In the early 1900s, from small
villages in the hills of Calabria in Southern Italy, two young
friends set out to find their fortunes in America. Guiseppe
Belcastro and Giovanni Mazzei sailed to New York City. Their lives
would go in different directions for a time, but they would
eventually cross paths again.
Guiseppe Belcastro, my great
grandfather, found work in New York City as a skscraper
construction laborer. The work was hard, as he would push a
wheelbarrow filled with cement up a steep ramp. This was the mortar
for the bricks. Two years later, he had saved enough to send for
his wife, Dominica, and their young daughter, Frances.
Soon, Guiseppe heard that in
Northern California, they were hiring Italians in the lumber
industry. He and his wife loved the area near Weed, as California
reminded them of Italy. They purchased a large piece of land in a
beautiful valley. There they raised a large family of 13 children.
My grandfather, Armando Elmer Belcastro, was the 12th child.
Guiseppe and Dominica had a huge
garden, grape vines, and orchards. They raised many animals on the
farm. Dominica made cheese from the goats' milk, sausage from the
hogs, and wine from the grapes. During the depression, Dominica
helped the family survive by selling her stone oven-baked breads
and cheeses to restaurants in San Francisco.
Together, they began a dairy farm,
which was to become the "family business," later known as Medo-Bel
Creamery. It thrived for nearly thirty years (until 1986) in this
region.
Giovanni Mazzei worked his way out
west from New York on the railways, laying track. He eventually
found work at the Long Bell Lumber Co. of Weed. He married
Veginsina Gallo in 1919, and they had three daughters. My
grandmother, Giovannia Mazzei, was the youngest. They lived in a
small house provided by the lumber company. It was small, but a
good home with beautiful flowers, vegetables, and fruit trees all
around.
Now that Papa Giovanni and Guiseppi
were both in Weed, they renewed their friendship. Their children
went to school together and became friends. In time, Armando
"Elmer" Belcastro and Giovannia "Jennie" Mazzei fell in love and
married. This joined their two families together for all
time.
The Belcastro Family relocated to
Klamath Falls in 1955. Elmer, my granddad, wanted to start Medo-Bel
home delivery routes in Oregon. Their three children, Donna, Pete,
and Fran, went to school at Sacred Heart Academy. The family lived
on a horse and cattle ranch at the foot of Hogs Back Mountain.
Nonna (Jennie) Belcastro taught my mom, Fran, all "The Family"
recipes, from anti-pasti to dessert. After marrying and raising her
family, she couldn't wait to share them.
In 1986, Fran and Hank Dearborn
purchased Gino's market and put in a deli. . .and a few years
later, opened Gino's Cafe Italiano. The decor was found in antique
shops all over the West Coast. . .The stained glass windows saved
when the Presbyterian Church in Newel, California, was being torn
down, and the waitstaffs station door from the Fox Theater in
Portland, Oregon. Fran and my dad, Hank, remodeled and decorated
what is "a work of art in progress." Please walk around and enjoy
the old world atmosphere and take in the aroma of "The Family"
recipes.
We welcome you! And, as my great
grandmother Nonna Belcastro always said, "Let'a the feast
begin!"
-Wesley "Giovanni" Dearborn-Gino,
Jr.
(Oregon State University grad)
