Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Not everyone can say they found their calling in life. Evelyn Belmonte is among the lucky ones.
For nearly three decades, Belmonte has worked for the village of Hillside as special events coordinator and administrative assistant to Mayor Joseph Tamburino.
“Working for the mayor has been such an amazing experience, with new ideas all the time and meeting our residents. He challenges me every day, and it is never boring,” says Belmonte, who has lived in Hillside since 1962.
The daughter of William and Marie Terese (Zaccardi) Innocenti, Belmonte grew up in Chicago with two very different sides to her extended Italian family: Her maternal grandparents were from Naples, while her paternal grandparents hailed from Pisa. Her mother was born in Chicago; her father immigrated to the United States at age 4.
The two sides had very different traditions and dialects, so much so that Belmonte took Italian in college but dropped it after a semester “because each (of my parents) said I wasn’t pronouncing the words correctly,” she recalls.
The youngest of four and the only girl, Belmonte’s childhood was marked by large Sunday dinners featuring homemade wine and “the biggest meatballs ever,” a tradition that her mother carried on from her grandparents.
However, the Innocentis never spoke Italian at home. “My dad felt that he was in America and only spoke English in the household, except at Christmas, when they didn’t want us to know what gifts we were getting,” she recalls.
Belmonte graduated from Chicago’s Kelvyn Park High School, attended DePaul University, Triton College and Loop Junior College. She worked in advertising and radio, then got a job as assistant to the marketing manager at the Chicago Tribune in 1967.
During this time, Belmonte also served as social director for the 850-member Oak Park Ski Club, and planned events at every company she worked for, she says. After she got married in 1968 and became a stay-at-home mother, she also planned school events.
“I knew I had a calling for event planning,” she says.
Belmonte went back to work in the 1980s designing jewelry for a large wholesale company, and a few years later embarked on the continuing adventure of serving the village of Hillside.
It all started in 1987, when Mayor Tamburino — who has held the position since 1981 — asked her to take a seat the village’s planning commission. Then, in 1991, he asked her to run for village trustee. “That was truly an honor, as I loved my village and the people,” she recalls.
Belmonte was appointed to the village’s community events commission, and in 1995, at the mayor’s request, took a full-time position working as his executive assistant and planning all events for the village.
Among all that she organizes, two veteran-related events hold a special place in her heart, she says: the annual parade honoring veterans on Nov. 2, an event launched 22 years ago at the mayor’s request, and a yearly veterans’ dinner.
“It makes me proud to see everyone come out for our veterans,” she says.
Another special event for her is Summer Nights in Hillside, which takes place on Tuesday nights over five weeks in summer. Since 2017, it has grown to more than 90 market vendors, 500 classic cars on display, 23 participating restaurants and two musical acts, and is attended by 7,000 to 8,000 people each week. “When I see everyone’s smiles on their faces, it gives my such a great feeling of accomplishment,” she says.
Belmonte and her “terrific and supportive” husband of 56 years, Leonard, have three children and five grandchildren. Besides raising a family, Belmonte also devoted energy to help others.
For example, she ran fundraisers for the Elmhurst Speech and Language Center at a time when there were fewer resources for people with autism and other special needs. “Special education is near and dear to my heart and my family’s hearts,” she says. One of her sons struggled “with labeling and restrictions,” she explains, and persevered to go onto being inducted into the National Honor Society, graduating from college and having a successful career.
Taking care of her parents when they became ill also gave her a new perspective about how seniors should be treated with dignity, she adds. “I have a passion for finding avenues that provide information they need during this stressful time in their lives,” she says.
So what lies ahead for Belmonte? “My plan for the future is to keep doing what I am doing — and enjoying every minute of it.”
