Blue Island Mayor Fred Bilotto joined local and state officials in August to welcome Orlandino Greco, mayor of Castrolibero, Calabria, to Casa Italia in Stone Park. The get-together was organized by Tony Turano and the Calabresi in America Organization. Blue Island is sister cities with Castrolibero as well as Ripacandida, Basilicata, and Estancia de Animas, Mexico. “Earlier this year, my family and I had the honor of meeting Mayor Greco and his family during our trip through Italy, and it was a pleasure to return the favor and welcome his family to our community,” says Bilotto, who also visited Ripacandida …

Like so many other Chicago-area Italian Americans, Ron Onesti traces his stateside roots to the legendary Taylor Street Little Italy on the city’s Near West Side. His father’s parents settled there when they arrived from Italy, his father grew up and made lasting memories there, and Onesti was born in the neighborhood and went to school at St. Callistus until the third grade. As a result, Onesti has long harbored a dream to create a museum celebrating the countless Italian immigrants who risked so much to start a new life in America, and to locate that museum within the epicenter …

The Des Plaines Theatre was once again transformed into fashion week in New York for the Columbus Day Queen Contest, hosted on July 21 by the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. Stadium-style seats were replaced with an expansive stage and runway flanked by chairs filled with audience members. Among 15 worthy contenders, Ava Selvaggi was named 2024 Columbus Day Queen. A recent graduate of Miami University, Selvaggi earned a bachelor’s degree in graphic design with a minor in marketing, and is currently working for Digitas ad agency as an associate art director. Selvaggi is from a large extended family …

Mano a Mano, an Italian trattoria from husband-and-wife chefs Doug Psaltis and Hsing Chen, opened this summer in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. The menu for the restaurant at 2534 N. Milwaukee Ave. includes appetizers such as salumi misti and tiny fried calamari; vegetables such as zucchini flowers and eggplant cutlets; and handmade pastas such as pappardelle with braised rabbit and Taggiasca olives, and agnolotti with sweet peas, spicy butter and smoked caciocavallo. Psaltis and Chen also operate Andros Taverna and Asador Bastian in Chicago, both under the umbrella of Eat Well Hospitality.  For more, click here.

Now on menus across the country, Caesar’s salad is said to have been invented a century ago by an Italian chef in Mexico. According to legend, Caesar Cardini came up with the dish on July 4, 1924, at his restaurant, Caesar’s Place, in Tijuana, Mexico, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Cardini was struggling to feed an influx of Californians who had crossed the border to escape Prohibition, so he threw together the ingredients at hand: whole Romaine leaves with garlic-flavored oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemons, eggs and Parmesan. Tijuana commemorated the anniversary in July with a three-day food and wine festival, and …

West suburban businessman Jack Ross was awarded a Congressional Commendation by U.S. Representative Delia Ramirez on July 9 for his heroic service during the Vietnam War. The owner of Manor Press in River Grove, he was wounded in action while serving as the squad’s point man, receiving two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars and an Air Medal for his service. He has emerged as a leader in his community, serving as president of the River Grove Lions Club and a board member for Oak-Leyden Developmental Services and his alma mater, Guerin Prep High School. To view the video, click here. …

The Amerigo Vespucci Lodge 1722 of the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America celebrated its 90th anniversary on May 11 at the Quality Inn in Bradley, Illinois. More than 170 guests, including families from across the country, converged on the venue for the occasion. The lodge is based in Kankakee. The event included a fabulous meal, entertainment by the Frank Rossi Trio and dancing into the night. The decorative centerpieces contained copies of the anniversary booklet as well as balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a seasoning blend to be used with the dinner’s rustic bread. Guests were encouraged to take …

A longtime aide to and confidante of the late, beloved Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, Monsignor Kenneth Velo has leveraged his local and national connections in the Catholic Church to do a world of good for a host of worthy causes. About a year after being ordained a Catholic priest, then-Fr. Kenneth Velo was enthusiastically helping manage the large parish of St. Angela in Chicago, where he was associate pastor. Fellow churchmen saw something in the new priest and made a seemingly small move that changed the course of Velo’s life. Ordained for only two years, he was elected by his confreres …

Amaseno Lodge No. 3 of Chicago Heights hosted its 50th anniversary Feast of San Lorenzo and San Rocco from Aug. 9-11. The lodge was formed in 1913 by immigrants from Amaseno, a small farming village 60 miles south of Rome. Settling in Chicago Heights’ Hungry Hill Italian enclave, they brought with them a deep devotion to San Lorenzo, an early Christian leader who was martyred for his defiance of the Roman Empire. For decades, the spiritual center of Hungry Hill was San Rocco Church. Built on the highest point in the neighborhood and dedicated in 1906 to another of Amaseno’s …

Cook County Circuit Court Justice Regina Scannicchio has been elevated from acting presiding judge to presiding judge of the Domestic Relations Division by Chief Judge Timothy Evans. Scannicchio was named acting presiding judge on Sept. 23, 2022. She was first appointed to the bench by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2011 after 23 years as a private domestic-relations attorney. Elected in 2012 and retained in 2018, she was assigned to the Domestic Relations Division in 2012. During her time as acting presiding judge, she focused on continuing education to keep pace with complex, multidisciplinary legal proceedings routinely heard in the …