Each year, the Sons and Daughters of Italy in America honors a local Italian American community member with its prestigious Italian American of the Year award. This year, this longstanding service organization honored Bernadette Tarantino for her many years of service to the San Diego community.
For more than 40 years, Bernadette Tarantino has worked in sales for her family business, Tarantino Wholesale Foods—curating and distributing a fine selection of products—especially the delicious sau-sages the family name has become known for locally and abroad. Bernadette has also tirelessly given back to her beloved San Diego community for decades, most notably through her involvement with Saint Patricks’s Day celebrations; the La Mesa, Ocean Beach, and Encinitas versions of Oktoberfest; Balboa Park’s December Nights; ArtWalk; the Ocean Beach Street Fair; the Little Italy Festa; and the Sicilian Festa. Through these initiatives, Bernadette has been intimately involved as a participant, producer, and supporter—spending countless hours in their creation and organization.
Bernadette was born in Little Italy and lived on Union Street. Her father, Pete, a fisherman, hailed from Palermo; her mother, Nona, was a war bride from London. In 1960, Pete would stop fishing and begin his foray into the meat business. Bernadette graduated from Our Lady of the Rosary High School in 1969 and would soon follow in her father’s footsteps to help the family business to prosper.
Today, you can find Tarantino sausages at Petco Park and at Snapdragon Stadium along with other Tarantino products at Costco, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s. Business is certainly booming, and thanks to Bernadette and her siblings, the Tarantino name has ensured a longstanding family legacy that will con-tinue to thrive through new generations at the helm.
In San Diego’s Italian community, Bernadette first started volunteering for the Columbus Day Parade with Victor Tallarida, founder of the United Italian American Association. Since then, she has also served as a member and supporter of many San Diego-based Italian clubs: Sons of Italy, Italian Ameri-can Civic Association, UNICO, House of Italy, Italian Catholic Federation, and Convivio, to name many.
In perpetuating the tradition of the Little Italy Sicilian Festa, which began in 1994 under the direction of longtime Little Italy entrepreneur/baker Mario Cefalu, Bernadette took the reins in 1996. Through her festival work, she was instrumental in highlighting San Diego’s rich and vibrant Sicilian heritage, folk-lore, and food. For the next 20 years, Bernadette would lead her dedicated team of volunteers to develop a Sicilian festival that would garner national recognition and acclaim. The festival brought together many clubs and organizations that participated in presenting Sicilian cultural elements. A historical display of San Diego’s fishing community was part of the annual event, and it helped to bring awareness to the vital role the Sicilian community played in this world-renowned industry. And next year, Bernadette’s dream is to bring back the grand tradition of the Sicilian Festa in San Diego.
To Bernadette, family is everything. She credits her successes to the life lessons and support of her lov-ing parents; her bothers, Pete and Mark; her sister, Tina; her loving husband, Mike; and her son, Jesse. And lest we forget her precious pups: Angus, Bugsy, and Luigi!
In honoring Bernadette, our community celebrates the dedication and resolve of one of our San Diego outstanding icons. For more information on the Sons and Daughters of Italy in America, visit sonsofita-lysd-1627.org.
