New JCCIA President Enza Raineri was among a dozen community leaders honored at the 16th annual Leonardo da Vinci Award of Excellence Gala on May 7 at White Eagle Banquets in Niles. The event was hosted by the Order Sons of Italy in America’s Grand Lodge of Illinois and Wisconsin. Raineri received a Community Leadership Award along with Berwyn Police Chief Michael D. Cimaglia, Festa Italiana Milwaukee founder Paul F. Iannelli, OSIA Roma Lodge President Rick P. Bonanno. Also honored were firefighter and paramedic Jeffery H. Bruno (Community Service); singer Jack V. Miuccio (Entertainment); Conca d’Oro Restaurant proprietor Peter Carini, Tucci Restaurant proprietor …

A lynchpin of the Italian-American community desperately needs our help. Longtime community activist Emilio Scalzitti is in renal failure and his life depends on receiving a new kidney. Born and raised in the Mother Cabrini Parish, he became active in the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel soon after moving to Melrose Park in the 1980s. He ran the Knights of Columbus honor guard at the Feast of San Francesco for decades, and he currently serves as financial secretary for the San Rocco di Potenza Society. His blood type makes him a match for any donor. (773-413-7542)

Filomena Magrone will celebrate her 100th birthday this month surrounded by family and friends. She was born on May 14, 1917, in Carbonara, Bari, Puglia, to Nicola and Cecilia Muschio. In 1934, Gaetano Magrone began rounding up friends who could play musical instruments and showing up in front of her house to serenade her. They were married the next year. The couple moved to Chicago in 1966, eventually settling in Wood Dale. Gaetano was a baker by trade and Filomena was an exceptional cook, even working for a while jarring fruit and other food. They raised a family of 11 …

In life, John Mollo was a fan of donkeys, a beast of burden that played a pivotal role in the lives of his Calabrian ancestors. When he passed away in February 2017, his daughter decided to honor his memory by creating a foundation to protect the animal that her father so loved. “I’d like to establish a charitable organization that would raise money to be sent to facilities already involved in the hands-on rescue and day-to-day care of donkeys,” Stephany Mollo explains. She is seeking kindred spirits to join her in this cause. (708-946-3675)

State Rep. John D’Amico has voted to freeze lawmaker reimbursements and prevent a pay raise for politicians. “Politicians should not be receiving any sort of pay increase while middle-class families continue to struggle to get by,” D’Amico says. “With property taxes crunching the budgets of working families across the state, we should be focused on offering tax relief, not giving out perks to politicians.” D’Amico supported House Bill 643, which removes the automatic cost-of-living increase that state legislators are due in July. The measure also freezes reimbursement rates for travel, food and lodging on days lawmakers are in session in …

State Rep. Anthony DeLuca held his 16th annual clergy breakfast with spiritual leaders throughout the community to discuss his work in Springfield, as well as to address the concerns of the leaders and field their suggestions. “I always appreciate the opportunity to sit down and talk with them,” DeLuca says. “I am grateful that we have such great individuals who not only take the time to listen, but to offer advice and potential solutions that will help me as a legislator make the best decisions for families throughout my district.”

Antonio M. Romanucci and Frank A. Sommario are among several attorneys at the Chicago law firm of Romanucci & Blandin to be hailed recently by their peers. A principal and partner at the firm, Romanucci has been named to the prestigious “Top 100” list in Illinois for 2017 by Super Lawyers Magazine. This is the 11th consecutive year that Romanucci has been recognized as a “Top 100” attorney and the 13th consecutive year he has been selected to the list of Illinois Super Lawyers. Super Lawyers Magazine identifies the nation’s top attorneys through a process of peer selection and review, …

Dr. Luisa DiPietro, a professor of periodontics at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. AAAS fellows are selected by their peers in recognition of significant advances made in the sciences. The director of the UIC Center for Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration and the associate chancellor for research, DiPietro studies the process of wound healing and tissue regeneration following injury. She and her coworkers have discovered several key factors that dictate whether wounds heal perfectly or with scars.

Dr. Anna Manzotti, a clinical assistant professor of restorative dentistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, earned a Teaching Recognition Program (TRC) Award from the UIC Center for the Advancement of Teaching-Learning Communities. “Dr. Manzotti’s teaching is an excellent example of the high quality of instruction that characterizes the best of UIC,” says Dr. Maria Varelas, director of the center. The TRC considered student feedback, peer reviews, mentoring of students, curriculum development, impactful and innovative teaching, and other factors. Faculty “have to demonstrate clinical and professional excellence to inspire students to achieve high standards,” according to …

Sportivo Management Group founder Anthony H. Isabelli has parlayed a deep appreciation for his Italian heritage into a new role that he hopes will allow more Italian Americans to examine their own roots. In December, he was appointed to the position of United States Foreign Committee president for the Association of Sport, Culture and Leisure (ASCI), an Italian organization headquartered in Rome. This new post will allow Isabelli to further his mission of encouraging cultural exchanges between America and Italy by creating opportunities for young athletes from both countries to compete against each other. In an official statement, Isabelli expressed …