Poggioreale in America co-founder Tina Todaro Tondola Anderson was awarded an Honorary Citizenship Certificate by the Comune di Poggioreale dated January 9, 2025, prior to her passing. This is a special honor for a non-citizen to receive and is well deserved.

 

Thank you to Pietro Maniscalco and Lina Maiorana of Sydney Australia and Poggioreale for their assistance with this endeavor to honor Tina.

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Translation:

 

“Signed by the Mayor of Poggioreale, Carmelo Palermo” Recognition of Honorary Citizenship to Mrs. Christine M. (Tina) Tondola Anderson."

 

Born in Chicago, Illinois, she is originally from Poggioreale. Her maternal grandfather, Salvatore Todaro, emigrated from Poggioreale, first to Texas and then to Chicago.

 

Christine M. (Tina) Tondola Anderson is a graduate of Northeastern Illinois University and holds a Master of Arts in Administration and Education from Northwestern University.

 

She is a former educator, school board member and retired businesswoman. She co-founded the Poggioreale in America Association in early 2018 along with her cousin Ross Todaro, Jr., originally from Bryan, Texas.

 

The group was created to provide historical, educational and genealogical benefits to all American descendants of Poggioreale and students of Sicilian origin and culture. They have created and developed a Facebook page that has nearly 1,600 followers.

 

Christine M. (Tina) Tondola Anderson started, wrote, and maintains the Poggioreale in America website, which has over 26,000 visitors.

 

She has developed a series of articles and personal stories written by PIA members, including "Personal Memories of Poggioreale," "The Immigrant Story Collection," and "Illustrious Poggiorealesi." In 2024, she established a quarterly newsletter with articles written by PIA members, emailed to members free of charge.

 

She has founded a Poggioreale in America junior group to encourage younger generations of descendants to take an interest in their Sicilian heritage.

 

She has established a scholarship program that awards monetary prizes to high school and college students, requiring them to write about their Sicilian Poggioreale heritage.

 

She has registered PIA as a 501C3 nonprofit organization. Organized the 2019, 2022, and 2025 Poggioreale in America gatherings. The 2019 gathering featured special guests such as Cav. Pietro Maniscalco and the mayor pro tempore of Poggioreale, Mimmo Cangelosi.

 

Published and sold an annual calendar featuring photographs of old and new Poggioreale. Published a series of historical books of Poggioreale in America (currently 3 books, with a fourth coming soon). Translated two books from Italian and Sicilian into English and personally translated the third.

 

Supervised book research, obtained permits, found translators, and edited the format and development for publication. Established an Advisory Board of Poggioreale descendants and friends and associates in Sicily.

Organized fundraisers to support the costs of maintaining the website, funding scholarships, developing projects useful to the city and people of Poggioreale, publishing and translating books, printing calendars, and covering bank charges.

 

She has built many friendships and contacts with current and former Poggiorealesi around the world, in other Sicilian cities and in the United States, who have provided her with information, suggestions, projects to consider, assistance with many of her ideas and plans, as well as donations. We will never know how many people have benefited from her determined effort to build this community.

 

“Whereas, therefore, - writes Mayor Carmelo Palermo - Christine M. (Tina) Tondola Anderson has devoted great effort and dedication to supporting and promoting the Sicilian heritage of Poggioreale throughout the world, in order to preserve and safeguard its identity, providing historical, educational and genealogical benefits to all American descendants of Poggioreale and students of Sicilian origin and culture. For all these important reasons, it is deemed appropriate to confer honorary citizenship upon her." To Christine M. (Tina) Tondola Anderson, Mayor Carmelo Palermo presented a commemorative parchment. “As a sign of affection - wrote the mayor - and gratitude of all the citizens of Poggioreale”.

 

The city council of Poggioreale also voted unanimously in favor of the "acknowledgement of the recognition of honorary citizenship to Mrs. Christine M. (Tina) Tondola Anderson." In particular, the minority councilor Lorenzo Pagliaroli "fully applauded and shared" the measure signed by Mayor Palermo.

 

"The important thing - exclaimed Pagliaroli - that Tina did was to unite the descendants of Poggioreale under an association, and this was something new, and the other new thing was to invite the then mayor Cangelosi to attend this event. I hope, Mayor, that you have the opportunity to visit the community of Poggiorealesi in America, to be able to tighten more relationships with these descendants of Poggiorealesi, because I believe that it is a very important factor, especially from a cultural point of view. So the fact that you have decided - concluded Councilor Pagliaroli - to give honorary citizenship for the first time to a Poggiorealese descendant who is in America, I believe is a very important factor, and above all it will have many fruits for our community in this cultural exchange that I believe is indispensable for us."