Local delegation participates in Verrazzano Day in Italy
There was a celebration April 17 on the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk in recognition of Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, who explored much of what is now America’s Eastern Seaboard in 1524.
The crowd at the event was a little lighter than normal for two reasons – the weather was cool, but also because a large delegation Italian Americans went to Greve-in-Chianti, Italy, to celebrate the explorer at the same time.
Pat Coluzzi, former Rehoboth Beach commissioner, was among those who traveled to Italy to celebrate. There were 19 people in the delegation, she said, 11 from the Rehoboth Beach Sister City Association and eight from the Delaware Commission on Italian Culture and Heritage.
The day before Verrazzano Day, April 16, the delegation was invited to the U.S. Consulate in Florence where Ambassador Jack Markell, former Delaware governor, recognized the relationship between the City of Rehoboth Beach and Greve-in-Chianti. The two communities have been sister cities since 2010. Greve is believed to be the birthplace of Verrazzano. The event with Markell was held at the consulate, which is the former Calcagnini Palace constructed in 1876.
On Verrazzano Day, April 17, the group started in city hall where Coluzzi, the Rehoboth Beach Sister Sister Cities Association president, read the same proclamation that was read by Rehoboth Beach Mayor Stan Mills at the Boardwalk ceremony the same day. Following the reading of the proclamation, there was a procession to the Verrazzano monument in a wreath-laying ceremony at the statue in the piazza. The Rehoboth Beach Sister City Association gifted an armillary to the City of Greve for the city’s Garden of the Navigators.
On the evening of April 17, at Verrazzano’s castle, there was a reading from the book by Marco Hagge titled, “Giovanni da Verrazzano, Navigator and Gentleman,” which was followed by presentations to both the sister cities association and the Delaware commission. Attendees were treated to prosecco on the grounds of the castle.
The delegation also attended a special dinner at the castle complete with singing by local celebrities from selections of Italian opera. The night ended with a fireworks display. As a group, they were treated to guided visits at museums and a chamber music performance in the church at the piazza.
