Profiles

The Order Sons of Italy in America, Grand Lodge of Illinois & Wisconsin, headed north for its 17th annual Leonardo da Vinci Awards of Excellence Gala, hosting the event on May 6 at the Roma Lodge in Racine. The event featured a buffet luncheon at noon and an awards ceremony. Profiles of the honorees follow: Peter Barca Representative Peter Barca is a lifelong citizen of Kenosha and Somers. He currently serves as State Representative from the 64th Assembly District, which includes much of the City of Kenosha and portions of the City of Racine, Town of Somers, Village of Mount …

The Chicagoland Italian American Charitable Organization honored Remo Turano as Humanitarian of the Year at its Honor & Hope Gala on April 28 at the Medinah Shrine Center in Addison. More than a dozen scholarships were presented at the event, along with donations to a wounded veteran and other worthy causes. A profile of Turano follows: Remo Turano As a boy, Remo Turano helped out in his family’s bakery business. As a young adult, he instilled knowledge as a classroom teacher. As a young husband, he circled back to the family business, branching out into sweets and pastries. He has …

IA Literati 2018 — Casa Italia’s 14th annual celebration of local Italian-American authors — ran from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 12 in the Florentine Room of the Italian Cultural Center in Stone Park. Book sales and signings, raffles, and a meet-and-greet with the authors took place at 9:30 a.m. Authors will read from their works starting at 10 a.m. Several new authors such as Frank Cesario, Anne Marie Cina, Lee Colsant and Steve Decker took part in the event along with veteran literati Arthur Cola, Dr. Bruno Cortis, Kathy DeNicolo, Tony Romano and Adam Sedia. The moderator …

Despite ascending to a comedic pantheon that includes the likes of Seinfeld and Chappelle, he remains rooted thanks to his Sicilian-American upbringing. When talking about ace standup Sebastian Maniscalco, Jerry Seinfeld once lovingly quipped, “Has anybody in the history of comedy had more syllables in their name?” That’s how you know Maniscalco, a comedian who has spent the last 20 years building a career up from scratch, has finally reached rock-star standup status. Here was Seinfeld, the reigning king of comedians who reportedly earned $69 million last year alone for his own standup, inviting Maniscalco on his streaming show, “Comedians …

A standout at every level of women’s lacrosse, Krystin Porcella is a leader in the movement to take the sport professional. Star athlete, coach and now general manager — Krystin Porcella has pretty much experienced all facets of women’s lacrosse. Her philosophy is to empower athletes to make the right choices at the right time. “This applies on field and off field,” she says. “If we can develop each player to reach their potential for leadership, we have a whole team of players who have bought into the mission and are focused on the goals.” In March 2017, Porcella was …

A first-time filmmaker, she took her passion for an Italian-American tradition to the finals of a prestigious national cinema competition. There are many who feel they have a film inside of them, but few who have the vision and gumption to make that dream a video reality. And for those who get at least that far, the results often bear an amateurish, awkward stamp. Given those obstacles, Kirsten Keppel’s emergence as a documentary filmmaker is, indeed, the stuff of movie legend. Keppel turned her fascination with ancestry into artistry in her 2017 documentary “Ringraziamenti: The Saint Joseph’s Day Table Tradition.” …

Assigned to Plane Captain School after boot camp during the Korean War, his dream of entering the medical field came true when he transferred to Hospital Corps School. The oldest of two children, Richard Morbidoni was born at Norwegian American Hospital in Chicago. His parents, Alfredo Flora (Ricci), were both born in Castelfidardo, Italy, the accordion capital of the world. Alfredo came to Chicago when he was 17 years old to work in his uncle’s accordion factory. Flora immigrated with her mother and siblings when she was a toddler, taking a train from New York to San Francisco where her …

With only himself for company and a sexton as his guide, he will compete to be the first of two dozen sailors to sail around the world without making landfall. Francesco Cappelletti is the only Italian skipper among a group of hardcore, adventurous purists who’ve signed up to sail 30,000 solo miles around the globe in a race devoid of modern technology. The 2018 Golden Globe Race will take place on the 50th anniversary of the first solo, nonstop circumnavigation done by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston during the Sunday Times Golden Globe Yacht Race in 1968. The 2018 race starts July …

By bringing stories of Calabrian-American bravery to light, he is adding chapters to our history that would otherwise have been lost. The saying “history is written by the winners” typically applies to military forces that dominate and subjugate, but one person has turned that notion on its head in the most positive sense. In his painstaking research into long gone Calabrian-American veterans, Peter Belmonte has achieved a victory for scores of humble heroes whose stories would otherwise have been lost in the trenches of World War I. Why do this? It helps that Belmonte is a retired U.S. Air Force …

As NCO on an artillery base camp in the central highlands of Vietnam, he was responsible for keeping his squad on task and safe in the face of frequent enemy attacks. Costante James “CJ” Martello was born in Chicago’s Roseland Community Hospital. He was one of 12 children born to Angelina and August Martello, four of whom passed away before Martello’s birth. His parents were from the Veneto region of Italy and immigrated to Chicago to be near relatives and paesani. Martello grew up in the tightly knit Italian community of Roseland, where his father made salami in the basement …