Veneto market gardeners 1927

This blog continues the previous stories about people who have strong connections to the Veneto community in Adelaide. Piero Fioretti records the history of his parents, Rino and Maria, and family in Australia.

In the image above, Maria Fioretti nee Andreoni holds her certificate of naturalisation which she received after the citizenship ceremony
in Alice Springs on 2 May 1959.^[1]

Maria shows the certificate to her husband, Rino and her children Piero, aged five and Dina, three years old. You can sense the pride and joy in the moment for the parents, both of whom were naturalised in the ceremony.

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Migrants, like Maria and Rino, made the decision to become citizens as a commitment to remain in Australia and build a future for themselves and their children. In the post-war years, there were Italian migrants who did not see Australia as a permanent home. The migration was an opportunity to work hard, earn money and return to Italy. Maria and Rino trusted the future and the prospect to create a new life together for their family. At the time of the naturalisation, the Fioretti family was living in Alice Springs where Rino was working as a miner and Maria had employment in a hotel as a domestic. They were members of a strong Italian community, some of whom, like Rino, had been miners in the Northern Territory mica mines.

The story of the Fioretti family in Australia

The story  began ten years earlier in 1949 when Rino migrated from Italy. Rino spoke about his reasons for leaving Italy in an oral history interview recorded in 1993 for the Northern Territory Archives Service. He was 24 years old, living and working as a labourer in Genoa on a construction site building a train tunnel. The work was hard, and it was not possible to save money because he had to pay rent and living costs. He remembered saying to himself, “Oh, there’s no life for me.” He returned home and asked his father to loan him the money for a ticket to Australia. A cousin had left not long before and sponsored by relatives living in Broken Hill.

From Italy…

Rino’s story
Rino was born in Ciano del Montello, comune di Crocetta del Montello, about 50 kilometres north-west of Venice in the province of Treviso. He was one of five children, two of whom had died at a young age.

Rino’s father was a stone mason and his mother looked after the family. As Piero says, there was “little or no work in Italy and after the second World War and a lot of northern Italians migrated to Australia and other countries.”  In his interview, Rino compared the conditions of the ship voyage with his experience of post-war poverty: “plenty of food but we were on top of another.”

Rino had work in the Broken Hill mines and was able to repay his father. He then travelled to Adelaide where he lived in a boarding house in the city and worked in a flour mill. He heard from a friend that other Italians were working in the Northern Territory, and he decided to go to Alice Springs. The friend, Oriano Rossi, from Lucca in the province of Lucca in the Toscana region, became a very important person in his life in Australia because he introduced Rino to his wife, Maria Andreoni.

Maria Andreoni – and the importance of photos

Maria Andreoni was born on 9^th October 1927 in Picciorana in the province of Lucca, Tuscany. Both her parents were contadini, living off the land. Maria had five sisters and three brothers. Her family lived in the same large household building with the Rossi family. When Oriano had migrated in 1950, one of the photos that he carried with him to remind him of his home in Picciorana in the province of Lucca, was of Maria Andreoni which he showed to Rino. Picciorana is 76 kms west of Florence.

When he saw Maria’s photo, Rino began writing to her and before long, the couple made the decision to get married in Australia. Maria and her mother travelled to Venice in the period prior to her migration, and they had a photo taken together in St Mark’s Square. Maria sent the photo that had been made into a postcard to send to Rino’s parents in Ciano del Montello.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photo of the extended Andreoni family was taken at the wedding of one of Maria’s sisters. Maria’s parents stand in the front on either side of the bride and groom.

Maria arrived in Melbourne on 17 December 1953, and she was met by Rino. They travelled to Alice Springs via Adelaide where they married on 7^th January 1954. An article in the “Centralian Advocate”, 15 January 1954, recorded details of the wedding.

The couple married at the Catholic Church in Alice Springs. In the newspaper article, Rino was identified as having lived in Australia for 4 years. He was “well known in Alice Springs and at Harts Range where for the last two years he had had his own mica mine.”  On the other hand, the newspaper reported that Maria had been in Australia just three weeks and although Rino had his friend, Oriano Rossi as best man, she did not have an attendant.

 

However, an Italian couple from Mantova, Primo and Dorina Panazza, hosted the reception in their home at Alice Springs which was described as a very happy event with dancing and games after the meal had finished. The article ended with a note about the future: “The happy couple will leave for their home at Harts Range this week and the good wishes of the people of Alice Springs go with them.”

Rino’s working life

Mica mining – Harts Range
In 1951, when Rino arrived in Alice Springs he was advised to go and work in the Mica mines at Harts Ranges, about 150 kilometres north east. Italians had mined there since before World War II. Rino recalled in his interview that there were about seven or eight Italians working there. The work on the mine was difficult and with long hours. “We had to cook ourself, buy rations, for four months … we had a tent, and we made a bough shade to cool off because it was hot… We was working six days a week, and Sunday we was going to get water and wash ourself.”

In partnership with two other Italian men, Oriano Rossi and Francesco Strappazon and an Anglo Australian man, Hector Jenkins, Rino bought a mineral lease of 20 acres in the Harts Range area. They held the lease, which they called ‘Roma’ for two years, 1952 – 1954 and mined mica which was used for insulation in electrical equipment such as toasters and irons.

While Maria and Rino were living and working in Harts Range on the mica mine, Piero was born in September 1954. Dina was born in April 1956.

Coober Pedy
The family moved to Coober Pedy in 1957 and lived in a dug-out for two years. After Rino got buried in an accident and had to have surgery, the family moved to Adelaide in 1959.  Piero remembered the Italian community there had great parties – singing, drinking and speaking Italian.

By the late 1950s there was a strong sense of a multicultural community in Coober Pedy with the arrival of many European migrants, and this created opportunities for people to enjoy some leisure time. In a demonstration of his sense of community, Rino loaned money to the Progress Association to purchase a projector for showing films which were screened twice a week in the community hall which was erected in 1959.^[2]

 A move to Adelaide – and changes for Piero

Another move took the family to Adelaide in 1960 when Piero was six years old and Dina was four years.  Rino and Maria bought the Launceston hotel in Waymouth Street in the west end of the city – it was owned by the SA Brewery Company. Both Rino and Maria worked behind the bar. Maria also cooked meals for lunch, cleaned the hotel and looked after five or six men who were boarders.  Rino supplied beer to the Fogolar Furlan Club on weekends. Many Italians were customers at the hotel and Piero remembers that men arrived after work for a drink or two before the hotel closed at six o’clock, South Australian legislation which did not change until 1966.

The hotel was closed on Sundays, allowing time for Rino and Maria to have time to spend time with Rino’s sister and brother-in-law, Nori and Oreste D’Altio and family at Magill. They mixed also with other Italians including the Urbani family, and members of the Fogolar Furlan Club such as the Di Bez, Fantus and Stocco families.

At the age of eight years, Piero became a boarder at Rostrevor College – “Dad and Mum did not want me to hear all of the unholy words that the Italians were saying after they had a few beers [at the hotel].” He remembers that at first, he missed his family, but he made good friends with other boarders from rural areas and some from overseas.

When his parents visited on Sundays, they brought oysters, ravioli and other special food that made a welcome feast for Piero.

At Rostrevor College, Piero met other students from Italian families and has maintained friendships with them over the years. After he matriculated in 1972, he studied at the South Australian Institute of Technology and completed a Diploma in Business Management. He worked in the public service 40 years before retiring in June 2014.

After Piero retired in 2014, he joined the Trevisani nel Mondo because he felt a connection to the Veneto region since his father was born in the province of Treviso. He became a member of the Veneto Club in 2021 and has been President since 2024.

Dina was a Manager in the South Australian Housing Trust for 40 years. She had two children and has two grandchildren.

Rino’s father and step-mother, Assunta, visited Rino and Maria in Adelaide in about 1964/65 and the extended family enjoyed time together.  Rino and Maria sold the hotel in 1969 and bought a house in Rose Park in a street (Alexandra Avenue) that reminded Maria of the walls of Lucca. Always a man with a vision, Rino worked in Bougainville for two years with a concreting company before he returned to Adelaide and retired. Rino maintained his connections with the Italian friends that he had known for 30 years, and Maria spent most of the time at home catering for events with the family and friends.

The path to marriage

Piero attended dances at the Fogolar Furlan Club and it was there that he met Mary van der Vleut. They married in January 1980 and had three children, Lana, Dean and Leigh. They have six grandchildren (Meisha, Mason, Cole, Beau, Ethan and Sebastian) and really enjoy sharing family occasions.

Family values

Piero reflected on the values that were important to his parents. He said that he learned about love of family, respect for others and the importance of being involved with the community, especially with Italian clubs. Rino and Maria maintained Italian customs especially at Easter and Christmas and passed these onto Piero and Dina.

His father returned to Italy when his father died in 1986. Maria went about seven times, and in this way, maintained very strong links to her family in Lucca.

Rino died in April 1996, and Maria died in October 2008.

 Connections to Italy

Piero feels strongly about his Italian heritage and refers to his parents and their connection to their families and places of birth in Italy.

In 1974, aged 20 years, Piero went to Italy for the first time. He spent time with both sides of his family.

“It was wonderful meeting my nonno and nonna from Lucca in Tuscany as well as seeing my nonno and step-nonna again from Ciano del Montebello in the province of Treviso.” My grandparents in Lucca were so wonderful to me. They opened their arms and took me around to meet my zii and cugini (aunts and uncles and cousins).”

 

Piero and Mary have visited Italy several times and keep in contact with his cousins from Ciano del Montello and Lucca.

Piero says that “Italy is the land of my father and mother and is in my blood one hundred percent.”

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Piero Fioretti and Madeleine Regan
23 November 2025

All family photos provided by Piero.

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^[1] National Archives of Australia (NAA) record – NAA: A1200, L30950.

^[2] The Coober Pedy Regional Times (3 December 2015)

Sources for the story

• Transcript of interview with Rino Fioretti recorded by David Hugo in Adelaide on 14 December 1993, about Mica mining in Central Australia. (Northern Territory Archives Service – Oral History Unit: NTRS 1730; Item: TS 9208)
• Notes – Piero Fioretti
• “Centralian Advocate,” (Alice Springs) 15 January 1954, page 8.
• “Coober Pedy Regional Times,” 3 December 2015, page 9.
• National Archives of Australia – NAA: A1200, L30950.

The feature photo above shows Guido, Candida, with Paul, Ann and Lina,
outside their home in Airdrie Ave, Seaton, c 1974.

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From the age of 16 years old, Guido had a desire to work with community groups. At that time, he became a leader of a youth group in his parish at Montebelluna in the province of Treviso.

 

 

The parish provided activities and opportunities for developing leadership and companionship for young people in the village.

 

From Montebelluna…

Guido Cavallin was born at Montebelluna in the province of Treviso on 16 July 1939. He was the youngest of four children of Teresa Binotto and Angelo Cavallin. He grew up in an old house with his extended family – about 15 people altogether.

His parents were contadini and grew wheat and corn. The family kept oxen to pull the plough to cultivate the land and there were four cows and some pigs. In about 1956, Guido’s father built a new house with money lent by an aunt whose husband had died in World War I.

 

 

 

 

 

After primary school, Guido completed three years of secondary school and two years learning the trade of fitter and turner. In June 1957, he started work as a boilermaker-welder in a factory at Treviso about 20 kilometres away, and a train ride which made for a very long day. He remembers that he left home at 5:00 am to catch a train and returned at 9:00 pm.

Migration to Australia

Looking back, Guido felt he had no choice but to migrate – “I could see no future.” His working life was hard, and he had seen the opportunities that had opened up for his older brother, Marcello, who had migrated to Australia in 1952. He wanted to be able to help his parents pay off their house and thought this would be possible if he migrated. In 1960, sponsored by his brother, Guido migrated to Adelaide. Guido lived with Marcello and his wife, Imelda, in Airdrie Avenue, Seaton for five years until he married.

Meeting Candida Pellizzari…

Guido met Candida Pellizzari through his brother and sister-in-law. Candida’s parents were from Caerano San Marco and she was six years old when the family arrived in Adelaide in 1949. When Guido met Candida, she worked in the Commonwealth Bank and she helped him with his English in the early years. From teacher, Candida became girlfriend, then wife!

 

They married on 30 October 1965 and moved into the partly completed house which Guido and his brother had begun building  at 1 Airdrie Avenue, a year before.

 

Guido and Candida had three children, Paul, Ann and Lina, all of whom live in Adelaide with their families. Guido has six grandchildren.

Working life in Adelaide

Guido’s first job in Adelaide was at Horsell and Jarmyn at Hilton as a Special Class Welder and he stayed there from March 1960 to 1975 becoming a Leading Hand in 1973. He wanted to gain different employment and by studying at night school for four years, he gained qualifications in radio and TV servicing although it was not possible to get employment in that area.

Following his ambition to work with community, Guido considered opportunities that would enable him to assist Italian migrants as they settled in Australia. He took on more part-time study while he worked, and after five years, gained an Associate Diploma in Interpreting and Translating.

Community Information Officer

In 1975, following 15 years of working as a boilermaker and welder, Guido was employed as Community Information Officer with the Italian Catholic Federation (ICF), a role funded by the Commonwealth Government. In this role, he provided information and interpreting and translating services. Candida also helped in the office. At this time in Australia, translating and interpreting services were limited. He recalled, “Perhaps my willingness to assist in every possible way gained the trust of many fellow migrants towards me.”

In 1975, Guido began studying for Level 3 Interpreter qualifications at the Institute of Technology (now University of Adelaide); a qualification that he gained in 1980. 

1980 – 2001 Woodville Council

Guido continued his work as Community Information Officer and was employed by the then Woodville Council from 1980 when the Council took over the Government grant. He held the job for 21 years until 2001.

He became a Justice of the Peace in 1981 and through this role, assisted a countless number of people to certify documents and witness legal matters. Guido worked in this role part-time after retirement until early 2025

 

Earlier in 2025, Guido received a  commendation from the South Australian Government acknowledging  his 43 years of service as a Justice of the Peace.

 

In 1990 Guido received a SA Great Performance Award through the Woodville Council for outstanding work with the Italian community.

 

Involvement in the Seaton parish

When he arrived in Adelaide, Guido joined the Gleneagles parish on Grange Road. At the time, the church was used by the school during the week. On Fridays after school finished, volunteers removed the desks and replaced them with chairs for Mass on Sundays.

In 1961, the Scalabrini athers accepted an invitation from the Archbishop of Adelaide to take on the parish. It was a significant step because so many Italian-speaking people living in the area appreciated the additional pastoral care that Italian priests could offer parishioners. It became the Mater Christi parish.

In 1967, the Scalabrinian priests established a branch of the Italian Catholic Federation (ICF),  and Guido took on roles as Treasurer and Secretary. The goals of the Federation were to support the family and the identity of Italian Australians.

As a member of Mater Christi Parish Pastoral Council, Guido contributed to discussions and planning for the new parish church which was inaugurated in 1978. He was acknowledged as ‘confratello’, a member of the Scalabrinian Lay movement.

 Member of Italian Australian organisations

Guido was involved in a range of Italian organisations in Adelaide including COASIT (Comitato di Assistenza Italiano) and the initial Radio Italiana committee. He hosted a weekly morning program for a time and provided information about services available to Italian migrants.

Trevisani nel Mondo

In 1982, Guido took an active role in the establishment of the Trevisani nel Mondo in Adelaide and has maintained the position of Secretary since then. Trevisani nel Mondo has 12 groups in Australia who maintain contact with Treviso through a monthly magazine.

He recalled his motivation for his involvement, “I was very much involved in parish work, and I could see the need to support Italian migrants especially those who were newly arrived.” The Trevisani nel Mondo gave people from the province of Treviso a sense of identity and offered friendship and opportunities to speak dialect. He recalled that at the first meeting held at the Veneto Club there were about 50 people. Guido was a Foundation member of the Veneto Club and worked behind the bar for a couple of years as a volunteer. He enjoyed the opportunity to mix with other Veneti at the Club at Beverley.

Visits to Italy

Guido has made several visits to Italy which have been important for reconnecting with family. The first time he returned to Italy in 1970 he supported the family looking after his father who was ill. Guido recalls that he realised how much he had lost by having migrated as a young man. He said that he “felt like a stranger”.

In 1973, Guido and Candida planned to take the three children to join the celebrations for the 50^thwedding anniversary of Guido’s parents. Sadly, his father died three months before. Guido was very sad – “I really regretted that my father could not meet Candida – and our children.” The family delayed their trip and went in 1974.

 

In 1986, Guido planned a significant event with the Trevisani nel Mondo. He organised a memorable trip to Italy with  55 members of the Trevisani nel Mondo from Adelaide. The trip was made possible through   grants from the Trevisani nel Mondo in the province of Treviso and also from the Veneto Region.

Guido was responsible for making all kinds of arrangements for the travellers including daily excursions in the Veneto region.

In 1990 he organised another trip for the Trevisani nel Mondo to America, Canada and Italy with 20 members of the Association.

 

Guido and Candida also travelled to Italy in 2009.

Life in retirement

In retirement Guido enjoys a full life involving his family, friends, gardening, participation in Trevisani nel Mondo meetings and events, and as a parishioner at Mater Christi, Seaton. He enjoys spending time with his family and occasionally he makes pasta with his granddaughters and watches his grandson play soccer. He uses one of Candida’s recipes to make lasagne. Guido also makes wine each year with the help of his family.

Guido has always loved gardening, and his garden is testament to his passion today with seasonal vegetables, fruit trees and chickens and a large collection of orchid plants.

The Trevisani nel Mondo meetings and events are very important to Guido and he assists with annual events such as the Castagnata (Chestnut Festival), Pio Decimo (Feast of Pope Pius X, patron of Trevisani nel Mondo) and the popular Christmas picnic. He attends a weekly gathering at the home of one of the Trevisani men. It’s called the ‘Piano Bar’, and it is an opportunity to share stories and enjoy speaking the old dialect.

Guido continues to be a parishioner at the Mater Christi Parish.

Candida died in July 2019, and it was a great sadness for Guido and the family to experience her loss in their lives. Guido says that he never forgets that he was able to achieve so much in his life with the assistance and encouragement of his wife, Candida over 53 years.

Reflections
Guido reflects and states that he has continued to learn through his life. He says proudly that he has lived all his life in Adelaide – 65 years – in the same street! Airdrie Avenue, Seaton became the foundation for his marriage and family, and all the work he has undertaken in the community even after his retirement. He has a sense of being a member of a village because he knows so many Italian people who live in the area. Guido believes that it is rewarding to give assistance to the community, and he is grateful to feel connected with the place where he has lived and worked with people for many years.

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Guido Cavallin, Ann Gunter nee Cavallin, Lina Court nee Cavallin,
Madeleine Regan
9 November 2025

Photos provided by Guido and family.

 

In this blog you will read about Maureen Brown,
a young woman whose family was from the Riverland in South Australia, and Mario Griguol, a young man from Meduna di Livenza
in the Veneto region, and their life together.
The couple met in Adelaide in 1955 and married in 1959.

The photo above features Mario and Maureen with their family,
Back: Debra and Rosalee, Front: Steven and Paula, c 1970.

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When Maureen Brown saw Mario Griguol for the first time in 1955, it really was ‘love at first sight!’ She was 16 years old, out window shopping in Rundle Street with a friend. She even remembers that it was a Sunday! Maureen saw two young men in a black Holden including a very handsome one, ‘Mario’, wearing a leather jacket. It did not take long for Mario and Maureen to become romantically involved. And like all young couples, they went on many dates together.

Maureen’s early life

Maureen was born on 9^th March 1939 at Berri hospital where her family had a fruit block in Lyrup. She was the youngest of seven children and, when she was 2 years old, the family moved to Alberton in Adelaide. She left school at 14 years and began working in a local workshop making men’s clothing.

 

She enjoyed her work and stayed in that job until soon after she married. Maureen had a varied social life with friends as a young woman – going to see movies and listening to rock and roll.

 

Mario and the Griguol family

Mario – born on 21 May 1935, in Meduna di Livenza in the Province of Treviso, was one of six children. His parents, Giuseppe and Rosa, arrived in Australia in March 1949 with their children and went first to New Residence near Loxton where Giuseppe had a job as the main gardener for a local family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The family was ready to move to Adelaide when, 10 months after migrating to Australia, Rosa died at 45 years of age never getting to see their new home. After Mario moved to Adelaide, he lived in the Tonellato vagon (railway carriage) on Frogmore Road, Kidman Park for some time, with his future brother-in-law, Rinaldo (Lalo) Zamberlan.

At 15, Mario worked at various jobs. He was keen to learn English and in 1950, attended night school.  The photo below published in ‘The News’, features Mario participating in a class with two other young Italian men.

Maureen recalls that Mario delivered for Miller Andersons Department Store and did concreting on weekends with his family.  Early in their marriage, Mario studied drafting at night school as he knew that work and education were important to get ahead.

Mario’s early employment was with a concrete business and in the period that he and Maureen were courting, he worked in country areas. Maureen recalled that when he was in places like Port Lincoln for some weeks, they exchanged letters and phone calls to each other. Maureen remembered feeling part of the Griguol family early on, “It was lovely that the Griguols welcomed me so warmly into their family”.

 The path to marriage

Mario and Maureen enjoyed each other’s company. They often went to the movies or the drive-in. Her parents liked Mario immediately and were pleased with Maureen’s choice of a man with good character. They went out together for four years before they married in 1959. Maureen was about to turn 20 and Mario was 24 years old.

Maureen became a Catholic before the wedding. Her friend, Lorraine, was bridesmaid and Mario’s best man was Bruno Piovesan, from a Veneto market gardener family on Frogmore Road. After the wedding at the Hindmarsh Catholic Church, the reception was held in the Tonellato’s packing shed.

 Houses and family

The young couple started their married life on Frogmore Road, Kidman Park in the house of Mario’s sister and brother-in-law (Lea and Orlando (Nano) Tonellato). Maureen and Mario’s first child, Rosalee was born in 1959, followed by Debra, in 1961, Paula, in 1964 and Steven in 1966.

The family moved several times in the initial years. Mario and one of his sisters, Silvana and his brother, Toni and families built adjoining houses at Waterloo Corner. The three families shared a lot of time together. Mario had his own building company, MG Constructions, for many years.

The next move was to One Tree Hill where Mario built a house on 15 acres. Mario and Maureen had horses, beef cattle, chickens and a dog on the property.

 Family life

Mario loved the outdoors. He took the family on many trips to the Riverland where he taught the children to water ski from a boat that he had built.

The family also went to the Flinders Ranges during the September school holidays. The children used to call their Dad, ‘Harry Butler’ because of his love of the country and bush. Mario encouraged his brothers and sisters with their families to join them on their many trips to Loxton or the Flinders.

Maureen and Mario were actively involved in the Catholic parish in Virginia. Dedicated parishioners, they helped in all aspects of the church including the construction of the presbytery.

Extended Griguol family

Maureen wholeheartedly embraced her new Italian culture, and with Mario, raised their children in Veneto customs and traditions. The Griguol families had a tradition of going on regular picnics. On one occasion the cousins enjoyed time together in the portable swimming pool that Maureen and Mario made from canvas.

The extended Griguol family celebrated special occasions together. For example, there were gatherings at Easter and Christmas at Botanic and Rymill Parks where the men played bocce and the women talked while the children played.

In 1996, Rose Noble, daughter of Antonio (Toni) and Maria Griguol and author of the family history book, Polenta in Australia,[1] organised a family reunion at Melrose. It was 47 years since the family had arrived in Adelaide.

Veneto Club

Mario was a Foundation member of the Veneto Club and had contributed his labour to the construction of the Club at Beverley. Before he was voted as President, he was a member of the fourth Committee in 1975.

Elected President for five terms between 1976 and 2002, Mario enjoyed the opportunity to lead the Club and involve families in events.

Maureen said that the “Veneto Club was his community, and he was very passionate about what it meant to Veneto migrants in Adelaide.”

Daughters, Debra and Paula, agreed that Mario was a natural-born leader who would volunteer himself in activities that were important to him, his children, the Veneto Club and the Catholic parish.

Maureen became involved in the Veneto Club through playing netball, waiting on tables and assisting in the kitchen. She recalled that she “had a ball” at the Club and she is thankful for the close friendships made over the years. When Mario was President, she went to all the functions and recalls receiving large quantities of decorative flowers as the President’s wife.

 Connections to Italy

Through his sisters, Mario maintained contact with relatives in Meduna di Livenza.  He and Maureen made their first visit there in the mid 1980s and met up with Mario’s brother Toni and sister-in-law, Maria. Maureen remembered that it was a very emotional time for Mario as it was the first time he had been back since the family migrated in 1949. She said, “the relatives were overjoyed to see us and welcomed us with gracious hospitality”.

Mario and Maureen’s three daughters have visited Meduna di Livenza over the years and saw the house in which he grew up in, a very moving time for each of them.

Maureen learned to cook Italian food, eager to please her husband, learning from his sisters along the way. The family also kept Easter and Christmas traditions. Two of her daughters met their future husbands at the Veneto Club adding a stronger connection to their Veneto heritage with its values and culture.

 Maureen’s reflections

Maureen reflected on her life with Mario and spoke about her memories, “They will never leave me.” She recalls that at the heart of his life were three important things – family, the Church and the Veneto Club. Both Mario and Maureen involved themselves deeply in each of those aspects. Mario died in 2005.

Today Maureen enjoys spending time with her children – “they are my life now.” She has 13 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. She regularly attends the luncheons at the Veneto Club and loves the connections which she made so many years ago.

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Maureen Griguol, Debra Griguol Brombal, Paula Griguol Berno,
Madeleine Regan
26 October 2025

All photos supplied by the family.

[1] Rose Noble, Polenta in Australia: The Story of Giuseppe and Rosa Griguol and their Family, 1996.