Little Italy Future Leaders and the Italian American Museum of Cleveland Raise a Glass as Torch Is Passed to Younger Generations
Little Italy Future Leaders (LIFL), a younger generations’ culture and networking club — formed through Italian Sons and Daughters of America — is thrilled to announce the success of its Inaugural history shuffle, “A Glass From the Past,” held on July 20. The event, hosted in conjunction with the Italian American Museum of Cleveland (IAMCLE), aimed...
Maria SS Lauretana ‘Italian Fest’ Returns To Golf Mill Park Labor Day Weekend
Labor Day weekend will see the Feast of Maria SS Lauretana of Altavilla Milicia in Chicago, a historic Sicilian event, return to Golf Mill Park. The event, called “Italian Fest” by many in Niles, has roots dating back to the year 1623 in Sicily and 1900 in the Chicago area, and is part Sicilian Catholic observance and part street festival with food...
Johnny Viti Is Explaining Chicago To The World, One Video At A Time
Every city has its own traditions, customs and superstitions, and Chicago is no exception. But it can be difficult to explain to an out-of-towner the street etiquette of “dibs,” the rivalry between the North and South sides, why ketchup on the Chicago hot dog is frowned upon and why anyone would ever drink Malort on purpose. Also, the importance of...
32nd Annual Brier Hill Italian Festival to kick off Thursday
Can't get enough of the Italian festivals in the Mahoning Valley? Well, another one is just about to begin on Thursday. The 32nd Annual Brier Hill Italian Festival kicks off Thursday, August 15 at 4:00 p.m. and will last until the end of Sunday at the corner of Calvin and and Victoria Street in Youngstown, OH. Festival hours are 4:00 p.m. to midni...
IACC celebrates Una Serata Italiana
The Italian American Cultural Club held its annual Una Serata Italiana event Aug. 2 in Steubenville, OH. Hundreds throughout the community gathered inside Froehlich’s Classic Corner, which had been transformed into an Italian display, featuring four food and dessert stations, each representing an Italian city. Guests visited Rome, Venice, Florence...
Organizers hoping for big, dry Warren Italian-American Heritage Festival
The Warren (OH) Italian-American Heritage Festival brings back former residents and attracts out-of-town guests every year. One visitor isn’t welcome this year (or any year) — rain. After heavy storms affected last year’s event, Corey Hovance, president of the festival’s board, referred to this weekend’s event as its “redemption year.” “Being the p...
Little Italy’s Feast of the Assumption Celebrates its 125th Year
Little Italy’s Feast is the celebration heard all around Northeast Ohio. The iconic, weekend-long event is known best for its spectacle of Italian cuisine, turning Mayfield Road into a vendor market of pasta, pizza, cannolis and Italian treats in town. Games, casinos and music keep the entertainment alive, but its reason for the season makes the fe...
Scannicchio elevated to presiding judge
Cook County Circuit Court Justice Regina Scannicchio has been elevated from acting presiding judge to presiding judge of the Domestic Relations Division by Chief Judge Timothy Evans. Scannicchio was named acting presiding judge on Sept. 23, 2022. She was first appointed to the bench by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2011 after 23 years as a private...
Italian Fest to return to Iron Mountain
Italian Fest will return to Iron Mountain (MI) on Aug. 10. Attendees can sample Italian cuisine and wines or join in on the Italian dinner toss and grape stomp. Kids will have inflatable bounce houses and can watch a showing of the Pixar movie Cars 2. First National Bank & Trust Veteran Outreach Committee Chairman Matt Donovan said the bank has par...
Amaseno lodge to stage landmark feast
Amaseno Lodge No. 3 of Chicago Heights will host its 50th anniversary Feast of San Lorenzo and San Rocco from Aug. 9-11. The lodge was formed in 1913 by immigrants from Amaseno, a small farming village 60 miles south of Rome. Settling in Chicago Heights’ Hungry Hill Italian enclave, they brought with them a deep devotion to San Lorenzo, an early Ch...
Is Cleveland’s Little Italy in danger of being loved to death?
A young woman on a scooter lobbed a verbal hand grenade at a tour group on a hot summer night in Cleveland’s Little Italy two weeks ago. “This neighborhood is gentrified!” she yelled as she zoomed past 65 people on Random Road who were enjoying a two-hour “Take a Hike" walking tour of local history and culture. It wasn’t clear why the woman used th...
A taste of Italy: The Leaning Tower of Niles
Nestled away in the northwest suburbs lies one of Chicagoland’s most peculiar tourist attractions, the Leaning Tower of Niles. Given its rather mundane surroundings, the tower sticks out like a decorative sore thumb. So just how did this ode to Italy come to be in the heart of the Midwest? A half-sized replica of Italy’s famous Leaning Tower of Pi...