Ciociaro Club Information

Over the years, the Ciociaro Club has promoted various cultural and religious activities. Among the religious events may be counted: St. Onorio, St. Arduino. The largest such event in southern Ontario is centered around the celebration of the feast of Madonna of Canneto, to which more than 6,000 persons are drawn from all over, including far-off Chicago, Boston, Toronto, etc. In progress is the construction of a sanctuary in traditional Canadian style but fashioned on the facade of the actual sanctuary in Canneto, designed by the architect Matelluzzi from Frosinone. On the cultural side, the Youth Group organizes various events, but the jewel of the Ciociaro Club is the annual student exchange in co-operation with a region of Ciociaria based on the place of origin of Miss Ciociaria, with said becoming "region of the year". Many festivities punctuate the event and so far five regions have participated: Ceprano; Pofi; S. Elia Fiumerapido; Veroli, and this year Casalvieri. The student exchange takes place precisely with the "region of the year" and a group of students from that region will visit Canada, guests of the Ciociaro Club, while a group of students from the Ciociaro Club will be guests of the selfsame region in Italy. The Ciociaro Club has had strong relations with the Provincial Government of Frosinone. Following upon the first visit of the President Struffi in 1988, many other presidential visits have followed: Gargani, Testani, and then Gentile. As a sign of ongoing relations, the Provincial Government gifted a crest of the province encrusted in marble, which was inlaid in the floor of the club's main entrance. Another tangible sign is the Treccani encyclopedia gifted by President Gentile on the occasion of the dedication of the Ciociaro Club's library in 1998. Various regional government officials have visited the Ciociaro Club over the years. The Club is officially registered in the Registry Office of the Region of Lazio and Club representatives attended the 3rd immigrants conference in 1992 and representatives will also attend the 4th, being held this year. The Ciociaro Club is even proactively involved in the use of food products from Lazio and from Italy with a view to educating a large group of consumers concerning these products. A restaurant is in the planning stage - one of a kind - where patrons can savor dishes which are characteristically Ciociari. In process as well, is a program dedicated to educating tourists - especially on the occasion of the Jubilee-re special places of interest in La Ciociaria with a view to promoting tourism which is already ongoing, stimulated by people's curiosity to visit the places of origin of the founders of the Ciociaro Club. This, in brief, is the history of The Ciociaro Club of Windsor, the largest Ciociaro complex outside of the homeland, which can serve as a model to increase the number of individuals who may perpetuate our traditions abroad and keep our memory of the homeland ever present: our beloved Ciociaria. Here you have record of the success based on four cornerstones which have guaranteed and secured a recognizable identity for the Ciociari, a record which has embedded a marker in stone, this time in this far-off land whether as curators of century old traditions, or whether as contributors to the success of this community, by raising to consciousness those qualities which ensure the common good.