By Mark Zaretsky

This year's Columbus Day celebration is a two-fer. The Columbus Day Committee for the first time will honor a couple — Giuseppe "Pepe" DePalma and Teresa DePalma — as Italian-American of the Year Friday at the city's 18th annual Columbus Day celebration. 

The ceremony begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Main Street entrance of City Hall. Members of the West Haven Italian-American Civic Association will escort the DePalmas, natives of neighboring Campania towns in southern Italy, to the steps of City Hall. The award is given each year to an Italian-descended resident who epitomizes service to West Haven's Italian-American community. "We are very happy to be the first Italian Couple of the Year," said Teresa DePalma in a city news release. "It is an honor for us."

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Source: http://www.nhregister.com/