Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
The Roseland Roundtable began a little over a year ago as a Facebook site. Danny Bovino, Paul Petraitis, and CJ Martello got together at Harbor Lights Restaurant on 115th to talk about their love for Roseland and made plans to preserve the memories of Roseland. This discussion led to the RoselandRoundtable Facebook site that today boasts 2390 Friends and presents over 1000 photos. In addition, there is a monthly Roseland Roundtable get together at various restaurants in the south suburbs. Thanks to the networking, or discussion, possibilities presented by Facebook, you can always find lively commentary below any of the photos on the site.
If you aren’t familiar with the internet or don’t have access to it, you would really enjoy having a friend or relative, i.e. grandchild, son or daughter, show you the site. You don’t have to go online yourself. Someone who has access to the internet can show you what is posted on the RoselandRoundtable. The site carries forward the mission of the Petals from Roseland column of maintaining an awareness of all things Roseland, with a foundation based on the Kensington-Bumtown area but expanding to incorporate the memories of all Roselandites.
The new Fra Noi has been well-received by most subscribers, with others holding their opinions until the dust has settled. It is not surprising that the acceptance of change comes with difficulty especially after more than 50 years. In many instances, the Fra Noi is a family tradition with subscriptions being passed on to daughters and sons. Now, it is time for the next generation to accept their heritage and traditions through the pages of the newly reformatted Fra Noi.
Petals from Roseland is no longer appearing in the printed version of the magazine, however, there are plenty of new features in the easier to handle and quick to absorb format. To maintain the availability of Petals from Roseland, I have begun an e-mail distribution list. The purpose of this list is to allow anyone who has access to a computer, or knows someone who does, to obtain a copy of the column after enjoying the feel and articles of the magazine format Fra Noi.
One of the benefits of obtaining the column in this way is that it enables you to download the column and save it to your computer. You can have your own folder of Petals from Roseland columns but the best part is that you can print them off d have a hard copy for yourself. If your eyesight is a problem, you can change the type to a larger size, as large as you like, and print it off so that it is easy to ready. You can also share copies with all of your friends and family.
Contact CJ Martello at 1501 W. Belmont Ave. #708, Chicago, IL 60657; 773-525-7823; or cjfranoi@yahoo.com; Online: Roseland Roundtable on Facebook
