“November 4 and 11 are important dates for the Italian community and in particular for the community in Ryde,” explains Angelina Bonifacio, author of the book A One-Way Ticket, Italian Migrants of Ryde.
“On these two dates we’ll recognise the great contribution made by Italian migrants in this area, and it will be an official recognition where we’ll make history. The Italian community must participate in large numbers.”
Bonifacio elaborates on the importance of these two dates for the Italian community, not only in Ryde but throughout Sydney. “Italians grew everything here, introduced new products and worked hard. Also, most of the farms in the area were owned by Italians. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to recognise the pioneers of Ryde’s agricultural past.”
Bonifacio and the Italian Migrants of Ryde Committee launched the book A One-Way Ticket, Italian Migrants of Ryde in May this year.
The collection of stories of Italian migrants who settled in Ryde is an important memoir that reflects the emigration journey of many Italians, not only in Australia but around the world.
The book focuses on the families who settled in and around the Ryde area, where they created a new life for themselves and helped create a new community.
Bonifacio says the book has been exceptionally well received by the community. “Above all expectations we sold out of a thousand books, [which had been] ordered since the first publication,” she reveals.
“On the night [of the launch] they sold half [the copies], and in two months they sold the rest, so right now we are looking to reprint because it was a huge success.”
On the night of the book launch there was a whirlwind of emotions and memories that animated the presentation, attended by people from all over the state.
This book made many people from the community in and around Ryde want to know more about their origins. Bonifacio recounts receiving a letter from a 75-year-old lady who, after attending the book launch, decided to return to her village, San Giovanni di Gerace in the province of Reggio Calabria. The woman was able to retrieve her birth certificate and stayed for a few weeks before returning to Australia.
Bonifacio travelled to Italy this summer in order to visit the many starting points of the migrants’ journey. She presented the book at the Town Hall of her own village in the province of Reggio Calabria, before posing a crucial question. “Have you ever wondered what happened to all these people who left the village?”, she asked, triggering a visceral response from those present.
During her trip to Italy, Bonifacio also went to Vazzano in the province of Vibo Valentia. To her surprise, the municipality had erected a statue in the public square as a tribute to all the migrants who left the town.
From another small town called Tirano, in Lombardy, came the first inhabitants of Ryde. Naturally, Bonifacio also went there to discover from where an Italian had once left. This same emigrant left an old cottage on the grounds of what is now Macquarie University in North Ryde.
Here, too, the exodus did not go unnoticed. The mayor and the municipality erected a monument of their own in the piazza.
Here in Sydney, the Italian community is looking to install similar dedications to the towns in the Bel Paese that had been left empty.
The next events, which Bonifacio claims the community cannot miss, will be on November 4 and 11 for the naming of Piazza Bietola, where an award will be given to the Bietola family who left the small town of San Giovanni Di Gerace to settle in Ryde.
On November 11 there will be the installation of the memory pole to celebrate the Italian contribution to the development of the town of Ryde through horticulture, the creation of commercial properties and the establishment and support of local parishes and schools.
