Special tribute set for Memorial Day weekend at the Italian American Veterans Museum
The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans will host a special tribute in honor of Italian-American veterans over the Memorial Day weekend. The event will be co-sponsored by the Italian American War Veterans and the Italian American Veterans Museum. An 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday, May 30, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii will be followed by a so...
Pasqua Mercato returns to Lino’s this summer
Rockford's Italian market returns to the parking lot of Lino's this summer. After taking a year off, due to COVID-19, the market is back starting on Sunday, June 6. "Sunday is a huge thing in the Italian culture of all the families coming together and breaking bread and sitting at the table. And this is a chance for us to do that with the community...
Law librarian Eugene Giudice dubbed Advocate of the Year
Eugene Giudice has received the Advocate of the Year Award from the Private Law Librarians and Information Professionals Special Interest Section (PLLIP-SIS) of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). The award is given annually to a librarian who demonstrates leadership and excellence in advocating for law libraries and librarians. Giudi...
Cook County To Hold Hearing On Changing Columbus Day Name
The county will hold a public hearing next week to gain input on whether residents want to see Columbus Day renamed to Indigenous Peoples' Day. A group spearheading the initiative held a virtual rally Monday to explain the reasons for the proposed change, citing Christopher Columbus's exploitation of Native Americans. Similar efforts have been made...
Festa Italia canceled again for 2021; promises 2022 comeback
Festa Italia will have to wait until next year to make its comeback. Organizers announced the annual festival will be canceled for the second year in a row because of the coronavirus pandemic. Club president David Rizzo said they hoped to bring it back this year but “[u]nfortunately, ours will be one of the many festivals and community celebrations...
Mazzini-Verdi back in business
The Mazzini-Verdi Club will ease back into gear on June 7, reopening its doors for the first time since the pandemic struck last spring. The club will start out slowly by reinstating its Monday bocce matches and cenetta. Occupancy is limited, and reservations for the cenetta are a must. Large-scale events will return as state restrictions permit, c...
Museum Launches Stay-at-Home Movie Night
The Italian American Veterans Museum hopes all our supporters and their families are staying healthy and safe during the coronavirus pandemic. Since our activities are limited for the time being, we’re offering Stay-at-Home Movie Night to keep you entertained while you’re sheltering in place. Reviews will be written by museum board members and all...
Slurs Made Against Italian Americans: Burr Ridge Official
Slurs against Italian Americans were made in a Zoom chat during a recent public hearing to consider a businessman's request for a new night spot in the village, a trustee said last week. "There are two individuals — I'm not going to mention their names, but you know who you are — who made ethnic slurs against Italian Americans via this chat medium,...
Sistine Chapel exhibition brings heavenly Michelangelo masterpiece down to Earth
If a trip to Italy to see the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel frescoes is not on the horizon, no worries. The Sistine Chapel frescoes are headed our way. And it may just be the most intimate, up-close-and-personal, no-scaffolding-required way to experience the ceiling masterpiece by the Italian artist-sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti. “Michelangelo’s Sist...
Festa della Repubblica returns to Pompeii
At press time, a scaled-back Festa della Repubblica was in the works for June 6 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago. Hosted by Comitato Tricolore Italiani nel Mondo, the event celebrates the birth of the Italian republic. The occasion will be marked by an 11 a.m. Mass at the shrine, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at Columbus Plaza...
Contemporary Italian Photography: In Search of a New Realism, by Dr. Giovanni Aloi
From their first appearance in 1839, photographic images have radically changed the way we live and think. Though it did not appear clear from the very beginning, photography is more than a tool for capturing the world in painstaking detail. Through photographs, we simultaneously construct who we are and understand where we have been. As such, much...
Lawrence ‘Larry’ C. Panozzo, one of Illinois’ longest-serving funeral directors, dead at 91
When 10-year-old Larry Panozzo started helping out at his family’s funeral business, he’d cart portable kneelers and chairs into customers’ homes because that’s where wakes often were held. He went on to be one of the longest-serving funeral directors in Illinois. Mr. Panozzo, a member of the second generation to operate 95-year-old Panozzo Brother...