Thursday, Sep. 17, 2009

Italian Fest shows off treasures from abroad

Growing up on the east side of Collinsville in the 1950s and '60s was like living in another country for James Baima.

Italian residents spoke their native tongue, tended vineyards, picked grapes, made wine, played bocce ball and maintained other traditions from the old country.

"About the best wine in Collinsville was made by my family," said Baima, 60, who remembers getting intoxicated while stomping grapes in sixth grade, prompting his mother to scold his father for allowing it.

The retired labor official is among more than 30 families who have contributed Italian items to an exhibit that's running at Collinsville Memorial Public Library in conjunction with this weekend's Italian Fest.

Baima is displaying a primitive, vial-like instrument that measured percentage of alcohol in wine, as well as two sets of century-old wooden bocce balls.

"My grandfather was state bocce ball champion in Illinois in 1943," Baima said. "My dad was state bocce ball champion in 1978."

Hours for Italian Fest are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday in downtown Collinsville. Admission is free. Portions of West Main, Seminary, Center and Clinton streets will be closed to traffic beginning tonight.

The festival is best known for authentic Italian food prepared and sold by civic organizations.

Other activities include live music, a parade, bocce-ball tournament, craft market, 5-kilometer run-walk, midnight bicycle ride, grape-stomping, children's games and cooking and wine-making contests.

"This is traditionally the biggest fundraiser for a lot of the Collinsville-area civic organizations," said Wendi Valenti, executive director of Collinsville Chamber of Commerce. "With the down economy, they need people to come out and support them."

The parade will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday at Main and Hesperia streets. More than 60 floats and other units will go east on Main, north on Seminary and west on Clay, ending at Combs.

The Italian exhibit is called "From the Trunks of Travelers to Italy." It's being co-sponsored by the Italian Film Festival of St. Louis.

The exhibit contains more than 80 antique and modern items. It will run through Sept. 30.

"I just thought it would be neat to get some items together from Italy to show the culture and the people," said curator Annette Graebe, of Collinsville.

The retired associate professor of speech communication is displaying a wooden spigot from her grandfather's wine barrel, as well as an inlaid-wood "painting" and sculpture created by her late Italian cousin.

Graebe's grandparents and mother immigrated from Italy in 1910 to work in Southern Illinois coal mines.

"To me, (all the Italian immigrants) had tremendous courage, to leave their homes and families and cross the ocean to find a better life in America," she said. "They really were trailblazers."

One of the younger exhibitors is Simona GeBauer, 41, of Collinsville, who moved from Galliate, Italy, in 1988 after marrying her American husband, Rick.

GeBauer is displaying a colorful mosaic tray with a peacock image formed by ceramic tiles, and a Cup of Friendship.

The latter is a wooden container with a lid and five drinking spouts. It would be used by residents of a chilly mountain region in northwest Italy to share wine simmered with spices.

"After dinner, they pour the wine in here and pass it around, and they drink and sing," GeBauer said. "Of course, they have to refill it quite often. ... It's just a way for family and friends to (socialize)."

Another exhibitor is Esther Gherna, who co-founded Italian Fest in 1984. She was born in the United States to Italian immigrants but lived in Italy from age 3 to 15 before returning.

The retired medical technician is displaying souvenir terra-cotta pottery made by her nephew and a tiny picture frame with dried edelweiss flowers from the Alps.

"When you're up in the mountains, you can only pick five because they're protected," she said. "And you can't take them out of the country. But I carried them in my brazier."

Hours at Collinsville Memorial Public Library are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 344-1112.

Italian Fest is sponsored by Collinsville Progress, a civic organization and arm of Collinsville Chamber of Commerce.

Downtown parking is limited, so people are encouraged to park at Collinsville Intermediate School (formerly North Junior High School) at Vandalia and Camelot and ride a free Madison County Transit shuttle downtown.

Pets, bicycles, skateboards and rollerblades are prohibited at the festival. For more information, call the Collinsville Chamber of Commerce at 344-2884 or visit www.italianfest.net.