Festa Italiana returns for 2023 celebration in Sterling Heights
If you’re looking for a way to satisfy pizza and pasta cravings, this annual tradition might be the perfect match. Festa Italiana, a three-day event celebrating Italian heritage, returns July 14-16 at Freedom Hill County Park in Sterling Heights. The free event is one of the largest Italian-American traditions in the metro area, according to a news...
Nominate an Honoree for 2023 Cleveland Italian American Heritage Month
Nominations for Honorees to be recognized during Cleveland Italian American Heritage Month in October 2023 are being requested by the Cleveland Italian American Heritage Committee. The categories for nomination include: Arts & Culture, Business, City or County Employee, Individual, Public Servant, or Youth. Anyone is welcome to nominate an Italian...
150th Anniversary of the Coal War
Saturday July 22. 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm. McKinley Memorial Museum - 40 N Main St, Niles, OH. Event is FREE and open to the public! Join us in a showing of a short documentary outlining the history of the 1873 Coal War that saw 7,500 miners in Hubbard and Liberty Townships strike and brought the first Italian immigrants to the area. After the showing, w...
Italian American Festival and First Friday team up in downtown Canton for July 7 event
July's First Friday will be a joint event with the Stark County Italian American Festival. The Italian American Festival will be at Centennial Plaza in downtown Canton from 4 to 11 p.m. Friday; noon to 11 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. Centennial Plaza is on Market Avenue N along Court Avenue and Third Street NW. Festivities will be both...
Five relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina expected to bring thousands to Naperville church next week
An estimated 3,000 people are expected to pass through the doors of Naperville’s Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church Tuesday for an encounter with the relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina. Francesco Forgione, known as Padre Pio or St. Pio, was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest and mystic who was beatified in 1999 and canonized in 2002 by Pop...
Italian Festival to Adjust Its Downtown Footprint
The Greater Youngstown Italian Fest will once again sprawl through the middle of downtown, but its footprint will be shortened by one block. The event will take place Aug. 4-6 on East Federal Street, Champion Street and Central Square. The first block of West Federal immediately west of Central Square will not be used this year because of the ongoi...
City gets $2 million grant for future of Christopher Columbus statue
City leaders, through work with historians and architects and engagement with community members, will again wrestle with what to do about the towering statue of the man the city is named after. The conversations will be part of the Reimagining Columbus project, an overarching initiative the city announced to “promote diversity in the city’s public...
Saints Peter and Paul in Naperville to host the only 2023 Padre Pio Relic Tour in Illinois
Francesco Forgione, OFMCap, better known as Padre Pio, was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He was beatified in 1999 and canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II. His relics are exposed in a golden crypt in the sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, next to the convent of San Giovanni Rotondo, now a major pilgrima...
City says Columbus statue will not return to City Hall as it invests millions to reimagine space
The 20-foot-tall bronze statue of Christopher Columbus once towered over visitors to Columbus City Hall in the 15th century Italian explorer's largest namesake city. Now it sits in a storage room three years after being removed from its pedestal and likely won't return to its perch as the city reconsiders Columbus' legacy and controversial history....
Mt. Carmel Parish to celebrate 130th feast
The Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish will celebrate the 130th anniversary of its devotion to the Blessed Mother on July 16. Festivities will begin with a 7:30 a.m. Mass in English and a 9 a.m. solemn Mass in Italian, followed by a procession with the statue to a noon field Mass. A procession through the streets of the parish afterward will culminate...
Staff Sergeant Steven Decker
The middle of three children, Steven Decker was born in Chicago to Roy and Kathryn Tomasello Decker, who were living near North Avenue and Larrabee. When Decker was 3 years old, they moved to Logan Square, where he grew up living close to his Sicilian-born grandparents and his mother’s five siblings and their families. On Sunday mornings, Decker aw...
Mary Menniti of The Italian Garden Project to Present in Cleveland
The mission of The Italian Garden Project is to celebrate the joy and wisdom inherent in the traditional Italian American vegetable garden, preserving this heritage and demonstrating its relevance for reconnecting to our food, families, and the earth. It was founded by Mary Menniti who will be visiting Cleveland on July 8 and 9 to document some gar...