The extent of my chalk paintings date back to hot, sunny childhood days when my mother would unearth the sidewalk chalk from the garage and let me have the run of the sidewalk in front of our house.   By the end of the day, the hot pavement would be covered with different flowers, a stick figure rendition of my family - complete with our hou...

A long-standing Italian tradition will return to Orland Park on Monday, March 9 when the Sons of Italy of Orland Park Leone D’Oro Lodge 2700 host a Saint Joseph’s Table at the Orland Park Civic Center, 14750 South Ravinia Avenue. The event begins at 6 p.m.   One of the most beloved saints among Italian-Americans, Saint Joseph was the foster...

by Pamela Stevens   December is a month of celebrations including the traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner. It is also known as Festa dei Sette Pesci, or the Feast of the Seven Fishes. It's a meal without meat honoring the midnight birth of baby Jesus; a custom that originated in Sicily and has since spread throughout Italy and arou...

Michigan-bred Vatican astronomer and Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno will become the first clergyman awarded one of planetary science's most prestigious awards, when on Thursday in Arizona he receives the Carl Sagan Medal.   And then Consolmagno, for two decades the curator of the Vatican's meteorite collection, plans to head to metro Detroit...

SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 (06:30 PM). Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò - 24 West 12th Street - New York, NY 10011. Book Presentation: AN UNLIKELY UNION (The Love-Hate Story of New York's Irish and Italians)In collaboration with NYU Glucksman Ireland House, Featuring a musical performance by fiddler Tony DeMarco.   An Unlikely U...

Even as a child I remember being more excited about Christmas Eve than Christmas day and my birthday combined – which is saying a lot for a kid. My family has been doing the Feast of the Seven Fishes for as long as I can remember, well really as long as my grandmother and great-grandmother could remember. And all these years later, I am still in aw...

For a decade we have gathered each September 8th at the Phoenix Bar where we have recounted stories, recited poetry, sketched chalk drawing on the sidewalk, built an outdoor shrine, sung hymns in the open air, and danced to the rhythms of pizzica and tarantella.   In doing so we have created a new sense of the past and our connection to it,...

Hundreds of people gathered on Main Street as Patchogue celebrated its sixth annual Italian Festival of St. Liberata on Saturday. The day featured a street parade, traditional cannoli and other authentic dishes, bocce ball, music, the annual Italian-American of the Year and, above all, Italian pride.   "Eat, drink and be Italian. If only for...

Lots of hungry people showed up at St. Celestine Catholic Church recently to get a good meal at the second of three Lenten dinner fundraisers there. On March 6 in the church school's gym, parishioners and supporters paid $10 for a meal with three entrees, a salad bar and dessert. Raffle tickets were also sold for various prizes, including a flat-sc...

Italian Studies at Notre Dame invites junior faculty and advanced graduate students to apply for the sixth annual Rome Seminar, hosted by Italian Studies at Notre Dame, which brings together 30 scholars and students from diverse fields across the globe to reflect, discuss and train on a topic related to Italian studies. Notre Dame's Rome Globa...