CALGARY CALABRESE CULTURAL AND HERITAGE SOCIETY
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About

We are a non-profit association dedicated to celebrating and sharing the traditions and culture of Calabria by the people of Calabrese origin who make Calgary, Alberta, Canada their home.
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Building community and strengthening our bonds with our neighbours to ensure that together we build a united community in a united city in a united province in a united Canada


Established in 1987

To share and celebrate with our friends, we began the tradition of issuing honorary Calabrese Citizenship to Calgarians who made significant contributions to the celebration of our traditions and contributed in the betterment of our city, Calgary.

Our Goal

The goal of the association was always to promote enhance and celebrate the rich and colourful  traditions that our pioneers brought to Calgary from our small villages in Calabria. ​

Our Directors

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Filomena May
President
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Maria West​ 
Secretary

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Ralph Logullo
Director
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Joe Secreto
Director​ 
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John Oliverio
Honorary Board Member 

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Anna Perrotta
Vice President
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Silvia Allan
Director

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Brianna Rizzuti
Director
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Luigi Mangone
Past President​ 

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Dianne Rinaldi
Treasurer
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Pierina Baffa
Director
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 Vincenzo Scarpino​ 
Director
 

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Serafino Scarpino
Past President
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Our Story

After many discussions between Alberto Romano and Serafino Scarpino, in regards to celebrating, maintaining and promoting our Calabrese roots, it was agreed that we needed to formalize our thoughts in the form of a document to establish an organization. One fine morning we convened a breakfast meeting with our friend Judge Gary Cioni who formalized our ideas in the establishment of a non profit association, and the Calgary Calabrese Cultural and Heritage Society was born.

The goal of the association was always to promote enhance and celebrate the rich and colourful traditions that our pioneers brought to Calgary from our small villages in Calabria. We also wanted to celebrate the people who enriched our community with their hard work, commitment to family in their new adopted home town Calgary.

Our first celebrations were held at the Calgary Italian Cultural Centre, we later tried other venues due to increased demand in participation, we currently hold our annual celebration at the Carriage House ; we celebrated the food, the cultural traditions, and people who made contributions to the well being of our community. We presented a pignata (traditional clay cooking pot ) to our most senior members and guests honoured for their contributions to the community , among our recipients were Premier Klein, Mike Amantea , Tony Spoletini and Ernesto Logullo, Vincenzo Scarpino, Vincenzo Mangone and many others.

To share and celebrate with our friends, we began the tradition of issuing honorary Calabrese Citizenship to Calgarians who made significant contributions to the celebration of our traditions and contributed in the betterment of our city, Calgary.

To enrich our celebrations three members of our association offered a Large Silver Cup to honour the winners of the Tarantella dance competition, this is presented every year at our annual Banquet the last Saturday in January.

We instituted scholarships as an incentive for our young people to continue with their traditions and advance through Education. We are proud to have played a small role in the success of so many young Calgarians of Calabrian descent. Many community members contribute each year to ensure that we have funds for this great endeavour. Our appreciation and gratitude to them all.

As an organization we were involved in supporting may charitable community events to help the needy in the city of Calgary, we have invited cultural groups from Calabria to help our youth remember the authenticity of their traditions. We have contributed in the development of the Calgary Italian (Folk) Dancers , and other cultural groups. The first public performance of the Calgary Italian Dancers was at our inaugural Banquet in 1988 .

​A current goal of the association is to build community and strengthen our bonds with our neighbours to ensure that together we build a united community in a united city in a united province in a united Canada.

Calabria

Calabria is at the toe of the boot, the extreme south of Italy - lapped by the splendid crystal blue Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas and separated from Sicily by the Strait of Messina.  Read more
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© Calgary Calabrese Cultural and Heritage Society
calgaryitalian.ca
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