Summerland Museum shares a look back at a group of friends in 1930 who were part of the Italian-Canadian community

Photo: Summerland Museum & Archives Society

Ths image, taken around 1930, shows (left to right) Luccio, Bill, Camillo Gaspardone, and his cousin Camelo Ongaro.

The Summerland Museum & Archives Society shared a peek back this week at a group photo taken nearly 100 years ago.

The image, which the museum said was taken around 1930, shows (left to right) Luccio, Bill, Camillo Gaspardone, and his cousin Camelo Ongaro.

"We think the guys look extremely dapper and ready to have some fun (although we do wonder how many of those bottles of beer Bill has already consumed to be standing at such an angle!)! Carmelo in particular looks ready for an adventure in his motorcycle attire. The cap and goggles are a far cry from today's motorbike helmets," they shared in a social media post.

Carmelo Ongaro (Kay to his friends) had come to Canada from Italy and arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Feb. 2 1925.

The 23-year-old then travelled to Kelowna where he joined a growing Italian-Canadian community.

According to the museum, he worked in Kelowna for three years, before settling in Summerland in 1928.

"Initially, Carmelo worked in the Summerland Box Factory, before taking a job at the Steuart Orchards where he worked for the next 30 years. In 1937, Carmelo married Mary Betuzzi at the Catholic Church, and the couple went on to have two children, Max and Jo Ann."

Ongaro was a motorcycle enthusiast—a passion which the museum said ended up almost costing him his life.

"In November 1934 Carmelo was involved in a serious accident, colliding with a truck on the highway between Peachland and Westbank," they added.

"Carmelo was travelling with Rita Biagioni as his passenger. Both Carmelo and Rita were severely hurt; Rita suffered breaks to both legs, while Carmelo had both arms and legs broken and serious head injuries. Luckily the pair both recovered from their injuries."

Before coming to Canada, Ongaro worked as a travelling minstrel in Italy and the museum currently has his banjo/mandolin in their collections.

"This hybrid instrument has interchangeable necks which allowed the musician to change the instrument from a guitar to a mandolin to a banjo."

The museum thanked the Ongaro family for adding to their information about the Italian-Canadian community in Summerland through their "generous donation of photographs, the banjo/mandolin, and oral histories."

The photo is one of many that were just recently added to their digital photo collection, which can be found on their website here.

The Summerland Museum & Archives Society shares photos and information from their archives every week for Throwback Thursday on their social media, which can be found online here.