Back on track

I feel like I've ignored the blog for too long! Have you all missed me?? Amy was home for the weekend since it was Homecoming and it was great to spend some time with her. She really wanted to see Ryan play and she got to see a win. This is Ryan's leaping TD run. It was fun to watch. Ryan recovered nicely from his concussion. Whew. They are 3-1 now which is a great start.

I haven't done much with anything related to genealogy recently and I am really missing it. Stay tuned because I'll get back to some story telling soon I hope.

Thanks Kathleen for the family info sheet. Always handy and greatly appreciated. Linda, I'm waiting to hear that you were able to set yourself up to use the blog! Scott, I filed the VADIR report today!!! No wonder I feel relief. Now on to the next deadline.

Something Fun to Try

Here's one way to waste some hard earned online time: Try the World Names Profiler and see how surnames are distributed across the globe in the present day. Type in the surname you are interested in--let's say you are wondering about "Dalpiaz". Make sure you click the SEARCH button after the name.

The page takes a minute to reload then you'll see a world map with shaded areas demonstrating the high/low ranges of families with that surname in a particular area. Click the darkest areas which are the heaviest density for that surname, the page will take a second to reload then you'll get a closer view. You can click down to general localities.

Now, I enjoyed doing this but even more fun was scrolling down the page past the maps to see the most common first names with that surname and the specific cities with the highest density of the surname. I learned about this from one of my favorite podcasts and it was more entertaining than I expected it to be! Enjoy and have a great weekend!

I spoke with Linda today and she mentioned she was having a hard time figuring out how to leave a comment or a post on this blog. You are all WELCOME to add whatever you like to this blog! So I thought I would just make some suggestions on the easiest way to get set up to add comments or posts to this blog.

I think the easiest thing to do is to create yourself a Google Account. Click this link to get started. Although you do not have to use gmail in order to make good use of your Google account, I find it works better if you have a gmail account also. Just a suggestion.

Once you have your account set up, you will need to verify it by email. Google sends you an email to the address you supply in your account and I think you just click a link to verify. This is one of the places where the gmail account comes in handy.

After you are verified, you can access the blog however you usually find it (I hope it's on your Favorites!) and sing in (upper right corner). Once you are signed in, you can add to the blog by commenting or adding a new post.

I hope this helps a little bit. I've resent an invitation to the Hartmans to be authors for this blog and can do the same for whomever else is interested. Just let me know! dalpiaz@echoes.net

The Dalpiaz Name in the Headlines!

Well, sort of. It's kind of cool to see the Dalpiaz name in headlines even if it is only the local weekly paper. This marks Ryan's first varsity football victory! For Harpursville football, it's an exciting start to the season.

We hope everyone has gotten September off to a good start. We are thinking about Sarah's first day as well as our college freshman. We are also thinking about our other athletes Mallory and Drew on their respective school teams. Best of luck to all!

I'd just like to reflect for a moment on Sept 11 and what it has come to mean for us as a country. We were all keenly aware from the moment we heard the news that our world had changed forever. I don't claim to know what is the proper way to recognize Sept 11, but I do know that we can't let it go without recognition. I am certain we all did so in our own way.

I just love this picture. I think Marguerite Manzelli is the bride and James Coffarelli is the groom. The attendants are probably Philip Coffarelli, James' brother and Emily Manzelli, Marguerite's younger sister. They were married June 27 1923 in Long Island City.

The question is --who is the very proper child? My guess is that is is a Manzelli, perhaps Anna who would have been about 8 or Madeline when she was about 7 years old. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

The wedding attire is very typical of the time period and very beautiful, I think. And what magnificent flowers!

Farewell Summer 2008

Last official summer weekend is already upon us. And you know what that means for most of us--back to school! Those of you who are retired, perhaps this last holiday of the summer isn't as sweet as it is for those of us going back into the classrooms. This last Monday seems like such a sweet gift.

James tells me he thinks he recalls the family would host a Labor Day pool party. Nothing special at my house for Labor Day. The first sign for back-to-school was trying on all the clothes to measure for adjustments--especially to hems. The eternal struggle for the hemline! I guess I shouldn't say "eternal" as it doesn't so much seem the case now!

I don't remember that we ever went "Back-To-School" shopping the way we do now. Of course, it wasn't a media event in those days.

Have a great first day of kindergarten Sarah!! What was your kindergarten teacher's name? How was that first year for you?

Happy Birthday to the girls--the kindergartner, the college freshman, the new driver (!) and the actress.

One mystery solved--sort of!

When I received the list of interment list for the Manzelli plot at the Calvary Cemetery, I noticed a listing for Dorothy Manzelli who died at the age of 17 and was buried outside the vault. I've been very curious about Dorothy, operating under the assumption she was a Manzelli child. The mystery, for me, was: whose child?

So, I followed up the way most any curious librarian/family historian would do and sent away for her death certificate. I was surprised to learn she was the wife of Andrew Manzelli, your grandmother's brother who later married Lois and became father to RuthAnn and Peter. She died in November of 1934 after about a month in the hospital of an acute intestinal obstruction. She must have been in a great deal of pain. She was ony 3 weeks shy of her 18th birthday at the time of her death.

Andrew was about 8 years older than she was and it must have been quite tragic. Kathleen tells me she recalls being told they had been married only about a year when she died. It appears she may have been ill much of that time.

In that calendar year from about November 1933 to November 1934 was a very difficult time for your grandmother Marguerite. In December of 1933, her father died suddenly while at a welcome-home-from-the- hospital party for her husband James who suffered from leukemia. Two months or so later, in February 1934 her husband died in the hospital. The following November her sister-in-law Dorothy died after a protracted illness. This must have set Marguerite back on her heels a bit, especially given these were the Depression years. She had two young children to care for as well. They were only 9 and 5 years old when their father died.

I picture that she had the support of her extended family of siblings and spouses, just as we do today. So allow me to say thank you to you all for that and to remind us all that it is part of a family tradition, whether we were aware of it or not.