ITALIAN TIMES THE
Published 11 times annually by the Italian Community Center 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee, WI 53202 www.ICCMilwaukee.com JANUARY 2019 • VOL. 40, NO. 7
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Cosa c’è dentro? What’s inside?
Student Culture Day planned for February 2019 Carnevale XL
Festa 2019 Planning Committees
The latest from the Membership Committee
Lots of new members to welcome
ICC cultural booth wins ‘People’s Choice’ Award at Holiday Folk Fair
Italian participation in the Folk Fair
Under The Tuscan Sun showing on Jan. 11 ‘Movie Night’ Members’ Christmas party pictorial
The day the late President Bush visited Festa UNICO Ladies, Pompeii Women celebrate
Pompeii Men’s Club report Digging up your family roots
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NON-PROFIT US POSTAGE PAID MILWAUKEE, WI Permit No. 5716
Italian Consul General visits ICC, Italian Immersion School
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Philip D’Amore’s art on cover of Dick Vitale book page 17
Anna Pitzo joins Folk Fair Wall of Fame
For her contributions to the preservation of Italian culture, Italian Community Center member Anna Pitzo was inducted as a member of the Holiday Folk Fair International Wall of Fame.
Her induction, along with four other individuals, occurred during the 75th annual event, which was held Nov. 16-18 at the State Fair Park Exposition Center in West Allis.
Pitzo, a volunteer through the ICC and the Milwaukee Ladies of UNICO for 33 years, worked and served as chair at one time or another for each area of participation by the Italian group at the Holiday Folk Fair. These included culture exhibit and sales and food booths. She had done cooking demonstrations during the event and particularly enjoyed working with children.
As an ambassador of Italian culture, Pitzo has traveled across southeastern Wisconsin sharing the story of La Befana, the Epiphany Eve witch of Italian folklore. She has also played a prominent role in Festa Italiana and the ICC since the inception of both.
“Thank you, Anna, for all your work and dedication to the people of Milwaukee, for all the children’s lives you have touched, and for being a mentor to me,” said Gina Jorgensen, chairperson of the ICC Culture Committee and the ICC’s Folk Fair activities. Please turn to page 10
The Hon. Giuseppe Finocchiaro, the Italian Consul General of Italy in Chicago, was the special guest of Italian Community Center President Joseph Emanuele for a Dec. 10 luncheon. Emanuele invited the Consul General to come to the ICC after he completed a visit to Victory K-8, Milwaukee’s Italian Immersion School. A group of ICC Board members and representatives of local Italian societies also attended the lunch. Emanuele and Vice President Rose Anne Ceraso Fritchie escorted Finocchiaro and Dr. Sandro
Corsi, Director of Educational Programs for the Consulate General of Italy, on the tour of the ICC after lunch. This picture was taken toward the end of the tour. From the left: Nick DeQuardo, President of the Filippo Mazzei Lodge/Order Sons of Italy in America, ICC President Emanuele, Consul General Finocchiaro, ICC Director Pietro Tarantino; ICC Vice President Fritchie and Dr. Corsi. More photos and a story on the Consul General visit can be found on pages 3 and 4. (Times photo by Tom Hemman)
A message from Joseph T. Emanuele, Italian Community Center President
Dear ICC Members, We are about to enter into a new year. Time certainly moves quickly. I hope your holidays have been enjoyable and blessed with the company of family and friends. As we move into 2019, it’s time to get started again with planning many of our events and working toward a successful Festa Italiana. For those of you who are unaware, we will be opening more of the Festa grounds in 2019. The U.S. Cellular Stage will be open and engaged in entertainment. The food and beverage committee is working on adding more food vendors to the north end of the grounds along with additional beer and wine booths. The carnival will remain this year moving slightly north of the U.S. Cellular Stage. The religious/cultural exhibits will be expanded and placed on the north end as well. Discussions are continuing to take place on adding additional attractions to the festival. Keep in mind that along with these changes and additions, expanding our footprint will require more volunteers. Festa’s success is dependent on you, the members, and your families stepping forward and getting involved. The real heroes are the members that participate and volunteer to make our magnificent festival a victory.
There are several areas that are in need of your help. Please review the lists of committees published in this issue and choose the one that you feel is a good fit for you. Many of you have suggested to me that it is time to change course. In order to succeed, we must have everyone working together as a family to make both the ICC and Festa bigger and better than ever. It’s your loyalty and commitment that can only make this possible.
I ask everyone to make a New Year’s resolution to serve our Center in memory of your parents and grandparents in bringing back the Festa of yesteryears.
Resolving issues Talks are continuing with the Terracon Corporation and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regarding the contamination of the land on the south end of our property. Soil Please turn to page 6
2019 will be a great year to be an ICC member
by Mary Anne Ceraso-Alioto Membership Committee Chair As we begin the New Year, the Membership Committee is starting out stronger than ever. We are overwhelmed by the response to the members’ events we’ve had so far (i.e, Movie Night, Happy Hour get-togethers and Family Bocce Night). We’re planning to continue to have these as well as offering new activities in 2019. Movie Nights As a result of your great response, we are definitely continuing our free
“Movie Night” series on the second Friday of the month (except in July due to Festa Italiana). Look for the listing of the movies on the ICC website (iccmilwaukee.com), on the ICC’s Facebook page and, of course, in The Italian Times. We will be showing the romantic comedy Under the Tuscan Sun on Friday, Jan. 11. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the film starting at 7:15 p.m. Be sure to join us on Friday, Feb. 8 for a Grease “Sing-A-Long.” We are encouraging everyone to dress up ‘50’s style (like the characters in Grease) and join in the sing-along to the popular Please turn to page 7