IT’S OFFICIAL: Joe Cucuzza, following a long-time family
tradition, called Monday to tell us he and his family had picked
Mayflowers behind the old Valley Hunt Club in Lewis Run over this
past weekend. With him were his wife Christe; “girlfriend” (his
pooch) Cheyenne; and kids Clayton and Michelle. Spring has
sprung!

YEARS AGO: For those who think we’re going through a rough patch
with the economy right now, we continue today with the story of
John Lombardi of Bradford, a native of Italy who has lived through
some hard times:

“Above the teacher’s desk in my classroom hung a picture of a
local war veteran and war casualty, Villano Agostino, who had been
the sole male child in his family.

“In my brother’s classroom, hung a similar picture of my
mother’s cousin, who had also been the only son in the family.
Needless to say, people in our village were anxious for the war to
end. When the war finally did come to an end on Nov. 11, 1918, the
bells rang loudly day and night in celebration.

“But alongside the shouts of joy, there were many people weeping
buckets of tears for their beloved fathers, sons and brothers who
would never return home.

“Even after the war had come to an end, economic conditions
continued to worsen. Shortly after the Armistice, the epidemic
Spanish Flu spread causing still many more deaths. In fact, even in
Lewis Run, the old school building there was used as a hospital. My
grandfather, Franco Giovanni, died in the makeshift hospital.

“The Depression, which began in the 1930s, compounded the dire
situation. Many middle-aged men enlisted in the Army and were sent
to Africa or Spain, then followed by World War II. When the war
finally ended, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower realized how much hardship
existed in all of Europe and was willing to open the doors for
Europeans to immigrate to the U.S.

“And so we did… It wasn’t easy to emigrate to another country
without any knowledge of the country, language or job and to start
from the very bottom. We are so very fortunate to be living during
such a great time where so much help is available for us to help us
get through the difficult periods.”

Mr. Lombardi also passed along some tips for surviving in tough
times. We’ll share them soon.