DONORA - Some call him the "father of frozen pizza in the Mon Valley."
When one thinks of pizza, one thinks of the tomatoes that serve as the base for the sauce, the herbs that flavor it and toppings like green pepper that add zest. They are all plants that Art Galiffa, the pizza patriarch, used to grow.
But the problem for Galiffa is that, at 88, he can no longer garden. He's in a wheelchair due to arthritic hips, and his heart's not working as well as it used to.
So an organization known as Unity, a Journey of Hope, got a crew together to make Galiffa's wish come true. A dozen people bearing tillers, hoes and flats of vegetables descended on Galiffa's Allen Avenue property a few weeks ago to work the soil, make furrows and place the plants so he can again watch a garden grow.
"Wonderful, wonderful," Galiffa said, surveying the beehive of activity. "Grow it and give it away."
The late Majiorie and Nazzareno Galiffa, Art's parents, donated much of their produce to a local soup kitchen, and Art Galiffa plans to do much of the same.
Galiffa, his son, Barry, and Barry's wife, Judy, who also pitched in at the 24-by-48 plot cultivated and planted by volunteers from the Hope Center, a Carroll Township church, have agreed to donate the produce from the garden to the Angel Food Ministry of the Hope Center.
"Heckuva crew," Barry Galiffa said. "I couldn't do this myself. Art never golfed; Art never fished. Art went to the garden, then he went to the pizza shop."
With bright-green basil leaves perched behind their ears, Art Galiffa and his sister-in-law, Olga Pierallini, looked almost sprightly.
Galiffa said the basil emits a sweet fragrance to cover the sweatiness of hardworking gardeners.
"During the Depression, my father and mother had a big garden. We owned this whole corner," Galiffa said, gesturing to the houses beyond his front porch. "From the top of Third Street to Sycamore Alley. We had to eat. We raised more than 1,000 tomato plants, kale, collard, mustard.
"They were so gentle, so kind, they would give you the shirt off their backs."
Art Galiffa last planted his own vegetable garden in 2004, growing huge cabbages and row after row of staked tomatoes.
The Galiffa family operated a produce store on Sixth Avenue, Monessen, and later a dairy bar on Fifth Street, Donora. It was there that the family started making pizzas. They have long-standing booths at both the Washington County and Westmoreland County fairs, and many a band or club member has sold hoagies from the Galiffa shop.
John Robinson, who, with his wife, Bobbi, started Unity, a Journey of Hope, is Art Galiffa's hospice nurse. He often heard of Galiffa's desire to see a garden where there has been none for five years. The Robinsons recruited the volunteer laborers.
"I call this Galiffa's gift," John Robinson said.
At the garden-planting, Galiffa clasped Robinson's hand and said, "You'll never walk alone. You'll always walk with me."
"That's what it's about, Art," Robinson replied. "I'm glad we could help you."