Sunday, October 17, 2010

DeMaino's Luncheon - by Sal Carmosino


On Thursday Oct 14, 2010, members of the Revere High School class of 1962 met at DeMaino's Restaurant on Malden St in Revere at 1pm for, yet another wonderful luncheon and a renewal of past and present friendships.

This date and luncheon was reserved in order to enjoy the company of our RHS Lantern blog editor and good friend, visiting from Florida, Rose Franciosa Sisti.  It was mostly from Rose's visits that these gatherings keep taking place which are wonderful experiences for us all.

Diane Screnci Beatrice arranged for a special room for the group which numbered 18 guests. Many of us remembered, the food at DeMaino's which was as good as in the past, and still owned by the DeMaino family.

The luncheon was served family style on a long banquet type table, which included, salad, large cheese ravioli, chicken parmigiana and fish.

Joanne Nardone said a beautiful grace which gave thanks for this gathering and grateful that we were all able to attend.

After the delicious meal was finished the waitresses offered the extra food to be taken home with the large platters on tables near the entrance. They also provided take home tins with covers. The service here was excellent as they saw to all of our needs and explained what the procedure was for separate payment for coffee and bar drinks.

Diane also contracted for one payment of a meager 10.00 per person for this, all you can eat great meal. We wont ask but this system avoided the normal group bill of who pays what.  Great job Diane!

Peter Zaccone asked for the bill and paid for the whole meal himself as he had done in the past, amid all of our protests.  Peter said, since he has no immediate family...that we are his family.  This overwhelming act of generosity was, while greatly appreciated, was not to go unrewarded by the group.

Diane offered to collect the money from everyone and send Peter a gift certificate of some kind. This way he would have to spend it, because he refused to take any money from us. God bless Peter!  Good move Diane!

The 18 guests included:

Rose Franciosa Sisti
Diane Screnci Beatrice
Sal Carmosino
Joanne Struzzulla McCarthy
Liana Andreottola Petrosino
Robert [Scotty] Scott
Joanne Nardone
Peter Zaccone
Dotty Brennan Russo
Lee Stuppia
Roseann Bellofatto
Donna Toothaker Ying & daughter Melissa
Priscilla Freda
Linda Spagnolo
Ruth Arvarian Bowler
Barbara Cohen
Billy Melchionno


We were all treated to a surprise as a large birthday cake was presented to Lee Stuppia for her special day.  The cake was beautifully decorated and delicious and served as our dessert.  The waitresses offered to cut it into pieces as they are professionals at this and did a great job. The cake was a  surprise to Lee as we were told, but the classmate that provided it, escapes me.

Billy Melchionno passed out recipe sheets for stuffed cannelloni for everyone to take home.

Conversations around the table included, stories about vacation locations, kids and grandkids, stories about who was going with who in high school [which is always another revelation for many of us]....what some of our classmates are doing now....talks about how wonderful retirement is for many of us...and of how close some are anticipating retirement....vacation spots in Florida...how we all still love being near the ocean...any ocean...Scotty still driving that black James Bond car coming from Maine.... if that car has any more gadgets, it will drive by itself!!

In essence, these luncheons are a continuance of our last big re-union in 2007 which we didn't want to end....and with these mini reunions...we haven't. Thanks to Rose and her Lantern blog that we have been able to share these wonderful gatherings with people who come and also with the ones who cannot join us.

Whether they live in Oregon [Richie Bruno] or California [ Leatrice Cardone] or anywhere else, they can also share this experience with us.  Talk also surfaced about our next big re union in 2012 [our 50th !]  Hopefully it will be as successful as the last one and people that could not attend, will make a special effort to come in 2012.

Lastly, it was a special treat to have this luncheon in Revere where all of our roots were entrenched so long ago. DeMaino's was also a throwback to our younger days...the parking is still non existent on the that tiny part of Malden St.....but well worth the minor inconvenience.

For this function our classmates came from Maine, Rhode Island/Mass area.  Cape Cod, Connecticut, New Hampshire and other far reaches of Massachusetts...and of course Florida.... which shows the value that each and everyone of us has on our continuing friendships and enjoyment of our, forever RHS 62 family.



Sal Carmosino
Tolland, CT

8 comments:

  1. Super job Sal!

    You captured every detail of the wonderful day.

    I will be posting the photos soon.

    Hugs, Rose

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rose,
    So sorry that I couldn't make it. Was not able to take the time off
    from work. Hope you all had a wonderful day.
    Roxanne

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sorry I couldn't be there. Presently in Scottsdale Az.

    It was good to see Merry and Peter at Salem CC a couple of weeks ago.

    If any of you golfers are in the Phoenix area this winter get in touch with me. I have several golf cards that allow me to bring three guest at a 60% discount to some of the best courses in Scottsdale.


    John Pedicini

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hate to miss this event. I was on the Cape/Boston from July 24 to Oct 4 ... if I had just stayed a little longer ...... Have a great time.
    Joyce Matthews

    jgiberti@comcast.net

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Rose: To say that I am sorry that I missed the wonderful event is an understatement. I will do my best to make the next one. I am so happy that things went well and I am drooling after hearing about the wonderful food. My best to all, Joe

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks Rose,
    Its always a labor of love to be with our classmates
    and I just enjoy these get togethers so much...
    I thought you looked great...You have to keep
    coming so we can continue these luncheons.
    I thought the food at DeMaino's was great and
    of course we couldnt beat the price......
    Glad you made it home safely.....


    Sal

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi,
    I dont know why I cant put a comment into the Lantern
    but it never takes. I hate to keep bothering you
    but can you put the following message in it for me?

    At least I dont thinki its in there....the last time I
    checked. If it is..then diregard this...but here it
    is.

    'In an effort to capture the events at our luncheon
    at DeMaino's, I m sorry that I didnt check the birthday
    list beforehand. In addition to Lena Stuppia's
    birthday, it was Billy Melchionno's birthday
    only two days earlier on Oct 12. Since Billy
    was also at the luncheon we could have wished him
    a belated Happy Birthday.
    In any event its not too late to send Billy a belated
    Happy Birthday as he joins our 'Club 66'....".
    Sal Carmosino


    Thanks Rose.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The pictures were just wonderful. and Sal , of course your posting of the day was spot on....It is something that I was looking forward to reading. How I wish I was there.
    So so nice to see Paula Taylor there. In fact it was just wonderful to see all that were able to go... Lee, Donna, Sal, Priscilla, Ruth, Linda and on and on and on. It was just great seeing all of you. I too cannot wait for the 50Th....
    Nice to see all of you , dear friends, nice to see you all......

    ReplyDelete