Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
The Calabresi in America Organization has elected Gina Badagliacca to serve as its 2025-2026 president, and the longtime member couldn’t be more thrilled to helm the vibrant organization.
“I think everything about the club is great,” she says. “The functions are exciting, the people are amazing and there are lifelong friendships that we create.”
Badagliacca’s parents, Francesco and Rosaria Spizzirri, were both members pretty much since the group was launched, she says, noting that she has been involved since she was a teenager, stepping up her participation after her father passed away three years ago.
“He has a lot to do with why I’m on this board,” Badagliacca says. “He had such a commitment to this club and organization. I just want to keep his legacy going.”
The Calabresi in America Organization (CIAO, for short) is a nonprofit, membership-based, social-welfare club that celebrates Calabrese culture and history while raising funds for charity and supporting a mission of fellowship within the Italian American community.
The region in Italy often referred to as the “toe” of the Italian “boot,” Calabria occupies a long, narrow peninsula that’s famous for its crystal-clear waters, lush agriculture and beautiful, ancient villages.
Emigrants from the region formed Società San Francesco di Paola in 1982 to honor the patron saint of the region, and CIAO was founded five years later to unite the Chicago-area Calabresi community throughout the year. The two groups have worked hand in hand ever since.
The two organizations work together each year to stage Festa della Famiglia in Onore di San Francesco di Paola, which attracts thousands of Calabresi and other Italian Americans to the grounds of Casa Italia in Stone Park on the second weekend of August.
CIAO played a pivotal role in the creation of Casa Italia and has been extremely supportive and involved over the quarter century since the Casa was founded. “It’s always been our home and we want to see it thrive,” Badagliacca says. “I would love to see it flourish and continue to help the Italian community.”
One of CIAO’s signature annual events is a sojourn to its ancestral region for an all-inclusive trip touted as “an experience of tradition and gastronomy.”
Badagliacca says around 120 people take part in the two-week trip every year. She is planning to go along for the first time herself this year. The 2025 edition will run from Sept. 23 to Oct. 7, with packages ranging from $4,200 to $4,500 per person depending on whether the traveler is a CIAO member and is sharing accommodations.
CIAO also hosts a golf outing in July, sponsors a float in the Columbus Day Parade in October and plays an active role in Casa Italia’s Christmas Village.
Badagliacca says one of her favorite things the group does is award college scholarships to High School students.
“It’s always exciting to talk to those children and hear their stories about their Calabrese heritage,” Badagliacca says. “It’s nice to see those traditions still there.”
The scholarship recipients are honored at the group’s installation dinner and scholarship ceremony in November.
CIAO also hosts several members-only meetings throughout the year, including a Valentine’s Day party in February; St. Joseph Table in March; frittata party in April; BBQ meeting in June; and a turkey raffle meeting in November; and a Christmas Party in December.
Annual membership dues are $75.
A hairstylist by profession, Badagliacca owned her own salon for 30 years and now rents a chair at Exsalonce Hair in Harwood sheets. She lost her husband, Peter, to glioblastoma a year ago, and is raising her children, Julia, Michael and Matteo in Elk Grove Village, where she has lived for 30 years.
Badagliacca says one of her goals as president is to get younger people involved with the organization.
Joining her as officers are First Vice President Jomarie Belmont, Second Vice President Pete DeBartolo, Third Vice President Albert Belmonte, Recording Secretary Cathy Smith, Co-Corresponding Secretaries Laura Clementi and Grace Sierakowski, Treasurer Gina Tarnowski, Sergeant-at-Arms Giacomo Manfredini, and Legal Advisor John Spina.
For more information, visit calabresiinamerica.org.
