KELOWNA CANADIAN ITALIAN CLUB
  • HOME
  • ABOUT US
    • About KCIC and Our History
    • President's Message
    • Vice President's Message
    • Executive and Directors
    • Membership
    • Volunteers
  • NEWS & ARTICLES
    • The Grapevine Newsletter
    • THE ITALIAN GARDENER
    • Kelowna's First Families
    • Pietro's Spazio Sport
    • Book Reviews
    • Mangia Mangia Recipes
  • WHAT'S HAPPENING AT KCIC
    • 2023 Calendar
    • Club Happenings >
      • KCIC Dinners & Special Events
      • La Nostra Famiglia Italiana >
        • Upcoming NFI Events >
          • NFI - L'Acqua
          • NFI - Bisnonno
          • NFI - Spaghetti
        • Past NFI Events >
          • NFI - Terrazzo
          • NFI - Guerra
          • NFI - Lilia
          • Coming to Pier 21
          • Dalla Terra
          • Dialetti!
          • Sveva Caetani
          • Emilio Picariello
        • Family Tree Workshops
        • Between Neighbours
      • Giuseppe's Cafe
      • La Bella Tavola - Cooking Classes
      • La Scuola Italiana - Italian Language
      • KCIC Library
    • Il Nostro Lascito Legacy Project
    • Our 55th Birthday!
  • More From Us
    • CONTACT US
    • Clubhouse Rentals
    • 50th ANNIVERSARY >
      • 50th Anniversary
      • Mercato
      • Dinner & Dance Gala
    • Miss Kelowna Cdn. Italian Club
    • PHOTOS >
      • Photos
    • Calendar Page
  • Take Out Dinners
  • New Page

Le prime famiglie italiane di Kelowna 

The first Italian families of Kelowna

Giulio and Giovanna Menta

6/25/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
Giovanna and Giulio Menta
Giulio Menta was born in Supino, Frosinone in the Lazio region of Italy in 1906.  He was the third of eight children of Domenico Menta and Maria Foggia.  First to leave, in 1921, was the second brother, Cataldo Menta.  He went to the United States and eventually settled in New Jersey where he married Matilda.  They had three Children, Dennis, Lois, and Catherine.

In 1923, the eldest brother, 23 year old Antonio and 17 year old Giulio, left Italy bound for Vancouver.  Antonio married Pietrina Cellini.  Pietrina’s father, Luciano Cellini, was already living in Vancouver and was able to help the two young men establish themselves and find jobs mainly in the lumber camps on the coast of British Columbia.  Antonio had two children: Eligio and Lina. 

Meanwhile the war in Europe had a profound effect on the life of Giulio Menta.  Italians, along with Germans and Japanese Residents of Canada were considered enemy aliens and, particularly those living in Canadian Coastal cities were considered a risk to Canadian Security.   Therefore, in a particularly dark period of Canadian history, they were taken from their homes and put into internment camps.  In 1940, Giulio was sent to one of these “camps”* in Kelowna.  He fell in love with Kelowna and never returned to Vancouver except for special family events. 

Giulio was alone in Kelowna, without family or friends and was fortunate to make friends with another young man, Mike Favali.  The Favali family, generously took Giulio in until he was able to establish a home for himself.  Giulio eventually started working at Calona Wines and was able to purchase a small house on Richter Street.  He passed his time working at the winery, tending to a garden in his back yard and reading.  He was an avid reader and especially loved geographical and historical works.  His other pleasure was his nightly walk to Okanagan Lake for an evening swim.

In 1954 he returned to Italy for the first time.  He met a young woman in Celano in the province of Abruzzo, named Giovanna Fellini.  They were married and returned to Canada together.  Giulio passed away in Kelowna in 2002 and Giovanna in 2018.  Both are interred at Lakeview Memorial Gardens.

Grace Boni, grand daughter of Antonio Menta.

* Editorial Note: There wasn't an actual Italian Internment camp in Kelowna. The nearest camp was in the Kanaskis region of Alberta, close to Banff. However, there are anecdotal accounts of Italians being asked to move from the lower Mainland to the Interior to remove them from influences that were sympathetic to Mussolini. It is likely that Menta may have been one of these. There were a number of Italians from the Vancouver area that were sent to Internment camps in Kanaskis and, later, Petawawa, Ontario. For more about this, see our resource page from our presentation on this chapter of Canadian-Italian history last November: Between Neighbours.
1 Comment
Ernesto link
6/25/2020 05:49:46 pm

I attended to their wedding in Celano. Visited few times in Kelowna... Fond memories of Giulio and Giovanna... Played bocce against him at his 90th birthday... Still treasure a bottle of Centerbe Giovanna brought back from her native Abruzzi land...

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Research and photos of First Families by Don Rampone

    Archives

    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    July 2019
    June 2019

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

coming soon to kcic!  - click below to find out more

Giuseppe's Cafe - Feb 23
L'Acqua: Italians and The Greening of the Okanagan - Feb 15
Who Killed My Great Grandfather - March 8
REGISTRATION FOR LA BELLA TAVOLA MARCH CLASSES

Our Clubhouse

770 Lawrence Ave.
Phone: 250 762 0900

What people Are Saying about us

"Great People, Wonderful Food! So nice to have a little bit of our Italian culture in Canada:)"
"Great people, family oriented and great food of course!"


Join our Mail list

We won't share your information but we will share our news and upcoming events!
Subscribe Here

Contact Us


The Kelowna Canadian Italian Club acknowledges that our clubhouse is situated on the beautiful unceded traditional territory of the Syilx/Okanagan people. Who, for thousands of years, have lived in harmony with nature and continue to this day to offer us so much culture and understanding.
  • HOME
  • ABOUT US
    • About KCIC and Our History
    • President's Message
    • Vice President's Message
    • Executive and Directors
    • Membership
    • Volunteers
  • NEWS & ARTICLES
    • The Grapevine Newsletter
    • THE ITALIAN GARDENER
    • Kelowna's First Families
    • Pietro's Spazio Sport
    • Book Reviews
    • Mangia Mangia Recipes
  • WHAT'S HAPPENING AT KCIC
    • 2023 Calendar
    • Club Happenings >
      • KCIC Dinners & Special Events
      • La Nostra Famiglia Italiana >
        • Upcoming NFI Events >
          • NFI - L'Acqua
          • NFI - Bisnonno
          • NFI - Spaghetti
        • Past NFI Events >
          • NFI - Terrazzo
          • NFI - Guerra
          • NFI - Lilia
          • Coming to Pier 21
          • Dalla Terra
          • Dialetti!
          • Sveva Caetani
          • Emilio Picariello
        • Family Tree Workshops
        • Between Neighbours
      • Giuseppe's Cafe
      • La Bella Tavola - Cooking Classes
      • La Scuola Italiana - Italian Language
      • KCIC Library
    • Il Nostro Lascito Legacy Project
    • Our 55th Birthday!
  • More From Us
    • CONTACT US
    • Clubhouse Rentals
    • 50th ANNIVERSARY >
      • 50th Anniversary
      • Mercato
      • Dinner & Dance Gala
    • Miss Kelowna Cdn. Italian Club
    • PHOTOS >
      • Photos
    • Calendar Page
  • Take Out Dinners
  • New Page