The Grand Lodge of Illinois & Wisconsin, Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America, celebrated their 93rd Annual Columbus Banquet on Saturday evening, October 7, 2017. The event was held at Villa Brunetti, Franklin Park, IL. Anna DeLuca, Columbus Banquet Chairwoman, welcomed the guests and introduced the Master of Ceremony for the evening, the Honorable Anthony Calderone, Mayor of Forest Park, Illinois. The MC introduced the Grand Lodge Officers, our honored award recipients, the Consul General of Italy and the Columbus Day Queen as they entered the hall. Highlighting the evening were the presentation of the 2017 Humanitarian Award …

The Cesare Battista Lodge #27 has a long and proud history of serving the Italian-American community of Northwest Indiana. Formed in 1919 as the Loggia Cesare Battisti Musicale, the group soon joined forces with a large Chicago-area fraternal organization that morphed into the Italo American National Union, which eventually merged with the Italian Sons and Daughters of America. After decades of meeting in halls throughout the area, the lodge built a clubhouse in 1956 in East Chicago, and then a new, multi-million-dollar facility in 1989 in Schererville. Dubbed Villa Cesare, the new clubhouse boasts three banquet rooms, a commercial kitchen, …

The editors of “Routledge History of Italian Americans” pored through thousands of images in their search for the best ones to illustrate their new compendium, which encompasses 40 contributors and 660 pages. For the cover, they ultimately settled on “The Migrants,” a painting by John Cadel that hangs in the permanent art exhibit that bears his name at the Italian Cultural Center at Casa Italian in Stone Park. Cadel was a teacher at the Art Institute in the 1970s when the Rev. August Feccia, then the director of the cultural center, commissioned the work. The artist passed away in his …

Scuola Italiana Enrico Fermi recently received a $20,000 grant from the National Italian American Foundation. The grant was presented to school co-founder Laura Granara and Italian Consul General Giuseppe Finocchiaro by National Italian American Foundation Executive Vice President Robert V. Allegrini during a ceremony attended by the school’s students and board members. Located at 1510 N. Claremont Ave. in Chicago, the school offers bilingual education via the world-renowned Reggio Emilia method. It is only the second school in the United States to be accredited by both the American and Italian education systems.

Veteran boxing judge Mauro DiFiore was attending the World Boxing Association’s international convention in Azerbaijan when he was inducted into the Illinois Boxing Hall of Fame, so longtime friend Anthony DiBiase accepted the honor on his behalf. The pair later met up for an informal presentation ceremony at Carmine’s Restaurant in Chicago. DiFiore has presided over championship matches around the world and has appeared on HBO, Showtime, ESPN and several international networks, where he has been seen by millions of fight fans.

When the Avondale Neighborhood Association asked Tony Passero to paint a pair of murals beneath the Metra viaduct on Kedzie near Belmont, the artist wanted to conjure something that reflected the spirit of the community. Having grown up in the neighborhood, he was in a unique position to tap into that spirit. He first went in search of the one word that best captures the essence of Avondale, but came up with a whole list instead: Strength, Grit, Perseverance, Ambition, Resilience, Hardiness, Motivating, Persistence, Tenacity, Diligence, Dedication, Commitment, Fortitude, Dignity, Honor, Passion, Vitality, Grace, Poise, Elegance, Finesse, Flexibility, Decency, Agility, …

A 15-story-tall wooden sphere inspired by the geometric shapes of Leonardo da Vinci’s studies will alight in Chicago in 2018 to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Chicago and Milan, Italy. The project, which was recently announced at a press reception at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Chicago, is being created by il Consorzio Orgoglio Brescia, a consortium of 18 highly specialized Italian companies from the Italian province of Brescia. Orgoglio Brescia gained international fame for having designed the famous Tree of Life, which served as the focal point of the 2015 Milan Expo. The …

La Befana is known for her ability to be in several places at once. Otherwise, how could she shower every good boy and girl around the world with gifts in the wee hours before the Feast of the Epiphany? Those powers will come in handy when Italy’s good Christmas witch pays a visit to three local events in the days surrounding Jan. 6. On Jan. 7, she’ll stop by the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii during the 11 a.m. Mass. Children will participate in the Mass readings and prayers and will have an opportunity to ask La Befana questions. …

Chicago attorney Antonio Romanucci was recently welcomed into the ranks of The John Marshall Law School Board of Trustees. An alumnus of John Marshall, Romanucci joins a distinguished group of jurists who dedicate their time and resources to bettering the school and its students. “I’ve benefited enormously from my education at John Marshall and I’m honored to receive this appointment,” says Romanucci, a founding partner and principal at Romanucci & Blandin. “I have the utmost respect and admiration for its professors and leadership and I will do whatever I can to uphold the mission and goals of this exemplary school.”

Local realtor and Fra Noi website columnist Giuseppe Zerillo is moving up in the world. Just four years after going into business for himself, he outgrew his first office in Park Ridge, prompting a move last fall to larger quarters on Cumberland just north of Lawrence in Norridge. The new location contains offices for three leasing agents and five real estate brokers as well as a conference room where staff can meet with prospective buyers and sellers, with plenty of room for more agents down the road. A realtor since 2008, Zerillo is making a name for himself in his …