Hundreds attend first 'Poggioreale in America' Reunion

There was a special reunion honoring Brazos Valley history on Saturday.

Italians from Poggioreale, Sicily started settling in the Brazos Valley as early as the mid-1870s.

Many of these hardworking sharecroppers settled in the community of Steele’s Store, near FM 50 and SH 21, endured numerous floods, and eventually acquired enough land of their own to make a decent living.

Today, many of these families still farm the land in Steele’s Store and many others own businesses and have become civic leaders in Bryan and College Station.

Some of the many families who are descendants of the Poggioreale, Sicilian-Italians: Angonia, Stratta, Termini, Todaro, Maniscalco, Cangelosi, Scarmardo, Fazzino, Lampo, Patranella, Perrone, Salvaggio, Salvato, Carraba, Canavese, Patranella, and many others.

"Every Poggioreale here has a story of leaving a famine in Poggioreale and coming to the United States," said Ross Todaro, founder of the Poggioreale in America Association.

There was lunch, history displays, Poggioreale Vendors and local authors.

The mayor of Poggioreale, Signore Mimmo Cangelosi, and International Good Will Ambassador for Poggioreale, Sicily Cavallieri Pietro Maniscalco, were in attendance and received many gifts, most of them Texas themed.

Cangelosi received a key to the city.

They also received proclamations from both Bryan College Station Mayors and the Brazos County Judge to be honorary Texans.