Photo by Jean Falbo-Sosnovich
(Left to right) Derby Mayor Joseph DiMartino and Mayor Francesco Maria Rubano.
DERBY – Officials from the City of Derby on Nov. 18 bid a warm welcome to a visiting delegation from Derby’s sister city of Puglianello, Italy.
About 50 residents gathered at J.R. Payden Field House on Chatfield Street for a welcoming ceremony that kicked off with the singing of both the national anthem and the Italian national anthem by Alderwoman Sarah Widomski. Click here for photos.
The sister city relationship began some 20 years ago when current Derby Town/City Clerk Marc Garofalo was mayor.
Garofalo, in the early 2000s, struck up a friendship with the mayor of Puglianello, the late Tonino Bartone. The two forged a sister city relationship, where students, city leaders, residents and others from both Derby and Puglianello visited each other’s communities several times over the years.
The goal of the visits was to learn about each other’s people and cultures. Garofalo said many immigrants, including some from Puglianello, settled in Derby and the surrounding area in the 1900s.
Puglianello is a town of about 1,300 residents in the province of Benevento in Italy’s Campania region.
Mayor Bartone passed away in 2018. He was succeeded by Mayor Francesco Maria Rubano, part of the delegation in Derby this week.
It is not Mayor Bartone’s first visit to Connecticut’s smallest city. He visited Derby as part of the exchange program in 2003, when he was 15 years old.
Rubano, now 36, arrived in Derby on Nov. 15 with Antonio Viscusi, a council member; Giacomo Battaglino, town manager; Elena Mongillo, the mayor’s assistant, and Luigi Caporaso, an entrepreneur.
After arriving in the U.S., the delegation visited Yale University on Saturday (Nov. 16) and then the Ansonia Rod and Gun Club. They’ve also visited Derby City Hall, Roseland Apizza on Hawthorne Avenue, The Sterling Opera House, St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Elizabeth Street, and the Derby Public Library.
The ceremony on Nov. 18 at the J.R. Payden Field House was the official welcoming ceremony for the group, who will be departing for Italy at the end of the week.
Garofalo served as both emcee and translator during the ceremony. The Derby Police Department’s Honor Guard led the procession of dignitaries into the field house, as members of the public, city and state officials, including Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti and state Rep. Kara Rochelle, welcomed the group.
Garofalo said officials from the Italian town haven’t been in Derby since 2004. He said it was Mayor Rubano’s idea to relaunch the sister-city initiative.
Mayor Rubano said he was honored to come back to Derby.
“This city is always beautiful. The hospitality we received 20 years ago is the same hospitality and enthusiasm we received this time around. It demonstrates the strong roots between our two towns,” Mayor Rubano said. “The people of Derby have a big heart. I have much gratitude to Marc Garofalo, who united both our communities more than 20 years ago.”
The Derby High School Italian Club will be traveling to Italy in April. Mayor Rubano said he is excited for the students to see his hometown.
Derby Mayor Joseph DiMartino said immigrants seeking a better life is integral to his city’s history.
“Derby and Puglianello may be separated by an ocean, yet our shared values of community and progress unite us,” DiMartino said. “We remember all those who immigrated to this country in search of a better life. Let us celebrate our similarities and embrace our differences, for it is in diversity that we find strength.”
Mayor DiMartino presented Mayor Rubano with a key to the city.
Mayor Rubano said the key represents Derby and Puglianello as sharing “one heart.”
Mayor DiMartino also presented Mayor Rubano with a Derby flag.
“I feel like a real son of Derby,” Mayor Rubano said.
