Posted on Oct 22, 1999

When residents of Wells House planned a recent

dinner to honor their housekeeper, Rosina Guzzo, they accepted her offer

to bring “just one dish.”

But her motherly instinct took over. Guzzo, who loves to

prepare her Italian specialties, turned “just one dish” into

many. On the night of the dinner, she arrived with manicotti, chicken

marsala, pasta primavera, chicken Florentine, salad … and an assistant,

Anna Riccio of Dutch Hollow fame, to help with serving.

Guzzo, at Union since 1984 and Wells House since it

opened in 1993, has become something of a surrogate mother to students who

live in the community service theme house.

“I always call them my kids,” says Guzzo,

herself the mother of three grown children.

“We were just expecting her to bring a pan of

lasagna,” said one of the 20 Wells House residents who were treated

to the home-cooked meal. “It was incredible.”