Gelu Italian opens “ice box” for the summer
Gelu Italian Ice has opened its standalone location outside of Sutherlands at 2405 F Road in Grand Junction. Gelu also operates mobile carts and serves Italian ice treats at fairs, farmers markets and festivals in Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. The location at Sutherlands — dubbed the "ice box" — offers a place where people can drive up,...
Italian author coming to MSSU for lectures, book-signing events
By Emily Younker Italian author Fabio Geda will be the featured speaker at several lectures and book-signing events scheduled at Missouri Southern State University this week. Geda is the author of the notable nonfiction novel "In the Sea There are Crocodiles," which has been translated into more than 30 languages and adapted into a play. ...
Run/Walk For Bocce Ball Courts
Cheyenne's members of the Mia Maria Lodge of the Order of Sons of Italy want to share their heritage with you. "We are working with the city to fund a Bocce Course in one of our public parks," says Jenny Craig, a runner who is a member of the group. These groups of Italian- Americans want to introduce the age old game of Bocce Ball to Chey...
Pellegrini’s brings southern Italian fare home to Greeley
by Dallas Heltzell Both in its previous and current incarnations, a pioneering spirit has propelled a restaurant space in the Cottonwood Square shopping center in Greeley. For 25 years, the spot at 2400 17th St. was home to Potato Brumbaugh's, whose menu reflected the Western ranching culture and whose name was taken from a character...
93-year-old baker, World War II veteran gets medals
A 93-year-old baker in Omaha can now wear the medals he earned during combat missions in World War II. Maj. Gen. Daryl Bohac pinned an Air Medal with silver and bronze oak leaf clusters and five other awards on Claudio Orsi's jacket Wednesday in Congressman Brad Ashford's office. Orsi received the medals more than 70 years since the l...
Mount Rushmore Chief Carver Finally Recognized
For its 100th birthday, the National Park Service gave a long-awaited gift to many Italian-Americans and all unsung artists: Italian immigrant Luigi Del Bianco was finally recognized as the chief carver of Mount Rushmore. The park service acknowledged on the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Facebook page on May 4 that Gutzon Borglum, the d...
An Italian and a Native American’s Quest to Give Voice to American Indians
When Italian Carlotta Cardana was in high school, she spent a year as a foreign exchange student in Nebraska. While there, she met Danielle SeeWalker, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The two became fast friends and kept in touch when Cardana left the U.S. Fifteen years later, during a meeting in London, they began to t...
Legendary Italian / American Baseball Personality: Joe Garagiola
Joseph Henry Garagiola was Born on February 12, 1926 in the Italian section of a neighborhood called the Hill, in St. Louis, Missouri. Garagiola grew up across the street from Yogi Berra and the two became close friends throughout their life. Also on the same block would eventually live broadcaster Jack Buck & his son Joe Buck as well...
Gianni Bacci’s, modern-day speakeasy and tapas bar, to open in Old Town
There won't be a secret door or password, but Jason-Paul Febres is opening a tapas bar disguised as a speakeasy of sorts across from his Taste & See in Old Town. "We're going to be modern in a throwback way, so I think it's going to be a beautiful fusion," he says. Gianni Bacci's will open at 301 N. Washington, at the northwest corner...
This Italian hot rod is back, and you can find it in Iowa
For more nearly two decades, this Italian sports car has been absent from the United States. But now, car lovers can unite over the first Alfa Romeo that has just arrived at the new Billion Alfa Romeo Dealer in Clive. A turn of the key and you realize this little Alfa Romeo is no ordinary car. “This is Italian passion. It basically embodies everyth...
Luigi's in Oelwein remembered after fire
A large, white chicken still sways in the wind above the Luigi's Restaurant and Lounge sign. It was the only thing still standing Sunday after a fire gutted the landmark Oelwein restaurant only a day earlier. A steady stream of vehicles slowly drove down South Frederick to Southwest 11th Street to glimpse the charred remains of Luigi's, an Ita...
Italian in Great Plains
Italian immigrants entered the Great Plains first as missionaries such as Fra Marco da Nizza (1495-1558) and Eusebio Francisco Kino (1645-1711), and later as adventurers such as Count Leonetto Cipriani (1816-1888) and Italian American Charles Siringo (1855-1928). Since Italy was not a unified country until the Risorgimento (1860-70), early...