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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-10-13 Daily Xml
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SAN GIORGIO CLUB

Ms CICCARELLO (Norwood) (15:57): Almost 12 years ago I spoke in this place for the very first time and recounted the vivid memories I had of my childhood in the small Italian town called San Giorgio La Molara. It therefore gave me great pleasure to recently attend the 34th anniversary reception for the San Giorgio Club and to launch a film on its history, appropriately entitled The Long Road to Prosperity. There are approximately 2,000 migrants and families from San Giorgio residing in South Australia, and the film was a fantastic celebration of the success of the community in making a new life here in South Australia.

What I particularly liked was the way the film depicted how well the migrants from San Giorgio had blended into the Australian way of life yet at the same time had retained their strong sense of self and heritage. I have a deep and abiding affection for San Giorgio La Molara and the simplicity of life that I enjoyed there as a child. Unfortunately, it was also a very poor town which, when coupled with heavy losses sustained during World War II, was simply not capable of sustaining a viable future for many of its citizens, and so my family, like many thousands of others, was forced to leave its home town and try to make a better life for ourselves in another country.

We came here with little more than a suitcase, no knowledge of the English language and a small amount of money but, meagre though these possessions were, nothing could extinguish our hopes or dim our dreams. We were also determined not to forget our history and culture, and so a small group of Sangiorgesi decided to establish a club.

As resolute as ever, they quickly formed a committee and bought an old church in Payneham to establish their clubrooms. The San Giorgio La Molara Community Centre was formed and became an incorporated body. When the neighbouring property also became available some years later, it was purchased by the community centre, which agreed to build a new hall on the site. Many of the Sangiorgesi are in the building and related trades, and they made a significant contribution to the building of the new hall. In fact, it is estimated that half the labour and materials were provided at no charge.

The new hall, which seats 400 people, was officially opened in 1993. However, the San Giorgio Club is so much more than mere bricks and mortar. For its many members over the years, it has been a warm and welcoming second home; a place to socialise with friends, eat good food and play cards, tombola and bocce. The integral role the community plays in the lives of our citizens, especially those who are of senior age, is well appreciated by everyone here. This is specially so for the 273 active members of the San Giorgio Club, the majority of whom are over the age of 70. In recognition of this, the club regularly offers meals and day trips for seniors as well as playing host to the very popular Friday sessions of pasta, bocce and bingo—and not necessarily in that order.

As well as its social activities, the club is also committed to ensuring that its members are adequately represented in the community, and to this end I commend the club for providing an office at no charge every Friday to the Patronato, which is an Italian organisation providing pension advice to the Italian community.

The future directions of the club are also looking very good. Discussions are currently taking place with the Coordinating Italian Committee about the hiring of the San Giorgio Hall, on a weekly basis, for the running of an aged-care program catering to the Italian community. This would be a great outcome and I intend to do everything I can to assist this becoming a reality. I am also pleased that the club's management committee is actively working on adopting a range of strategies to attract families and younger people to bolster its membership base. Any organisation is only as good as the sum of its members and the fact that the San Giorgio Club continues to provide a fabulous service is a proud testament to the three decades of hardworking men and women.

To this end also, a couple of years ago the club published a book which recounted the travels of the people from San Giorgio to South Australia. The book was written in English, Italian and the dialect of San Giorgio. This will be a testament to the contribution of the San Giorgio community in South Australia.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank Mr Giorgio Trotta, the inaugural president of the San Giorgio Club for his vision and determination in establishing the club and to all those presidents, including the current president Giuseppe Mercuri, Giovanni Belperio and Giovanni Vorreisi, and committee members and volunteers since then who have generously and selflessly given their time and talents to the Italian community over the last 30 years. Thank you for making us feel so welcome in our adopted land but never letting us forget where we came from.

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