October is Italian Heritage month. Each year, Italian American organizations all over the state hold events celebrating Columbus Day. Everybody is welcome. While the events vary, you can bet on music and plenty of good food, The joke is that all anybody has to do is to eat just one bite of pizza, and you have some Italian in you.

Ostensibly, October is the month selected to mark the discovery of the American continent by Christopher Columbus in 1492. However, for Italian Americans, it’s much more than that. It’s a time to reflect on millions of Italian immigrants who came to this country to escape crushing poverty and a hopeless future. Here they found opportunity.