It may only be April, but the Greater Rockford Italian American Association is already preparing for this year’s Festa Italiana! Michael and Paul Maffioli are with us tonight to chat about the history of Festa Italiana and how it is still going strong.

Great Rockford Italian American Association also known as GRIAA was founded with the efforts to raise money for scholarships for the Italian American youth who attended parochial schools of Rockford. Michael says as the current chairman of GRIAA his agenda is the hopefully include all Italian American youth of Rockford, whether or not they attend parochial or public schools.