When a fundraiser returns after a two-year absence, organizers can only hope people haven’t forgotten about it. That certainly wasn’t the case with Taste of Italy, which recently made a triumphant return to the Bentley Banquet & Conference Center in Wyandotte. When the fundraiser for the Penrickton Center for Blind Children was last held at the building at 646 Biddle Ave., it was owned by the Downriver Italian-American Club.
The change of ownership was the main reason for the event’s absence. “Ownership of the hall was in transition,” said Tony Lumia, the event’s chief organizer. “It’s a long process.” The building’s new owner, Ziad Nakad, who also owns Silver Shores Waterfront in Wyandotte, gave the former Downriver Italian-American Club hall a major makeover before reopening it as the Bentley Banquet & Conference Center.
