About Avolino Farm's Name

eAvolino Farmf

"… The little farm, with herd and field,

Now, as it had been erst, was till'd.

By a poor man of simple make,

Whose heart right seldom had the ache.

A happy soul, and well content,

With every chance that fortune sent.

Being equal in fortune's pitch,

Even unto him that is rich…

With favour which to blessings ran,

God looked upon the worthy man;

He gave him strength to aid his life,

A sturdy heart, an honest wife…"

( Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Avolino, Italy 1887)

We are often asked about the origin and meaning of our farm's name.

Here's the story:

We purchased our small ten-acre farm on September 1, 2001. Not long after moving into our new home, and setting down our roots, we had a conversation that lasted many evenings over the first few months of our residence. We sought inspiration-- inspiration to decide upon a name for our farm. We knew that many farm names often harkened back to the family names of previous occupants of the land. Likewise, farm names often refer to the land's topography or landscape, its natural features, or unique flora or fauna native to the land.

Our ten acres is predominantly flat, open, clear pasture with some nice old trees spattered about. We are bordered to the north by a lightly traveled rural highway. (One lane in each direction.) To the south and east, we are bordered by large stands of forest with a stream running along the south property line as well. And to the west, our farm abuts a large open field typically planted with feed corn or soybeans in warm weather; left fallow or planted in wheat in winter. Nothing about the land, scenery, or its geography spoke to us. And, our research into the history of the property and its previous owners did not lend itself to any naming opportunities.

So, we began looking to other sources of inspiration from our lives, our experiences, and our genealogies. After much consideration, and as a means of honoring Chris' paternal great-grandmother, who was lovingly referred to as "Mom Bove", we named our farm after the small town where she was born-- Avolino, Italy. She had been a tremendous influence on Chris during his childhood; impressing upon him the importance of faith, family, friends, and last but not least-- good food!

"Mom Bove"/Mary Carmen Scanelli was born in Avolino (also spelled Avellino) in Italy's Campania region in 1895. She emigrated to the United States with her family as a small child arriving in New York Harbor at Ellis Island. The Scanelli family settled in Orange, New Jersey, where at the age of 13, "Mom Bove" worked for inventor Thomas A. Edison packaging phonograph records for shipment from his factory. She married Charles Joseph Bove who was born in 1892 in another small town in Southern Italy called Castle Grande. He too had arrived on the shores of America via Ellis Island as a child. They later moved to Annapolis, MD where they started a family. He played the coronet in the U.S. Naval Academy Band and she was the first female U.S. Post Mistress in the city of Annapolis. "Mom Bove" began taking Chris into her kitchen when he was just 8 years old, and she instilled in him his life-long love of cooking. The Bove family was truly blessed to have "Mom Bove" around until the ripe ol' age of 92; she passed away in 1987.

For her enduring example of love of family, steadfast faith, and her well-lived life-- we chose to honor her memory by naming our farm after the small Italian town, which served as the cradle from which our family was born.

Charles [Carmine] Bove Sr. and Mary Carmen [Scanelli] Bove (MomBove)