The Republic Day of Brescia opened in the Vanvitelliano hall of Palazzo Loggia, with the awarding of the Honors of Merit of the Republic – upon decision of the Head of State – to 27 Brescians who distinguished themselves for specific merits in letters, arts , economics and in the disengagement from public offices and activities carried out for social, philanthropic and humanitarian purposes, or for long service in civil and military careers.
The recipients of the honor were: Daris Baratti from Montichiari, Alessandro Bonomelli from Saviore dell’Adamello, Vittorio Braghini from Passirano, Antonella Brancati from Brescia, Annibale Bruni from Bovezzo, Arnaldo Caruso from Brescia, Giuseppe Castrovilli from Toscolano Maderno, Silvano Ciocchini from Ponte di Legno, Luigi Cominelli of Bagnolo Mella, Alberto Degli Affari (now serving in Rome), Maria Cristina Lilia Fogazzi of Brescia, Vittorio Fragalà Brescia, Andrea Grisi of Bovezzo, Giorgio Marchini of Brescia, Massimiliano Massimo de’ Casamassimi of Lonato of Garda, Fernando Perticaroli from Travagliato, Luigi Petrone from San Felice del Benaco, Angelo Pignatelli from Brescia, Giuseppina Prestini from Alfianello, Mario Ranieri from Brescia, Vincenzo Reddavide from Brescia, Marina Scardi from Rovato, Giuseppe Antonio Scolaro from Corte Franca, Gian Mario Sechi of Manerbio, Andrea Tortelli of Ospitaletto, Salvatore Tramis of Brescia, Rudy Zucca of Calcinato. Together with them, the President of the Republic also awarded the Prefect of Brescia Maria Rosaria Laganà with an honor.
The celebration of the 78th anniversary of the Republic Day then continued with the official ceremony in Piazza della Loggia, with honors to the medal table of the Federation of the Blue Ribbon, to the banners and medal tables of the combat and arms associations and then to the banners of the Province and Municipality of Brescia; honors to the Prefect of Brescia, who reviewed the deployment of the police forces, accompanied by the Commander of the Joint Forces Garrison; the raising of the flag and the placing of the laurel wreath on the stele in Piazza della Loggia.
Finally, the prefect of Brescia also read Sergio Mattarella’s message and then concluded the ceremony with a short speech. “Republic Day is an opportunity for a renewed commitment first and foremost of the institutions, to generously place themselves at the service of citizens, with the responsibility that derives from being an expression of the popular and democratically expressed will. As was recalled a few days ago by remembering the victims of Piazza Loggia, there have been many, even in relatively recent times, attempts to undermine the democratic freedoms that have been laboriously regained through the strategy of terror able to operate in a cohesive manner, made it possible to isolate and neutralize those who acted to favor authoritarian tendencies” said Laganà, and then addressed the young people present in the square: “The hope I feel like expressing is that the sense of community, strength leader of our country, always guide us in our life choices and encourage us to commit ourselves personally in the search for the common good”.
