Girard celebrates Mt. Carmel festival
The Girard Mount Carmel Festival will be Wednesday through July 16 at the Italian Fraternal Home grounds, 33 W. Wilson Ave. The festival will include a parade 11 a.m. July 16 from IFH to St. Rose Parish with Mass at 11:30 a.m. and a ceremony at 1:15 p.m. at Girard Cemetery. Fireworks by Zambelli will be 11 p.m. July 16. Musical entertainment includ...
Casa to shine spotlight on local artists
Local painters, sculptors, photographers and mixed media artists are boxing up their best work and transporting it to Casa Italia for its annual art show. An opening reception is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 11 in the Mentesana Weber Chandelier Room at the Casa. “All are welcome to attend, get a first look at the art and enjoy the drinks and h...
Calabrese family fest returns to Casa Italia
Casa Italia will be transformed into a Calabrian wonderland from Aug. 10 to 13 when the 36th annual Festa della Famiglia in honor of San Francesco di Paola takes over the grounds. The event is blessed to be able to welcome back Archbishop Blase Cupich as the main celebrant at its Sunday Mass for the second year in a row. Jointly sponsored by Societ...
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Festival returns for 142nd year
What’s called the “longest-running Italian festival in the country” returns this month. The 142nd Our Lady of Mount Carmel Festival, begins Tuesday and runs through July 16. Run by the independent nonprofit Our Lady of Mount Carmel Society and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, the festival is the nonprofit society’s biggest fundraiser, with about $...
Feast of San Lorenzo and San Rocco
The Feast of San Lorenzo and San Rocco will be celebrated from Aug. 10 to 13 in Chicago Heights. The event is sponsored by the Amaseno Lodge No. 3 of Chicago Heights. Festivities culminate on Aug. 13 with an 11:30 a.m. Mass at the San Rocco Oratory in Chicago Heights, preceded and followed by processions from and to the lodge with the statues of Sa...
Feast of San Donato
St. Donatus Church will celebrate the 108th annual Feast of San Donato from Aug. 2 to 6. Festivities will culminate on Aug. 6 with a 10 a.m. Mass, followed by a procession featuring Caliendo’s Banda Napoletana, plus a $10,000 raffle. A street festival will feature live entertainment; rides and games; bingo; a beer garden; and food and beverage boot...
Italian-American community leader Anthony J. Fornelli dead at 83
Anthony J. “Tony” Fornelli, who became one of the most prominent Italian-Americans in the Chicago area, drove a meat truck to put himself through law school. He went on to be a civic leader and a partner in a chain of currency exchanges that grew to 50 locations in three states by the mid-1980s, said Paul Basile, editor of Fra Noi, a Chicago magazi...
Coffee & Tea by the Book
In person registration for Garden City Library cardholders begins on Thursday, July 6th at 9:30AM at the Reference Desk of the Library for the next Coffee & Tea by the Book discussion. The program will be held on Monday, July 24th at 7PM in the small meeting room on the Lower Level of the Library. Librarians Laura Flanagan and Ann Garnett will mode...
Hoosier veteran celebrates freedom decades after escaping German POW train
There’s a banner stretched across the outdoor deck of a Franklin Township home that announces, “Welcome Uncle Tommy and Family.” If not for the courage and cunning of a World War II Army Ranger from Indianapolis, there would be no family to welcome him home. Former Private Tommy Mascari who turns 95 Monday, and celebrates Independence Day the day a...
“Pinocchio” coming to Metro East
Remember the charming story of Geppetto, an Italian woodcarver who carves a son out of a block of pine? The wooden marionette is brought to life and discovers that to be truly human is to be kind and brave. On Wed., July 5th (1:00 p.m.), this wonderful story will be depicted by the Hampstead Stage Company as part of the children’s summer reading pr...
17th Annual Italian American Summer Festival hits Fairgrounds in Berea
Is there a better way to pasta time away? The 17th Annual Italian American Summer Festival rolls out 25 vendors serving up an eclectic list of ethnic cuisines, including a wide range of Italian favorites, from pizza to lasagna, pasta, gelato, cappuccino and cannoli and biscotti. Whoa, check out that pasta eating contest on Sunday. The long-running...
Paul Sciria's death stunned me: Letter to the Editor
Paul Sciria's death stunned me, as well it should given a friendship of over 80 years. We both lived on 154th off Kinsman, a few doors apart, a thoroughly ethnic street, mostly Italians and Jews, with one German family and a Lutheran minister to boot. It never mattered if we had not seen each other for a while; when we met we were instantly transpo...