Community News

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 …

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 …

Exciting news! Italy is reaching out like never before to reconnect with people of Italian heritage living throughout the world. Dubbed “Italea,” the program promotes “roots tourism” to the descendants of the great Italian diaspora. The local announcement of the program brought together leaders of the Chicago-area Italian-American community through the invitation of Italian Consul General Thomas Botzios; Com.It.Es President Carlo Vaniglia; and Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans President Ron Onesti. The June 14 reception was hosted by the JCCIA in the beautiful private dining room of the Des Plaines Theatre. Flying in to make the presentation was Luigi …

Best known for his sculptural sprites in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Midway Gardens project, Alfonso Iannelli was instrumental in bringing about the modernist design movement in Chicago. One of the masterpieces that emerged from his Park Ridge studio was a plaster bust of Abraham Lincoln that has charted a curious course in recent decades. After Iannelli’s death in 1965, the Kelmscott Gallery in Chicago acquired much of his estate. The bust then made its way from the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago and back to Iannelli’s studio, which was bought and transformed into the Iannelli Studios Heritage Center by the …

Super Lawyers magazine has named 13 attorneys at Chicago-based Romanucci & Blandin to its 2024 Top 100 Super Lawyers, Illinois Super Lawyers and Illinois Rising Stars. Among them are several Italian-American attorneys, among them founding partner Antonio Romanucci, who ranked among the top 10 on the Illinois list. Super Lawyers relies on peer selection and review, third-party research, and professional achievement to curate its lists. Candidates are eligible as Rising Stars if they are 40 or younger or have been in practice for 10 years or less. Only 5% of attorneys in Illinois earned the Super Lawyer title and only …

The gravitational pull of their shared DNA was irresistible. On Dec. 29, 2023, the inhabitants of Alessandria del Carretto convened with their paesani in America in this ancient Calabrian mountain town for their first-ever Heritage Day. The two groups organized the gathering to celebrate the enduring bond between them. The day’s festivities, which were videotaped for American viewers, began at the municipal library, where attendees were shown a display of photographs. Among them were images of the town’s American descendants wearing T-shirts printed with their names and family connections. The display also included a photo of Mayor Domenico Vuodo with …

The Italian American Political Coalition presented Judge Celia G. Gamrath with its William Paca Award, Richard Caifano with its Lifetime Achievement Award and Richard Catezone with its Public Service Leadership Award at its annual Heritage Celebration on March 7 at Elmcrest Banquets in Elmwood Park. The following profiles were provided by the organization. Richard Caifano Lifetime Achievement Award Richard Caifano has been a leader in the legal profession and Italian-American community for nearly six decades. An attorney in private practice since 1965, he focuses on civil and criminal litigation at the trial and appellate levels. Rich was a trial instructor …

Holy Week is central to the spiritual lives of Italians on both sides of the Atlantic. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish and Shrine and the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii will play their parts from Palm Sunday (March 24) to Easter Sunday (March 31). OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL (Melrose Park) will celebrate Mass with the distribution of palms at 7:45 a.m. and noon in English and at 10:30 a.m. in Italian on Palm Sunday; Mass of the Last Supper in English and Italian and the washing of feet at 6 p.m. and adoration of the Altar of …

Chicago attorney Patrick A. Salvi was honored as Sportsman of the Year at the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony and gala in December. A founder and managing equity partner at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, Salvi also is the CEO of Salvi Sports. A lifetime baseball aficionado, Salvi bought the Gary SouthShore RailCats in 2008, owning and operating it until 2022. Under his leadership, the minor league baseball team won four division championships, had 30 players signed to MLB organizations and won the 2013 American Association Championship. Salvi later expanded his baseball holdings with the purchase of …