CELEBRATING THE VESPA
SEPTEMBER PROGRAM CAPS RADUNO RALLY WEEKEND
By Nancy DeSanti, 1st Vice President - Programs
Our fourth program for the year will be all about the Vespa, that iconic symbol of Italy, and it’s one you won’t want to miss. Our program will take place on Sunday, September 22, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. at Casa Italiana. Our AMHS luncheon meeting will be part of the Raduno, “the Vespa Rally of the Nation’s Capital,” a three-day weekend event for everyone who loves the Vespa. This year, the AMHS is a sponsor of the Raduno.
The weekend kicks off Friday evening, September 20, with an arrosticini barbecue at the La Moto Vespa dealership in Arlington, Va. The next day there is a breakfast at Casa Italiana, and that evening there will be a concert featuring Tony Richards, a virtuoso guitarist and recording artist from Chicago whose mother is Abruzzese. The concert will be at the Courtyard Marriott Ballroom, 901 L St., N.W., Washington. D.C. After the concert, Vespisti can enjoy a ride around the city to view the illuminated monuments at night.
D’Ascanio with millionth Vespa produced
If anyone would like additional information on the rally or our September 22 general meeting, please check out the Rally website http://vespacommittee.org/rally-featuresand the AMHS website: www.abruzzomoliseheritagesociety. org/mission/events/#!event/2019/9/22/ amhs-general-society-meeting-1 We will be highlighting the fact, not as well known as it should be, that the inventor of theVespa in 1946 was Corradino D’Ascanio, an Abruzzese. D’Ascanio was from the small town of Popoli in the province of Pescara. We are pleased to announce that our speaker will be AMHS member Willy Meaux, a true Vespa aficionado who has many friends and contacts among the Vespisti in the Washington, D.C. area and elsewhere. Willy is also a member of the board of directors of the Casa Italiana Sociocultural Center.
On a recent trip to Italy, he presented a letter from AMHS President Ray LaVerghetta to the president of the Sulmona Vespa Club, Panfilo D’Angelo, inviting him to be our special guest at the September 22 program. He has accepted our invitation and will make a few remarks during the meeting. The Sulmona Vespa Club is a chapter of the Vespa Club of Italy. Willy will also show us a short documentary on the amazing life of Corradino D’Ascanio and the invention of the Vespa. It turns out that D’Ascanio had an early passion for flight and design. By the age of 15, after studying flying techniques and the ratio between weight and wingspan of certain birds, he built an experimental glider which he would launch from the hills near his hometown. After becoming an aeronautical engineer, D’Ascanio went on to invent the award-winning first modern helicopter. By 1932, he had joined the Piaggio company.
At the end of World War II, D’Ascanio designed, at the request of Enrico Piaggio, a motor scooter that achieved incredible success and became the symbol of post-war reconstruction. The Vespa was a simple and economical vehicle, a means of transportation for the average Italian family, and it was an immediate success. The Vespa (“wasp” in Italian) was so named for its shape and its aerodynamic and nimble structure, and it was his most popular creation. The Vespa was shown for the first time at the “salone del ciclo e del motociclo” in Milan in 1949, becoming the most popular worldwide scooter for the next 50 years (more than 16 million sold in over 130 different models). Attendees at the Bella Italia Market in December may recall the beautiful models displayed at Casa Italiana, on loan from La Moto dealership in Arlington, including the famous Aprilia.
The Vespa was shown for the first time at the “salone del ciclo e del motociclo” in Milan in 1949, becoming the most popular worldwide scooter for the next 50 years.
Whipping through the streets on this simple, elegant and robust piece of automotive engineering gave riders a sense of freedom. Like all Italian inventions, it was conceived with aesthetics in mind. It was designed to cover the engine and shield the legs from rain, mud and oil, and it appealed to the style-conscious Italian public. It was popularized outside Italy when in 1953, Audrey Hepburn rode sideways on Gregory Peck’s Vespa in the film “Roman Holiday.” Later that decade, John Wayne, Dean Martin and Marlon Brando were photographed zipping around film sets on Vespas. Attendees at our meeting will enjoy looking at photos taken at “Bici e Baci,” the Vespa museum in Rome. The photos were taken in Rome this summer by Casa Italiana community member Teresa Forcina. The program will feature a delicious lunch catered by Fontina Grille. Please be sure to invite your family members and friends to what is sure to be a very interesting and fun event. Paid reservations are due by September 18, 2019. For more information, please see the flyer on page 11 of this issue.
