Salvatore Rizzo's Descendants

In Person!!

Through this blog I've received a chance I never thought I would have - to actually meet some of the family of Salvatore Rizzo! Here's how it happened:

One day recently, a man named Sam Rizzo was talking to his nephew Dan Rizzo. Sam was telling Dan all about his grandfather who had a little marionette theater in the old days. It was in the Italian neighborhood called 'the Hooks', down on Buffalo's waterfront. Sam remembers many things from the time when he was a boy and tells colorful, fascinating stories about those times. And Dan was fascinated, and when he went home, he decided to look online to see if he could find out any more about that marionette theater. A Google search turned up this blog. He then contacted me, and was I excited! 

So that is how I met Sam and Dan Rizzo.

Sam Rizzo

Dan Rizzo

To meet some of Salvatore's family is more than I would have dared hope when I began this blog. In a prior post, there is a picture of Salvatore and one of his sons displaying some of the marionettes behind the Dante Place theater. That son was Anthony, who also had three sons, and three daughters. Anthony's sons were Sam, pictured above, Joseph, and Frank. Dan is the son of Joseph.

I asked Sam if he remembered any of his grandfather's neighbors and friends from Dante Place. Among the names he told me was this one: Scaduto. Here is a drawing made by a newspaper sketch artist in May of 1930.

 There are many more stories to tell about Dante Place and the wonderful marionette theater, but I will close this post with a picture of Salvatore Rizzo taken when he was (maybe) in his thirties.  I think I see a little family resemblance; how about you?