J U L Y 2 0 1 5 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 1 0

A John the Barber Foundation Publication

Nothing but good news ! And Good people doing Great things!

From Arlington, Cherry, Ladd, Seatonville/Hollowayville, Spring Valley,and Dalzell, Illinois

From the mountains of Italy to the plains of Ravioli Alley, new book documents

thousands of personal stories

Across the Ocean to the Land of Mines is a new book by author Pier Giorgio Ardeni that documents over five thousand stories of the migration of Italians from the moun-tains of Bologna and Modena to the prairies of Illi-nois. The book will be available on Amazon.com July 10, 2015 at a cover price of $32 and will be sold at the Ladd 125th celebration for $25. Ardeni is also the author of the 2011 book entitled From the Apennines to Spoon River that also docu-ments the history of the migration of Italians to America in the early 20th century.

Holy Trinity Cherry Third Annual Walk/Run to Benefit the LaSalle Veterans Home Set for

Saturday September 26, 2015 in Ladd Building on the past two highly successful events, Holy Trinity Cherry is taking their show on the road, and holding this years event in Ladd. Watch Ravioli Alley and other sources for more details and how you can participate. As you may remember, in 2013, HTC purchased I-Pads which not only helped the Alzheimer's unit with tests and exercises, but were also quickly used by residents to skype and communicate on-line with their friends and relatives around the country on a daily basis. Last year, HTCs efforts allowed the Veterans Home to acquire many items including the wheelchair scales seen in the photo below. The use of these scales allows resident veterans to avoid having to be lifted or to stand daily as their weight is checked. In this way a great deal of pain and discomfort and certain injuries are avoided. Pictured in the scene are HTC Veteran Stewardship Chairman Alan Ring (standing) and his grandson Benjamin Cooper Swanson along with LaSalle Vet-eran Home resident Dave Dow

P A G E 2

Mathew 19: Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, Teacher,

what good thing must I do to get eternal life? Jesus said, If you want to enter life, keep the

commandments. Which ones? the man inquired. Jesus replied, You shall not murder, you shall not commit

adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor

your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself. All these I have kept, the young

man said, What do I still lack? Jesus answered, If you want to be per-

fect, go, sell your posses-sions and give to the

poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then

come, follow me. When the young man heard this, he went

away sad, because he had great wealth.

The John the Barber Foundation

P.O. Box 88 Cherry, IL 61317

editor@JohnTheBarberFoundation.com

Heres what people around the country are saying about Up Ravioli Alley!

Teri Lynn Kuffel Beardsly of West Valley, AZ writes, I enjoy URA because I grew up in the LaSalle-Peru area. My dad was born and raised in Spring Valley, and I still have many relatives in that town and surrounding area. Ladd was a town I went to when young, to enjoy Torri's and Lanuti's. I enjoy reading about happenings in the area. Fond childhood memories came from that little corner of the world. I am glad Facebook introduced me to URA!

Jack Piacenti of Tiskilwa writes, Enclosed is a donation to assist with your efforts. Thank you for a Great newsletter.Up Ravioli Alley.

Lexanne Jarosz of Spring Valley writes, "Thank you Up Ravioli Alley for publishing the article on our efforts to assist Kelly Boehm Delhotalyou are helping more than you could know!

Sarann Terando of Ladd writes, I grew up and live in Ladd. I enjoy reading all the local news in Up Ravioli Alley. In fact, I also discovered the ladies who make ravi-oli at St. Thomas More Dalzell by reading URA! I started buying their ravioliand wow how Great they are!

Pat Bernabei Croissant of Dalzell writes, Love Up Ravioli Alley! I'm at the age where looking back is fun. Not everyone has that privilege. I know there are tons of stories out there waiting to be told. People are doing Great things everyday it is just natural to them and they don't think anything of it. God bless America!

St. Bede Grad Ross Kenseth Cracks Into Big Time NASCAR!

Ross Kenseth, 2011 St. Bede grad, ran in his first NASCAR race in June and finished a very impres-sive sixth in the Ownes Corning Atticat 300 at the Chicagoland Speedway. Driving in the num-ber 20 Dollar General car, Ross actually led in the first lap! Pictured below is Ross and his team after winning his first ARCA race this past June 12.

Hey Hall Cheerleader and Sports Alumni!! Hoping You Can Do Something a little bit Great

for a Former Red Devil! The response to the June 2015 Up Ravioli Alley issue concerning Kelly Boehm Del-hotal of Spring Valley was Great! Kelly is fighting breast cancer and has her hands full taking care of three children under the age of 15 at home. Kellys friends are asking Up Ravioli Alley readers to please help. Please do something a little bit Great, first by praying for Kelly and her family and then by donating on-line at her GoFundMe.com page on the Internet un-der Karing for Kelly. Or send to JTB, Box 88, Cherry, IL 61317 with checks made out to Karing for Kelly. Check out the Hall cheerleaders to the right from the Spring of 1978 including Kelly: (L-R) Patti Sobkowiak Scott, Bonnie Hattan Marusich, Kelly Boehm Delhotal, Deb Keutzer Balti-kauski, and Connie Noonan McCann.

P A G E 3

Proverbs 19:

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the

Lord, and He will repay him for his deeds.

(The ancient meaning of the word poor is related to destitute,

afflicted and lacking. )

My book Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God has a simple - but challeng-ing - message: Daily, look for and identify where God is at work

around you and join Him there.

-Henry Blackaby, author

We NEED your stories about people from your town doing

Great thingseither now or in the past.

Please email or mail to JTB.

Heres a Great story you will like! Hoping it encourages you to do something a little bit Great for someone you know!

One day, a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers. That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual. On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smil-ing. "Really?" she heard whispered. "I never knew that I meant anything to any-one!" and, "I didn't know others liked me so much," were most of the comments. No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. The teacher never found out if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exer-cise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on. Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. She nodded: "Yes." Then he said: "Mark talked about you a lot." After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were also there, wanting to speak with his teacher. "We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it." Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him. "Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark treasured it." All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home." Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album." "I have mine too," Marilyn said. "It's in my diary" Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at all times," Vicki said. Without batting an eyelash, she continued, "I think we all saved our lists." Tears rolled down the eyes of the humble teacher.

P A G E 4

Dont forget: Cherry Pie & Coffee

Social Hour, first Thursday

of each of month 1:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. at Cherry Church Hall.

Do something a

little bit Great and bring someone!

Invite others to meet you there!

Bring a friend!

DO SOMETHING GREAT and

volunteer to be chairman for a month, please email or mail

John the Barber.

No one has ever become poor by giving.

- Anne Frank, diary of Anne Frank

There is no exercise

better for the heart than reaching down and lifting

people up. -John Holmes, Army Veteran

and Author

Heres a few quick Rav-notes...

Nellie Cattani: A Great Ravioli Alley Wife, Mother, Friend: The family of Nel-lie Cattani of Ladd made a generous donation to John The Barber/Up Ravioli Alley and include the following kind note: The Nellie Cattani Family would like to make a donation in her memory and would like to thank you for all the won-derful things you did for her. JTB does a Great job with Up Ravioli Alley and we really enjoy every issue! If you ever need another good nickname, our Dad Dave Cattani was always called Nini!

Betty Klein Family Says Thanks for the Great Monthly Pie & Coffee! The fam-ily of Betty Klein of Cherry writes, Please accept the enclosed donation in memory of our Mother , Betty Klein. We would like this to be used specifically for the monthly pie & coffee event. She enjoyed these socials very much and looked forward to attending them each month. I am sure she would be pleased. Thank you Betty Klein family! Always Great to see Betty! This months euchre game will be in her honor!

Seatonville Congregational Church Independent Vacation Bible School: Vaca-tion Bible School (VBS) for all children entering kindergarten through eighth grade. Monday, July 20, 2015 - Friday, July 24, 2015, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM (Noon). A closing program for parents, grandparents, relatives, and friends will be on Friday night, July 24th at 7:00 PM with refreshments to follow. The theme this year is Blast to the Past Discovering Gods Everlasting Love! The children will experience music, crafts, stories, games, refreshments and more throughout the week. Pre-registration can be made by calling the church at 815-894-2697 or coming with a parent or guardian on the first day of VBS at 8:40 AM. For more information call the church or Pastor Bill at 815-228-6717.

One more fan of the Dalzell Tonelli Basketball team!: Pat Ray of Dalzell also spotted John Balma/coach and his brother Ron/#43 in the photo in the May, 2015 issue. Thanks Pat for writing in!

Ravioli Alley Grandkids out there doing Great things in Metamora: Evan Matthews of Metamora, son of Lisa (Carlson) and Paul Matthews, grandson of Sandy and Sheldon Carlson of RR Cherry/Ladd, was named top student in his class at Metamora Junior High School. Heres a high five to Evan and his proud parents and grandparents!

St. Thomas More Dalzell/Holy Trinity Cherry Youth Education/CCD Classes Could Use You Doing Something A little bid Great.Need Instructors for 2015-16 School Year Holy Trinity Cherry and St. Thomas More Dalzell Youth Education/CCD classes are looking for teachers and volunteers for the 2015-2016 religious education program. Start-up will be September 13, 2015. Classes are held Sunday morn-ing at the Cherry Church Hall. Great way for high school or college students to earn community service hours or experience in teaching kids. Anyone interested or looking for more information please email Julie at juliehtc@outlook.com

DO SOMETHING GREAT! Have your family or business sponsor the printing of Up Ravioli Alley" for one month! Email or mail John the Barber to learn how to do it!

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 1 0

Cont...Rav-notes...

St. Bede Coaches/Teachers John Bellino and Bernie Moore Hang up their cleats: St. Bede is saying thank you and congratulations to their long time teachers, friends, and supports Coaches John Bellino and Bernie More. What a Great career they both had! Can you believe, they both started together at St. Bede in 1974 with both going on to impressive and appreciated careers as teachers, coaches, and leaders. Next time you see Coach Belli-no or Coach Moore around make sure to say thanks for all the Great things they have done. By the way, not to be out done, Mrs. Leann Wilcoxen also is part of this retiring class, dedicating the past 30+ years to St. Bede students as both a teacher and owner of many valuable and appreciated extra curricular activities.

The First Tom Templeton must have been Great also Great-Grandfather of todays LaSalle County Sheriff

(Reprinted from the story of his death and funeral in 1926) Thomas Templeton, 49 years old, one of the most wide-ly known and respected coal miners in the northern field, passed away at St. Margaret's hospital, Spring Valley. The deceased was born at Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1877 and came to America in 1908. For 18 months he lived at Granville and in 1910, he moved to Cherry where he has since resided. His pleasing personality, broad spiritedness and fair-ness won him the confidence and respect of everybody who knew him, and he was universally esteemed for his qualities of character and manner. He served for many years as financial secretary of Local 2711 of Cherry United Mine Workers. He was a loyal and consistent worker in union matters and was active in commemorating the annual observance of the Cherry dis-aster. He was a trustee of the Village of Cherry and also a member of the Board of Education and a member of the fire department. In his younger days he was an athlete and participated in many football games in this vicinity. He was affiliated with the Masonic order of Spring Val-ley and the Knight of Pythias of La Salle. That he had endeared himself to the citizens is shown by the profusion of flowers and the long funeral procession which was one of the larg-est ever held in this section. Services were held at the Congregational Church on Tuesday afternoon by Rev. John Stenstrum and interment was made in the Cherry cemetery. The mine, bank, schools and business houses were closed out of respect for Mr. Templeton. The Masonic lodge had charge of the funeral and in the line of march were members of the miner's union, school children, fire company and a delegation of Peter Francisco Post of the American Legion, of which his son Charles is commander.

St. Patricks Arlington, Holy Trinity Cherry, and St. Thomas More Dalzell Religious Youth Education/CCD Student Step Up Again with Operation Rice Bowl

This past Spring, youth education/CCD students from these three clustered Ravioli Alley parishes raised $400 for

Catholic Relief Services Operation Rice Bowl. CRS Rice Bowl is a Catholic Relief Service Lenten faith-in-action pro-gram for families and faith communities. Through CRS Rice Bowl, people in need around the world receive food and

other necessary items. CCD kids were given cardboard Rice Bowls to collect their familys change during lent. Helping the needy AND reaching out to strangers! Great job students, families, and teachers!

P A G E 6 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 1 0

Ravioli Alley Non-For-Profit Organizations All Showing that John The Barber Spirit This Summer Do something a little bit Great and

> TAKE someone who doesnt get a chance to get out > BRING a carry out to someone new on your block

> SEND in a donation if you cant make it

Hennepin and Hopper Lakes Presentation: Tuesday July 21, 2015, 6:30 P.M. Spring Valley Community Room. Presentation by Paul Botts, Executive Director of the Wetlands Initiative in Chicago. Covers the history of and exciting new developments at the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge. SVHA program - Open to the Public. More info call 815.303.4327

St. Patricks Arlington Chicken Dinner: Sunday July 26, 2015 11:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. Great fried chicken, home-made German potato salad, applesauce, salad, homemade desserts. Adults $7, children under ten $3, pre-schoolers FREE. Carry outs available.

The Italian Open of Springfield: Monday July 27, 2015 sponsored by the Italian American Society. Golf at Edge-wood Country Club in Auburn, IL. Dinner and the "Tony Spavone Show" start at 6:30 p.m. at the Abraham Lin-coln Hotel. Call Claudio at (217) 971-1330 for info on reservations, etc.

Italian American Society of Peoria 86th Annual Italian Summer Festa: Sunday August 9, 2015 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m. at Hickory Grove Park in North Peoria. The Summer Festa Picnic is a long-standing family event held by the society every year as a time for Italian families to get together for fellowship and support, and has since de-veloped into a non-profit, fun, family-centered community event, bringing a small piece of Italy and its traditions to central Illinois. The Festa is the major fund raiser for our three scholarship programs. So far we have given over $75,000 to college students. Once again, we are honored to have our authentic Italian recipes prepared by Barracks Cater Inn. The menu will include lasagna or spaghetti meals with salads, also meatball or sausage sandwiches, Italian beef, and of course Italian desserts including cannoli and pizzelles. Drinks include Italian and domestic beers, wine, soda, and water. Fun, traditional Italian-American music will be provided by The Vince Chiarelli Band. We will again have our Regalia Gift Shop with Italian tee shirts, hats, pins, and our own Society cook books. There will be Bocce tournaments, an arts and craft village, and a car show. Other events and attrac-tions will include scholarship awards, an inflatable attraction, a face painter, and various other games. Kids Cor-ner open from 12:30pm to 5:00pm. Admission is $3.00 at the gate. Children under 12 are free and so is park-ing. Contact Dave at 309-383-4684 for special discounts for youth groups of 15 or more. Further information can be found on Facebook and at our website: www.italianamericansociety.com.

Spring Valley Historical Association Classic Car, Truck, Motorcycle Show: Saturday August 22, 2015 12:00 noon 4:00 P.M. between 100 and 200 blocks of West St. Paul Street in downtown Spring Valley. Vehicles 1990 and older. Krusin Photos 10:00 A.M 1:00 P.M. 50/50, food, music by 3D Sound sponsored by Spring Valley City Bank.

More Thank You Notes from Those Benefiting from Holy Trinity Cherry Fundraiser to Benefit the

Utility Fund for the Needy Just a couple of more thank you notes of the many received from those helped out by Holy Trinity Cherry this year. A record number of families avoided power outages this Spring. Wouldnt it be Great if churches and other non-for-profits across the State copied HTCs suc-cess and example! Wow!

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