PULLMAN — On Veterans Day, a few neighbors plan to honor the memory of the late Mario Avignone — a long-time resident, veteran and prolific writer — by displaying a recently discovered artifact that honored his service.
Southeast Side historians Tom Shepherd and Dan Bovino discovered the bronze plaque — minted after World War II for Roseland's S.F.B.I. Club as a tribute to local Italians who fought in the war — while digging through artifacts left behind by long-time Roseland printer, the late Ron Johndrone.
“The shop was filled with business cards and plates from old print jobs, even the old presses. It was really like going back in time. Over in one corner we spotted the big plaque from the Italian club,” Shepherd said. “It was like finding a [rare dinner] plate from an old Pullman Palace Car … quite a delight.”
From growing up in Roseland, Shepherd recognized the name fourth name on the plaque, Mario Avignone.
Avignone, who died at age 93 in 2012, was one of the founders of the Pullman Civic Organization in 1960. He founded the Pullman Seniors Club and started something called the “Mario Club,” which started as just a few guys named Mario getting together for breakfast at a local diner and became renowned for attracting more than 100 Marios every three months. He was an unbelievable character.”
Avignone also was a prolific writer who penned the “Petals from Roseland” column for the Fra Noi Italian newspaper for 40 years. And during the Vietnam War, Avignone was well known for writing monthly letters to every serviceman he knew to keep their spirits up, Shepherd said.
“He’d send them copies of the Pullman Flyer and write letters, tell stories,” Shepherd said. “He was a funny guy. A good neighbor.”
So on Tuesday at 11 a.m., Shepherd, who is organizing the event with Bovino and Charles Livingstone, says at the annual Veterans Day ceremony at the Pullman War Monument, 113th and Forestville, they’ll celebrate the military service of Avignone and other locals by displaying the newly found plaque from the S.F.B.I. Club.
“It’s 125 pounds of solid bronze and quite a find historically. We couldn’t just let it go to a scrap yard and get melted down,” Shepherd said. “Ultimately, we hope to find a permanent place where it can be preserved.”
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