On November 11th IACO (Italian American Cultural Organization) of Braintree and The South Shore celebrated the Feast of San Martino. The event was held at Braintree Town Hall with 250 guests in attendance. How appropriate for this feast to fall on the same day as Veteran’s Day because San Martino (St. Martins) was a soldier himself.

The band, Sea Breeze opened the evening with "Funiculì, Funiculà" which moved the crowd into hand clapping and singing. While guests were arriving they were serenaded by Paul Carvallaro and his accordion. The MC for the evening was Joe Moscaritolo who gave an introduction to the evening and called for a moment of silence for our veterans and their families along with those IACO members who have passed.

IACO was founded by Dominic Candelieri in 2006 with the intention of spreading Italian Culture throughout the South Shore. It is said that at the San Martino celebration “ogni mosto e’ vino” (every juice becomes wine). With that thought in mind it is time to pour a glass from the vats in which the juices have been fermenting for approximately two months and get a taste of the new wine.

This tasting is to determine the quality and characteristics of the year’s vintage and to preview what’s to come when the wine ages and fully matures. It is also the perfect excuse to throw an autumn party. No Italian feast is without great food and a procession. Before dinner a procession was lead by Deacon Pat Guerrini with members and winemakers depicting “The Legend of San Martino”. President, Richard Leccese portrayed San Martino while Vice President, Gerry Montillo was the beggar.

The legend of San Martino says that he was riding to the city of Amiens, France on a frigid evening in November when he comes upon a poor, freezing beggar. In a generous and humble gesture, San Martino cuts his military cloak in half and shares it with the man to give him warmth. Later that same evening, Jesus appears to San Martino in a dream wearing the half-cloak and thanking him for his compassionate gesture. The tale further tells us that at the moment that the saint shared his cloak, the sun came out, and that is why for a short period in early November we have what is called Estate di San Martino (summer of San Martino) also known as Indian summer. The winemakers were, Dominic Candelieri, Rudi Viscomi, Frank Butera, John Ventresco, Andrew Lynne, and Giulio D’Amore who generously presented their first wines of the season for our guests to sample.

White and red wines were tasted throughout the cocktail hour and guests voted for their favorite wine. The winemaker who received the most votes was Greg Montillo for both his white and red wines. The setup and voting of the winemakers was handled by Gerardo Montillo VP of IACO. Two regions of Italy were celebrated this evening, ”Emilia Romagna” and “Sicily” with food and wine from both regions. The event was catered by Fasano Caterers of Braintree which consisted of a delicious antipasto along with tortellini in a Bolognese sauce representing Emilia Romagna. Bottles of wine were also on the table during this course representing the region. Our next course was a delicious porchetta (pork) with stuffing and a Sicilian orange and fennel salad. Desert was a beautifully decorated and delicious Sicilian Cassata cake from Modern Bakery of the North End and wonderful Italian cookies from Fratelli Bakery of Weymouth. Sicilian wines accompanied this course. Robert Fasano (Executive Chef) of Fasano Catering gave an introduction to the food being served while Arlene Gatto presented the wines of these regions.

Dancing and music went on throughout the evening with guests purchasing raffle tickets and bidding on silent auction items. This event is held to raise money for our scholarship fund. Each year IACO gives a $1000.00 scholarship to one or two worthy graduating seniors of Italian Heritage who will be attending an accredited college.To date IACO has awarded $10,000.00 in scholarship money. Our President, Richard Leccese was introduced and gave a special thank you to Nick Abbatangelo who was the evening's chairperson and worked tirelessly over the last several months with his committee to prepare for this successful evening. Then Richard introduced Sylvia Molloy, chairperson of the scholarship committee who gave thanks and read an outstanding thank you letter from one of our scholarship recipients, Victoria Polio stating her appreciation for receiving this scholarship and what it meant to her. Our president called all committee members forward and presented them with gifts of appreciation for all of their dedication to IACO. President Leccese recognized members who solicited gifts for the raffle and silent auction. Following was dancing, dessert, coffee and home made cordials for the remainder of the evening.