IT was in 1925 that Peter Zanatta, in search of a better life, left family and friends and migrated to Australia.
Now 88 years later over 150 members of the Zanatta clan recnelty gathered in Stanthorpe for a family reunion.
The roots of the Zanatta reunion can be traced back to the marriage of Antonio Zanatta and Antonia Giardon in Merlengo, a stone’s throw from Trevisio in Northern Italy. They had four children, Luigia, who later married a Visentin, Catarina who married a Pontello and Pietro and Attilio.
Two years after he arrived Peter assisted his brother Attilio migrate and the pair cut cane near Ingham before travelling to the Granite Belt to pick fruit, and there they settled.
In 1933, Peter brought his family and widowed father to Australia and his brother was joined by his wife in 1934.
The Visentin family began arriving in Australia at the end of World War II. Luigia joined her family in 1953.
Family members travelled from Sydney, Cloncurry, Brisbane and many points in between for the reunion of eight branches of the family.
They stretched in age from elder statesman Gino Zanatta, soon to turn 90, to Ella-Anita Morello just 12 months old.
“The descendants of Antonio Zanatta helped pioneer this district and their history is closely entwined in the very fabric of the Granite Belt through the fruit industry, business, sport and friendship,” Eddie Zanatta said.
“The links and bonds forged by the families 88 years ago are as strong today as they were back then.
“This is a family as talented as they are diverse but on Saturday each and every one of them was proud to acknowledge their heritage and the sacrifice of their ancestors which now affords them a life, in one of the best parts of the world”.
