If you had the good fortune in the past to eat at the Luna Rossa Italian Restaurant before they closed, you will easily recognize Tony and Flora Carpino, the subjects of my column today.
Tony (Antonio) Carpino, the eldest of two children, was born in 1946 in the small village of Donnici in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. He is the third generation of his family to come from Italy to Canada in search of work. The big difference was that he stayed and raised his family in Canada.
His maternal grandfather Giuseppe Mauro arrived in Prince Rupert in the early 1900s and returned to Italy some years later and before the start of the First World War.
His father Emilio Carpino arrived in Canada in 1951 and worked for the CN Rail for 11 years and all the while providing for his family back in Italy.
Tony said, "My father left home to come to Canada when I was only four years old and came back to Italy in 1962 when I was 15. I left for Canada in 1968. When I think back, I have to say that I didn't really get to know my dad like I would have wanted to; I didn't realize at the time that I would someday really miss that connection."
Tony arrived in McBride in March of 1968 at the age of 21. He worked for R.F. Welch Contracting, a huge national CN Rail and CP Rail contractor that brought over thousands of Italians and other European workers to work for the railroad companies all across Canada. The company also provided room and board for the workers and then deducted all the expenses off the employee's pay cheque.
Tony said, "I worked for this company after I arrived in McBride; they did not bring me over, in fact I was sponsored by my uncle who was living in McBride at the time. It was a good company to work for. After the war there was no work in Italy and many people could barely eat. Being brought over to Canada by a big company like that was a good thing for many workers."
Tony met his wife Flora Guarascio in 1957 when they were both just 11 years old. He said, "I married the little girl next door. We got married in September of 1966. When I left for Canada I had to leave my wife and five-month-old son behind. I sent for them just as soon as I could.
"Flora's trip to Canada was really hard on her. She arrived by plane in Toronto, her connecting flight to Edmonton was delayed which caused her to miss her scheduled flight into Prince George. She lost her purse in Toronto and a kind person helped her in Edmonton where she arrived exhausted, frantic and lost along with a 15-month-old baby in her arms. We were all thankful that it all worked out OK in the end."
"We moved from McBride to Prince George in December of 1969. We rented a basement suite on Moffat Street and later we bought a little house and moved to 773 Ewert St. I had a secure job at the CN Rail car shop and life was good. Our family grew and we had three more children."
Flora was a stay-at-home mom and raised their four children; Emilio who was born in Italy, Rosanna, who lives in McBride, and Frank and Patricia who live in Prince George. They now have four grandchildren who are perfect in every way.
Flora said, "We love spending our time with our grandchildren. Having our family and our extended families around us is the most rewarding part of our life journey and our home is full all the time."
In 1985, Flora went to work and first bought the Tabor Deli and then started PG Classic Touch Catering. It wasn't long until they started the Luna Rossa Restaurant at 20th Avenue and Spruce Street.
Tony said, "We tried to serve the best Italian food in town. We had many faithful customers - in fact they were more than customers to us - they were friends and family. We did our best and tried to make everyone comfortable. We wanted to share our best with them and we did the same as we would for a house guest. We wanted our restaurant to be a place that they enjoyed to be in. We did it all in the true Italian way - always urging 'Mangia Mangia!'
"We sold the restaurant in 1997 and kept on with our catering business."
Tony and Flora catered for the Knights of Columbus for about eight years. They catered for the Immaculate Conception Church, the Kinsmen Centre, and the senior soccer association club house.
Tony and Flora were always willing volunteers in their community. They were instrumental in starting the Northern B.C. Friends of Children Society in 1996. The idea of the society caught on and others assisted in forming the society to assist families in the Prince George area with children in extraordinary medical need by offering financial assistance, providing information and emotional support and coordinating efforts with other organizations and service providers.
They enjoyed their volunteer work at their church and in particular with the Knights of Columbus squires and squirettes; a youth fraternity for Catholic boys and girls between the age of 10 and 18.
Tony said, "We both believed that working with kids was always meaningful and it was the highlight of all of our volunteer work.
"I worked for CN Rail for 32 years and retired from the company in 2001. I started as a laborer and retired as a supervisor. I worked hard and gave the company my best. I quickly found out that retirement was not for me. I landed the job as the school bus driver driving special needs children for the next 13 years. When I look back I can say that I watched these children grow up and graduate from school. The students on my bus always were and are to me not any less than my own grandchildren. I loved the job and found working with the children to be more rewarding than my 32 years at CN Rail. You either do this kind of job from the heart or you don't do it at all.
"Now I drive the school bus on the regular run to Hixon elementary school. I drive them to school in the morning and take them back home in the afternoon. We live on Buckhorn Lake Road so it is perfect for me.
"I have no desire to retire yet, so I keep on going. I always say that 70 is not that old to keep on grinding, while the wheels on the bus still go round and round!"
Sunday is Father's Day so happy Father's Day to those that have earned this very special distinction. The Spruce Capital Senior Centre at 3701 Rainbow Drive is having a special Father's Day Breakfast on Saturday from 9 to 11:30 a.m. The volunteers will be serving pancakes, bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs for just $8 with the proceeds going to centre operations. Take that special dad out for breakfast and support the senior centre at the same time. Call 250-563-6450 to book a section for the entire family.
