Quest’anno anche la nostra scuola ha abbracciato l’iniziativa della campagna nazionale chiamata Kindness Campaign contro il bullismo, con lo scopo di essere sempre più tolleranti, benevoli, e generosi verso gli altri. Quest’iniziativa che durerà tutto l’anno scolastico, ha un tema diverso ogni mese. A novembre, si concentra sulla riconoscenza, sia per le persone più care della nostra vita, sia per tante altre cose che riteniamo importanti. La campagna ci permette di escercitare, praticare, e mettere a frutto la nostra conoscenza della bella lingua italiana, e di riflettere su tutto quello che oggigiorno diamo tutti per scontato. Per esprimere la nostra …

A OPRF abbiamo cinque livelli d’Italiano. Ho frequentato quattro livelli in tre anni. Sono fortunata che le nostre insegnanti sono molto dedicate e ci danno molte opportunità. Per esempio, ogni anno andiamo a Eataly in Chicago, per un giorno di cultura e imparare di cibo italiano. La nostra scuola offre anche uno scambio con Firenze. Lo scambio è iniziato oltre 30 anni fa con la stessa scuola. È un’ottima opportunità per fare amicizie con ragazzi italiani e far vedere loro la nostra vita americana quando sono qui. Mentre non sono andato al viaggio, molti dei miei amici hanno detto che …

Quest’anno tre società Italiano-Americane hanno visitato le miei classi a Indian Trail Junior High School a Addison: Turano, Gonnella e anche Marinello Tartufi. Loro hanno parlato di storia, dei successi e gli studenti hanno imparato moltissimo. Gonnella ha portato un libro per la classe di storia della società e anche pani per mangiare. Signor Giacomo Marinello ha portato i tartufi bianchi e neri. Questa opportunità era bellissima per gli studenti. Specialmente quando Lisa Turano, la figlia di Ron Turano, ha parlato alla società di suo padre. Turano ha donato pani e giocatolli per gli studenti. Turano era molto generosa! Ci …

Casa Italia honored Albert Belmonte as Man of the Year on Feb. 9 at Alta Villa Banquets in Addison. The following profile was provided by the sponsoring organization. ALBERT BELMONTE If you listen to Al Belmonte, you’d think that Casa Italia chose the wrong guy for their 2019 Man of the Year. “When they asked me, I thought they were joking,” Belmonte says. “I feel honored and a little floored.” But if you talk to anyone else in the community, you’ll know that the Casa got it exactly right. “He’s a man who knows where he’s needed and steps up …

Bringing more than 30 years of experience in dentistry to the post, Dr. Michael Biasiello stepped up as a director of the Chicago Dental Society’s Northwest Side Branch effective Jan. 1. A past president of the branch, Biasiello will focus his efforts as director on increasing membership and getting young dentists involved in the Chicago Dental Society and in organized dentistry. This past year, Biasiello was the general chairman for the 2018 CDS Midwinter Meeting, one of the largest exhibitions of dental products and continuing dental education in North America. A general dentist with a practice in Park Ridge, Biasiello …

Richard Orlando Biondi was born in Endicott, New York, in 1932 to Rose and Michael Biondi, a homemaker and a fireman. Growing up in the Italian neighborhood known as The Nob, Dick described himself as a kid who was always yakking. A devout Catholic, he intended to enter the priesthood. But things changed when 8-year-old Dick discovered a local radio station while spending the summer at his grandparents’ home in Auburn, New York. He stood and watched the announcer until he was invited into the studio one day to read a commercial. When he returned home, his family announced, “We …

A contemporary Chicago artist has drawn inspiration from a series of 14th-century Italian frescoes to create an immersive carpet mural that’s on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art through July 7. Jessica Campbell’s candid and often humorous textiles, comics and drawings critique the traumas and absurdities of gender politics. For her “Chicago Works” exhibition, Campbell re-envisions the life and artwork of Canadian painter Emily Carr (1871-1945), celebrated for her expressive landscapes, to explore the challenges women face in everyday settings and the creative possibilities of reading and telling stories from multiple perspectives. The centerpiece of the exhibition is an …

Tony’s Fresh Market rang in its 40th year with the grand opening of a new grocery store in the Cermak Plaza Shopping Center in Berwyn. Berwyn Mayor Robert Lovero and other city officials presided over a ribbon-cutting ceremony to welcome Tony’s, which simultaneously shuttered its North Riverside location. The new Tony’s took over 71,500 square feet previously occupied by Meijer. The move marked a 25 percent increase over the North Riverside footprint and maintained Tony’s 15-store area-wide presence. Tony’s was founded in 1979 by Tony Ingraffia and Domenico Gambino, cousins from Ciminna, Sicily, who built a grocery empire from a …

The culinary coach of the U.S. Pizza Team took second place in a pizza championship held on Oct. 8 in Granada, Spain, while four other USPT members finished in the top 10. Gino Rago of Panino’s Pizza in Chicago took home second place in the Pizza Classica division, with Michael LaMarca (Master Pizza, Cleveland, Ohio), Jason Samosky (Samosky’s Homestyle Pizzeria, Valley City, Ohio) and Dave Sommers (Mad Mushroom, West Lafayette, Indiana) placing fourth, seventh and 10th respectively. Thirty-two competitors from around the world participated in the fourth annual Pizza por Pasión, organized by Antonia Ricciardi, president of the Università di …

“Outdoor” dining in the dead of winter? It shouldn’t be possible, but Jim & Pete’s has pulled it off. The iconic Elmwood Park eatery recently earned Outdoor Patio of the Year accolades after it bought a nearby building, demolished it and built a heated 1,000-square-foot addition that features a motorized, louvered roof and drop-shade windows that, at a touch of a button, can make the room comfortable in almost any weather. “This isn’t putting a tent up around a patio or unrolling canvas to block the rain; this is a completely convertible room,” says Jim Michael Bucchianeri, who co-owns the …