It was a Saturday afternoon in the shop, and I was catching up on some book work and orders in the back of the store, when the door chime rings. I go to the front and welcome the unfamiliar customer to the store, who was looking at one of our Schreiber souvenir t-shirts. She looks at me and says, "Are you Domenic?" after I confirmed I was, she said I have to go out and get my husband in the car.
She returns with him and the stories begin. They are from the USA passing through Schreiber on their way across Canada on their trip. (Joe and Sue Ciarlo) They had been talking to Ray over at the Schreiber Railway Museum which is just across the street from our store, and he noticed that they seemed really interested in the boxing poster at the museum and he told them to drop by and check us out. While at the store they had a look at our wall of fame of some of the celebrities we have met in our travels with the Canadian Olympic Boxing Team.
Joe and Sue, who are also Italian (Calabrese as well) go on to tell me that his father Tommy Ciarlo was also a boxer in the 40's and 50's, and that he fought the great Kid Gavilán in Cuba in 1951. I knew that name! and Joe went on to tell me that they have a clip of that fight on youtube (see youtube link below), so we immediately fired up the computer and had a look. The video is priceless! Actually great quality for a fight of that vintage, and the music is appropriate for the time and place of that era. They had also told me that they had stopped by the Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastoga, which is on my bucket list of places to visit. Thanks for stopping in guys, and hope to see you next time you are through.
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A great video clip of Joe's father Tommy Ciarlo vs Kid Gavilan in Cuba in 1951 |
UPDATE to this STORY - June 8, 2017
As a follow up to this story, Years later a facebook memory pops up on my timeline of a post from Kathy Thompson, a lady that I had met in Schreiber when my brother Sal and a crew from Toronto came in to put on a show called Joey and Gina's Italian Wedding. Kathy told me that her father, Norman Thompson was also a boxer and posted his boxing licence on facebook for me to see. I had a link to boxrec.com to check it out and the first name on the list of guys he fought was Tommy Ciarlo. Small world!
It truly is a small world!
Check out some scenes of Cathy and the crew performing in Joey and Gina's Italian wedding show...