Alpini in Garda Towns: Verona Sections and Local Group Highlights
During the seventy-third national gathering of the Alpini, scheduled in Broscia, there will be a lot of Lake Garda. Yes, because despite the continuous, extraordinary successes achieved by the Benacense sailors on an international level, the Garda residents more than navigators continue to be… mountaineers. This impression is given reading the table of the “strength of the groups” published in the latest issue of “Il Montebaldo,” the periodical of the Verona section of the National Alpini association.
Well: almost ten percent of the former Alpini from Verona are concentrated along the lake’s shoreline, from Peschiera to Malcesine, even though only five percent of the entire population of the Province of Verona resides in this area. In total, the aquatic penne nere… of Garda number 1,853, almost one-tenth of the total 19,870 members of the Verona section.
The section, that of our province, coordinates no less than 193 local groups, among which are also Benacense associations, totaling sixteen, since in various municipalities there is more than one group. Thus, many of the Verona Alpini marching through the streets of Brescia in mid-May will come from the eastern shore of Garda. The Castelnuovo group will among others have the honor of marching in uniform, accompanied by their band, while the Peschiera alpine choir will have the chance to perform in concert at the church of Saints Faustino and Giovita.
Presence of Alpini in the Garda towns
The Peschiera group, with its 317 members, is even the fourth largest group in the entire Province of Verona, only preceded by Villafranca, Bussolengo, and Valeggio. Slightly below, in eighth place, is Bardolino, with 235 members.
However, the Alpini residing within the Bardolinese municipal territory are quite many more, considering that in the Calmasino hamlet there is another association with 99 members. The Garda group has 136 members, while Malcesine boasts 121. There are two groups in Brenzone.
The Castelletto group surpasses the section grouping the remaining Brenzone territory by six members (60 versus 54), which is another interesting detail: in the Castelletto hamlet, in fact, male residents are… a minority, as the headquarters of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family is located there.
Three coastal municipalities boast a trio of Alpine sections. Castelnuovo del Garda, alongside the already mentioned large group of the town proper, which has 183 Alpini, also hosts associations from Cavalcasene (109 members) and Sandrà (with 99 members). Other three groups are found in Lazise, where the Colà hamlet clearly outnumbers the town center, with 137 members against 111; the Lazise section is completed by Pacengo, with 55 members. The three-group rule also applies to Torri del Benaco.
In the Torrian area, however, the town proper, with its 101 members, far outnumbers the two hamlets: Albisano has 30 Alpini, Pai has 28. And while the Pai group is the smallest among the alpine groups along the coast, it is not the provincial tail-light; that distinction goes to thirteen other small sections that follow.
Angelo Peretti
