Deep Rotary Connections
by Lorine Parks
When immigration is done right, everyone benefits and prospers. But the three generations of an Italian immigrant family living here in Downey, was the last thing on Rotarian Bill Kirkwood’s mind. He was attending a Rotary “happy hour” mixer and struck up a conversation with “special guest” and soon-to-be member Nathan Mahony, at a Downey Rotary social. Just by chance Bill mentioned that Nathan’s induction was going to be administered by a very special Rotarian. Angelo Cardono is a Downey treasure, with 68 years of perfect attendance with the club. His category is manufacturer of precious jewelry and he is president of Jewels by Angelo.
“Small world” doesn’t begin to describe their sensation as the facts unrolled.
Angelo Cardono lights up when you talk to him about his industry, but he will tell you that he would rather be at his workbench designing and creating the next Jewels by Angelo creation. And it is at the workbench that this story takes place.
Nathan’s grandfather, Nunzio Barone, has worked with Angelo for 45 years, ever since Angelo sponsored him for immigration to the United States. In the 1960’s sponsorship in immigration was a serious matter. Then as now, one could not apply for immigration to the United States without a sponsor, who guarantees that the person will have continuous employment upon arrival, so the newcomer will not become a burden on society.
Under U.S. law, every person who immigrates based on a relative petition must have a financial sponsor. If you choose to sponsor your relative’s immigration by filing a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, you must agree to be the financial sponsor and file an affidavit of support. The affidavit of support helps ensure that new immigrants will not need to rely on public benefits such as Food Stamps, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.
45 years ago, close friends telephoned Angelo from their trip to Italy, saying they had met a relative there, a young Italian jewelry maker who wanted to come to the States, but needed a sponsor. Angelo was interested in helping, so he reviewed Nunzio Barone’s work history and experience, and decided to sponsor him.
“That’s how we built our country,” Angelo says. “People came here and brought their trades and that’s how we became great.”
Fascinating as this story is, of how well legal immigration works, the story behind it is Angelo Cardono himself. In 2010 this Downey jeweler, World War II Navy veteran, aviator and community leader received his industry's prestigious "service in excellence" award. Angelo’s own parents came to New York from Italy in the years before World War I, and met, years after their families had been sponsored and came to America on the legal path to citizenship.
“My parents were adamant,” Angelo says,” that we get an education. And no speaking Italian in the home. When relatives came for a visit, we got a kiss and were put outside.” “That’s why,” he continues, “I speak only pigeon Italian.”
But he and Nunzio can communicate on creating original prototypes for his line of jewelry, because they have techniques in common and have worked side by side for so many years. “Every morning Nunzio comes in at seven and he leaves at four,” Angelo says. “We know each other so well that we can create any bracelet or necklace that I design.”
Of his profession, Angelo likes to say that jewelry is not a luxury, but a badge of achievement. He explains that when a couple is engaged and marries it is the exchange of wedding rings that symbolizes their love for each other; when an athlete is a champion at his or her sport it is usually a ring that shows that they have won the championship.
For many years Angelo entertained the Downey Club on Secretary’s Day, now called Administrative Assistant Day. He would bring fabulous rings and earrings, necklaces and bracelets to the meeting, carrying them in small brown paper bags. Female Rotarians would get the opportunity to model the creations, gold jewelry set with pearls, diamonds and precious colored stones, during the presentation. Angelo would recount anecdotes, such as how the fad for tennis bracelets in the 1980’s saved the fine jewelry business during a downswing the economy.
Angelo is also famous in the Downey Club for having started the Pancake Breakfast tradition, to benefit the Downey Family YMCA, 60 plus years ago. Among his other distinctions, Angelo is famed for his Mickey Mouse pancakes, which he makes for his fans with a jeweler’s precision.
And Angelo always invites all his employees to come, gives them tickets and sees that they have plenty to eat. Nunzio has a large family, and his five children, and then their children, are always guests. But whether the grandchild named Nathan, son of Nunzio’s youngest daughter, who married a Mahoney, has ever come, is a moot question.
Angelo also held a private pilot’s license for many years and flew around the country on business, going to jewelry shows in Dallas, New York and Chicago, taking his assistant and his samples. Only two years ago, at age 90 did Angelo figuratively turn in his pilot’s license and sell his twin-engine plane.
As a seasoned flyer, Angelo served as a member of the Los Angeles County Airport Commission for 40 years. This is a ten-member group which advises the County Board of Supervisors regarding the operation and development of the County's five-airport system. Angelo’s good friend and fellow Downey Rotarian Judge Charlie Frisco often had the pleasure of swearing him in.
Angelo also flew – by commercial jets - around the world to buy gemstones, to Brazil for amethysts and Thailand for sapphires, to Hong Kong to see about getting the gem stones cut. And it is this phase of Angelo’s life that clicked with Nathan. “You mean Angelo Cardono? Jewels by Angelo?” he asked Bill at the wine and hors d’oeuvres Happy Hour at the Downey Embassy Suites, managed by another Downey Rotarian, Maurice Casaus.
“But he brought my grandfather over here from Italy,” Nathan said. “He sponsored him 45 years ago, so he and his family could come here for a better life.” Going back to the beginning, Angelo opened his store on Downey Avenue on January 3, 1947 after his service in the Navy. At that time gold was only $35.00 an ounce. Fast forward to 1970, when the story of Nunzio originally came to his attention with that fateful phone call from Italy.
For many years Jewels by Angelo was located in a landmark high rise building in Downey which Angelo designed. It bore the jeweler’s trademark, its bronze-tinted windows set expertly in the pavé style, flush with the walls. “My industry is based on trust, more so than any other,” Angelo remarked. “I have the 4 Way Test on the wall for all to see.”
The path to legal immigration for Nunzio and then citizenship was a long one, but he stuck to it. On Tuesday, he sat proudly as Nathan’s guest, at a luncheon table with his boss, Angelo Cardono, and watched his grandson Nathan promise to run his professional life by the 4-Way Test.
Now 45 years after his family came to America, because of Angelo’s kindhearted willingness to “stick his neck out,” as he put it, Nathan has the chance to pay back to the community and to Angelo’s own Rotary Club of Downey, by becoming a Downey Rotarian. As Rotarian Rich Strayer said, “Rotarian sponsors a legal immigrant, he works and contributes to the US society for 45 years – then his grandson pays back by joining Rotary – inspiring.”
