Page 17 - Winter Breeze 2

THE MAGIC TIDE

COMES TO LIFE

by Heidi Blue
We’ve all heard the stories about famous people
coming to San Felipe over the years. Like in 1971
when Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor met
for a couple of romantic days here during the filming
of “Raid on Rommel.” Or when Ray Liotta was here in 2000
filming “Inferno” south of town, at the El Cortez Hotel and in parts of El
Dorado Ranch. But did you know that San Felipe has it’s very own native born in-
ternational movie star? Most of you know him. Not only is he a native of San Felipe, but he
is a well known business owner, public figure
and all around nice guy Octavio Ascolani.
He was born in 1951 in Mexicali and raised
in San Felipe. Octavio’s parents were Alfredo
and Esperanza Ascolani. They owned the first
liquor store in San Felipe, and Alfredo became
a “Delegado Municipal” Delegate represent-
ing San Felipe in Mexicali, on three different
occasions. The name “Ascolani”, of Italian
descent, has been well known in the commu-
nity for years. Octavio’s grandfather, Guiseppi
“Jose” Ascolani, was born on the shores of the
Asiatic Sea in Northern Italy, in a town called
Trieste. He set out to explore the Americas and Alfredo and Hope Esperansa Ascolani
captained the ship “The Trieste”. He traveled with an employee in their liquor store
from Italy to San Francisco. He then proceeded to La Paz and in 1929 to San
Felipe. Jose Ascolani was an avid fisherman and was attracted to Baja due to the
abundance of sea life. He is known as one of the pioneers of the fishing industry in
San Felipe. But San Felipe in what is known in history as one of the coldest days in
region. In fact it snowed that
day in Mexicali. Captain Ascol-
ani and eight of his crew mem-
bers died in the storm. Historian
Ernesto Sosa Rocha wrote about
the pioneers and asserts that
Jose Ascolani is buried with the
other pioneers in “Panteon de
The Triest los Pioneros” the Cemetery to
the Pioneers, on Chetumal Ave.
in San Felipe.

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