Tuesday night’s scholarship dinner gave the Paolo Busti Cultural Foundation a chance to look back at its founding four decades ago while also honoring local Italian Americans today.

The foundation, which gathered at Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel, took time to pay tribute to Vito Gautieri, its lone living founder among those who started the organization. Gautieri, a Batavia High School graduate who served in the Army during the Korean War, gave his time and resources to the foundation for many years to help it educate people on the contributions of Paolo Busti and help the foundation give back to the community.