Telling the story of the Colombo Club, how it came to be and how it has grown and changed over the years, is a worthwhile task. If no one ever stops to remember what happened way back when, we will lose a valuable piece of our identity as an Italian organization. Once the memory is gone, it will be all but impossible to recover.

Soon the Colombo Club will celebrate its 100th anniversary; I am in the process getting a group of people together to write the story of the “100 Years of the Colombo Club.” We have a document at the Club that recalls the first 55 years of the Club, but nothing about years 56 through 100. I have found information in the meeting notes and other documents, but I need your help.

1. I am looking for family stories about your history with the Club–timelines, pictures, stories, documents. Please make sure that any of your pictures are copies, since I cannot guarantee that I will be able to get them back to you.
2. I would like to know more about the Charter Members of the Club (listed here). Do you have a picture of any of these men or know what they did for a living? Do you know if any of their family members are still members of the Club? For example, my grandfather, Pietro Puppione, owned a janitorial business and lived on Webster Street. His son, my father Valentino was a member, I am a member and my two sons, Chris and Bobby, are members.
   My grandmother, Lucia Puppione, was a member of the Women’s Auxiliary.
3. We have the past presidents’ pictures, but I would appreciate hearing more about these men and what they accomplished during their service to the Club as president.
4. Did you attend a special event at the Club? What was it and when was it?
5. Did your family have some kind of special event at the Club (e.g., a wedding, retirement party, reunion, anniversary, etc.)?
6. Were you at the Club when a celebrity or sports figure visited the Club? What was the event? For example, were you at the Club when Rocky Marciano or Joe DiMaggio came to the Club? What do you remember about that night?
7. Were you or a family member of yours a cook, waiter, officer of the Club, or a member who was involved in many activities? What did they do? Do you have a picture of them? Personal stories and family pictures will add to the richness of this document.
8. I will also be asking the Women’s Auxiliary to add a chapter on their rich history in the Club.
9. If you think that this is a project you would like to be involved in (e.g., conducting interviews with some of our most senior members for an oral history, researching old newspapers or minutes of Board and Assembly meetings, or doing some writing or proofreading), please let me know by the end of March. I would like to have a meeting of all who would like to be involved at an agreed upon evening in April.

After finishing writing the “100 Years of the Colombo Club,” we would like to make this document available to every Club member. If you would like to contribute some information or pictures for this document, please email the information to me at rpuppione@gmail.com or send the information and pictures to Rich Puppione, Colombo Club History Project, 5321 Claremont Ave., Oakland, CA 94618.

Grazie Tanto,
Rich Puppione, Past President