Discovering La Famiglia - La Gazzetta Reader Uncovers Lost Italian Heritage
This year, the “Discovering La Famiglia” column hopes to help La Gazzetta Italiana readers find answers to their Italian genealogy questions. This month’s story is about Nora who contacted me after she received the results of her Ancestry DNA test. Nora was surprised to learn that she was about 25 percent Italian and she wanted to confirm the findi...
Lightfoot: No plans to change city holiday of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Friday she has no plans to duplicate at the city level what her handpicked school board just did, pleasing Native Americans and infuriating some Italian Americans. That is, replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. “I do think we’ve got a lot more to do to make sure that we are aware and sensitive of the history bu...
CPS dropping Columbus Day is a slap in the face of Italian Americans
The Chicago Public School Board voted late Wednesday to replace Columbus Day on its official school calendar with “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.” In doing so, the board demonstrated that in order to uplift one ethnic community, it was willing to step on the back of another. The move is a slap in the face to Chicago’s Italian-American Community. But more...
Aldermen vow ‘war with CPS’ after school district cancels Columbus Day for Indigenous Peoples Day
A day after supporters applauded Chicago Public Schools’ decision to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day moving forward, outraged Italian-American City Council members said the change meant it was “time for war with CPS” and a local group vowed to challenge the move. The decision to drop Columbus Day came in a split vote by the...
Arte Povera: Ecologies
When: Tuesday, March 17th at 6pm - Where: Italian Cultural Institute - 500 N Michigan Ave, Suite 1450, Chicago, IL Over the past few years, artists have become increasingly concerned with environmentalism and climate change. But at the end of the 1960s, Arte Povera artists were already thinking about trees, water, and indiscriminate urbanization.
Don’t blame Italian fest for treegate
Warren city leaders might be correct in taking an aggressive approach to relocating popular downtown festivals to nearby Perkins Park. Many permanent downtown businesses have frequently opposed festivals held on Warren’s Courthouse Square Park, complaining that the events clog the downtown area with traffic congestion and parking problems, leaving...
Army machine gunner Paul Calabrese (Vietnam)
The oldest of four sons, Paul Calabrese was born in Chicago to Joseph and Betty (Spindler) Calabrese. They lived in a family-owned six-flat on the West Side of Chicago until moving to Oak Park when Calabrese was 6 years old. He recalls Sunday dinners and Christmas gatherings at his paternal grandparents’ home. “I remember grandma making raviolis al...
IAPC to honor Onesto, Coladipietro
The Italian American Political Coalition will present Franco Coladipietro with its William Paca Award and Anthony Onesto with its Lifetime Achievement Award at its annual Heritage Celebration on March 11 at Elmcrest Banquets in Elmwood Park. (708-369-2500) Coladipietro has been the village president of Bloomingdale, Illinois, and a member of the Du...
Larry Lujack, Dick Biondi rock into new Hall of Fame
Chicago radio legends Larry Lujack and Dick Biondi have been named charter inductees in the Hall of Fame of the new Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 under construction in Joliet. Lujack, who died in 2013, was elected by museum members in the DJ category. Biondi was named recipient of the Founder’s Lifetime Achievement Award and also will be...
Castanza to serve as chairman of Casa Italia
Angelo Castanza has been elected by the board of directors to chair Casa Italia for a two-year term. Joining him as fellow officers are Jo Ann Serpico as vice chairman, Cathy Lange as treasurer and Paul Basile as secretary. A past president of the Calabresi in America Organization, Castanza has been a member of the board since 2014 and served as vi...
St. Joseph Table abound across Chicagoland
Each March, dozens of Italian families, organizations, parishes and businesses in the Chicago area open up their doors and their hearts to the less fortunate by setting up St. Joseph’s Tables. At press time, information was available only on the events in this listing. To be listed next year, call 708-338-0690 or email info@franoi.com.
Founder of iconic local restaurant Mamma DiSalvo’s dies
The patriarch of one of the Dayton-area’s most beloved restaurants died at Kettering Medical Center on Wednesday, Feb. 12, his namesake confirmed. Mamma DiSalvo’s Italian Ristorante founder Rinaldo DiSalvo Sr. leaves behind a legacy of love, his son, Rinaldo DiSalvo Jr., the owner of DiSalvo's Deli & Italian Stores, said this morning. “He was a...