Six visitors from Folsom’s Sister City of Pieve del Grappa, Italy, spent September 22 getting acquainted with Folsom, meeting local residents and city officials, and discovering some distinctly local traditions along the way.
The delegation included Giovanni Bertoni, a member of the Pieve del Grappa City Council; Ivana Santarelli, vice president of the Sister City and Cultural Exchange Organization; and organization members Daniele Marin, Fiorella Morosin, Mariateresa Reginato and Franco Sartor.
The group had been traveling through California since September 13, visiting places including Mono Lake, Yosemite, the Monterey coast and Sequoia National Park. Their Folsom visit began September 21 with dinner at the home of Lisa Zazzeron, whose sister Daniela is a Murer House language student.
That dinner revealed an extraordinary family connection between Pieve del Grappa and Folsom.
Daniela and Lisa’s grandmother was born near Pieve del Grappa and was orphaned at age six. She was taken in and raised by a kind young woman about 10 or 12 years older than she was. That woman was the grandmother of Ivana Santarelli, one of the visiting Italians.
The connection has continued through the generations. Daniela and her sisters, Lisa and Michele, have returned to Pieve del Grappa many times to visit Ivana and other relatives. Last year, they took their father, Luigi, who was born there and now lives in Sonoma County, back to Italy to celebrate his 90th birthday.
What began as a family story on opposite sides of the Atlantic became an unexpected connection between the Italian delegation and their Folsom hosts.
The September 22 visit began with a tour of Sutter Street and Historic Folsom, led by Zachary Vaccarezza, engagement manager for the Folsom History Museum.
The visitors were particularly impressed by Folsom’s commitment to preserving its historic architecture. Bertoni also showed interest in Folsom’s history and changing demographics, including the role of Chinese immigrants in 19th-century Folsom and the more recent influx of Indian and other South Asian immigrants associated with the region’s technology boom.
The delegation then visited local shops before touring Historic Murer House, an especially meaningful stop given Pieve del Grappa’s connection to Folsom’s Italian heritage.
The visitors knew of Giuseppe Murer, the Italian immigrant whose home and gardens are preserved by the Murer House Foundation, but had not previously understood much about his life in Folsom, his historic home built in 1925, or his helping to build sites in old Folsom.
Fiorella and Mariateresa were particularly taken with the roses in the Murer gardens.
“Sono meravigliose, così profumate, così grandi!” they exclaimed—“They are wonderful, so fragrant, so big!”
The visit included a video call with Pieve del Grappa Mayor Annalisa Rampin and approximately 14 people gathered in Italy. Bertoni presented a municipal flag and Sister City sign from Pieve del Grappa to Cheryl Adler, a member of the Murer House Foundation board. The Folsom hosts presented the delegation with “Visit Folsom” hats.
After lunch at Lazy Dog Restaurant in Palladio, the visitors headed to Apple Hill with local host Al Gianini. They were initially reluctant to try apple cider but quickly changed their minds—and then discovered apple fritters.
The delegation later attended an evening meeting with the Folsom City Council. Wearing matching Sister City and Cultural Exchange shirts, the visitors were welcomed by the council.
Bertoni, representing the mayor and council of Pieve del Grappa, offered remarks that were translated into English and presented Mayor Justin Raithel with the municipal flag of Pieve del Grappa. The delegation and council then gathered for photographs.
The following morning, the visitors stopped briefly at Folsom Dam and the American River before continuing to Napa Valley for a private tasting at Charles Krug Winery.
Their California visit offered much more than sightseeing. It brought together two communities through shared history, Italian heritage, family connections, food and friendship—and demonstrated how surprisingly small the world can be.
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