Due to Covid restrictions, this year’s winetasting had a different format, with two wine experts selecting the wines for us to taste — three wines from Abruzzo and a sparkling wine from Veneto. Fifty of our members and guests gathered at Casa Italiana on December 5, 2021 to enjoy a delicious lunch and winetasting with wine experts Stephen Yanuck and Beth Dahlburg, who came up from Charlottesville, Va., for the event.

Dino Paul Crocetti was born in Steubenville, Ohio, on June 7, 1917. His father was Gaetano (Guy) Alfonso Crocetti (December 15, 1894 - August 29, 1967), a barber who had emigrated from the city of Montesilvano (population 53,738 in the 2015 Census) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea in the province of Pescara in the region of Abruzzo, Italy. His mother was Angelina Barra (December 18, 1897 - December 25, 1966). She was born in Jefferson County, Ohio. Her parents, Domenico and Maria, had emigrated from the region of Lombardia in northern Italy.

We have a treat in store for AMHS members and guests who come to our first program of the new year, on January 30, 2022. Eric Denker, the highly regarded Senior Lecturer at the National Gallery of Art for many years, will give us a talk on Venice, to get us in the mood for that city’s famous Carnevale.