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Munjoy Hill Italian immigrant receives surprises

Vange Donatelli, 80, was honored with a key to the city of Portland.

PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) — In addition to being the first day of spring, this year's vernal equinox was the International Day of Happiness.

According to the charity group Age UK, being social is crucial to being happy as we age.

One Maine man, an Italian tailor in Portland’s Munjoy Hill neighborhood, lives that credo.

Inside Donatelli’s Custom Tailor Shop, owner Vange Donatelli is marking up a new suit that his repeat customer has brought in.

"You gotta let 'em out a little bit," Donatelli tells the patron. "I gotta give you a nice little bit for a nice dish of spaghetti."

Donatelli has been measuring, cutting seams and custom tailoring out of his Congress Street shop for the past 45 years.

"You’ve been helping my mother for years. Mary Piper?" Eric Piper tells Donatelli, whose eyes open in recognition. "Oh, yes," he responds, and Piper explains what brought him in: "I’ve just moved back and you came highly recommended."

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It is a common theme at Donatelli’s — family-owned and -run since it opened for business in 1972. It’s one of the last of its kind in Portland.

A young woman comes into the shop, carrying two pairs of jeans. One appears vintage, broken in and ripped. Yet the attached tags indicate they are brand new. She asks Donatelli to hem them up 2 inches and to take them, indicating so they are snug to her body.

She says family and friends suggested Donatelli could help her: "They just say if you need pants of something hemmed or taken in, you should go to Donatelli’s."

Donatelli nods his head.

"You know, if you go to Freeport, if you go down Kkittery, you go to clothing store, you buy suits, say, 'I gotta take to Portland,' they send you here, and I don’t know nobody over there," he said.

Vange, born Evangelino, has built up a solid clientele. Based on a hard work ethic and happy demeanor, he said he learned in the mountain town of Letto Manoppello, .in the Pescaro province of Abruzzo where he grew up, near Italy’s east coast.

As he sits behind his 150-year-old sewing machine, he talks about the different types of materials he enjoys working with. Wool, he said, is his favorite.

"The material is good. That’s polyester and wool." A friend who has stopped by for a visit says. "Whatever it is, I want the same material."

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Donatelli does his work in the back of the shop. It’s also where his good friends come in and out of all day.

He points to the man he identifies as his closest friend and says in a thick Italian accent, "He come and make coffee. The machine is from Italy, the coffee from Italy, the man who makes it is from Italy."

His friend, Tony Mancini continues sharing their history: "We used to play soccer together in Italy. When we was young, the same team."

The two, friends in Italy and now great friends in Portland. They raise their espresso coffees, tapping them together, "salud, salud, chindon."

Their friendship is so strong, Donatelli says, that they spend hours at a time just talking.

"Yesterday we spent most of two hours, me and him, talk about problem. We can’t solve the problem but we can talk."

Mancini, who owns Mancini’s Electric just blocks away, explains their friendship.

"As a friend, OK, there’s very few people that you can trust and really enjoy life with and he’s a one of them."

That trust, that loyalty, Portland Police officer Kevin Haley says, is well known to his department. Donatelli hand tailors their uniforms.

"Everybody gets to know the whole process. He welcomes them in just like family. And so does the whole rest of his family. So yeah, everyone gets their stuff tailored here and next door at Liliana’s."

The laundromat and dry cleaner next door to Donatelli’s is named for Vange’s wife Liliana, who died from cancer at 53. His daughter Anna and son Peter now run it.

"My father, literally the day after he landed in New York City, was here in Portland living, trying to make a better living for himself and his children," Peter says, pausing in between pressing button down shirts. "And I’m guessing there’s not too many people around these days that make that much sacrifice for, others."

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Donatelli’s sacrifice was honored Tuesday inside his shop. His kids threw him a surprise 80th birthday party. He also received a very special gift from Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck.

"You've been making us look good for a long time, you truly do deserve a key to the city of Portland, that's wonderful. So on behalf of the city of Portland, congratulations."

Donatelli’s shop, packed to the gills, erupted in applause and a chorus of "Happy Birthday."

The man who has gone to such great lengths making his customers look good, from dignitaries Edmund Muskie, George Mitchell and Barbara Bush, to his "regulars," is now receiving his just rewards.

"I love what I do. It is what I do," Donatelli says in his still-thick Italian accent, a smile on his face.

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