If you grew up in Troy in the 50s and 60s, you will remember the city as full of special places - distinct neighborhoods - made up of several ethnic groups ranging from Polish, Irish, German, Jews, and Italians, to name a few. It was the Italian community that I remember well, since I lived at the beginning of Troy's "Little Italy," on Congress and 4th. I attended Kindergarten and first grades at St. Anthony's School on 5th Avenue (does anyone have a photo of the school?), and later second and third grades at the newer school on 4th, near State. I also attended mass at St. Anthony's Church every Sunday. My Cousin David and I even tried a stint on being Altar Boys. Fortunately, the church didn't fall down.

It was a much different time in many ways, but perhaps most importantly, it was a neighborhood where everyone looked out for everyone else, regardless if you liked it or not! You could run up a bill at Cuzzo's on Third and pay it later when your dad got his paycheck. We listened to rock bands playing the latest hits at the Archway on 4th. Ok, calling them rock bands may be stretching it, but it was there that I played my first "gig" as a drummer, at age 8 - to a Buddy Holly medley. The three-piece band, name forgotten, probably never recovered from that one.

There were Italian grocery stores on many street corners, sometimes filling all four buildings in an intersection! Walk into any of them and you could see and smell balls of cheese hanging from the rafters, or the aroma of wooden barrels loaded with imported olives. Pepperoni sticks and pasta were made on the premises, and the best pizza cost 49 cents a pie. My favorites pies came from Patricellies on Congress, across from the Taylor Apartments ("the Projects"), or The Red Front.

If you were lucky, you knew someone who lived over in the Haverman's Avenue area so you could stop in for dinner, or fresh tomatoes with salt and pepper, or fresh buttered Italian bread hot from the oven. If you were even luckier, a little hit on some home grown wine was possible as long as you didn't tell your mother!

A little over a year ago, Rocco DeFazio, who was born and grew up in Troy's Little Italy, had a dream of bringing back this way of life. He was determined to reclaim the area and hopefully the sense of place we all knew as kids. If you attended the first annual conference on Little Italy, held last week at RPI, you would have found out that there are many high-powered people who share his vision.

Many older northeastern cities had or continue to have a Little Italy within their borders. Italians came to America during the 19th century to work and raise a family, seeking a better life, and many worked and died building many of our best bridges, canals, roads, and buildings along the way.

Rocco and company brought to Troy some of the people who have worked hard in keeping their Little Italy section alive and prosperous, from various areas like the Bronx, Endicott, Philadelphia, and even Providence, Rhode Island. Each speaker discussed their own unique Little Italy and offered suggestions to those in attendance on how not to fail in resurrecting ours.

Before those featured speakers made an appearance, the crowd heard from some fellow Italians, half-Italians, and "adopted" Italians, including Senator Joe Bruno, Lt. Governor Mary Donohue, Rensselaer County Supervisor Kathy Jimino, Assemblymen Paul Tonko, Congressman Michael McNulty, and Senator Hillary Clinton who even brought with her the Ambassador from Italy.

All delivered passionate remarks about the need to reestablish our ethnic ties and many, including Senator Clinton, stayed to allow participants to meet her and have photos taken. Considering how busy the Senator is these days, taking time to come to Troy was a special treat for those in attendance, and considering how frequently she has been to Troy, it shows she has a real commitment to the city. It was the Senator who called Rocco and offered to help after reading a newspaper article about his vision to reestablish Little Italy.

It this post-911 world, many people are reevaluating their lives and coming to the same conclusion that we have abandoned our communities and the human bonds that are more important than fast track careers, cell phones, and heated car seats. If the Little Italy conference does anything, it has brought to the forefront the need to reestablish those ties. I wish Rocco much success since Troy and the rest of the Nation can only benefit.

In the meantime, I'm brushing off my Dean Martin collection. That's Amore!