Family roots draw Pearsons to Italy

Published 10:36 am Wednesday, June 1, 2011

In my latest feature, we are to visit Italy again.

A knitter, two painters, a horsewoman and a wine expert have all talked about this glorious place, and I believe a pattern is emerging. Italy may be the favorite world destination of Polk County residents.

This time, we see it from the worldview of a photographer, taking a journey to visit her family roots.

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Who: Elaine Pearsons, Columbus. Pearsons is originally from New England, but has been in the Polk County area since 1986. She is a professional photographer, who brings colors to life, and teaches interesting techniques for embellishing photos in a new way.

Where’ve You Been? Italy, to the Piedmont region, to connect with family roots. Pearsons’ mother’s name is Cesarina (Little Female Caesar) Bianco. Pearsons’ brother is a pastor, and he had a speaking engagement in Nice, France, in April 2011.

The sister and brother pair decided to go together, rent a car and drive from Nice, through Monaco, a tiny, wealthy nation on the Riviera, to Italy.

Their family is from a town called Montaldo Scarampi, a tiny dot on the map, in the northern part of Italy, near the city of Asti, east of Turin.

Pearsons and her immediate family traveled there 30 years ago, and stayed with her great aunt and uncle.

Back then, she remembered the beautiful fresco that was painted on the ceiling.

Thirty years later, she captured a picture of it. Her great uncle and aunt are living vibrant lives in their 90s! She also caught up with a nephew from Montaldo, and a niece living in Turin.

Loved: The drive itself, which changed from beautiful cliffside dwellings along the French Riviera, to what Pearsons refers to as “Blue Ridge Parkway style tunnels, times two.”

Crossing into the Piedmont region requires passing through tunnel after tunnel through the majestic Alps.

She loved the colors of the architecture, from the ornate cathedrals and villas, to the simple, but ancient vecchios and cottages.

She took joy in the details – the look of the doors and windows, and the haze of an early spring day, set against hillsides of terraced vineyards.

Most people have their own vineyards, and make and often sell their own wine. Small or large, there are many more vineyards than in the United States.

Pearsons is in love with Italian food as served in Italy.

She said she still dreams of the tortellini she had in a village restaurant, and how the “welcome home” meals cooked by her great uncle’s family made dinner a whole new affair.

Pearsons only warns that pasta is a third course, and it is so good, that one must remember to save room for the other courses, which can be up to seven in an everyday meal!

She was touched by the people she met – both strangers and family members – and remarks that “la dolce vita” can mean “sweet,” in the way of kind and warm.

Now, she emails photos back and forth with her English-speaking nephew, of two lives in two respectively beautiful places.

How sweet life can be!

About Lucianne Evans

An accomplished jazz singer who sings under the name Lucianne Evans, developed the business idea for Jazz Music Travel, took a two year Travel and Tourism course study with the legendary Ben Streets at Blue Ridge Community College, and recently embarked on her own journey to bring more and more people to the experience of travel.

She performed her first professional gig at the age of 17 in her hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. Jazz and R & B became an interest early in her career. She studied music at Carnegie-Mellon University and mentored with members of the group, Oregon at the Naropa Institute in Colorado. By age 24 she had rave reviews for a performance at the International Festival du Jazz de Montreal, appeared on French TV and radio, and in night clubs in New York and Montreal as a solo performer and lead vocalist. Several of her recordings have received acclaim, her pop song “Dear Lonely One” - a BMI Workshop award winner and her CD, Flamingo—Blue Chip status as “Top Vocal CD’s of 2002” in the Jazz Education Journal, by Dr. Herb Wong, on a short list with Diana Krall and Bobby McFerrin. It was also the #2 download in Belgium for six months. Moving to Asheville to follow a spouse, she has proved herself as a powerhouse vocalist among both “blue collar” and “white shoe” society. Performances include WNC Jazz Society, the Jazz Society of Far Western NC, Hilton Head Jazz Society, and a successful tour of California including Carmel, where The Jazz and Blues Company featured her on KRML, the original station of Clint Eastwood's “Play Misty For Me.”

Jazz Music Travel specializes in selling status and security for cruises that visit land-based jazz festivals each year in places like Anguilla, Barbados, Martinique, Riviera Maya, Bermuda and more. Imagine arriving aboard a yacht and experiencing world class performances from artists such as Herbie Hancock, Esmerelda Spaulding, Lynne Ariale, Dianne Reeves; all in the spirit of legacies like Hank Jones and Nina Simone. Sit back and re-connect with songs that are part of your life as these towns burst into life to the strains of trumpets, sax and drums.

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