finished her sophomore year and is now on Wallops Island for her summer course. I took her down last weekend and we got to spend Mother's Day morning at the Wildlife Refuge on Chincoteague--just the 2 of us.

Ryan's season is going fairly well. He expects the team to go to sectionals. He plays second base for the team this year and is very happy to be on the infield. He's done a very little bit of pitching. James' team should also go to sectionals. He is doing a great job with them. He's doing really well as a varsity coach.

We are sorry we will miss the baby shower. Best wishes to Lindsay and Jake!

Happy Birthday Mr. Brandon! 7 years old..where does the time go? We hope you had a great day. Let's see, what else does May bring? Mother's Day!! Happy Mother's Day to Bobbie, Jean, Pat, Linda, Michelle (special blessings on Michelle this month).

And May brings college students home, so I will be spending Mother's Day with Amy traveling from Kutztown to Wallops Island VA for her summer course. She calls it "Harpursville-by-the-Sea" honoring its desolate location and lack of amenities. She has begun to send her stuff home, including a new aquarium and residents. So far, no casualties under our inexperienced care.

James' softball season and Ryan's baseball season are going along relatively well. They each have 3-4 games a week so this keeps us all out of trouble.

Unfortunately Amy and I will have to miss the baby shower (we love reading the Baby Blog, though!). One of my favorite shower gifts to give are books so I'm happy to have an excuse to dwell on those titles that bring back smiles.

What are your favorite childhood books? Amy always loved the Mother Goose stories that went with the talking Mother Goose your Mom gave her. Both of them liked Farmer Patrick Pig. Ryan and I love Is Your Mama a Llama? and the Stinkyface books. Love those Stinkyface books!