Renée Ricciardi: Capturing Italy’s beekeeping community
Last August, Renée Ricciardi bought a one-way ticket to Italy, packed a suitcase and her camera gear, and traveled across the Atlantic with one goal in mind: photographing bees. For most people, it would be an odd reason to visit Italy, but for Ricciardi, it fit perfectly. The project united her photography studies – she graduated from Massachuset...
Radio broadcaster Ron Della Chiesa
by Briana Palma For decades, people in the Boston area and beyond have welcomed Ron Della Chiesa into their homes — every Saturday at 8 p.m. to be exact. That's when they turn their radios — and now, their Internet browsers — to 99.5, to listen in as he broadcasts live from Symphony Hall, transmitting the "electric" atmosphere inside the b...
Celebrating the feast of family and food
by Rita Watson Our grandmother disliked crowds, even those that gathered to honor the saints. When September's "la festa de San Gennaro" approached — a large Italian street festival of music, games and food — Gram planned a gathering of some 30 relatives for cooking, eating, playing bocce and building sand castles. She said we could not a...
Leominster Cannoli Fest has pastry fans lining up i
Marie Jaimez went to the the city's first Cannoli Festival with the idea of getting one pastry from all eight vendors. But her plan quickly changed Thursday as she waited in line for over an hour for Cape Cod Cannolis, her first vendor of the night. So Jaimez ordered 12 cannolis, knowing she may not even get to the front of the line of the...
Capitoline Brutus unveiled at Museum of Fine Arts Boston
One of Ancient Rome's most stunning bronze portraits will be on display at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts until May 1, 2013. Known as "The Capitoline Brutus," the larger-than-life-sized head of a bearded man, with its original eyes made of ivory and glass, is considered one of the earliest examples of portraiture and has remained an icon of Roma...
Sons of Italy finds homes in Norwalk, Southport
The Norwalk Sons of Italy Pietro Micca Lodge No. 744 has found two new homes in advance of selling its property at 162 New Canaan Ave.Going forward, the Italian-American organization will hold its regular meetings and Ladies' Night events at the Norwalk Pastime and Athletic Social Club, 59 Seaview Ave., in Norwalk, and its Men's Night events, danci...
Exhibit on history of italians migration to Hartford
The City of Hartford's Marketing, Events, & Cultural Affairs Division (MECA) in the Department of Development Services announces "To Remember & Understand" art exhibition dedicated to all the immigrants that traveled from Italy to Hartford and throughout Connecticut. The exhibition designed to recount and share stories of the migra...
West End Museum Hosts Italian Heritage Month Events
by Matt Conti The West End Museum will host events celebrating Italian Heritage Month in October for the sixth consecutive year. Prior to the demolition of Boston's Old West End during the "urban renewal" of the 1950s, many Italian-American families called the neighborhood home. The Museum's month-long celebration honors this former little...
Americans to Celebrate Columbus Day
The Italian American Celebration and Parade Committee is honoring Christopher Columbus with multiple days of celebration in October, including the annual parade. The three-day celebration begins with a dinner and dance at Casa Mia at The Hawthorne, 2421 Berlin Turnpike, Berlin, on Saturday, Oct. 8. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be from 6:3...
Parade celebrates Italian roots of Stamford residents
Italian Americans should teach their children about the immigrant journeys of their ancestors, Connie Scarella Stevenson told a crowd in downtown Stamford Sunday. Stevenson spoke in Columbus Park after leading the city's Columbus Day parade as the first female grand marshal in the event's history, which dates back more than 60 years. "To the...
Stamford's Sclafani gives Columbus Day parade flavor
As grand marshal of this year's Columbus Day Parade, Luciano Sclafani Jr. will definitely be adding some local flavor to the event. The Stamford native runs Sclafani, an authentic Italian food importing business that has been serving the area for more than a century. "I was very humbled," Sclafani said, of being chosen to lead the ann...
Anthony R. Folcarelli: Remove this stain on Italian-Americans
As a native of Providence (Magdalene Street, 1934), the son of Italian-immigrant parents and once a property owner in the city, I am saddened that a twice-convicted felon is again pursuing an office he has already corrupted. He is dragging his past, and the reputation of Italian-Americans, through the local and now national press. I am proud of my...