By Dom Serafini — The Mastic-Moriches-Shirley Community Library on Long Island, New York, is frantically searching for a recording of the video I recorded during the July 4, 1976 parade celebrating the bicentennial of U.S. independence from the U.K.
Unfortunately, the only references to that year’s parade that remain are a few clippings from local newspapers (that are no longer in existence), such as the Moriches Bay Tide and the Long Island Advance, along with the names of the people involved (pictured above). Librarians are now trying to track these individuals down ahead of the “America250: 1776–2026” event this coming July 4.
The bicentennial parade (described by the regional daily Newsday as the best parade since the time of the American Revolution) was organized by the American Legion, the national U.S. association of war veterans. The video of the parade that I recorded was later donated by the Legion and preserved at the Mastic-Moriches-Shirley Community Library. The video was aired as part of my television program Made in Italy, which aired weekly on the Suffolk Cablevision channel of Viacom (now Paramount), and complemented my radio programs on WSUF-AM, WLIX-AM, and WBAB AM and FM.
My interest in the Fourth of July celebration was also tied to the hospitality and opportunities that America has offered to Italian immigrants, such as myself, allowing talents to grow and evolve at every level — artistic, scientific, academic, economic, and social. Talents that, in turn, have enriched Italy as a whole.
In my case, America enabled me, after only a few years of living there, to create the magazine VideoAge, which would go on to become one of the leading publications covering both Hollywood and the global entertainment industry, and which over time has also helped promote Italian audiovisual works and talent in the performing arts. This is something that would have been impossible to achieve in a small town in Abruzzo like my hometown of Giulianova.
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