Those who organize Syracuse’s annual wreath laying at Columbus Circle say it might be time to celebrate all immigrants on Columbus day, not just Italians. Syracuse’s north side Italian American community raised the money to build the monument to Christopher Columbus in 1932, and an annual ceremony continued Monday for a 37th year. But president of the Columbus Monument Association Michael Vavonese says maybe the holiday should embrace all groups…
Maybe one sign that the holiday and it's significance need re-thinking is the relatively low turnout at the ceremony. Elected officials and media almost equaled the roughly 20 spectators who attended. But Vavonese says when the monument was erected 82 years ago, the struggles of Italian immigrants were still fresh.
Domenick Brancatocame to America from Sicily as a young boy in the late 1960’s. He’s run restaurants and pizza shops in the community for 30 years.
Members of the Josephine Federico youth chorus sang an Italian hymn as officials placed a wreath at the base of the monument on Columbus Circle.
COUNTER-CELEBRATION
Meanwhile, on the Syracuse University campus Monday, a native American student group declared the day Indigenous Survival Day. Organizers of this and similar events say the idea is to remind the community that Native Americans are still here, after surviving the slaughter that many scholars say Columbus brought upon native peoples during his voyages.
