Salò Honors Community Leaders with Gasparo da Salò Awards
A full celebration, an emotion-filled ceremony devoid of rhetoric, took place on Sunday afternoon in the council chamber of the Salò town hall, marking the awarding of the traditional “Gasparo da Salò” prizes. These awards, which the local government confers to its citizens distinguished by meritorious activities towards the community, saw this year the honors bestowed upon Commander Francesco Dolfo and the spouses Commander Tullio Foffa and Professor Maria Cruciani. All three are venerable in age and still vigorous, non-natives of Salò but fully integrated into the community.
Description of the ceremony and the awards
Before a large, attentive audience, Mayor Giampiero Cipani and the President of the Mountain Community Bruno Faustini explained the purpose of the initiative and the plaque (a statue reproducing the bust of the musician Gasparo da Salò, created by Zanelli, one of the artistic glories of the Lakes) which coincidentally aligns with the feast day of the town’s patron saint, St. Charles Borromeo.
Then the floor was given to the two mentors, the two narrators, who recounted the biographies of the prize recipients, highlighting their merits in their respective fields and emphasizing how their paths, almost a sign of fate, crossed about fifty years ago within the same building complex: the first as director of the Civic College, the others as responsible for the meteorological observatory, which still today is located in the tower adjacent to the former boarding school.
Profiles of the awardees and their contributions
Vittorio Pirlo, a firsthand witness with an indelible memory and a lively promoter of Salò’s life, passionately outlined the personal and professional profile of Commander Francesco Dolfo (born 1909), “a Friulian son of the hard-working peasant culture… a stern but benevolent man,” the first mayor after the Liberation of a small town in the Pordenone hinterland. He arrived in Salò in 1946 to lead the Civic College, which had fallen into disrepair after the war years. Then, in the early 1960s, Commander Dolfo took over the management of the Convent of the Ursuline nuns, with an attached private school, creating an educational complex that housed hundreds of students.
In short, a long history of pedagogical and entrepreneurial endeavor, only recently concluded due to age limits and, above all, the decline of the school-convent model. Pino Mongiello, a former mayor of Salò, had the honor and privilege to praise the figures and roles of Commander Tullio Foffa and his wife, Professor Maria Cruciani, who have been responsible since 1951 for the local meteorological observatory, one of the oldest and most important at a national level.
Biographies and activities of the awardees
Tullio Foffa (born 1919), a Brescia native, was a “man of arms” who had experienced the hardships of war—first fighting in Libya and then as a prisoner in India. After the war, Tullio Foffa met his wife, a chemistry graduate from the University of Pavia and later a teacher at the “Battisti” technical institute. Their lives were marked by total dedication, driven by scientific activism and civil service: they never went on vacation to fulfill their daily duties, yet managed to balance family needs with their commitments.
The awardees, understandably emotional, offered some spontaneous remarks. “I’ve spent my life among young people and I am proud of it,” commented Commander Francesco Dolfo. “Today I hear people say that young people have changed, but I don’t believe it. I don’t know if I am worthy of this award. I hope I will be judged with the same magnanimity at a higher level when the time comes.”
Instead, Tullio Foffa said, “I went into armed service expecting to serve only a few months, but I ended up serving more than eighty months,” then took time to explain methodologies and experiences from his work, revealing an inexhaustible passion. Unsurprisingly, the applause lasted a very long time.
For everyone present, last Sunday’s event was an opportunity to recover the works and days of a small local history that cannot and should not be forgotten. Salò, recalled Mayor Cipani, is a town that aims to preserve its memory.