| 9 | The Camillo Story |
From Melbourne to Rome
In this period the family met up with Sabina Ledda, a
lady from a far off and unknown island called Sardinia, which was to
become very important in their lives in the future. In fact it was
Sabina's saying "If you ever get to Italy, go and visit my home-town
Santulussurgiu", that changed many destinies in the Camillo family.
Life in Beaconsfield Parade was very pleasant for the
Camillos; being right on the sea, providing a healthy, sporty atmosphere.
The adequate grounds and facilities of their home became a weekly meeting
place for their many friends to have a swim, barbecue and unending games
of table-tennis. To be remembered are, the Italian Consul, the Marquis
Giorgio Serafini and son Camillo (a first name, no relation), Renato and
Bianca Pompei, Iole and Sereno (See
group photo), the Bevinis who later returned to Italy, Shirley
McLean,
Fred Glueck, Norma Benjamin, the Venturonis, Peg Macmahon and Rina's very
dear friend from childhood, Fanně Borsari of the Cester
family.
Fanně
Borsari - click to enlarge
Fanně Cester married a visiting Olympic Games cyclist, Nino Borsari, had
two children, Diana and Ninino and successfully ran two shops in Lygon
Street Carlton, a jewellery and a sporting equipment
shop.
At this point many of Dino's brothers and sisters had joined him in Australia and they frequently got together. (See group photo of Camillo Brothers' family) Dino and Rina's house was always open at the weekend to receive their many friends and many celebrities from Italy would make a courtesy call at the Camillo's.
Primo
Carnera, a jesting Nino Borsari, Dino and another visiting wrestler
Camillo Serafini lived in with the Camillos for six
months, to enable him to finish his schooling in Australia, as his father
returned to Italy at the end of his term as Consul in Melbourne.
One of Dino's occasional hobbies was oil painting, dating from his marriage and his honeymoon in Sorrento (Victoria). Click here for some immages of his works.
It is interesting to note that in Australia, the
firstborn to Italian migrants often renounce their Italian heritage and
completely refuse that culture. Laurence was no exception and an early age
actually even refused to eat polenta and spaghetti for that reason. At
home the main language was English and the children's Italian was limited
to a scant Veneto dialect. Fortunately this phase began to recede and
Laurence reluctantly accepted his first lessons in the Italian language
from Bianca Pompei. This was the first step in a major change in attitude
towards Italy, that was to come over Laurence. Together
with his sisters, he would spend his school holidays with his grandparents
in Myrtleford, enjoying many Huckelberry Finn-type adventures with the
neighbouring Bianco brothers. Myrtleford also represented an important
contact for Laurence with the Italian community.
The second step was taken when he met a cousin who had
just arrived as a migrant from Italy. This was Peter Revrenna, a few years
his senior and the son of Savina, the sister of Laurence's grandmother.
Peter enthralled Laurence with his tales of Italy and the Italian way of
dressing, dancing and of charming the ladies, in which Peter was quite an
expert.
Following Peter around, both by day and night, Laurence learned
much and acquired a new insight on life, that it was not necessarily based
only on beer drinking. Laurence became so enthusiastic about the Italian
culture and history that he eventually decided to live in Italy, though he
did retain a certain longing for his home country.
In 1958
Dino made a short trip to Italy to visit his father, which served to
revoke a long forgotten home-sickness for his mother country, which he
never afterwards could get over. On this trip he met up with Yole and
Sereno, a couple who lived across the road in Beaconsfield Parade and they
visited many places together, generally having a very good time. Dino
appreciated the pleasant Italian way of life, very relaxed, with good food
and wine, very different to pre-war and early after-war Italy that Dino
knew. Once back in Melbourne, Dino would often gaze from the window and
say: “Ah, but in Italy...”.
This nostalgia induced him in 1960 to make another trip to Italy, this time with a business acquaintance, Bill Shier, owner of a large motel chain in Australia. Their purpose was to examine the business potential of a motel in Italy, as this type of hotel was relatively unknown in that country. They subsequently decided to proceed and Dino ceded the firm Camillo Bros. to his cousin Beppi Crema, who continued the name and tradition well into the future. When his sons matured, Romeo, Luigi and Luciano as architect, they joined him in the business and took it to far greater fame, to become one of the biggest construction companies of Melbourne. See www.crema.com.au
Beppi
Crema
In Rome, Dino purchased two hectares of land in a
strategic location in Rome, on the Via Aurelia at the intersection with
the Great Ring Road and eventually commenced construction. Here Dino had
his first confrontation with Italian Bureaucracy, but courageously fought
on, obtaining the necessary building permits well after that the Motel
Boomerang, for that was its name, had been finished and opened.
During excavations, some ancient Roman ruins came to
light, but just as quickly, went back to darkness, for fear of Italian
Bureaucracy halting construction for years on end. For the records, under
the lawns around the swimming pool, are buried several marble sarcophagus
lids, as well as other remnants and in the back yard by the chicken pens,
lies the tomb of a 12 year old child, an ex-inhabitant of the Roman villa
that once stood there 2000 years ago.
Needless to say, Bill and Dino had chosen well and the motel was a grand
success. Dino remained to manage it and brought over from Australia all of
his family to stay with him. At the time, Jiannina was 14 and went to the
English Saint Georges school. Ivana was 16 and attended the American
Business School and then worked for three years in the Canadian Embassy.
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