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ROTTERDAM
Hobby spurs donation to cause
County legislator’s cheese gets $1,200 for autism group
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Angelo Santabarbara still has a long way to go before giving Newman’s Own a run for its money.
    But the Schenectady County legislator did manage to sell enough of his homemade cheese to make a sizeable donation to a charity. Sanatabarbara will donate $1,200 to the Autism Society of America during an appearance on the talk show Schenectady Today, when it airs live on Channel 16 at 10 a.m. today.
    Santabarbara was pleased by the first year of sale of his cheese, and now plans to make a more sizeable contribution. He also intends to promote the cheese to grow local interest in the venture.
    “Last year was a trial and people liked it,” he said. “Now we’re going to try to promote it more.”
    Sales of Santabarbara’s cheese brought in about $400, and the District 4 Republican — he is an engineer by profession — decided to match the proceeds with his own money. The owners of 4 Corners Pizza & Italian Eatery in Rotterdam, which now sells the cheese exclusively, also agreed to kick in $400 toward the total.
    “We figured that would be a nice donation,” said Gerard Parisi, one of the pizzeria’s owners.
    Santabarbara started selling his family’s basket cheese recipe after making a guest appearance on Delores Scalise’s “Let’s Cook,” a popular home-cooking program also airing on Schenectady’s public access TV station.
    After the episode aired last spring, he was inundated with calls from people who wanted to try the cheese, but didn’t have the time or expertise to make it.
    Since that time, Sanatabarbara and his family have supplied 4 Corners with sealed blocks of the cheese, which sell for $5 per block. The light-textured cheese is made with fresh milk from area dairy farms and tastes similar to mozzarella.
    Santabarbara purchases the supplies for the cheese himself and pledged to donate all proceeds to..........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00902

hooray for him it is about time he gets some publicity for some of the good instread of that loud mouth Surhad who never did nothing for nobody ever but to get himself rich on our backs and that strega Lazzari who got the pork from us to

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CHEESE AND CULTURE

Posted on: 02/10/09
Jackie Sher
email: news@spotlightnews.com

For the Santabarbara family, cheese is more than a tasty, high-protein treat, wine is more than a spirit that goes well with dinner, and meat is more than something you pick up at the supermarket. For them, these items are associated with hard work, culture and family.

Three generations of Santabarbaras sat around a kitchen table on a recent afternoon over plates piled high with homemade meats, cheeses and other Italian goodies to discuss how those foods are made and what that process means to them.

“My family has quite a history,” said Angelo Santabarbara of Rotterdam.
His parents lived in neighboring Italian towns close to Naples City but did not meet until they moved to Rotterdam.

“I’m the first generation that was born here. … I kind of take an interest in what happens, what happened or what still is happening with my family.  We still have family in Italy, back in our town in Italy,” said Santabarbara.

In Italy, Santabarbara’s parents, Angelo and Marianna Santabarbara, made much of their own food.  They didn’t have the luxury of driving in a car to the supermarket to pick up staples such as cheese and bread.  They had to make it themselves and also figure out how to preserve it.  Air could ruin anything.  Oil could preserve anything.

“The way we survived over there, everything was homemade, and we had to keep on doing it, and it was a necessity to do it,” said the elder Santabarbara.

In America, making your own foods, such as cheese and wine and pasta, seems like a luxury. The process of making your own cheese takes weeks from start to finish, on top of hours of physical labor.  The same can be said for making wine and tomato sauce, all of which the Santabarbaras make in abundance.  

Despite the hours it takes and the labor involved, the Santabarbaras do it because they want to – not because they have to.  It provides them with an opportunity to spend time with family and pass down traditions and share with younger generations their culture.

“We make wine we, make homemade sauce, we go to the farm and pick tomatoes.  We take our grandchildren with us,” said the elder Santabarbara.

“This year I had my granddaughter help me with the tomato sauce,” said Marianna Santabarbara. “I had all the jars ready, and she put all the basil and parsley in the jars and I put a little apron on her. ... She’s 5 years old and she was so excited that she was helping me.”

She said that she hopes to teach her granddaughter about the process of making her own tomato sauce someday in the future, when she’s a little older, and perhaps a little bigger.  Currently, she is smaller than the pot the tomato sauce is made in.

“She had so much fun because she thought she was such a big girl, helping out, and I said, ‘When you’re a big girl, Grandma will teach you and then you can make your own sauce,’” said Marianna.

Of all of the items the Santabarbara family makes, the cheese might be the most significant. They make it in quantities large enough to sell, and they can’t seem to keep it on the shelves.  All of the proceeds benefit the Albany Autism Society.  It is...................http://spotlightnews.com/spotlightnews/article.php?article_id=tD1234295288t4991d9f8a9dfd

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Cheese company gives to autism community

Sean Ahern 02/03/10

Taking the profits for the year of 2009, the Santabarbara Cheese Company presented over $4,700 to the Albany Chapter of the Autism Society on Feb.3.

During the 11 a.m. ceremony at 101 State St. in Schenectady, County Legislature, and founder of the Santabarbara Cheese Company, Democrat Angelo Santabarbara presented a check to the Albany Chapter of the Autism Society to help fund their programs and continued community outreach to 12 upstate counties.

"I couldn't think of a better group to donate to because they change lives," said Santabarbara. Starting the company in 2008 with the help of family recipes, Santabarbara donates the profits of the cheese company to local charities. For the second year in a row, Santabarbara has donated the profits of his company to the Albany Chapter of the Autism Society, last year's donation to the charity culminated in $1,400.

"We're extremely grateful," said Executive Director of the Autsim Society, Albany Chapter, Janine Kruiswijk. "The whole Santabarbara family has been very supportive of our foundation." Kruiswijk said that the society depends upon private donations to power their programs, including camp scholarships, family and adult support groups, and education and training information. The Albany chapter of the Autism Society covers 12 counties, from Warren to the Southern Tier, to help families and individuals affected by autism. For some, that includes Santabarbara, whose own son was diagnosed with autism at age 3.

A first generation Italian-American and a lifelong Schenectady County resident, Santabarbara said in an earlier statement that the food he creates with his family's recipes is about helping community organizations to make a difference. "We weren't sure what to expect, but we were very happy to see so much support from the local community and beyond for a good cause," he said in a press release. "My family's cheese recipe is all about keeping a tradition alive, the cheese company is about helping organizations like the ASA make a difference."

http://www.spotlightnews.com/news/view_news.php?news_id=1265219659

I'm sure the Autism Society is a good charity, but did they have to make a presentation IN Schenectady to an ALBANY group? There was no good charities right here in their hometown?

Sounds like political posturing to me.

I saw the news the other night, and Santabarbara and others worked to move the headquarters of the Albany Autism Society to Schenectady, because it serves a large area.  So it's a SCHENECTADY and and ALBANY group.

Not posturing, this time!

Oh, it didn't mention that in the article.

Santabarbara Cheese Company ... that sounds so "official" ... where is their headquarters? It's not a NY Corporation, I guess they have a DBA?

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I saw the news the other night, and Santabarbara and others worked to move the headquarters of the Albany Autism Society to Schenectady, because it serves a large area.  So it's a SCHENECTADY and and ALBANY group.

Not posturing, this time!

This is personal for Ang....it clearly  has nothing to do with politics....per say! So why the self serving, self promoting publicity?? This may not be the case....but it appears to many that ang sought out political status for personal gain. Ya think????

Oh that's right....he's a liberal socialist progressive now....it's a feel good story. He's a FRIEND and a VICTIM now....right ms.ally?

Back when he was a Republican   I met Angelo's family.  It IS a personal thing for him, as he has a young song with Autism Spectrum Disorder.  That was also on the news story.

Is ANG still selling the cheese over at Parisi's joint? What is his position on the Savage Burger law?

Ang has been cutting cheese since he was a Republican/Conservative.  Now that he's a Dem he knows how to get PR for it and he is doing a good thing with his money.  Get off his back Mr. Bumble.

at least he understands what a grant is   ---- so far

I am not 'blaming' A.S. for his efforts. What I am trying to point out is that since he has been in political office, his legislation has been focused on one thing and one thing only, which appears to be more government regulations and higher insurance premiums.

The rest of the population has issues that also need to be addressed. Highest taxes in the nation, special interest groups, intrusive government, patronage jobs at taxpayer's expense, unchecked DSS fraud, metroplex transparency and the list goes on!

I understand that he has his own personal axe to grind, but there are thousands of other people that he represents, that are waiting in the wings for some attention.

that IS the call for national health'care'---blah blah blah....if ,so and so ,has this and gets this treatment then, I should be able to get this other treatment
blah blah blah....

the problem are the lobbyists and the publics view of healthCARE.....health INSURANCE is not the same....national health'care' WILL have limits...
no matter what......if anyone thinks other wise---you are mis-lead and refuse to see the consequences........


life IS hard....always has been and always will be........why?---here we are to prove it.....

Keep going.....maybe it will lead to RESEARCH...............