Columbus Day Parade and Italian Festival: tenth anniversary in Dallas on Oct. 13. will parade following the Civil and Military Authorities the Texas Park horses, the Skyline school band. Also performing will be the renowned Emerald City Band and Pino Marelli orchestra. A display of Italian sports cars, and the presence of restaurateurs and Italian products will be on the program.

“This event represents a continuity in the direction of travel to be able to promote our Italian history, traditions, culture and heritage. We must safeguard Columbus Day, demonstrating to the entire community that sharing convivial, cultural, social moments is an example of openness, inclusion, and in mutual respect with other ethnic groups,” says CGIE Councilor Vincenzo Arcobelli

The Columbus Day and Italian Festival Committee in Dallas has selected Oscar Renda Grand Marshal 2024.

“Oscar Renda deserves this significant recognition, for his great contribution to the construction world and for the community,” says Vincenzo Arcobelli Chairman of the event. “We are proud that Oscar Renda in the 2024 edition is the Grand Marshal, among the prominent personalities of the Italian-American community, declares Jay Lombardo Master of Ceremonies and member of the Organizing Committee. Oscar Renda, a successful entrepreneur proud of his roots, resides in Dallas. Arriving in the United States in 1956 from Calabria at the age of 8, from his teenage years he worked menial jobs , from car valet to dishwasher, while learning the carpentry trade. While also trying to get ahead in the sudi, he worked in the construction industry at age 14 and led a team of pipe fitters at age 17. A high school teacher saw his potential and encouraged him to pursue his studies in college. In 1967 with a little baggage and hitchhiking he arrived in Texas. He was accepted on the wrestling team in North Texas, this allowed him to self-finance his further education: he earned a bachelor's degree in Physical Education, with a major in American and Texas History in 1971.

In the summer of 1971, he found a job as a pipefitter crew chief for DalStrom Construction Company, which had won the contract to build Dallas/ Fort Worth International Airport in Texas.  In August of that year he was offered a job at Northwest High School teaching American History and coaching the football team. After failing to get the head coaching position in his second year, he resigned.  He took out a $13,000 loan, bought a John Deere excavator and founded Oscar Renda Contracting in 1973. His brother Rudy, an accountant at Price Waterhouse, quit his job and joined him in 1974. They started with earthmoving work and then went on to major works in major cities in Texas, 37 states and Canada. They became the largest contractors in the United States, expanding into infrastructure, wastewater treatment, highways, tunneling and dredging. Major projects include the San Francisco tunnel, the Lake Mead inlet structure, and the Tappan Zee Bridge in New York. They also manage biosolids for millions of people in the DFW area and 22 other cities. Their best business has been banking, owning three banks.

In 2013, they sold the construction business to their sons, who listed the company on the New York Stock Exchange last year. Today, Oscar Renda still runs the Environmental Company and a restaurant, Calabrese, as a retirement hobby.