Important notice about the Spadoni-Seghieri family reunion! Response needed in order for plans to proceed

Notice to all cousins thinking about attending the Spadoni-Seghieri family reunion: It is time to make some decisions! The plans are coming together, and it is imperative that I have some idea how many people will be coming. We already know a large group of Seghieri family members from France is planning to attend, and it is possible that we will have to limit attendance at some events because of space limitations. Thus, I am asking people to register by sending me an email (pspadoni@gmail.com) or contacting me on Facebook.

I’ve planned the first three days, May 2-4, in great detail. In general, the first two days will primarily cover sites of interest to the family Spadoni, and May 5 is dedicated to the family Seghieri. However, the evening of May 6 will include a dinner and presentations on both Spadoni and Seghieri families—with historical and genealogical information.

Sauro uses his special technique
on cousin Ilaria Spadoni

Beyond that, members of the French Seghieri delegation, with the help of extraordinary tour guide Elena Benvenuti, are planning a fantastic assortment of social and touristic events for May 6-8 that will appeal to members of both families.

Please read through the following schedule. Cost for meals, tour guides and transportation will run around $60-100 per day, per person. Then contact me expressing your interest in attending. Please specify the likely number of your group and--very important--which days you plan to attend. Once I have an idea of the numbers, I will be able to provide more accurate figures.

Spadoni-Seghieri 2022 Reunion Agenda

Monday, 2 May, Spadoni focus with dinner for ALL

8:30-8:40   Meet in piazza/parking lot*, San Salvatore

8:40            Depart for Massa e Cozzile

9:10             Arrive Massa**

9:50             Leave Massa

10:00          Arrive Buggiano Castello

11:00           Leave Buggiano Castello

11:15            Arrive Pescia, Piazza Mazzini, gelato at Bar Pulter

12:10           Leave Piazza Mazzini

 12:15           Arrive I 3 Angeli ristorante for lunch

14:00           Leave restaurant, pass by Castellare for photos of outside

14:25           Arrive Chiesina Uzzanese

14:30           E-Form Demonstration by Sauro Spadoni of Magic Hair***

15:15            Leave Chiesina Uzzanese

15:40           Arrive Torre degli Spadoni/San Donini in Parezzana

16:00           Tour ends, break in schedule

19:00           Picnic dinner at Azienda Agricola Stefannini, Montecarlo, organized by French Seghieri families. Via S. Piero, 7

*The piazza in San Salvatore is where Pietro Spadoni and Maria Marchi lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s, along with their children Enrico, Michele, Eugenio, Giuseppe, Zelinda (2 of them), Maria and Luisa. Of these children, only four survived to adulthood. Enrico and his wife Eufemia Banchieri had seven children, including Adolfo and Alfredo, who moved to Washington state in the early 1900s. Michele met Anita Seghieri, most likely at the little church in San Salvatore. They married there in November of 1908 and moved to Washington in 1909 and had seven children, six of whom were born in Washington and one (Lola) in Italy. Eugenio married Isola Fantozzi. Luisa married Angelo Pippi. Nothing else is known about the descendants of Eugenio and Luisa. The old house where the Spadoni family lived was destroyed in the early 1970s, but Roland Spadoni took some photos of it in 1968, so we have visual evidence that is was located exactly where we will be parking to begin our daily tours.

**Birthplace of Piacentino, Ezio, Gino, Nello and their father Luigi Spadoni. Luigi’s other son, Guilio Giuseppe, was born in Colle di Buggiano, which is about a mile away. These five sons all moved to California in the early 1900s. Nello’s son Gino was the founder of Spadoni’s Market in Eureka, California.

***E-Form is a unique technique of hair coloring, patented by renowned hairdresser Sauro Spadoni, who travels worldwide to demonstrate his techniques.

Tuesday, 3 May, focus on Spadoni

8:30           Meet in parking lot, San Salvatore

8:40           See inside of church in San Salvatore

9:00           Leave S. Salvatore

9:15            Arrive Stignano, see inside church*

10:00         Leave Stignano

10:15          Arrive Borgo a Buggiano, see inside church**

10:30         Break for gelato

11:30          Leave Borgo a Buggiano

11:00          Arrive cemetery Ponte Buggianese***

11:45           Leave cemetery

12:00          Arrive Ponte Buggianese centro

12:45          Leave Ponte Buggianese

13:00          Pizza at La Favola Mia of Leonello Spadoni, Chiesina U.

14:30          Leave La Favola Mia

15:00          Farm of Italo Cortesi. Tour farm, see site where Italo Spadoni was killed by Fascists. Meet Italo and Francesco Cortesi. The story of Italo Spadoni recounted.

16:00          Tour ends, break in schedule

 

17.00          Possibility to see cemeteries of Montecarlo and Marginone, where some members of the Seghieri family are buried.

19:00          Dinner at Casolare dei Fiori, San Salvatore, via Mattonaia, 20

*The church in Stignano is the earliest place where we have definitive records of our family’s history. Sometime in the 1400s, Francesco Spadoni moved to Stignano and had two children, Michele and Bartolomeo. All the many Spadoni families that today live in the Valdinievole are descendants of Francesco’s two sons, who were born in the late 1400s. At this time, it seems the family was quite wealthy; of the two family tombs under the floor of the church, one is for the Spadoni family. The other tomb is for the Guelfi family, and it is interesting to note that ancestors of both of Francesco’s sons married women in the Guelfi family in the 1500s. Thus we are all descendants of what are probably the two most important families of Stignano.

**In the late 1500s through the 1600s, Spadoni families began moving down from Stignano to Borgo a Buggiano and Ponte Buggianese (and at least one family moved to Buggiano Castello). The likely reason for this is improved drainage in the lowlands that uncovered excellent soil for farming. Other descendants moved farther away to Fucecchio, San Miniato and other communities between Stignano, Lucca and Pisa. There are also Spadoni families who live in the Garfagnana region (north of Lucca); we don’t know if they are connected to ours, but it is possible.

***The greatest concentration of Spadoni families today is still Ponte Buggianese. Emilio Spadoni was the sindaco (mayor) of Ponte Buggianese from 1896-1903, and Astolfo Spadoni was sindaco from 1923-27 and then podestà from 1927-31. The most famous Spadoni of Ponte Buggianese is Italo Spadoni, who was killed by a Fascist militia in 1924, and you can find his tombstone in the cemetery and a monument to him in the central piazza of the town, at the end of via Italo Spadoni.

Wednesday, 4 May, focus on Seghieri

8:30           Meet in parking lot, San Salvatore

8:35            See inside of church in San Salvatore

8:45            Leave S. Salvatore

8:55            Arrive Querchione*

9:15            Leave Querchione

9:30           Arrive San Gennaro**

10:20          Leave San Gennaro

10:40          Arrive Esselunga parking lot, gelato break at Igloo

11:05          Leave Esselunga

11:15           Park near Fior di Latte, an outlet store for Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and other artisan food

11:30          Pass on foot bike shop of Francesca Seghieri

11:45           Arrive on foot at the mercato usato, an excellent source of low-cost souvenirs

12:15           Return to cars, leave for Montecarlo

12:30          Lunch in Montecarlo on own.

14:00          Tour of Montecarlo with professional guides, directed by Elena Benvenuti, wife of Davide Seghieri. Possibly in Italian, French and English. Includes entrance to Fortezza di Montecarlo, Teatro dei Rassicurati, house of Paul & Lucy Spadoni.

17:00          Break in schedule

 

19:00          Group dinner at Fattoria Il Poggio, Via S. Piero, 39

*The Querchione is not part of our family’s history, but it is an interesting phenomena very near Montecarlo. This 600-year-old tree is among the most beautiful and famous in Italy, and it has some interesting stories surrounding it.

**The church in San Gennaro is of interest for two reasons. Torello Seghieri—the father of Anita, Ruggero, Seghiero (Jim) and Rosina Seghieri—was the chorale director of the Philharmonic Choir of the Church of San Gennaro in the early 1900s. By chance, this church also houses one of the few surviving sculptures of Leonardo da Vinci, a four-foot-tall statue of the archangel Gabriel. Although there is no definitive archival evidence on the origin of the statue, the foremost expert (now deceased) on Leonardo had no doubts it was the work of a young Leonardo.

 

Thursday, 5 May, Social & tourist event in day. Formal presentations in the evening.

TBD           Meet at Villa Reale for tour, picnic lunch, arranged by Elena Benvenuti and French Seghieri families.

 

17:00           Presentation on Spadoni family history & genealogy

19:00           Pizza dinner at La Terrazza, Montecarlo

21:00          Presentation on Seghieri family history & genealogy

 

Friday, 6 May, social and touristic activities

TBD            Meet at Pietrasanta for tour of Pietrasanta and quarries of Carrara, arranged by Elena Benvenuti and French Seghieri families.

 

Saturday, 7 May, Farewell aperitivo in evening.

TBD            Tour of Lucca in morning, possibility to rent bikes in afternoon in Lucca.

19:00           Aperitivo at Casone di Marcucci, via Mattonia. Tour of farms of Ivo and other Seghieri families.