SALVATORE AND ROSINA ROMANO

Salvatore and Rosina Romano, along with their three young children came to Australia in 1957. Travelling on board the ship Sydney they arrived June 19. The Romano family were supposed to dock in Melbourne with the intention of going to Bonegilla Migrant Camp. Apparently the camp was at capacity and so they were sent to Greta Camp in Newcastle, instead.

Greta Camp was originally an Army Camp. Greta Army Camp was built in 1939 near Greta, in the Hunter Region of NSW. It was used to train soldiers for WW2. After the war, it was converted into a camp for Migrants. It was a camp from 1949 till 1960. During those years over 100,000 migrants were housed there from almost 20 countries around the world. It was the largest migrant camp in all of Australia.

Word got out at Greta Camp about employment opportunities in Wollongong at the Port Kembla Steel Works. Salvatore soon left the camp  and headed south down the coast and secured a job. Salvatore was a first class welder at the Port Kembla Steel Works, a job he did prior to arriving in Australia. In Italy he worked at an arms factory in Colleferro before going off to war. He was paratrooper with the well known Italian Nembo regiment. After the war he came back to his home town and commenced working again at the same factory prior to the war, only now it was an iron and steel factory. It was there that he met his future wife Rosina Armenis, who was working there too.

Salvatore found placement at the Unanderra Hostel and shortly after the family moved down to be with him. The Romano family spent approximately two months at the hostel. Salvatore wasn't happy staying at the hostel and he found an Italian family at Cringila who were letting out some rooms. The boarding house was owned by Federico Fina. It seemed like a better fit, so the family moved in, stayed for approximately one month before moving to Woonona where they rented a small garage. Salvatore, Rosina and their three young children all under the one roof.

The dwelling was the size of a single car garage. Salvatore and Rosina put up bed sheets to divide the sleeping arrangements between parents and children. There was no internal kitchen, with Rosina using the kitchen of the main house. They had a dinning table in the garage where the family would eat and and outside bathroom. Daughter Luana recalls going under the main house with their dog, Dora. There was a little table under the house and together with her dog, the neighbours dogs would often join them for a tea party. The stayed in Woonona for approximately 2 years.

In the late 1960`s the NSW Housing Commission operated a scheme where people could rent to buy homes in the Illawarra area. It was aimed at low income earners. Salvatore took up the opportunity and soon the family were moving into a brand new home built at Berkeley. This scheme created a lot interest with many other Italians taking up the offer. Berkeley developed a strong Italian community.

Salvatore and Rosina were all about family and were kindhearted. When they were living at the Unanderra Hostel they met a gentleman called Pietro Sandron (everyone knew him as Peter). Pietro had travelled by himself from Rome and was living at the Hostel. His mother came out from Italy to join him at the Hostel. Salvatore and his family had gone to Woonona and Pietro and his mother had left the Hostel, having found a place to rent. Unfortunatley, almost 12 months later Pietro`s mother passed away. He went to live with a family in Cringila. When they were no longer able to house him Salvatore and Rosina took him in whilst they were living in Woonona in the garage. Pietro then moved with them when the family purchased their new home at Berkeley. Pietro lived with the Romano family for 8 years in total and they had a very close friendship until his passing at 90 years of age. Daughter Luana became Pietro`s carer for five years before  he moved into a nursing home. Pietro passed away November 20, 2024.

ROSINA ARMENIS

Rosina Armenis was a dancer and came from a long line of entertainers. She had parents, grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles who were all performers. It was just in the blood! As performers they were known as Les Armenis, Troupeee Armenis or Duo Armenis, depending who was performing. They were dancers and actors, with dance being their primary art. Her father Luigi father was a `primo ballerino`. Luigi as young boy, along with his parents, danced for the Tsar of Russia. The family entertain until the second world war.  Great grand father Carlo was an actor as well as a dancer. In 1952 Rosina`s Aunt Sara had a cameo role in a movie with Ingrid Bergman called Europa 51.

Her family also dates back to the 13th Century. There was a bishop in the family and you will find their name written in the papal archives in Rome. Speaking of Rome, a funny situation happened by chance. In 1967 a newly wed couple from the Wollongong region were on a 12 month honeymoon in Italy. They were parking their car at St Peter`s Square. One of the parking attendants recognised that they were Australian and casually asked them if they knew of a place called `BERKELEY`. The bride, Catherine George, knew Berkeley only too well as she was a school teacher there for three years at Berkeley Primary School. The parking attendant was Luana`s grandfather Luigi Armenis. Turns out that Catherine George was Luana`s school teacher. What are the odds of that happening?  The story made the local newspaper, Illawarra Mercury in 1968. Luigi Armenis was also an interpreter at the Vatican, speaking seven languages.

The Romano family lived in Berkeley their whole life. It was their family home and they loved the area. With many Italians as neighbours they had a strong connection to their Italian community. Salvatore was only young when he passed away at the age of 56 on September 3rd, 1977.  Rosina Romano passed away November 30, 2010. She was 89. Salvatore and Rosina are survived by their three children, 7 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.

 

 

 

 Above photos of Salvatore Romano WW2. 

He was part of the Nembo Regiment.

Salvatore far left with cigarette. 

 

Photo from Rosina`s passenger card 

for the ship.  

 

 

All images from the collection belonging to Luana Romano Castro.

NICOLA DI CIACCIO - COFFEE ROASTER

Nicola Di Ciaccio arrived in Australia October 13, 1981 and he was 23 years old. Nicola had come from a farming/agricultural background. As a young boy he was already working on the land. The family had a business providing crops for the markets etc.

 

In 1976 Nicola graduated and became a Seaman, becoming a deck officer and eventually first mate. It was also the same year that his father, Marciano, passed away.  Nicola had plans to come to Australia but due to the death of his father he stayed in Italy for some time to help with the family business.

Nicola had two Uncles living in Australia when he arrived. He lived in  Warrawong with his Uncle Pietro who arrived in Australia Jan 27, 1957 aboard the ship `Aurelia`. He was looking for work and his Uncle suggested M & M (Metal Manufacturers) but Nicola felt that wasn’t for him. He did odd jobs for a few years.

After three months in Australia Nicola met Tina Di Blasi. Six months later they were engaged and six months after the engagement they were married.

As a young boy he dreamt of opening his own pizza place and in 1984 the opportunity presented itself. He purchased an existing coffee lounge in Oak Flats and began converting it into a pizzeria called La Riviera Pizza, which opened March 21st at 55 Central Avenue. He knew nothing about making pizza dough and employed his mother in-law, Maria Di Blasi. Maria had extensive experience working in pizza restaurants throughout the Illawarra region.

La Riviera Pizza opened 7 days a week doing both lunch and dinner. With a staff of 4 it had a seating capacity of up to 40 people. They did approximately 150 - 200 pizzas per week as well as a trattoria style kitchen menu. The menu consisted of typical Italian pasta dishes such as lasagna, gnocchi and meat dishes such as scaloppine. According to Nicola, the Italian dishes were more popular than the pizzas. La Riviera Pizza also did takeaway.

In 1995 Nicola opened a second business, this time in Wollongong. He purchased `Il Mondo del Cafe` in Corrimal Street, Wollongong, an upmarket coffee shop. In 1997 Nicola sold the pizzeria and focused on the coffee shop.

He worked hard to build the business up when in 1998, after four years, he sold the coffee shop as he was dealing with illness and needed to recover. He took four months off from work. He soon started up again and ran the restaurant in the Spanish Club at Warrawong. The cuisine was a fusion of Spanish and Italian. 12 months later he moved on.

In 2000 he was running the Tuscany Cafe in Crown Street, Wollongong. He did another 12 months at Tuscany while simultaneously running the Fontana Caffelatte Restaurant upstairs (that he began running six months after commencing at the Tuscany Cafe). He left after 12 months before managing Urban Espresso (cafe) in the mall for another 12 months.

In 2001 Nicola purchased a restaurant in Cowper Street, Warrawong. It  was an existing trattoria that had been there for several years. Nicola was asked if   he would consider taking it over and he opened under the name Nickelangelo Trattoria. Nickelangelo`s was a trattoria style restaurant with a seating capacity of up to 110 people. They also offered wood fired pizza. The pizza oven was newly installed by Nicola. 

The restaurant was open 7 days per week. Initially it opened everyday for both lunch and dinner, but Nicola reduced the hours to lunch only two days per week being Thursday and Friday with dinner being Wed - Sun. The restaurant was busy with functions especially from the Italian community and  they also did takeaway. It was not rare for Nicola to knock back up to 100 people on a Saturday night.

Approx 12 months after opening the restaurant Nicola began to roast coffee. With connections from working at `Il Mondo del Cafe`, he began with a 3 kilo coffee roasting machine that was situated at the front of the restaurant. He was roasting wholesale under contract for a company in Sydney. After approximately 8 months with the 3 kilo roaster he then purchased a 30 kilo roasting machine and moved the coffee roasting to the back of the restaurant. Nicola was now producing more coffee for more clients and for three years he pumped out a whopping one and a half tons of roasted coffee per week! After about 5 years he purchased a 60 kilo roaster from Turkey. The roaster was put in storage for 12 months before he found a premises /warehouse in Unanderra to house the 60 kilo roaster. Nicola was roasting the coffee along with his two sons.

Around 2007 Nicola launched an `Italian Night` at the restaurant. The restaurant was at capacity and turned around 180 people. It was intended to be the beginning of `la grammatica italiana`. The hope was to have many nights like this where people would dine, gather together and speak Italian, encouraging people to connect with their heritage, speaking more of the mother language or even learning the language itself. Members of the Italian community became involved. It ran for a couple of years only before finishing all together. It was really disappointing for Nicola.

The restaurant was busy and trading constantly. It had many regular local customers. They worked solid for nearly ten years and in 2010 Nickelangelo Trattoria was sold. Maria Di Blasi worked with Nicola since 1984 when he opened his first pizzeria in Oak Flats until he finished from the restaurant in Warrawong. Maria Di Blasi passed away 2022, January 15. She was 80 years old.

Nicola was focusing heavily on his coffee roasting business at Unanderra. He was making third party coffee blends now turning out 4 tons per week and he was working six days per week, 12 hours per day working with the 60 kilo roaster.

By this stage both his sons were working full time with him. For 25 years Nicola had been roasting coffee with his children being part of the business. The business has now come full circle, with Nicola helping his sons. The eldest son has a cafe in Unanderra and is involved with distribution. The youngest son owns the roasting business. So for Nicola his coffee project is finished with his sons running the show. Nicola helps and still works in the business, supporting the sons and doing most of the roasting.

He spends much time in his beloved garden and enjoys the company of his eight grandchildren.

Nicola as a young Seaman in Italy

 

 Nicola roasting his coffee

 

 

Images from the collection belonging to Nicola Di Ciaccio