By Marybeth Calabrese and Ally Selva
Bengal News West Reporters
Italian families left their windows open and doors unlocked and when the smell of Sunday sauce wafted through the street, everyone was invited for dinner.
That’s what the West Side use to be
like.
The memories and history of Italian
culture on the West Side are kept alive through the magazine and club called "Per Niente", which
means “for nothing” in Italian. Per Niente is a way for subscribers to share
their experiences of living on the West Side.
Per Niente started out nine
years ago as a way for the publisher Joe Di Leo, to remind his close group of
friends what their childhood was like on the West Side. Little did Di Leo know that the
articles he had written for fun would soon turn into an ongoing success.
“People started asking me to write
more articles so that they could share their own memories with others. Word of
mouth began to spread time about us and more people wanted to contribute as
well,” Di Leo said.
Per Niente editors, on the magazine's mission:
The goal of the Per Niente club is
to share the history of what the West Side use to be like.
The members of the club have bonded over the friendships and cultural
connections that they’ve made growing up. Membership in the club is $40 a year,
which covers four quarterly issues made per season. Per Niente is non-profit and uses the membership money
towards the magazine’s publication fees and uses the leftover money to donate
to local charities.
“Putting together the magazine has
been very enjoyable for me because I get to listen to the heartfelt stories about the West Side. It has helped others
relive their childhood and the relationships they had with their families and
friends, “ Di Leo said.
What started out as a one-page
newsletter, turned into an anticipated publication for Italians who have once lived on the West Side who moved
else where in the city and in the country. Di Leo had his hands full trying to
write, print and edit the articles himself for his friends. In early 2009,
about 150 people wanted to start contributing stories as well. That’s when Di Leo decided to ask his
old friend Joe Giambra to help out with the editing and publication.
After the pair began working
together the magazine’s popularity skyrocketed to having about 400 people
subscribe. Today, the club brings
in enough money so that Keller Bros. and Miller Inc. ? can do
the magazine’s printing layouts.
“I remember when Joe first came to
me and asked me to write an article for the magazine and of course I was
willing to help out my friend. Later down the road, Per Niente became so
popular that for the last six years this is what I’ve been doing all year
round,” Giambra said.
The working relationship between
Giambra and Di Leo has been going strong, as they both share the same passion
for their Italian culture. The
way of life that was once shared on the West Side doesn’t exist anymore, which
makes the Italians of Buffalo eager to get their voices heard.
“We’ve given a lot of people a
whole new perspective on the way they look at their past and the future of
their children. Per Niente has also helped share with today’s generation the
Italian lifestyle that once existed and was never forgotten,” Giambra said.
The members of Per Niente feel
passionately about sharing their stories and experiences. They all intend to
stay in touch and remind each other of where they came from. Local resident and
Per Niente club member, Carmella Gata, decided to join in 2010, as a way for
her to get in touch with her roots. Gata’s family had owned a
bar on the West Side in the 1930s - called Nick’s Tavern.
“Ever since I joined Per Niente I
have been actively keeping in contact with other members who share the same
memories as me about the West Side,” Gata said. “If you grew up in my neighborhood, everyone was family to
you and that’s just the way us Italians are.”
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