Born and raised in the Chicago area, Christina Toniolo helped lead Team Italy to victory in the European championships. When Fra Noi last checked in with softball pitcher Christina Toniolo for the June 2024 issue, the Crystal Lake, Illinois, native reported that she’d been recruited to the Italian National Team and helped the squad earn third place at the Canada Cup International Softball Championship. In 2025, Toniolo suited back up for “Le Azzurre” and helped the team accomplish even more. Team Italy won the 2025 Women’s Softball European Championship Gold Medal, claiming the top prize in the 21-team tournament. Toniolo …

Le Marche is a region in eastern Italy between the Apennine Mountains and the Adriatic Sea. In 1907, emigrants from the region who had settled in Chicago Heights after leaving their homeland for a chance at a better life in America founded an ethnic mutual aid society then called the Società di Mutuo Sorcorso Unione Marchegiana. While the group has evolved over the ensuing 118 years —including incorporating as a non-profit under the name of Marchegiana Society of Chicago Heights — it continues to thrive today. Ron Lucarini, who has served as the group’s president for the past 16 years, …

In 2008, as America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were raging, Dr. Joseph E. Troiani identified a major problem: There weren’t enough qualified psychology professionals to help returning service members. “We were already about seven years into the war and I had the realization that we didn’t have enough trained clinical psychologists to work with and address various mental health issues of returning veterans,” Troiani says. Troiani was exceptionally well qualified to make his assessment. He has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and since 1993 had both served as the director of behavioral health programs for the Will County Health …

Most every month you can find members of the Chicagoland Italian American Professionals getting together for what they call “Italian-Style Networking.” As a recent example, in September they met at the Zen Conference Room in Logan Square to mingle while enjoying delicious arancini, gelato with Italian Amarena cherry syrup and a presentation about Sicily given by CIAP’s founder and president, Salvatore J. Sciacca. “We have a lot of events, some in the suburbs, some in the city, some at people’s homes around the dinner table,” Sciacca says. “But we are always having great food, great Italian food.” Sciacca says they’ve …

A standout high school lacrosse player in New Jersey, John Leone has earned national acclaim for his efforts to rally student-athletes on behalf of the community. John Leone has accomplished a lot for a 17-year-old student-athlete. The 6-foot-4-inch New Jersey native’s stifling defensive stickwork helped lead his varsity high school lacrosse team to its first state title in 11 years. He is also a member of the varsity football team. But it was his off-the-field accomplishments that earned him the prestigious national U.S. Congressional Award Bronze Medal earlier this year. One of the highest civilian honors for youth presented by …

Albert J. Biancalana Jr. started working at his father’s restaurant in Elmwood Park in 1957. Over the course of the next six decades and his brothers came to run the business, overseeing its growth and evolution into a legendary banquet hall that they sold in 2019. All the while, Biancalana has been involved in Elmwood Park and the surrounding community through organizations and local government – even today at 86-years-old. In recognition of his dedicated service, Biancalana will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the West Central Municipal Conference on Oct. 24 at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont …

A capacity crowd watched the Italian national team dominate its American counterpart during recent tournament play in the Chicago area. Italian volleyball fans in the Chicago area were delighted this summer to watch firsthand as the Italian national men’s team took on Team USA at NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates. The crowd was near the arena’s capacity of 11,218 and while the vast majority were wearing red, white and blue, there was a small but mighty contingent of fans supporting Team Italy. A few Italy fans waved the Tricolore and sang along to “Inno di Mameli” during the national anthems …

Jim Tinaglia, an architect with a long history of community service, was voted in as mayor of Arlington Heights this spring. When people ask him what it’s like to be mayor, he says that he always tells them his job is 90% wonderful. “People have been so respectful, decent, optimistic and kind,” Tinaglia says. “The 10 percent is the scary part because there are surprises here and there you have to be ready for. People get unhappy and there are situations that come up that you can’t plan for.” It’s his job to be as level-headed, transparent and middle-of-the-road as …

We owe you one. In fact, we owe you so much more than that. When we asked you in July to help us raise $28,000 to technologically transform Fra Noi, we knew what it would cost to make the leap but we only dreamed we’d be able to cover it with a single crowdfunding campaign. Two months and more than 250 contributions later, we’ve not only met our lofty goal but also exceeded it because of your astonishing generosity. In sums large and small, your contributions surged in like a strong backwind. The grand total billowed beyond $30,000, with more …

As they have for 105 years, the members of the San Rocco di Simbario Society will embark on a five-and-a half-hour procession through the streets of Chicago’s Chinatown to honor the patron saint of their ancestral hometown. In the process, they’ll be celebrating their Catholic faith and maintaining a tradition now entering its fifth generation. “It’s based on devotion, it’s religious, spiritual and it’s about family,” says Frank Bertucci, the society’s treasurer. “My daughter told me, as we walk through the streets of the old neighborhood, it’s like a walking family reunion. We see people we’re related to and even …