THE D’ANDREA & FANTOZZI FAMILIES AT HILTON HEAD ISLAND
From July 21 – July 28, certain members of the D’Andrea family, along with their cousin Leda (Fantozzi) Heidenreich, spent one week sharing a magnificent house on Hilton Head Island. The “clan” enjoyed the beach, kayaking, bicycle riding, and golf (for the men). The group consisted of myself and my husband, Sam; my sister Lisa, her husband Dave and their two children, Sydney and Justin; my sister Laura, her husband Lenny, and their three children, Mikayla, Tyler, and Julia; and Leda, her husband Jeff, and their two sons Luke and Josh. Leda and her family joined us all the way from Coraopolis, Pa.
Our time spent together magnified the close family ties we have shared over the years. Leda is the daughter of Victoria Fantozzi, sister to AMHS member Edvige D’Andrea. (Victoria passed away in 2011; she was a member of AMHS). While in Hilton Head, we spent evenings reminiscing about the many summers and family vacations the D’Andrea family spent visiting their “nonni”, “zii”, “zie”, and “cugini” in McKees Rocks and Coraopolis, Pa.
We remembered visiting with Nonna Pitassi, grandmother to the D’Andrea children and Leda, eating her homemade biscotti and dipping them in Sanka instant coffee; playing in our great Uncle Vince and Aunt Marie’s bountiful garden; playing restaurant in the basement of Nonna and Nonno D’Andrea, where we used clothes pins for restaurants and “pretend” cooked and baked in an old stove; running through the Donald Duck sprinkler and the pool owned by our Uncle Robert, brother to my mother Edvige. These summers and vacations were filled with wonderful memories that live on in each of us, and we cherish and value the close relationship our family has maintained with the cousins who live in Pa.
Maria with Kathy DiGiacomo
Following the week in Hilton Head, my husband and I spent a week in Asheville, N.C. and Gatlinburg, Tenn. where we enjoyed the mountains and hiking to the summits of the highest peaks in three states (Mount Sassafrass, S.C., elevation 3,554 feet; Mount Mitchell, N.C., elevation 6,684 feet; and Clingman’s Dome, TN, in the Great Smoky Mountains, elevation 6,643 feet).
One evening we went out to dinner in Asheville, at one of its most famous restaurants, The Lobster Trap. We were sitting at the bar waiting for our table. I look to my left and I’m like “I know that person”. The woman, who was with a friend, got up to get seated at their table and instantly we were like “oh my gosh, what are you doing here?” I had run into Kathy DiGiacomo, a parishioner of Holy Rosary Church and member of AMHS! She was in Asheville to visit a friend. It is indeed a small world! (submitted by Maria D’Andrea-Yothers).
LUCIO MEETS LUCIO!
In July, AMHS President Emeritus Lucio D’Andrea, his wife Edvige, and their daughter Candida went to Culpeper, Va., to have lunch at Lucio Restaurant. The restaurant was brought to their attention by their daughter. You can imagine Lucio’s surprise and delight at finding a restaurant with his name! The owner, Lucio Tonizzo, moved from his native Precenicco, a small town near Venice in northern Italy to Rome when he was only 14. The dream of many young boys was close to reality: the opportunity to play professional soccer. At the same time Lucio developed a taste for the culinary arts, which eventually eclipsed his hopes of a soccer profession. He opened this restaurant in 2001.
The family enjoyed a wonderful Italian meal in a warm and friendly atmosphere, in a town rated one of the 10 best small towns in America. It is about 70 miles from Washington, D.C. To learn more about the restaurant, visit http://www.luciorestaurant.net/index.html; to learn more about the town of Culpeper, visit https://www.culpeperva.gov/. (Submitted by Maria D’Andrea-Yothers)
