Tag Archives: Casa Italia

    An enthusiastic crowd was held spellbound by Medal of Honor recipient Allen James Lynch during a special presentation hosted by the Italian American Veterans Museum. More than 100 attendees, many of them veterans, flocked to the Community Center at Casa Italia on Nov. 14 to share an evening with a true American hero. As an Army sergeant during the Vietnam War, Lynch earned the nation’s highest military decoration while saving the lives of three wounded comrades on the field of battle. The evening was passionately moderated by IAVM Memorabilia Curator Steve Corbo. After calling World War II Veteran …

  The Casa Italia film series continues to roll along, with films scheduled through November. “One Year Later” will be screened on Friday, Sept. 30. The film represents the feature-length debut of local director Lucia Mauro, who thoroughly engaged the Casa film series audience with her presentation of her award-winning short “In My Brother’s Shoes” in July. This uplifting narrative film – shot in Chicago, and in Milan, Turin and Aosta, Italy in Fall 2015 — tells the story of an American woman who takes a cathartic trip to the Italian Alps one year after completing cancer treatment. Looking ahead, …

  The Italian Consulate General in Chicago marked the 70th anniversary of the Festa della Repubblica in grand fashion on June 4. Held for the first time at Casa Italia, the celebration featured an audience filled with community leaders, a host of dignitaries from Illinois and Italy, and delicious food served by some of the Chicago area’s finest purveyors. The event marked the first public appearance of newly installed Consul General Giuseppe Finocchiaro, who spoke on behalf of recently appointed Italian Ambassador Armando Varricchio, who was unable to attend due to a flight cancellation. On hand was a delegation from …

Casa Italia honored Stefani Restaurant Group Vice President Claudio Ulivieri as Person of the Year at its 2016 Gala on Feb. 20 at Alta Villa Banquets. When he started as a kitchen worker at Stefani’s on Fullerton Avenue, Claudio Ulivieri gave it one week to see how things would work out. After all, he’d just arrived from Italy, spoke little English and placed his bets on a restaurant that had been open only two weeks. In fact, Claudio postponed any pay until the Stefani family — Phil and his uncle Lino — graded his efforts. Little did anyone know that …

  The Person of the Year Gala is easily the most important fundraiser of the year for Casa Italia, and this year’s honoree came through with flying colors. Tens of thousands of dollars were raised for the Casa on the strength of Louis C. Cairo’s charisma, love of family, passion for his heritage, and expansive network of devoted friends and associates. Among them was his extended family at Goldman Weisman and Cairo (GWC), which has emerged as Illinois’ largest injury law firm under the stewardship of Lou and his partner, Michael B. Goldberg. Scores of well-wishers from the many labor …

  Casa Italia’s Person of the Year Gala brought together hundreds of well-wishers from the legal, labor and Italian-American communities to raise crucial funds for the Casa and pay tribute to attorney Louis C. Cairo. Casa Chairman Dan Corrado, Dinner Dance Chairman Giuseppe Zerillo and longtime friend Mario Manfredini set the stage for Cairo, who spoke glowingly of his firm, his family, his heritage and the Casa. A cash raffle and a rousing live auction called by Steve Corbo brought in additional funds.   http://casaitaliachicago.net                          

Casa Italia has launched a fundraising paver project that promises to place it on a secure financial footing for years to come. The pavers will line the walkway between the Italian Cultural Center and Nonna Graziella in a pair of two-foot-wide paths that will eventually be lined with landscaping and benches. With plenty of parking on the either end of the walkway, the project will be readily accessible to the public, and at a maximum distance of only two feet, each paver will be easily located and viewed. The cost is $150 for a 4-inch-by-8-inch paver and $300 for an …

The Italian Cultural Center Vocal Scholarship began quietly in 1976 when Josephine LiPuma, an opera singer, music teacher and volunteer at the Italian Cultural Center, approached the Rev. August Feccia about starting a vocal competition under the name of the center. Ms. LiPuma wanted to start the scholarship as an encouragement to young students of opera. Fr. Feccia was in agreement that this would be a perfect event for the ICC. Two opera scholarships were offered to students of Italian Heritage and each year the scholarship honored a different Italian singer or composer. In 1987, Ms. LiPuma was terminally Ill …

Take a tantalizing culinary tour of Italy’s Lazio Region with Casa language instructor and amateur chef Giovanna Dimetros. Your adventure will include a cooking class, recipes, information about the region, and mini-language class with the spellings and pronunciations of Italian words and phrases related to food. Typical dishes from Sardegna will be prepared and enjoyed by the students with Italian music playing in the background. The session will run from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on March 25 in the Mentesana Weber Room of the Community Center at Casa Italia in Stone Park. Admission is $65 per person. This is a BYOB event. …

The Italian Cultural Center at Casa Italia is proud to honor local legal titan Louis C. Cairo as Man of the Year at its 45th annual dinner dance. The event will take place on April 11 at Alta Villa Banquets in Addison. Louis is a senior partner at the GWC Law Firm: Chicago’s largest personal injury and workers’ compensation firm. Growing up as the son of an Italian immigrant who owned a union construction company in Northern Illinois, Louis acquired considerable experience with and respect for the men and women working in the construction industry. His close family upbringing has …