Dave Cavagnaro was far more than a successful businessman. Known as the unofficial âMayor of East Napa,â Cavagnaro made it his lifeâs work to enhance local life in a variety of ways. He is credited with bringing the circus to town, orchestrating the annual fair-time parades, organizing a volunteer fire-fighting unit and establishing immigrant assistance programs, among other things.
Cavagnaro lived all but the first few years of his life in Napa. Born on April 15, 1880, at Cammenchi in Calaveras County, California, Cavagnaro moved with his parents and grandparents to Napa, around 1882. They settled in the local Italian immigrant enclave known as âLittle Italyâ or âEast Napa.â This neighborhood was located on the east side of the Napa River and reached into Alta Heights.
Louie F. Varni
April 1, 1925 Dec. 12, 2020
Louie Frank Varni passed away on Dec. 12 at the age of 95, after a brief illness following a stroke. He was born on April 1, 1925, in Modesto to John and Katy Varni, and had three older sisters, Olga, Lydia and Virginia. He was a veteran of World War II and served in the Navy and was stationed on the Ulithi atoll in the Caroline Islands.
He met the love of his life, Nunzia Vizziello, in 1949 at an Italian Catholic Federation dance. They married in 1950 and lived in Merced, where he was a tomato farmer. They had three daughters and moved to Sacramento in 1960, where he was the manager of a rendering plant. The family then moved to Davis in 1972, where they lived until 2013, at which time they moved to assisted living in Cameron Park and later Placerville.