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# 60 • MAY 17 , 2015
# 60 • MAY 17 , 2015
second is because of the new
immigrants coming to America. You know, when you work
with your hands, you want your
children to do better than you.
So, in America everybody wants their children to become
lawyers, doctors, accountants:
they send them to college and
think “Ok, you’re going to get
a job”: this happened to me, I
went to the college, I worked
uptown, I started my own photography business … but then
I came back. I’m 54: a lot of people of my age,
whose
families
owned a store in
the market, found
bigger and better jobs: the job
on the market is
difficult, you get
no break, cold
in the winter, hot
in the summer,
standi ng outside
on the stands …
so, they grew up
and decided they
were going to
college and find
a job outside the
market, in the business world.
the new immigrants went and
got those jobs, and then opened their own stand or store. So, while we used to have
100% Italian stands, maybe
now we have 50%. These are
hardworking people, all very
nice, we all get along: many of
them consider each other a family, in a certain way.
So, new immigrants came to
the United States: in the 80’s
Koreans came, and then the
Mexicans came down to the
Italian market, and they found
opportunities. The older generations still owned the stands,
the stores, the properties, but
some of them didn’t have somebody to pass them on: so
The biggest event is coming
up on May 16th and 17th, the
Italian Market Festival: we close the street off to traffic and we
bring in lots of vendors, music
and entertainment and goes
all way with the market. For
instance in my store, Cappuccio’s Meats, I make 29 flavors
of homemade Italian sausage!
I hear that the celebration will
start now and will go on until the end of the year. Which
activities are you organizing?
For the festival we pick the 8
most favorite, we put a station
outside the store, in the street,
and we grill and sell sausages.
A lot of Italian stores take the
show on the road: what they
do in their store, they manage
to put it outside on the street
for the festival.
Then, we’re doing a little something every month after
that, to keep celebration going
on. In June we’re having food
trucks, with the award to the
best one from the
Food Truck Association: we’ll close
the street to traffic and there’ll be
just food trucks, so
people can experience something
different.
In July we’re going
to have a multicultural music month, with many different musicians.
In August we’re
going to have Bocce and Scopa tournament,
during
the whole month.
The next biggest event after
that will be the Columbus festival, which we call “Salute Columbus”: it’s almost like the regular festival, and that’ll be will
be on Saturday October 10th,
a one day festival with food,
drinks and entertainment.
Is there a parade?
The city does a parade the next
day, on Sunday, but not here
in the market: it’s big, organized by the Sons of Italy, starts
5 blocks from here and runs
south. In my shop I do both the
events.
You also have a project called
“Vision 2020”. What is the future of this historical place, according to the South 9th Street
Business Men's Association?
We think that the vision for
the future is to really make the
market a place to visit: we want
the people who come to Philadelphia to say “let’s go visit the
Italian market”, something very
unique. Our vision is to keep
the market with family stores,
and also multicultural: Philadelphia is a multicultural city
and so the market has to stay.
In September Pope Francis will
be visiting Philly. Is he coming
to the market? Are you preparing something special?
We would like to have him
here! It probably won’t be
possible because of the security concerns, and because we
know he has a very tight schedule. He’s going to be here just
for two days, and he probably
will have a big mass in the center of the city. We’ll probably
get a lot of visitors coming to
Philadelphia.
You meet and serve a lot of people at the market. Are there a
lot of Italians who just recently
arrived to Philly?
ask her “Why don’t you retire,
move to Florida and rest, something like this?” my mother
always told her “I’m fine, this is
where I belong. I need to work.
I keep busy and I see my people: the customers, who become friends over the years.” I
think if keep working it keeps
your brain going. If you retire,
doing nothing will kill you!
I’ve had a few in the past weeks: I wouldn’t say a lot. Some
of them are visiting, some just
recently moved in the city,
some of them come in the weekend, like my parents do: they
still work on the weekends! My I agree with you, and that’s an
mother is 89 and my dad in example of how hard the Itasummer will be 90.
lians have been working their
whole life, here in the US. In
the end, let’s talk about food.
Still working at 89 or 90, that’s To you, why is food so imporsomething! You know, this is tant for the Italian American
not the first time I’ve been told community?
that Italian Americans keep
working even at that age: I I think that food is life to us, is
think there’s a pattern here, what we do. When our families
and it’s interesting because get together, food is always
here in Italy things are very involved, in every Italian houdifferent. These aged Italian se in America, especially on
Americans probably used to Sundays: because we grew up
work very hard their entire life with big family meals.
and they still keep themselves
busy: I feel an enormous respect for all of them…
Which is the most popular Italian food in the 9th Street ItaWell, you know, when you lian market?
come to the Italian market you
know you’re going to be wor- Well, I’m going to speak for
king very hard. Retirement is myself … if you think in terms
very difficult to do because of shopping food to take it
you need to pass the business home and eat it there, I think
on to somebody: so, unless one of the most popular foods
you sell out you’re going to be would be sausage, because
working for the rest of your life. they know that here they only
My mother is was born here, get fresh and natural meat. If
my grandparents came here you think about eating here, in
from Italy and started the bu- restaurants, I would rather say
siness. When my sister would pasta.
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