Your future, our focus
Following father Gianfranco’s word his boyhood home in Venice did not drown in recent flooding, Josh Petteno could almost rest his mind 5,237 miles away.
Except for the worry about his beloved Italian city’s future and what friends experienced as water seeped beneath doorways, into government offices and soaked internationally revered landmarks.
He could temporarily blank his mind sufficiently to shoot a basketball well enough to score 34 points in 32 minutes in Northwest College’s 91-76 victory over the Game Gear All-Stars. He outscored Game Gear himself in the first half.
The 6-foot-5 forward with blond hair and a reddish beard played unconscious, as it is sometimes said of a scorching hot shooter.
It is a worrisome time for the freshman despite the social media reassurance from dad about their home not being damaged.
Petteno’s family house is technically located a critical 10 minutes across a bridge from the heart of Venice, in an area called Marghera.
Much of Venice is always underwater. There are no roads, only canals, a collection of Adriatic Sea islands stitched together. Those waters are usually placid, with gondolas gently paddled.
As the world watched in horror, turbulent seas crashed in, 6-foot high tides covering 85 percent of community streets, including Piazza San Marco, where the St. Mark’s Basilica has stood since 1094. This was Venice’s largest flood in a half-century, second largest ever.
While foolish people deny global climate change, Petteno has grown up with the education of it, the reality Venice may not survive if these type of floodwaters come one day and do not recede.
“We have always shared Venice has such a delicate biosphere,” Petteno said. “The lagoon is a very unique place. It is subject to consequences of climate change.”
Unique is often a too-casually applied word. Not in this case. There is only one Venice.
Petteno’s English is first-rate, though occasionally he gropes for the precise word in his non-native tongue. Certainly, his basketball skills have translated vividly over his first games for the Trappers.
In three straight victories, Petteno scored 16, 14 and those 34 points. He works hard to get open without the ball. He can nail those 22-footers from beyond the arc. Periodically, he can out-sprint the field down-court to dunk.
“I was just playing,” Petteno said, not at all cocky about his seven 3-pointers versus Game Gear. “I shot and they went in. I try to repay my teammates.”
Coach Jay Collins said Petteno is improving by the game. At no time, however, did he mention troubles in Venice. Didn’t say a word, Collins said.
Petteno is 20 and single, but he talks about what kind of world his children and grandchildren may inherit if Venice becomes Atlantis, if California burns, and if Arctic permafrost melts into mud.
It is his age-group’s “job,” as he put it, meaning responsibility, to inform younger people.
“I’m worried about it,” Petteno said. “Mostly for the next generation. They will have to face the problems.”
Some governments, scientists and individuals are trying to face them now. And some ignore all signs.
Just a day prior to Petteno’s sterling game, the Veneto Regional Council, situated on the Grand Canal, rejected budget funding initiatives to combat climate change. One member posted on Facebook that two minutes later the chambers flooded for the first time in history.
To suggest they had their heads in the sand is probably a mixed metaphor.
Volunteers poured into Venice to help salvage damaged treasures and personal belongings. The High Water Bookstore, which routinely keeps inventory in plastic tubs and even a gondola, wasn’t high enough this time.
The flood cause two deaths and damages estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. It provoked outrage, too, because Venice had planned for this threat. A gigantic protective barrier was funded to save the city, but distressingly, scandals knocked it off schedule, so nothing was safe.
“The next generation coming,” Petteno said. “They may not have a future.”
Josh Petteno can go unconscious on the court firing down those long-distance shots, but it is clear he has a conscience.