'Rustic Italian' fare coming to Bresca space
By Susan Axelrod Damian Sansonetti and his wife, Ilma Lopez, are opening a "rustic Italian" restaurant in the space formerly occupied by Bresca at 111 Middle St. next month. Sansonetti, who left his post as executive chef at Bar Boulud in New York City to come to Portland last September, owns Blue Rooster Food Co. in the Old Port, which h...
Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra Celebrates 30th Season with Italian Opera Gala
When: Saturday, April 30, 2016 – 6 p.m.Where: Dassault Systèmes, 175 Wyman St, Waltham, MA The Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra will celebrate its 30th anniversary with an elegant fundraiser, "Italian Opera Gala," on Saturday, April 30. This event will include a cocktail hour, Italian dinner, and performances by noted soloists from The Bostonians an...
Confusion reigns over fundraising efforts for Mount Carmel Church
by Tom Quinn For decades, Our Lady of Mount Carmel has served in the dual role of religious structure and Italian-American community gathering place. The Catholic Diocese of Worcester shut down the religious aspect of the building when it shuttered the damaged building in May, but the Italian Festival this year brought parishioners and oth...
Patron saint honored with procession
by Ken Borsuk On Wednesday, the focus was on food, dancing and fellowship. On Sunday, celebrants of the annual St. Roch's Feast will march through the streets of Chickahominy to honor their namesake and patron saint. The traditional procession, led by The Society Morrese and accompanied by a brass band, will begin at St. Roch...
88th Annual St. Joseph Feast Begins Friday
by Becca Manning The 88th annual Saint Joseph Feast is coming up this weekend in the North End, with parades, music, entertainment and, of course, lots of delicious Italian food. The festival, organized by The Saint Joseph Society of Boston, celebrates the patron saint of the town of Riesi in Sicily and has been going on in the North End...
Springfield Italian-Americans explore dual-citizenship
Italian-Americans looking to gain dual citizenship got to learn about the process to do that at the Mt. Carmel Society in Springfield. Comitas is the Committee for Italians Abroad. Among many things, they help to promote cultural exchange and the Italian language. Read more Source: http://wwlp.com
Rhode Island celebrates Columbus Day with parades, festivals
Rhode Island is celebrating Columbus Day with a weekend of parades, festivals and cultural events. Providence's Federal Hill neighborhood will host a Columbus Day festival running Saturday through Monday. The annual Columbus Day Parade happens Sunday morning. Missing from the parade this year will be the Rhode Island National Guard, which was...
Little Italy in North End Boston
by Phyllis Hinz & Lamont Mackay The North End, Boston's first neighborhood, is the place to experience the Italian lifestyle. Once the home of American revolutionaries, the community maintains an old world look. Plants hang from the balconies of five-storey, red brick, walk-up condominiums. There is no such thing as a supermarket in t...
Remembering Tom Magliozzi, Beloved Tappet Brother
Tom Magliozzi was born June 28, 1937, in an East Cambridge, Massachusetts neighborhood filled with other Italian immigrant families. It was there that he and his younger brother Ray picked up the uniquely Boston-Italian style of expressing affection through friendly insults and teasing. That style was at the heart of their banter with each...
Charles Baldelli to be inducted into Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame
Former state representative and city mayor Charles Baldelli will be among five Rhode Island residents inducted into the state Heritage Hall of Fame this spring, making him the first Italian-American from Woonsocket to claim the honor according to Albert Beauparlant, a member of the Hall of Fame board of directors. Baldelli will be honored...
From Grinding Poverty to Farms and Factories: Anthony Riccio Returns to the New Haven Museum for Stories of the Italian American Women of Connecticut
Comparing her life as a cigar maker in New Haven to her grueling labors as a taglialegna, or lumberman, in 1930s Italy, Michelina Venditti can't help chuckling at the contrast. Venditti's remarkable account of felling trees to make charcoal is just one of many riveting oral histories collected by author Anthony Riccio for his newest book, "Farms, F...
Local poet Walter Valeri joins Poets’ Theatre in Cambridge
Local poet Walter Valeri recently became the first and only Italian to be elected to the Poets' Theatre advisory board. Through this prestigious organization based in Cambridge, Valeri will be working on bringing a Dario Fo Festival to the area in 2016, on the occasion of Fo's 90th birthday and the 30th anniversary of Fo' and Franca Rame's groundb...