The Nutley Belleville Columbus Day Parade committee will host the largest Italian-American event in Essex County with the Columbus Day Parade on Sunday, Oct. 9, at 1:30 p.m. The parade route starts at Belleville High School, proceeds north on Franklin Avenue and ends at Nutley High School. The Belleville Chapter of UNICO and the Federation of Itali...

They wanted to celebrate holidays, not debate them. But as Palo Alto officials prepare to adopt policies to formally recognize Juneteenth, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta Day and to commemorate days of remembrance for the Holocaust and Armenian genocide, they are running into a thorny question: What should they call the second Monday in October? Th...

The newly restored bust of Christopher Columbus was unveiled at the Italian American Club of Livonia (IACL) on August 29, 2022. IACL President Frank Luscri welcomed invited guests, members of the Italian American community, in addition to special guests Italian Consul in Detroit Paola Allegra Baistrocchi, Mayor of Livonia Maureen Miller Brosnan, sc...

In the lead-up to Christopher Columbus Day on Oct. 10, local Indigenous groups have told City of Tampa officials to remove a Columbus statue from the park dedicated to him on Bayshore Boulevard and W Platt Street. But even if the city refuses to remove it, the group says the statue will come down. “One way, or another the statue of Columbus must an...

Italian American organizations in Massachusetts have seen a revival as of late. The unwarranted attacks on elements of our Heritage have brought attention to the fact that Italian Americans have a rich culture that must be respected and maintained. What is clear is that Italian / Italian American organizations are seeing the need to work together t...

Some legislators in New York are proposing wiping away the Columbus holiday. Its sponsor in the Senate, Jessica Ramos, also wants all statues of Columbus removed. “As the daughter of a proud indigenous woman, I would love to see a statue honoring the people whose land has been stolen,” she says. Who can argue with the need to respect and honor the...

The Nutley-Belleville Columbus Day & Italian Heritage Month Parade Committee will celebrate its 40th annual honoree dinner on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at Nanina’s in the Park, 540 Mill St. in Belleville. The Cocktail Hour will begin at 6:30 p.m.; tickets are charged.  The committee will present the 2022 Grand Marshal Award to Tina Cervasio, Fox 5 lead...

Dear friends, even in August, ciao from a Rome full of American tourists and empty of us Romans!   In early August a dear friend traveling to Liguria sent me a photo, taken by him. While driving he had seen a sign that had attracted his curiosity, and he knew well that it would interest me as well. The photo is the one you see here: Cogoleto, the s...

The Toms River Regional School District has canceled Columbus Day. This week, the district released its first draft of the 2023-24 school year, and Christopher Columbus was cut. Next October, schools will remain open for Columbus Day, but closed for Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, winter break, Martin Luther King Day, President’...

No one can deny Columbus’ discovery of the New World had a long-term impact on the Indigenous People of North and South America. It was Columbus’s life-long mission to discover a shorter sea route to the Far East, not only for new trade, but, also, to find an unobstructed path to Jerusalem, then occupied by the Muslims. Not only was Columbus an inc...