Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge about 9:30 am we were greeted with clear skies and diamonds on the Bay. As we weaved our way through the Marina to the meeting place on Northpoint between Stockton Street and the Embarcadero it seemed impossible that we had lived out of the City for forty-one years. This day it seemed like we never left.

Marilyn and I were the first to arrive in our 1962 Buick Skylark convertible. Soon John Bettencourt in his ‘32 Ford Roadster with Nell Richmond joined us. Gary Barrango in his 1930 Model A Roadster with his wife Cheryl, daughter Janelle, and grandson Vincent riding on his knee were the next to arrive. Then came President Barry Kinney in his ‘57 T-Bird with 95 year old Father Armand Oliveri, Donald Barnes in his 1937 Cadillac with Charlie Kascal and Victoria Acosta, Bob Fiorito driving Gary’s ‘30 Model A Town Sedan along with his wife Poula, and Walter Caplan and Steve Owsley in Walter’s 1930 Model A Sedan.

Soon after the arrival of the Barrangos wine tasting began, quickly followed by foccacia and brownies, which led to more serious wine drinking.

The Parade officially started at 11 am. Seeing our group was numbers 50 - 56 we started moving at 12:30 pm. The route took us along Fisherman’s Wharf passing cheering crowds. We had been given bags of candy to toss to the children - that we did sparingly . . . it’s a long Parade. As we entered Columbus Avenue our momentum came to a halt. Two of our group began to acquire overheating problems and headed for the side streets. The closer we got to Washington Square the more the Italian the spectators became. Happy people left their seats at the sidewalk cafe tables to gather the candy being bestowed on them. Grown men were seen running into the streets chasing the bubbles being sent into the air from the Bubble machine in the ‘62 Buick – all too happy to give thanks by filling our empty wine glasses. Passing the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club and the viewing stands on Washington Square and then rounding the corner onto Filbert with Saints Peter and Paul Church looking down on us it was wonderful to see the nuns waving out the windows next door. I hope they were nuns.

The Barrangos and the Chiottis found parking right on the corner of Filbert and Powell next to the fire hydrant. For here Manhattans were dispersed in the true Italian fashion (pre-mixed) as we watched the remaining parade entrees pass.

A Great Time was had by all. Looking forward to next year.

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