Italian-American culture was on display in all its glory at the Orland Park Public Library through April. The Italians in Chicago’s traveling exhibit will be on display throughout the month along with memorabilia gathered from local Italian Americans. The exhibit and related events are being spearheaded by Casa Italia’s Dominic Candeloro and the Order Sons of Italy in America’s Richard Della Croce. http://www.orlandparklibrary.org/italians-chicago.htm    

  Fra Noi website columnist Ron Ricchio once again rallied family and friends to participate in the Kohl’s Step Up For Kids fundraiser at the AON building in Chicago. The event allows “steppers” to raise money for the hospital by climbing the stairs of one of the world’s tallest buildings. Proceeds benefit the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital. The Ricchio Climbers have raised thousands of dollars annually for the last four years to celebrate the successful treatment of Ron’s son Francesco at Lurie’s.

Attorney Michael Monico was honored at St. Ignatius College Prep’s 34th annual Law Luncheon on Feb. 27 at the Union League Club. Recognized as one of the premier criminal defense attorneys in the country, Monico served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1973 through 1977 and has spent the last 35 years representing defendants in white collar, Medicare, antitrust, public corruption and securities fraud investigations and prosecutions throughout the United States. He co-authored a treatise on federal criminal law titled “Federal Criminal Practice: A Seventh Circuit Handbook,” now in its thirteenth edition, and has …

Past UNICO National President Tony Fornelli; the Rev. Thomas Regan, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Past UNICO National President Mike Veselka; local historian Dominic Candeloro; and Art Lurigio, associate dean for faculty at Loyola’s College of Arts and Sciences, celebrate the first installment of UNICO National’s $25,000 pledge toward the fundraising drive to create an endowed chair of Italian American Studies at Loyola University in Chicago. The drive is only $65,000 shy of its $500,000 goal. http://luc.edu/italianamerican/

Thomas Salvino has been named to Barron’s 2015 Top Advisors in America. The magazine’s annual state-by-state listing recognizes America’s top financial advisors and places Salvino in the Illinois ranking. Salvino; his father, Al; and his brother, John, are financial advisors with the Salvino Wealth Management Team at William Blair & Company. Ton joined the firm in 1993 and became a partner in 1998. Tom began his career at Paine Webber. He received his M.B.A. in finance from Loyola University Chicago and his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.

The Italian Cultural Center Vocal Scholarship began quietly in 1976 when Josephine LiPuma, an opera singer, music teacher and volunteer at the Italian Cultural Center, approached the Rev. August Feccia about starting a vocal competition under the name of the center. Ms. LiPuma wanted to start the scholarship as an encouragement to young students of opera. Fr. Feccia was in agreement that this would be a perfect event for the ICC. Two opera scholarships were offered to students of Italian Heritage and each year the scholarship honored a different Italian singer or composer. In 1987, Ms. LiPuma was terminally Ill …

The Grand Lodge of Illinois/Wisconsin, Order Sons of Italy in America, celebrated its 90th annual Columbus Banquet on Oct. 11 at Villa Brunetti in Franklin Park. 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. Highlighting the evening were the presentations of the 2014 Humanitarian Award and the first-ever Columbus Patriot Award. In addition, the Illinois Sons of Italy Foundation awarded nine scholarships to Italian-American students who are continuing their education. Receiving the Humanitarian Award was Giovanni Bucci, an Italian-American artist best known for …

Frank Sgro, the legendary maître d’ at The Italian Village, will be retiring March 1 after 56 years spent working at the iconic restaurant. Sgro was only 16 years old in 1959 when he started working as a bus boy, working his way up to waiter and captain before earning the maître d’ position. With the exception of a stint in the Army from 1962 to 1964, has spent his entire professional career at The Italian Village restaurants. “I enjoyed every minute of it,” says Sgro. “I have worked for the greatest family in the business.” Over the years, Sgro …

REX CEO Dominic Sergi announced that REX Electric & Technologies LLC has formed a strategic alliance with Dairyland Electric Co. Inc., a premiere electrical contractor based in southeast Wisconsin. According to Sergi, the alliance is designed to help clients of both REX and Dairyland Electric realize better service and value for the electrical contracting and technology services provided by the two contractors. “We have seen growth in all of our markets and we want to provide our clients with the best solutions to their electrical contracting and systems integration needs,” Sergi says. He noted that REX is one of the …