POINTers IN PERSON Minutes
Chapter # 10 Central Texas/Austin
Submitted by: Lin Onofrio Brinkman
Lin ONOFRIO Brinkman (#1388) opened our monthly meeting with10 people in attendance.
Guest Frank Scalise, now of San Antonio, visited. He is researching in Calabria and Bologna. Frank gave us ideas of rental properties in Italy.
Joe MASTRANGELO (#2614) and wife Marie recently visited the Bella Vista Ranch in Wimberley, TX. According to the owner/manager Jack Dougherty, it is modeled after a traditiional Italian farm. The soil in this part of the Texas Hill Country is much like the soil in the southern part of Italy. Along with fruits, vegetables, and livestock, this is the only olive oil producer in Texas, and Joe and Marie were there immediately after a harvesting, and viewed the olive pressing. The press is a centrifigual one, which spins at high speed, and presses the olives, pits and all, out toward the outside of the machine. Off to one side is a small outlet pipe where the oil leaves the machine. At another end is another pipe where the residue (called pumice) leaves the press. Other olive oil producers sometimes use this for a second pressing. However, Jack feeds it to the livestock, which thrive on it. His only nemesis appears to be the sudden appearance of a "blue Northerner", with temperatures dropping to below freezing in a number of hours. This has caused him to lose a significant portion of the grove on several occasions. However, he trims the trees off to just above the ground, and often, ther tree will shoot out a sprout and continue to grow. Joe said, this probably explains the grotesque shapes of lower trunks of some of the olive trees you see around the world. Joe and Marie purchased some oil, and pronounced it, very good. They said it was a nice day trip from Austin.
Jeanie MARSALIA (#4251) received a copy of her maternal great-great Grandfather, Christopher Tatters', final citizenship papers from the Colorado County Courthouse in Columbus, Texas. She received copies of documents of her Parker and Tatters maternal ancestors from former #10 member, Marilyn Maniscalco Henley, of Houston, who kindly researched them at the Clayton Library in Houston, Texas.
Lin reminded all that, because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the next meeting will be at 7:00 p.m., 28 November, 2007, at Merrill Gardens.