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Pasquale Gianni is the president of the Avanti Club. The Avanti Club is an organization for young Italian Americans. The club is an affiliate of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, or JCCIA.  The Avanti Club is for young people interested in networking, meeting new people, or who just want to get more involved in their Italian American...

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Ravanelli’s Italian Steakhouse and Wine Bar is a tradition for so many families across the Metro East, and it has been for 60 years now. Their Collinsville location is newly renovated and now includes a pretty awesome wine bar. The Ravanelli’s menu has gotten some updates, too. Ravanelli’s says that it took about seven months to get these renovatio...

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Crediting the JCCIA with setting him on his life’s path, Ron Onesti is looking to return the favor as the organization’s incoming president. At awards ceremonies, it’s not uncommon for recipients to well up as they recall those who helped them earn their place at the podium. Installations of officers tend to be more stoic affairs, but there Ron One...

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The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii is inviting current and former parishioners to buy a paver for placement in the Shrine’s Garden of Remembrance. “If you’ve ever had a special moment in this sacred place, if you’d like to honor a loved one or commemorate a special date, please consider being a part of our Garden of Remembrance,” Shrine Rector the R...

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Walking my dog, Antonio Michelangelo Martello, has proven to be an enlightening experience. As we casually stroll through beautifully preserved Pullman. I not only have the opportunity to visit with any Pullmanites we see. I also get to take note of the changes made to Pullman’s original architecture. Since 1907, all of the residences in Pullman ha...

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It’s been a long, eerily quiet year at the Mazzini-Verdi Club in Franklin Park. The once-bustling facility at 9230 W. Belmont Ave. has been shuttered since March 2020 because of the pandemic, and club leaders and members are looking forward to returning to business as usual. “The club is like a second home to us, and we deeply miss gathering there,...

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“Keep your reputation clean because it stays with you. If you have a good reputation, people will know it,”, said Gianni Vitale, owner of Gianni’s Restaurant in downtown Litchfield. Vitale has worked his whole life to build an outstanding reputation in the food industry. For years, he and his wife, Caterina, ran two fine dining restaurants on The H...

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Casa Italia will be ready to hit the ground running once restrictions are lifted thanks to the generosity of the Italian-American community. The Calabresi in America Organization got the ball rolling with a $100,000 donation to fund a host of improvements. Among them are new emergency and exit lighting throughout the property, new boilers in the Co...

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The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans came roaring out of the gate at its first official meeting following the January installation of its 2021-22 officers.Recently elected President Ron Onesti and a burgeoning cadre of JCCIA leaders have the organization hitting on all cylinders as they upshift into their two-year terms. The meeting was h...

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Self-proclaimed pizza connoisseurs take notice: Altamura Pizza isn’t your conventional pizza place, but the pie is as authentic as it gets. Everything is either homemade or imported and you’ll be left craving more pizza, prosciutto, and maybe a flight to Italy. The Hinsdale spot is an Italian, take-home-and-bake pizza and specialty shop whose conce...

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