Tag Archives: Frank Di Piero

The Italian Cultural Center at Casa Italia in Stone Park unveiled a restored and enhanced Italians in Chicago exhibit at an open house from 6-9 p.m. on May 12. Archivists Terry Quilico and Barbara Stasell began work on the project two years ago under the direction of the exhibit’s creator, ICC Library Curator Dominic Candeloro. “The exhibit was renovated in the 1990s, but due to the deterioration of some of the displays, we decided that further renovations were needed,” Candeloro says. “As work progressed, we realized that there were significant aspects of the history of Italians in Chicago that were …

Ron Onesti has been elected to a two-year term as president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. Onesti steps up to the post after serving for the last two years as second vice president of the JCCIA. He also serves as president of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame and as a member of the board of directors of Casa Italia and the Italian American Veterans Museum. Onesti is the founder and president of Onesti Entertainment Corp., which runs five entertainment and dining venues across the Chicago area and produces concerts, special events and festivals nationwide. …

On Nov. 10, Chicago-area activists Carlo Vaniglia, Frank Di Piero and Dominic Candeloro travelled west to Cherry, Illinois, to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the Cherry mine disaster. They laid a wreath at the monument that honors the 259 victims of the mine fire, 73 of whom were Italian immigrants, mainly from Emilia Romagna. It was the third worst disaster in American mining history. Welcomed with open arms by the descendants of the miners, the trio promised that they would share their story with the Chicago-area Italian-American community.  

The Flowers of Italy Club honored community activist Frank Di Piero on March 28 at Villa Brunetti in Franklin Park. (630-688-3153) Di Piero is the host of the podcast “Keepin’ It Real with Frankie D.” on ItalianAmericanLife.com. He is a past president of the Harlem Avenue Italian & American Business Association and served on the committee to create the Italian-American studies program at Loyola University in Chicago. He is a board member of Casa Italia, Italidea-Midwest and Little Italy Cenetta, and serves on the committee that stages the Festa della Repubblica at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii. A …

  Ivana Di Piero Hair Studio in Norridge recently celebrated a quarter century of making life more beautiful for customers and community alike. Born in Italy and a resident of the Chicago area since the age of 2, Di Piero was raised in Norridge since the age of 9. She graduated from John V. Leigh School and Ridgewood High School, where she took the cosmetology class that launched her career. Di Piero opened for business on Aug. 21, 1991, thanks to her husband, Frank, who came home with the lease and said, “Here’s your shop.” The couple bought the property …