EMILIO PICARIELLO: THE RISE AND FALL OF A BOOTLEGGER
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
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Emilio Picariello remains one of the enigmatic personalities of his time, capturing the imaginations of Canadians today almost as much as he did during his sensational murder trial and death by hanging over ninety years ago.
From his arrival in Canada to his death, Picariello was a larger-than-life personality. In 1899, at the age of 20, he immigrated to the United States. He came to Toronto in 1902 and arrived in Fernie in 1911. He was a loving husband to Maria and proud father of their six children. Picariello became a bootlegger operating between Fernie in British Columbia and Blairmore and Lethbridge in Alberta, as well as the American Pacific Northwest. On September 21, 1922, the A.P.P. and local police set up a sting operation in Coleman and Blairmore to entrap Picariello and his men while engaged in a bootlegging run. Chased by the police, Picariello’s son Steve was shot in the hand by A.P.P. Constable Stephen Oldacres Lawson. Picariello, accompanied by a young family friend, Florence Lassandro, confronted Lawson about his son’s condition later that evening at the A.P.P. detachment in Coleman, and Lawson was shot. After a sensational trial in Calgary in which Picariello and Lassandro were tried jointly, they were found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang. 
Special Guest: Adriana A. Davies
Adriana A. Davies has worked as a writer, editor, lecturer, executive director and curator in England and Canada. Professional accomplishments include: Science and Technology Editor, The Canadian Encyclopedia; Executive Director, Alberta Museums Association and Heritage Community Foundation; and Editor-in-Chief Alberta Online Encyclopedia – www.albertasource.ca. She has undertaken a range of curatorial work much of it supported by publications such as: Collins' Encyclopaedia of Antiques (1973); Dictionary of British Portraiture, Volumes 1 and 4 (1979); From Realism to Abstraction: The Art of J. B. Taylor (2014); The Rise and Fall of Emilio Picariello (2016); The Frontier of Patriotism: Alberta and the First World War (co-editor, 2016); and From Sojourners to Citizens: Alberta’s Italian History (2021). Honours include Order of Canada (2010); Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012); Italian Knighthood (2015); Alberta Museums Association Life Time Achievement Award; Alberta Centennial Medal; Global Woman of Vision; and YWCA Woman of Distinction. Her talk will focus on the tragic events arising from bootlegging in the Crowsnest Pass resulting in the murder of Constable Stephen Lawson, and death by hanging of Emilio Picariello and Florence Lassandro. She will examine the role of racism in the treatment of the accused and whether or not they received a fair trial. |
IL NOSTRO LASCITO | THE LEGACY PROJECT
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
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Our LNFI Committee has big plans for the next couple years, including new exciting partnerships. Join us for a sneak preview at all that's coming in Il Nostro Lascito | Our Legacy Project!
LNFI Co-Chairs Gord Hotchkiss and Don Rampone will host this special preview of the plans for Our Legacy Project, including exciting news about partnerships with the Kelowna Museum and ICAP, the Italian Canadian Archives Project. Spoiler Alert - 2023 will be a big year! You can watch the presentation on YouTube |
previous LNFI sessions
game our nonni taught usFebruary 18, 2020
It was all fun and games - literally - when LNFI invited our members to come and share the games they learned from their Nonni and loved as children. Joe Monna gave us an introduction to Tombola and many members tried their hand(s) at Scopa and Briscola. Of course, the indoor bocce lanes were busy throughout the night as well. We had a good turn out from all generations! Thanks to all who shared their stories and memories. It was a fantastic evening and we'll have to schedule a repeat sometime soon!
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sharing our memoriesJanuary 25, 2020
The LNFI Committee kicked of our archival project by asking our members to bring in any photos, documents, newspaper clippings or other memorabilia that could be included in the Club's own archives. We scanned several photos and documents while a highly competitive indoor bocce tournament took place beside us. This was a trial for us just to see what the process would look like. It will continue throughout 2020 as we launch a resource available to our own members and the public. We will be working together with the public archives at the Kelowna Museum. Our goal is to have the archive up and functioning for our 55th anniversary in 2021!
Thanks to all who came out and helped. It was a great first step! |
Between neighbours: Okanagan Italians during World War IINovember 29, 2019
It was a fascinating - and sometimes tragic - story. On June 10, 1940 hundreds of Italian men were rounded up from across Canada and sent to Internment Camps as enemy aliens. In many cases, they were naturalized citizens who had lived in Canada for many years. We looked at what happened elsewhere and focused on the Italian Community here in the Okanagan. What happens when a war comes Between Neighbours?
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
A PDF of the entire presentation (without videos) is available below.
Books and Videos Referenced in the Presentation:
Website from Villa Columbus - a wonderful resource! http://www.italiancanadianww2.ca/villa/home The video Piazza Petawawa on Vimeo: vimeo.com/96100674 Books: Injustice Served by Raymond Culos Beyond Barbed Wire: Essays on the Internment of Italian Canadians |
Our Roots: The Founding of KCIC
October 25, 2019
It was a wonderful chance to look back at KCIC’s beginnings – as we invited original members and others to share their stories of Our Roots: The Founding of KCIC. Celeste Bazzana, Vince Bertucci, Romi Marcanio ,Flori Pucci, Emma Rantucci, Pietro Calissi and Clelia Bertolami took us back over 50 years to the beginning, a shared idea of Italian culture, support and friendship that took form in a barber shop. To quote Bob Hope – Thanks for the Memories. | ||
An evening with lynne bowenSeptember 27, 2019
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Learning about Myra's MenMay 25, 2019
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