Local historians consider Stamford’s monuments amid national debate
The city’s only Civil War monument was destroyed long before remembrances from that part of U.S. history became a national debate. A cannon from the USS Kearsarge — a warship best known for its defeat of a Confederate commerce raider during the Civil War — adorned what was known then as West Park on Main Street from 1901 until 1942, when it was rem...
The Roma Cafe is reborn in Portland, with ‘big shoes to fill’
Karen Morrill peeked around the corner, through the open pocket doors, into the main dining room of the Roma Café. “Oh, this is so exciting,” said Morrill, a 58-year-old Scarborough resident who works for the city of South Portland. Morrill hadn’t set foot in the Congress Street restaurant, which reopened three weeks ago, since 1989, when the room...
East Longmeadow's Frank Vatrano returns to Springfield for Boston Bruins Fan Fest at Forest Park
At this point, Frank Vatrano is no longer a newcomer to the Boston Bruins. The East Longmeadow native has already logged 83 regular-season games in the NHL, and is set to enter his third pro season with his hometown team. Now a veteran of postseason battles, extended media circuits and numerous training camps, there isn't much that leaves the skill...
Nancy Luce, la “signora delle galline” nell’America del 1800
Oggi vi porteremo a conoscere Nancy Luce, soprannominata anche la “donna delle galline” e addirittura da qualcuno la “Madonna delle galline”. Praticamente sconosciuta qui in Italia, in America è famosissima e proprio in questi giorni abbiamo letto che ad Hollywood (moltissime star hollywoodiane amano le galline) stanno pensando di realizzare un fil...
Saugus Barber Shop is 115 years young
George’s Barber Shop has been styling customers for 115 years, and now it’s sporting a new look of its own. The shop is run by Mike Moriello, a fourth generation barber who followed in the hair-clipping footsteps of his father, grandfather, and great grandfather — all of whom were named George. His great-grandfather opened the Jackson Street busine...
Mass honors La Madonna Del Bosco
Some three years ago, the statute of La Madonna Del Bosco – the patron saint and Protector of Panni – was recovered inside a church on Providence’s Federal Hill. The hand-painted statute, which was brought to Rhode Island from Italy in the early 1900s, was then accepted – and moved – to its permanent home inside Our Lady of Grace Church located at...
Sculpture takes shape on Westside
A man slowly took shape beneath a pair of grinders. Italian sculptors Alessandro Lombardo and Andrea Ingrassi worked at the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center Friday on “Stone Legacy,” a statue of a stone worker commissioned by Mark Foley and Green Mountain Power, intended to be the first in a series of sculptures placed in downtown Rutland. Work...
Group Seeks to Complete Boy Scout Statue After 76 Years
The Vermont city defined by the stone pulled from within its surrounding hills is hoping to use that granite to commission a piece of art conceived more than seven decades ago honoring one of the nation's first Boy Scout troops. A local Boy Scout historian is leading the effort in Barre, a city known as "the granite center of the world," to complet...
Italian Feast of Sts. Cosmas and Damian set for Sept. 8-10
The 91st annual Italian Feast of Sts. Cosmas and Damian will be held from 6 to 11 p.m. Sept. 8, 1 to 11 p.m. Sept. 9 and 1 to 10 p.m. Sept. 10 on Warren and Porter streets in Cambridge. The event will feature a food festival; parades; amusement rides and carnival games; meatball and cannoli eating contests at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 9-10; “Monsters, Inc.”...
Saint Anthony's Feast pays homage to old North End in Boston
Janice Luongo can remember a time when the Saint Anthony's Feast looked a little different. When the men all wore suits and women wore dresses. "You didn't wear jeans," Luongo says. During a 12-hour procession alongside the holy statue of Saint Anthony, women walked barefoot around the North End as a show of sacrifice. "It's not like what it was wh...
Saint Luke Church In Hartford Celebrates Final Mass For The Madonna
The end of an era for many Italian-Americans in Hartford's south end will come on Saturday when parishioners of Saint Luke Church hold an annual Mass that celebrates their connection to the old country but also a belief in miracles that is an important part of their religious faith. That event is the Mass for the Madonna delle Lacrime, or Madonna o...
St. Rocco's Feast A Righteous Event
To say that last weekend’s Saint Rocco’s Church Feast and Festival was many things for many people would be an understatement of huge proportions. Above all else, as Co-Chairman Richard Montella said, “Once again, our feast was a tremendous success for the parish community. We measure success in many ways; first and foremost it is our spiritual suc...