OUR GROUP
8 and 9 July 1989: an exhibition, a booklet and a celebration without a band for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Salce Alpini
«That 25 October 1964 was a rainy day». Twenty-five years later the group leader, Ezio Caldart, chose to recall it before the members, the authorities and the people of Salce, adding the old saying: «A wet group is a lucky group». It was Sunday 9 July 1989, and the Gruppo Alpini «Gen. Pietro Zaglio» was celebrating its 25th anniversary, counting the years from that first inauguration in the rain.
For the occasion the Group had prepared three things: a photographic exhibition, a day of ceremonies and a small book, whose title has become almost a motto: «Camminare insieme» – «Walking together».
A celebration months in the making
The idea was born at the members’ assembly of 27 November 1988. Caldart announced the 25th anniversary and entrusted the exhibition to Augusto Burlon and Armando Dal Pont; the plan was to involve the schools of Giamosa and to «leave a mark» on the village. The group’s cash reserve was set aside for the expenses. The Col Maòr launched an appeal: anyone with old photographs should bring them to the Group for the anniversary exhibition.
In June 1989 the newsletter printed the final programme. Saturday 8 July, 6 pm: opening of the exhibition, which would remain open until the 23rd. Sunday 9: gathering at the Salce nursery school, parade, flag-raising, open-air Mass, honours to the Fallen with awards and speeches, and finally the «rancio», the Alpini meal. At the bottom, a cautious promise: «The band of the Cadore Alpine Brigade will be present (we hope)».
The exhibition: Salce in photographs
The exhibition was set up in the rooms of the nursery school. It was introduced by the president of the Belluno Section, Bruno Zanetti; the ribbon was cut by the headmaster, Francesco Zoleo. The first part, the result of Burlon and Dal Pont’s research, told the story of Salce through historical and landscape images, including some unpublished photographs of Villa Gaggia lent by Achille Gaggia. The Alpini section remembered the Fallen of 1940-43, the Memorial, the cemetery chapel, the headquarters, the Alpini Befana and the Group’s outings. There were also drawings by the primary-school children of Giamosa: «The Alpini as seen by schoolchildren».
At the end of the year the material was handed over to the parish archive so that it would not be lost. Thirty-five years later, the book for the Group’s 60th anniversary would present many of those images again.
The anniversary Sunday
On Sunday 9 July the Alpini paraded from the nursery school to the War Memorial. Two young serving Alpini, Praloran and Dell’Eva, carried the laurel wreath. In front of the Memorial, Mass was celebrated in the open.
Present were the mayor of Belluno, Giovanni Crema, the ANA national councillor Casagrande, president Zanetti, officers of the Cadore Brigade, the chaplain of the «Belluno» battalion, representatives of the Feltre Section and some fifteen group pennants. The parish priest, Don Gioacchino Belli, was missing, in hospital in Milan: he sent his greetings recorded on a cassette.
The band was missing too, and even the bugler. The Col Maòr took it philosophically, in dialect: «se no i sona, i fis’ciarà» – if they won’t play, they’ll whistle.
The group leader’s words
Caldart brought the greetings of 167 members. He remembered the godmother, Eugenia Zaglio Meloni, daughter of General Pietro Zaglio, after whom the Group is named; the oldest member, Giovanni De Menech, Knight of Vittorio Veneto, born in 1896; and the distinction of being the first group founded in the Municipality of Belluno. He spoke of the Civil Protection teams and of the Col Maòr, which that year was also turning twenty-five.
Then came the awards. Twenty participants in the first-aid course received their diplomas. The twenty-four founding members still living were given a pennant designed by the graphic artist Francesco Di Marzio. Secretary Mario Dell’Eva received a parchment with a gold medal; the mayor, a ceramic plate. The rest of the day was the meal, donations, an Alpino hat carved in wood with the words «25° Gruppo Alpini di Salce», and a poem in dialect for the cooks.
«Camminare insieme»
For the 25th anniversary the Group also produced a booklet, «in memory of the war dead and of the members who had passed away», to tell its own story. It was called «Camminare insieme» and published as a supplement to the June 1989 Col Maòr. In the August issue the newsletter explained that it wished to complete those pages with an account of the celebration.
Those who received it wrote to the editors: a colonel from Feltre praised the profile of General Zaglio; a general affectionately called it a «little booklet». The book for the 60th anniversary reproduces its cover, «Camminare insieme… – Historical and associative profile – 25th anniversary of the Gruppo Alpini of Salce Belluno», among the books of «dem».
Today, however, we have not yet found a complete copy in the Group’s digital archive. Do you have the 1989 booklet «Camminare insieme»? Or photographs of the celebration of 8 and 9 July, of the exhibition in the nursery school, of the parade? Please write to the Gruppo Alpini Salce: you will help us rebuild a chapter of our history.
📚 From the papers of memory
- Report of the assembly of 27 November 1988, Col Maòr no. 6, December 1988 (in Italian), pp. 1 and 6.
- Announcement of the celebrations, Col Maòr no. 2, April 1989 (in Italian), p. 2.
- «25° del Gruppo Salce – Programma», Col Maòr no. 3, June 1989 (in Italian), p. 1.
- «Salce in festa per il 25° del Gruppo», with group leader Ezio Caldart’s speech, Col Maòr no. 4, August 1989 (in Italian), pp. 1-3.
- End-of-year review, Col Maòr no. 6, December 1989 (in Italian), p. 1.
- Book for the 60th anniversary of the Gruppo Alpini di Salce (2024), pp. 153, 163, 165.
