Dear Susan,
I saw your post and wanted to let you know that I am a Geraci whose family is from Termini Imerese also and I just got back from there earlier this month.
Just to give you some genealogical background on my family... I only dabble in genealogy but my great grand-father and grandmother came over some time in the late 1880's from Termini. My grandfather was Francesco Geraci and my grandmother was Rosina (Marcelino) Geraci. They had 10 or 11 children with the first few born in Termini. They came in through Anapolis, MD... lived in Baltimore, MD for a few years (they were living there around 1889 and then they moved to Washington DC right around the turn of the century where my great-grandfather set up a shoe-making business only blocks from the nation's capitol (a bad neighborhood these days!). My father says that he remembers hearing that we had distant relatives in Cleveland, OH (sort of close to Cincinatti... just thought I'd mention this).
With regard to Termini which I visited this August and part of September... Termini is fantastic and very modern... You still have the original part of Termini built with very narrow streets going almost straight uphill with the old ladies hanging clothes over the second floor balconies (but the old ladies don't wear black dresses like the spaghetti commercials!). But with the old traditional parts of Termini, there is the contrast of the people being an EXTREMELY hip, very cool bunch of people, totally modern, middle class... the young people all have cell phones (especially the girls, who DO wear black sun dresses and are very cute!) and the people of Termini absolutely love their Vespa mopeds and various small motorcycles (even the older people ride them because cars won't fit into many tiny streets in Termini's older sections). Ice cream is the absolute passion of Termini (now I know where I inherited this from)! Termini is very family-oriented and entire families all go to the parks and in the town squares, especially the one in front of the Duomo (Piazza Duomo) until well after midnight. In fact Termini's little Duomo (cathedral) even has it's own web site which I was astonished to see being worked on in a small office within the cathedral (the webmaster wasn't wearing a collar but I think the man I met was one of the priests). The web site is:
http://www.duomoterminiimerese.neomedia.it They have some new photos of a recent procession which I was lucky enough to participate in (and even luckier, I somehow managed to avoid having my face turn up in the web pictures!). In some ways, the people in Sicily are the most "Italian of the Italians" but also interestingly, the most "Americanized" of the Italians. In other parts of Italy the people would say "Oh, you're all the way from America? Wow!" but in Termini they would say "Oh yeah, America, I've visited there before" or "I've (my father has) worked there before" and the people seem to have a much closer contact with the US, than people in the mainland of Italy. At the same time, many Termitani (that's what they call themselves) over there are just as curious about all of us Sicilian-Americans over here, just like we are about our them and our Sicilian roots.
I met several Geraci's and in fact, one of them told me that he had heard that some of his family had gone to Cincinnati many, many years ago. Nearly everyone whom I've ever met with the last name Geraci is originally from Termini. I would recommend visiting as the town is very nice (about 35,000), prosperous and the people are very friendly and every time you say you're a Geraci (or are related to the Geraci's) they inevitably reply "Geraci!!! Un nome tipico termitano!!" which means "Geraci, a typical Termini name!!" I am in correspondence with several friends I made there.. let me know if you plan to visit and I'll be happy to share lodging advice, etc. Termini is clean, very safe and I would have to say that my month-long stay there was the best thing I've ever done in my life (can you tell I want to go back?). Airfare is currently VERY cheap... go there, Susan, don't wait... and yes, a few people always know some English if you're concerned about language... Good luck finding more on your family...
Ken Geraci
ken.geraci@stspc.comAustin, TX (Born 09/27/1962) if anyone wants to add me to any Geraci family trees, branches, etc.)