Former Mercer County Official Pasquale 'Pat' Colavita Passes Away
A longtime, beloved Mercer County public servant and educator, former County Commissioner Pasquale "Pat" Colavita, Jr. passed away Tuesday. He was 77. Colavita served more than 16 years in county government, and a total of 32 years in public office. "It has been my sincere pleasure and distinct honor to have been able to represent and serve all of...
WWII memories and South Philly’s Italian-American heritage explored in family memoir
An author with deep South Philadelphia roots explores grandfather’s experience fighting with the U.S. Army during World War II and her Italian-American heritage in a new book released this month. “The Time Left Between Us” by Alicia DeFonzo, an NPR contributor and English professor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, took more than a d...
Italian American groups express concern Toms River students will attend class on Columbus Day
Is there a Columbus Day controversy in the Toms River School District? The school superintendent says no. But some Italian American groups are not buying it and are making their voices heard. The controversy stems from the fact that Toms River students will have class on Columbus Day. This was not always the case in recent years. The district’s fac...
Discover Italy’s Endless Contributions to the Contemporary World at the NIAF Forum in DC
The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) will host NIAF Forum; a series of seminars that are relevant to various aspects of the Italy- U.S. relationship. All the NIAF Forum seminars are free and open to the public and are a way for Italian Americans and Italophiles to connect with the Bel Paese. Learn more about Italy's role in transatlantic...
40th annual Nutley Belleville Columbus Day Parade and flag-raising ceremony
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...
Flag Raising To Celebrate Italian American Heritage In Berkeley
All are invited to celebrate their Italian heritage as Berkeley kicks off Italian American heritage month with a flag raising at Town Hall. Head to Town Hall on Oct. 1 at 11:30 a.m. for Berkeley's annual Italian flag raising ceremony, hosted by Mayor Carmen Amato and the Berkeley Township Council.
The Embassy together with the Primo Levi Center in New York and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum celebrate the donation of the Sabbadini’s family archive to the David M. Rubenstein National Institute for Holocaust Documentation
The Embassy of Italy hosted a ceremony co-organized with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) and Centro Primo Levi New York to celebrate the donation of the Alessandro Sabbadini Family Archive to the Museum’s David M. Rubenstein National Institute for Holocaust Documentation. “Memory is crucial to building a conscience, to connect t...
Hammonton’s Little Italy is coming into its own
A couple of days ago, I noticed that the barber pole that had been fastened to the front of John Arena’s Barber Shop on Third Street for many decades was no longer there. How long it had been gone? I’d just be guessing. I saw it as a reminder that change continues, even in Hammonton, even in places like Hammonton’s Little Italy. I think John Arena,...
Rosemary C. Cappello
Rosemary Petracca Cappello, October 8, 1935-September 13, 2022. Rosemary Petracca Cappello, 86, a longtime resident of Philadelphia—the city she loved—and before that, Darby, PA, where she was known in the 1970s as “The Poet of Darby Creek,” died Tuesday, September 13, 2022, at the Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse after being cared for at home for six m...
Italian food, heritage festival set for Sunday in Tipton, PA
The 32nd annual Italian Food and Heritage Festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 18, at DelGrosso’s Parkin Tipton, PA. “We are proud of our family heritage and traditions. If there is one thing Italian’s love, it is good food. This annual showcase of food, family, and fun is a celebration we look forward to every year,” said Car...
Holy relics of St. Pio on display at Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart
Hundreds of people packed into the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark on Tuesday for a rare chance to connect with a Catholic saint. The relics of Padre Pio were on display at the cathedral for the first time. Prayer in the presence of these holy artifacts is said to strengthen the connection to Padre Pio. Some travel to his hometown...
In rare move, Catholic officials give dying N.J. church new life
Mass was held at at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Montclair last weekend. The priest offered Communion and the congregation recited the Lord’s Prayer, as they have for generations at the towering brick church. But a regular Mass was not always guaranteed at Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Six years ago, the Archdiocese of Newark combined the histori...