West Orange town officials, UNICO and the West Orange High School Italian Club recently partnered to hold an Italian flag raising ceremony at Town Hall. The event was emceed by Frank Gonnella of the Orange/West Orange UNICO chapter and welcomed UNICO national president Ralph Contini, who shared the New Jersey history of Italian American Heritage and Culture Month.

UNICO provides annual scholarships to graduating West Orange and Orange seniors and local organizations involved in community outreach. “Governor James McGreevy proclaimed October as Italian American Month in New Jersey in 2002, and on Oct. 11, 2009, Governor Jon S. Corzine today signed a joint resolution, AJR-97, permanently designating the month of October as Italian-American Heritage Month,” Contini noted.