Columbus Animates Congressional Debate
The first and only Congressional debate this year took place in Woodbridge, but its spiritual center was Wooster Square. That began when a question about who truly represents the Italian American community transformed into three different views on history, culture, and the best ingredients for an equitable society. Those perspectives were offered b...
Westford Proposal To Change Columbus Day Fails
A citizens proposal to recognize Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples' Day failed to pass a vote in Town Meeting this weekend in Westford. "Westford believes that the culture of Native American people is one to be promoted, the history is rich, diverse, and worthy of celebration, and that the actions and policies of European colonizers of the Americ...
Author Talk: Neil Thomas Proto
Thursday, October 29th, 12:00 PM—1:00 PM ET. Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86288400500. Neil Thomas Proto (author of "Fearless: A. Bartlett Giamatti and the Battle for Fairness in America") is an attorney, writer, and professor based in Washington, D.C. He earned an MA in International Affairs in 1969, and a JD in 1972, at the George Washing...
Family preserves legacy of Fracassi Family Educational Trust
Another treasured link to Santarcangelo, Italy, the city with which Portsmouth established a Friendship City relationship in December 2019, is gone, but not forgotten. The oldest member of the Fracassi Family Educational Trust Board of Trustees, Angelina Fracassi Smith, a member since its inception in 1999, died this summer at age 91. Renato Fracas...
Sortino's moving to Kalahari
The Sortino family is expanding its relationship with Kalahari Resorts. The Sortinos have operated an Italian restaurant in Sandusky in some form or another for more than 40 years. But the family will soon move its restaurant out of city limits as it partners with Kalahari Resorts. Sortino's Little Italy on Cleveland Road will close and reopen as S...
Greenwich honors ancestors who came with ‘cardboard suitcases’ and ‘immense hope’
When a hearty band of supporters gathered in the rain for a flag-raising Monday morning at Town Hall, they were celebrating more than just Columbus Day. They were also honoring local residents Peter and Bea Crumbine for their contributions to the Greenwich community. The tradition of the flag-raising and salute goes back more than 30 years in town,...
Italian-Americans: ‘Columbus hasn’t been forgotten’; bring the statue back to New Haven Park
Local Italian-Americans marked Columbus Day Monday by placing a wreath at the site that formerly held a statue of the explorer and renewing the call for the city to return the figure to Wooster Square Park. Louis Pane, president of the Italian-American Heritage Group of New Haven, noted the importance of Columbus to people of Italian heritage in th...
In Connecticut, Columbus Day is observed - or boycotted - in different ways
In the most contentious year yet about the legacy of Christopher Columbus, people in Connecticut took very different approaches Monday to observing the anniversary of his arrival in the Americas. Some cities, like Hartford, said it would likely be the last celebrated as Columbus Day, echoing a national shift in which hundreds of towns and more th...
North End groups discuss future of Columbus statue
Representatives from several Italian-American groups met in the North End Monday to discuss the future of the neighborhood’s Christopher Columbus statute. The statue was originally erected in North End Park in 1979 but was beheaded earlier this year before being removed and placed in storage. Demonstrators protested this weekend, calling for Columb...
Columbus statue in Worcester gets competing commemorations
There were no protests or vandalism, but those who honor Christopher Columbus and those who do not made themselves known on Columbus Day. At the statue of Christopher Columbus in front of Union Station in Washington Square, the local Sons of Italy left a red, white and green wreath honoring Columbus. The explorer is seen in the Italian American com...
Columbus Day Parade held in Bridgeport with COVID-19 restrictions
The Columbus Day Parade was held in Bridgeport with a scaled back event to protect the public from COVID-19. The procession went through the city's North End with only one float. Organizers say that the scope of the event was reduced due to the pandemic, but they never thought of canceling it in spite of all the controversy surrounding Christopher...
Missione Salva Colombo Compiuta a Norwalk, Connecticut
Dopo i tristi eventi dei mesi scorsi delle rimozioni , vandalismo e decapitazioni delle statue di Colombo in tantissime citta’ negli Stati Uniti, che hanno colpito e anche un po' diviso le comunità’ italiane nei vari stati, a Norwalk nello Stato del Connecticut in occasione del Columbus Day, anniversario della scoperta dell’America, e’ stata erett...