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The Wooster Square neighborhood, as it came to be identified as an enclave for Italian immigrants, found those of other ethnic origins leaving, and the original Yankee industrialists abandoned their stately homes in favor of other neighborhoods that were more protected against foreign intrusion. The diaspora-like  influx of the primarily southern I...

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October is Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month. In Connecticut, more than 584,000 Italian-Americans call the state home, according to World Population Review 2023. They make up 16-percent of the population, making Connecticut the state with the highest percentage of Italian-Americans in the country. Over the decades, Italian immigrants and...

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Turn the clock back 50 years and you would find Italian bakeries aplenty in Hartford. “There were probably eight or nine on the avenue,” said Jenny Beaurivage, co-owner of Giuseppina’s Italian bakery in South Windsor. “I always had a dream of one day opening up my own.” It was a dream that, for some time, she had to shelve. “Life happened, I had ki...

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The clay sculpture for the new Wooster Square monument that eventually will replace the Christopher Columbus status that once stood in Wooster Square Park is nearly finished and ready to go to a Massachusetts foundry to be cast in bronze. Meanwhile, fundraising has reached $320,000 toward a $400,000 goal, said Bill Iovanne Jr., co-chair of the Woos...

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We have so many great Italian restaurants in Connecticut. No matter what corner of the state you’re in, you’re able to find great spaghetti, pasta, and, of course, apizza. One of our favorite Italian restaurants in the Nutmeg State is Siena Ristorante. The Norwalk location has been open since 2021 in Hotel Zero, and the Stamford location has been d...

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A half-dozen members of a group called the Italian-American Defense League gathered in Wooster Square Park to celebrate Columbus Day — and to renew their call for a return of the long-gone statue depicting that federal holiday’s namesake. The group charged with coming up with a new Italian heritage-celebrating sculpture for that same spot of Wooste...

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After a three-year hiatus, the Westerly-Pawcatuck Columbus Day parade is back. Hundreds of people gathered to participate and watch the return of a community tradition that goes back more than 70 years on Sunday afternoon. “Community tradition is the most important thing," Jeff Frenette, the parade committee's vice president said. "We thought you k...

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They built, by hand, stately downtown office structures, roads, bridges, the Merritt Parkway, railroad tracks, and their houses. They opened grocery stores, restaurants, bakeries, tailor shops, barber shops, butcher shops, pharmacies, and dentist’s offices. They were skilled carpenters, electricians, masons, plumbers and mechanics. They worked in t...

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Love football? Love/hate the Patriots? Upset with college football’s realignments? Die-hard fan of your high school football team? Take a break and let 70-year-old Torrington resident Paul Denza, still a giant of a man, carry you back to the ‘70s when the Patriots gave this former lineman a chance to confront NFL Hall of Famers Gene Upshaw and Art...

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Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and the West Haven Italian Heritage Committee will honor Republican state Rep. Charles J. Ferraro as the city’s “primo italiano” at the 24th annual Italian Heritage Celebration. Ferraro, a world-class martial artist and an ambassador of his proud Italian heritage, will receive the Italian American of the Year award at noon Frid...

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