The Miracle of Ascoli

There is a small town in the Marches province of Italy called Ascoli Piceno. It is a beautiful, historic little city, graced with a central square in the middle of which is a fountain.

In 1909 Ferdinando Paoletti, his wife and daughter made the trip from Italy to the United States.  As family lore has it, when they arrived either his wife Mariantonia or his daughter Carolina had developed a severe cough, and was denied entry. Mariantonia and Carolina returned to Italy, presumably to await Ferdinando raising enough money to send for them again. They returned in 1912 through Philadelphia, and reunited at last the couple went on to build a life for themselves in Wilmington, Delaware.

It was here that their son Nicholas was born. Stationed in Georgia during his service in the Army Air Corps he met and married his wife, and this is where the story, for me, really begins.

I have always believed everything happens for a reason, that somehow there are few things in life that are unordained, and that the patient soul is always rewarded.

I grew up about 20 miles from Wilmington, attended High School in Elkton, Maryland, and had a pretty ordinary experience there. Of all the 220 people in my graduating class there were few I interacted with. I was shy, studious, and more inclined to sit at home and read a book or paint than date, or attend parties.

Move ahead 4 decades. As our 40th class reunion approached a few classmates made a concerted effort to reconnect many of us through Facebook. I happily accepted friend requests, but since our reunion fell on the weekend of our annual cigar festival it was certain I would not attend. The weekend before, however, I was scheduled to make an appearance at a small wine and food festival.

On a hot and sunny Sunday afternoon, as I sat on a dock along the Susquehanna River, I was approached by a beautiful woman who looked vaguely familiar. As it turned out, we had gone to the same High School, had no classes together, and as far as I can recall if we had ever even spoken it was only a few times. On September 9th that all changed in a wonderful way.

We spoke for perhaps a half hour, and I found her deeply intriguing. She had noticed the announcement of the event, and though she initially had decided to make the hour drive there threatening weather almost changed her mind. Cajoled by her sister to just go ahead and make the trip, there before me she was.

As she moved to head home, in an uncharacteristiclly brash way, I asked her to dinner. A few days later we met at a restaurant near her home, near the city if her birth, and the place she had returned to after graduation. Were it not for her taking that drive on that particular day chances are we would never have encountered each other again.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Today I am pleased to announce the forthcoming release of "Mia Dora" by Emilio Cigars, dedicated to the beautiful woman I love.  Manufactured in Esteli, Nicaragua by my dear friend Abdel Fernandez, the cigars, featuring a Habano Rosado wrapper and Nicaraguan filler, will be released in July, 2013 at IPCPR in Las Vegas.

The decorative art for the bands and boxes will feature themes and colors from the flag of Ascoli Piceno, the city in which a young family made the bold decision over 100 years ago to ultimately deliver an angel to me.

I love you Dora Paoletti Lilly . This is my gift to you, in my own way, in the art form I know best.

Like a Phoenix - Skip Martin of RoMa Craft Tobac

     There were no ashes to rise from, as did the legendary Phoenix. There was mud and mold, stench, rot, and a dream erased by walls of wind and waves of water.

     When Hurricane Ike hit Galveston, Texas in September 2008 Skip Martin and his partner owned a thriving cigar shop. What he discovered a few days later was that it was gone, his dream erased. Most would have given up and moved on, but not this infectiously optimistic and cheerful young man. He simply determined to succeed again, and he has in a way that has earned him both respect and praise in the cigar industry.

     "I inhaled the aroma from the foot of the cigar directly into my nostril; it displaced all of my other senses. I ceremoniously peeled the cap off of the end of the cigar and lit it. I stood there, in that damp and dank room, smoking my cigar and began to cry for the first time in more than ten years."

     Less than four years later Skip is riding a creative wave that by any rational measure would have seemed impossible, and the cigars his RoMa Craft Tobac factory are producing are in such great demand they are sold virtually before they are produced.

     I recently had the pleasure of traveling across Texas for a week with Skip.  You couldn't ask for a better guy to do a road trip with. Late nights of speeding along empty highways for hours allowed us plenty of time to know and understand each other, and I learned to appreciate Hip Hop music, barbeque, and the joy of spending time with an honorable man who has earned a special place in my heart.

     Each time I look at his picture I am reminded of someone else in my life who is so unique and special that her value to me is beyond measure, and what they share in common is that at about the same age most people would have written them off.  But, from the first moment I met each of them I knew they were the kind of people one could only ever hope to meet once in a lifetime. I am twice blessed.

     Will he succeed? Let me put it this way: I got five on it.

     Please join us September 15, 2012 at Delaware Park Racetrack and Casino in Wilmington, DE for the 6th annual Delaware Cigar Festival to meet Skip, and participate in the national release of his new Aquitaine Cigars. You'll be glad you did.  For additional information, or to purchase tickets call 302-836-4889.