When times change, distinct cultural practices and traditions often mysteriously disappear from city neighborhoods and our social consciousness, but they should never be forgotten. That is exactly what happened here in Buffalo to the omnipresent, Italian cultural fixtures on the Old West Side during the mid-1960s: a golden yet turbulent time defined by memorable expressions, activities and themes.

Born in Buffalo in 1957, my storied recollections reflect the mid-1960s where I was the only child of Italian immigrant parents from the Abruzzi region in Italy. I spoke Italian before I began to learn and speak English at my first school, Holy Angels, on Porter Ave. The Old West Side of Buffalo is full of Italian cultural nuggets from my childhood. Who could ever forget the singing Italian huckster; a grocer who came by each morning in a box truck, shouting and singing loudly and proudly in Italian and marketing his fresh fruit and vegetables as he drove slowly down the street, "Amici Italiani, fresca fruita e vegetabli per tutti."