One of the most thrilling and glamorous events in the Chicago-area Italian American community is the contest to determine who will reign as La Bella Regina of the Columbus Day Parade. “Few events in the community can match the pageantry of the annual Columbus Day Queen pageant,” says Ron Onesti, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Ame...

Over $250,000 has been awarded to students of Italian heritage over the years by the JCCIA through various scholarships. Also, over $200,000 has been awarded over the years to young Italian Americans through Women’s Division at their annual Scholarship/Fashion Show.  In addition, close to $50,000 has been awarded at the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Hu...

Phyllis Colonna Schoene has been a member of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans for 60 years and was part of its all-volunteer staff for nearly a decade before being invited to asked to fill a big pair of shoes. That call came after Jo Ann Serpico, the organization’s beloved, longtime executive director, passed away last April. “We miss...

  L'attrice italoamericana Ellen Pompeo premiata con una stella sulla Walk of Fame di Hollywood Martin Scorsese annuncia un film che conterrà l’ultima intervista di Papa Francesco Immigrati che hanno costruito l'Italian Market di South Philadelphia celebrati in nuovi murales Ray Romano e Sebastian Maniscalco scherzano sulle Alpi italiane in un prom...

The Chicago Park District has reached a deal to end a lawsuit over the removal of Chicago's Christopher Columbus statues. The City of Chicago, which owns the statues, will not be bringing the statues back to their former sites in Grant Park and Arrigo Park. But the city will loan the statue that was removed from Arrigo Park, at Polk and Loomis stre...

The National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, which has been celebrating sports history for nearly 50 years, has found a new home on the Far Northwest Side. The Hall of Fame spent much of the past two decades on Taylor Street in Little Italy, but when the museum’s building was sold in 2019, all of its memorabilia went into storage as the hunt...

Andrea Bocelli è il primo premiato per il gala NIAF del 50° anniversario a Washington DC il prossimo Ottobre Pueblo, in Colorado, sarà la sede del primo Museo Leonardo da Vinci del Nord America Il più importante gruppo italoAmericano di Chicago afferma che le statue di Colombo devono essere reinstallate perchè sono espressioni artistiche L'ex Gover...

Back in 2020, then-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot had three statues of Christopher Columbus removed in Chicago. For all the time since, Italian American groups in the city have been fighting to put them back. They continue to do so, and now call the removal of the statues "selective censorship." A few weeks ago, there was an uproar at City Hall over...

Never underestimate the power of one person to make a difference, especially if that person has the vision, drive and reach of Pat Capriati. In a matter of months, Capriati was able to conjure an American-Italian Sister Cities relationship out of thin air, bringing together good people on both sides of the Atlantic who otherwise never would have me...

The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans honored five elected officials at its second annual Government Relations Luncheon on Nov. 19 at the Des Plaines Theatre. The event was spearheaded by JCCIA President Ron Onesti, with Enza Ranieri, a recipient of last year’s awards, chairing the committee. More than 150 organization presidents, elected...