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  The Festa Italiana at Villa Cesare in Schererville grew by leaps and bounds in its second year, adding an additional day to the event and nearly doubling its attendence. Roughly 7,000 festival-goers were serenaded by traditional and non-traditional music as they sampled from an expanded array of food, craft and beer and wine vendors. They also enjoyed non-stop live entertainment, played bocce at their leisure and in tournaments, watched pasta-making demonstrations, participated in spaghetti-eating and grape-stomping competitions, and learned from the experts at a wine-and-food pairing. For more information about Villa Cesare, click here.  

Gemma B. Allen of the family law firm Allen & Glassman received Loyola University Chicago’s 2018 Felice Award from the school’s John Felice Rome Center at Loyola’s annual Founders’ Dinner. Named after the Rome Center’s founding director, the award is among the highest honors given by the university. Allen received her bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in 1966 from Loyola and was a student at the Rome Center. Allen’s “commitment to the field of family law and her active participation on multiple councils and boards” were among the reasons noted by University President Jo Ann Rooney in her letter informing …

  The Chandelier Room at Casa Italia was transformed into a Milan runway for this year’s Columbus Day Queen Pageant, and event organizers couldn’t be more pleased. “It was like a Versace fashion show!” enthuses Jo Ann Serpico, executive director of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. “We had 22 contestants, the room looked absolutely beautiful and the event went off without a hitch!” Serpico is equally proud of the fact that no admission was charged, paving the way for a capacity crowd of nearly 200 family members and friends. Elizabeth Cavalieri Konopacki walked away with the crown, and …

  Celebrating the 11th Annual Tommy Lasorda Golf Open, the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame hosted a sell-out tournament on June 4 at the prestigious Royal Fox Country Club in St. Charles. The tournament’s namesake, Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda, was in attendance as well as many other celebrities and athletes, most of whom are inductees of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. Guests included former MLB Player and Manager Bobby Valentine; WBA Lightweight Champion Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini; former boxer and current commentator Paulie Malignaggi; Blackhawks legend Denis Savard; former NFL stars Vince Ferragamo, Dan Pastorini, …

  Eleven distinguished Italian Americans were honored with Leonardo da Vinci Awards of Excellence at the 17th annual reception and ceremony on May 6, 2018, at the Roma Lodge in Racine, Wisconsin. The event is hosted annually by the Grand Lodge of Illinois and Wisconsin, Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America. The Master of Ceremony and event Chairman was Frank Schiro, Grand Lodge First Vice President. Schiro introduced Richard R. Della Croce, national Fifth Vice President, who sang both the American and Italian national anthems. Grand Lodge President Marie Marsalli was introduced and welcomed the honorees and guests. …

The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago was filled to capacity on June 3 for the ninth annual Festa della Repubblica hosted by Comitato Tricolore Italiani nel Mondo. After the Mass, a parade featuring the flags of Italy’s regions and the banners of local organizations made its way through the Taylor Street neighborhood to the Christopher Columbus Monument in Arrigo Park, where speeches were made, and a petition was signed to preserve the names of Balbo Street and the Balbo Monument. Participants returned to the shrine for a street festival featuring Italian music, sandwiches for purchase and a …

The Italian American Women’s Club of Lake County, Indiana, is seeking women of “Italian heritage or espousal, from ages 16 to 116” to join their organization. The group hosts a dinner meeting on the second Thursday of the month at the Villa Cesare Lodge, 900 Eagle Ridge Dr., Schererville. “The club’s goals are to have a positive impact in the community, keep alive Italian customs, and to contribute to worthy causes,” says President Leslie Poplon. “Last year, we were able to help the victims of the devastating earthquakes that struck central Italy.” (lpoplon@gmail.com)  

On June 3, friends and family gathered at Lamplighter Inn in Palatine to raise funds, inspire hope and celebrate an amazing young woman. It was almost two years ago to the day that Taylor D’Agostino was thrown from a horse and suffered several injuries to her spine, leaving her paralyzed. Now 18, D’Agostino continues her fight to walk again as she prepares to travel to Panama to undergo a stem cell replacement and bone marrow transplant. An ongoing fund-raising campaign is helping with expenses, with all contributions directly benefiting D’Agostino. To learn more or to donate, call 847-991-3100.    

  Retired Cook County Circuit Court Judge Gloria Coco performed the world premiere of her one-woman show, “Finding Uncle Alfio,” in June at the Center at Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Garden, New York. Now a writer and actor, Coco began the search for an uncle no one had seen since 1921 in response to her mother’s death-bed plea, “Gloria, find my little brother, Alfio.” The 4-year-old had died on Ellis Island while the family waited for their papers to begin their new lives as Americans, but Coco’s grandmother never knew what happened to her baby. “I knew my mother’s …

The Rev. John Paul Pezzi, MCCJ, celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination at the Comboni Mission Center in LaGrange Park. Pezzi has been a missionary in Burundi, a journalist and editor in Italy and South America, the pro-rector of a Catholic University in Ecuador, and a parish priest among the pygmies in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Rome, he managed the Comboni Missionaries’ website while working on behalf of the society’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission. He is currently in the United States working for JPIC with VIVAT International, a NGO with special consultative status at the …