Il Melograno Farm: Excellence Among Sicily’s Wildflower Honeys

Mistretta is solidifying its position as a significant cultural hub in the Nebrodi region. Following its successful inaugural edition in 2024, the event titled "Amastra che legge in festa 2025, the Festival of Books and Reading" is making its return.

With the patronage of the Municipality of Mistretta and the collaboration of numerous local associations and educational institutions, the event promises to strengthen the deep cultural sensitivity already demonstrated by the Amastratina community towards books and culture. This characteristic allowed Mistretta to compete as a finalist for Italian Book Capital 2025 through a project of great cultural, social, and identifying value, stemming from its recognition as a "Reading City" in 2024 by Cepell.

The book, therefore, takes center stage for an entire month rich in exhibitions, presentations, readings, educational workshops, and debates. Thus, within the framework of "May of Books," it will be interpreted not only as a tool for cultural dissemination but also for social cohesion and growth.

The festivities kick off on April 23rd with the exhibition "M'illumino leggendo" (I Light Up Reading), part of World Book and Copyright Day, organized by the I.C. Tusa-Mistretta at the Municipal Library. This will be followed by an interesting dialogue, entirely in Mistrettese dialect, titled "Mistretta, Identity and Narrative," featuring Corriere della Sera journalist Alessio Ribaudo and Vito Ribaudo, Human Resources Director of RCS. In the following days, various authors will be met, including Margherita Neri, Sara Magnoli, Tea Ranno, Mariangela Biffarella, Francesca Maccani, Mattia Corrente, and Massimiliano Città.

The initiative benefits from the valuable collaboration of the Pro Loco Mistretta APS Association, the Tusa-Mistretta Comprehensive Institute, the IIS A. Manzoni Mistretta, the Libreria Capitolo 18, the Hakuna Matata Association, the La Valle delle cascate di Mistretta Association, and the FIDAPA section of Mistretta.

The Instagram and Facebook pages of GMT Halaesa-Nebrodi are growing steadily, a sign of continued interest in this pioneering territorial tourism development project. Its aim is to transform our area, our municipalities, and our people into a tourism destination.

Encouraging Data and Organic Growth

In parallel, very encouraging data is coming from the halaesanebrodi.it website, both in terms of access numbers and national and international distribution. I'd like to emphasize that these figures haven't been influenced by specific promotional campaigns, which are still planned. Instead, they are purely the result of spontaneous access, fueled by word-of-mouth and the quality and quantity of the published content.

Thanks to the meticulous work of promoting operators, events of tourist interest proposed by the municipalities, and highlighting our "ambassadors" – people who share our territory's story in Italy and worldwide – our website, with 35,000 accesses recorded in just a few months, has become the main showcase for Halaesa-Nebrodi's vitality.

Key Dates

I'd like to highlight some key dates:

• January 26, 2024: Project presentation in Mistretta during the conference "The Culture of Hospitality in Inland Areas."
• April 29, 2024: Presentation of the website and initial operators in Castel di Tusa.
• May 21, 2024: Project presentation to local Proloco associations in Motta d'Affermo.
• September 21, 2024: Presentation of the Action Plan to the Mayors of the territory in Castel di Lucio, along with the first numerical and statistical data from the halaesanebrodi.it website.

The Path Forward: Vision, Sharing, and Perseverance

Over these ten months, we've launched and developed an innovative, exciting, forward-thinking, yet complex and challenging journey. After all, presenting oneself as a tourism destination is no simple matter: it requires vision and sharing, professionalism and perseverance, trust and patience, humility and courage. And love for one's territory and community.

Andrea Succi often says that the Culture of Hospitality doesn't equate to tourism, but it is its prerequisite. Therefore, it becomes crucial for each of us—whether an economic operator or a mayor—to change our approach to the world of tourism.

It's clear that our territory, our people, our tangible and intangible assets, and our culture deserve a chance for tourist, and thus economic, regeneration. This needs to come through a proposal that is relevant to our times, looks towards national and international markets, and is professionally structured and governed. These are topics that have been discussed for years, and now we can make them happen, but we must do it together.

The challenge is to replace the adversative conjunction "but" with the simpler and more reassuring copulative conjunction "and." This is neither easy nor guaranteed. The same goes for the adverb "together."

How You Can Contribute

• To those who patiently read to the end: I ask you to contribute to the project's growth, even through simply subscribing to the social media channels where GMT Halaesa-Nebrodi is present and sharing its content.
• To existing operators: I want to convey a message full of confidence and enthusiasm to continue; we are on the right path.
• To other operators reading this who want to learn more about the project: Please contact us, because the doors of GMT are and will continue to be always open.
• To administrators: Please continue to watch us, follow us, and support us with the same enthusiasm I've seen in your eyes and attitudes over these past ten months.

🔗 Right synergies always lead to beautiful things.

Recognition for Youth Entrepreneurship to an Operator of Halaesa Nebrodi

The current year continues to hold pleasant surprises for the Territory, for GMT™ Halaesa Nebrodi, and for the Operators who are part of it.

After recently telling the story of Elisa Cerrito and the Il Melograno Farm in Motta d'Affermo, which won a prestigious award in the field of beekeeping ([link to the article]), on October 4th, another young entrepreneur from Halaesa Nebrodi received an important recognition. She is Giuseppina Azzolina from Castel di Lucio, who was awarded in the context of the fourth edition of the "Una di tante" (One of Many) competition, organized by the Pro Loco of Nicosia.

Giuseppina Azzolina and her kiosk, "Al passo di Eolo" (At the pace of Aeolus), won the award in the Entrepreneurship and Management section. This important recognition was assigned following the suggestion of the Mayor of Castel di Lucio, Giuseppe Giordano, who in this way wanted to give due and deserved credit to the very young 25-year-old entrepreneur from Castel di Lucio. We recall that in the previous edition, another entrepreneur from Castel di Lucio, Franca Sacco, was awarded for her activity in the dairy sector, and in the same year, the Entrepreneurship and Management award was assigned to the entrepreneur from Mistretta, Maria Grazia Insana.

A Choice of Heart and Courage

Like many young people her age, at a certain point in her life, Giuseppina found herself at a crossroads: leave or stay? The love for her land, for her family, and for her town became determining factors in her difficult choice. Her decision was firm: Castel di Lucio, a mountain town of just over 1200 inhabitants perched on the Nebrodi Mountains, has been and will continue to be her home.

"A courageous choice, far from obvious, that has had an important impact on the entire community," underlined the Mayor during the award ceremony, "because with her gesture, she has restored dignity to the town."

The Birth of "Al passo di Eolo"

Giuseppina's family owns land a few minutes from the famous land art installation, The Labyrinth of Ariadne (Il Labirinto di Arianna), a highly frequented destination that is part of Fiumara d'Arte, Europe's most extensive open-air contemporary art park. On this land, located on a knoll exposed to the four winds with a breathtaking view, Al passo di Eolo was born in 2021, a small family-run kiosk where Giuseppina and Mimma, her dynamic mother, manage the kitchen and welcome guests.

From its beginning, Al passo di Eolo has stood out for its menus, a triumph of Sicilian cuisine: from cutting boards of fresh cured meats and cheeses to more substantial dishes like sandwiches with sausage and ricotta. There is no shortage of sweet delicacies, such as fresh cannoli, all served with refreshing drinks or a good coffee. The dishes are often presented on unique wooden cutting boards, hand-carved in the shape of a labyrinth, adding a special touch to the experience. Even on the cutting boards, there is, in a way, the family's mark, as they are handcrafted by her carpenter father who, obviously, also created all the wooden structures.

From that moment on, Al passo di Eolo became a genuine reference point for the territory and for the town of Castel di Lucio because, as the Mayor recalls, "it creates Value by uniting Art, Territory, and high-quality gastronomic Products, but it is also an important information point serving travelers."

"My award comes from a long way, the result of great sacrifices and supported by the closeness of my whole family," an emotional Giuseppina recounts. "I decided to stay and invest in the Territory, and it is to the Territory that I dedicate this award."

Beautiful words full of meaning, which aim to be an example for those who want to make their Territory their Home.