Tag Archives: Casa Italia

Film aficionados have hungered for the return of Casa Italia’s beloved feast of Italian cinema, and the wait is finally over. The Casa’s 2019 Italian film series will reboot on Sept. 13 and run for seven glorious Fridays. The host of this year’s series will be Pam DeFiglio, a veteran Chicago editor, columnist and arts critic. The following film descriptions were provided by Casa Italia: Sept. 13 — Un Paese Quasi Perfetto (An Almost Perfect Town) (2016) — Pietramezzana offers stunning mountain scenery, but all the jobs have left town. To save it, residents deploy improbable and highly comic schemes, …

Casa Italia honored Albert Belmonte as Man of the Year on Feb. 9 at Alta Villa Banquets in Addison. The following profile was provided by the sponsoring organization. ALBERT BELMONTE If you listen to Al Belmonte, you’d think that Casa Italia chose the wrong guy for their 2019 Man of the Year. “When they asked me, I thought they were joking,” Belmonte says. “I feel honored and a little floored.” But if you talk to anyone else in the community, you’ll know that the Casa got it exactly right. “He’s a man who knows where he’s needed and steps up …

After spending the last 15 years in corporate dining, Mark Triggiano is returning to his roots as the new chef at Casa Italia. “I learned so much from working in the corporate world, but garlic and red sauce are in my DNA, so this is like coming home for me,” says Triggiano, who served as both unit and chef manager for Motorola and Compass North America. It should come as no surprise that his grandmother was a formative influence. While his fellow students at St. Cyprian elementary school in River Grove were muddling through sloppy Joes in the school lunchroom, …

The Italian American Theatre of Chicago presented “Vispetta” in the Community Center at Casa Italia in March. Adapted by Colleen Mraz from traditional 16th-century commedia dell’arte, the farce followed the misadventures of two star-crossed lovers, their clueless parents and their wily servant, Vispetta. True to its commedia roots, the principal actors wore masks and the humor was “slapstick,” a term that refers to a prop used in carnevale revels in Renaissance Venice. A medley of Italian songs performed by Joyce Marcheschi Westphal and Leonard Palombi greeted guests as they enjoyed wine and stuzzichini before a pizza dinner. The performance was …

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 …

Some benefactors are drawn to the limelight that their generosity attracts and others prefer to work their charitable magic behind the scenes. Domenico Gambino is cut of the latter cloth. A co-owner of the Tony’s Finer Food grocery empire, Gambino has been a quiet force for good in the Italian-American community for decades, deploying resources and leveraging connections with little fanfare and great effect. “What I do I do from the heart and because it makes me feel good,” Gambino explains. “That’s all the thanks I need.” Born in Ciminna, Sicily, in 1945, Domenico is one of eight children of …

La Befana is known for her ability to be in several places at once. Otherwise, how could she shower every good boy and girl around the world with gifts in the wee hours before the Feast of the Epiphany? Those powers will come in handy when Italy’s good Christmas witch pays a visit to three local events in the days surrounding Jan. 6. On Jan. 7, she’ll stop by the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii during the 11 a.m. Mass. Children will participate in the Mass readings and prayers and will have an opportunity to ask La Befana questions. …

Casa Italia sponsored another standout bocce tournament this summer, fielding 14 teams that competed for honor and glory over the course of nine weeks of regular play and two weeks of playoffs. Team Columbian Club battled its way to a first-place finish with Nonno’s Team coming in second and No Stress taking third. Everyone brought food and wine to share and Italian American Executives of Transportation member Andy Tegtmeier earned a trophy for his skills at the grill. MVP honors went to 92-year-old Leno Santacaterina. The tourney was ably chaired by Casa Vice President Peter Volpe.

Casa Italia devotde its fall film series to the works of acclaimed Italian film director Vanna Paoli. A co-writer of the Oscar-winning “Cinema Paradiso,” Paoli went on to direct nine films of her own. (See profile below.) Now living in the northern suburbs of Chicago, was on hand to offer insights into the creation of all four of the films in the series. A profile appears below. The films in the series were as follows. Friday, October 20 – “Cinema Paradiso” Young Salvatore Di Vita discovers the perfect escape from life in his war-torn Sicilian village: the local movie house …

  Banking executive Peter Volpe was honored as Man of the Year and Stone Park Mayor Beniamino Mazzulla received a Chairman’s Special Recognition Award at Casa Italia’s 47th annual gala on April 22 at Alta Villa Banquets in Addison.   Peter Volpe Casa Italia is proud to present its 2017 Person of the Year Award to banking executive Peter Volpe. “Whenever duty has called, Peter has answered,” says Casa Chairman John Ferrentino. “When he joins an organization, he puts his heart and soul into it and he always emerges as a leader.” Peter is the grandson of Salvatore and Josephine …