Lindsay Marie Morris

With up to 500,000 residents of Italian origin, Toronto has one of the largest Italian populations of any city outside of Italy. Most immigrants came in the years following the second World War, adding to the significant sum who had already settled within the city's three Little Italies. 

As this large influx began to age, community members sought a way to address their changing needs. In 1971, a group of Italian-Canadian Torontans formed the Italian Canadian Benevolent Corporation. Five years later, they opened Villa Colombo Toronto, a long-term care facility for seniors.

 

Today known as Villa Charities, the organization has expanded its mission to fund, develop, administer, and coordinate health, social, cultural, and educational projects. The group honors both Italian and Italian-Canadian culture, recognizing that the two have evolved in parallel over time. In addition to its Columbus Centre amenities, the organization hosts a wide range of events and activities, including classes for toddlers, book launches, art exhibitions, concerts, and dance programs. 

I spoke with Villa Charities Executive Director of Cultural Programming Giulio Recchioni, who shared more about the organization, its offerings, and its aims. 

 

What inspired the founding of Villa Charities, and how has its mission evolved over the years?

It was founded by a group of community leaders who put together their willingness to leave a mark in town and have a structure where Italians could gather and be at home away from home. The first structure that was born was Villa Colombo, which is currently a nursing home for seniors.

 

In the beginning, when the bulk of the migrants were here and aging like everybody else, there was this idea: What do you do once you reach an age when you're not independent anymore? Are you going to be dispersed through the English-speaking nursing homes throughout Ontario? 

They decided to create something that was not there before, a structure that could be the reference point for the entire Italian community here in Toronto. And 50 years later, this is still what we do. Today, the Columbus Centre is the largest Italian cultural center in Canada, and we're still quite well respected within the community. We are still the center of what happens to the Italian-Canadian community.

 

Villa Charities hosts a Summer Sagra event outside of its Columbus Centre.

What makes Villa Charities unique in what it offers?

Several organizations work with Italian culture in Toronto. Some of them are government-owned. But what really makes us different from everybody else is that we deal not only with Italian culture but also Italian-Canadian culture.

 

We not only recognize Italian culture but also try to bring modern, contemporary Italian culture to the public's attention while also catering to Italian Canadians and representing their culture and values. It's a culture that crystallized in the fifties and then evolved on its own, far away from the culture of Italy.

 

Progress in technology allows us to be close to Italian culture nowadays, but up to 30 years ago, what we see today to watch Italian television, take a phone, and speak to our people in Italy was kind of unusual, if not unthinkable or very expensive. So, the Italian-Canadian culture grew and became something different—looking at Italy but from far away.

 

Members roast speducci at a Summer Solstice event.

 

Tell us more about your events and activities.

We have a wide range of events, as we have to cater to the biggest number of people possible. We truly have an approach from cradle to rocking chair. We have events for toddlers; we have Italian classes for toddlers where the teacher sings so that the toddlers get used to the Italian language. We have book launches, and we manage an art gallery, so we have art exhibitions. We work with musicians to do concerts. We have a dance school.

 

We offer quite a wide variety of programs. The Columbus Centre has a gym and swimming pool with a variety of activities typical of a community center.

 

During summertime, we have large events outside. They're inspired by the idea of the sagra in Italy. So we have chosen in the past an aspect of Italian cuisine. For example, in July, we have what in Canada is called speducci [grilled meat skewers], originally in Abruzzo, they're called arrosticini, so we celebrate those in July. Then, in August, we celebrate Ferragosto with a very large outdoor party.

We make tomato sauce with our seniors in September and distribute it to the public. We also offer a plate of pasta to complement the tomato sauce. Then, in October and November, we have events that speak to the art of wine making. So we press grapes in October together with a local Italian-Canadian winery. And then, in April, we have a little taste of the wine we made ourselves.

 

We echo some of the most popular Italian holidays and make them our own. For example, we have a Sagra della Castagna in November, when in Italy it's a tradition to have vino novello e castagne [new wine and chestnuts], because that's when you bottle the first wine to see how it is and you get to taste it. We can't quite do the same because Canada's alcohol laws differ from Italy's. But we did keep the part of the castagne. So we cook castagne and distribute them for free to the community during the event.

 

Food really attracts people more than anything else, so we have these events as a community-building exercise. They're quite fun to attend, so it's a pleasure to keep presenting them and offering them to the community.

 

Members celebrate the preparation of their own wine.

 

What do you hope to share with members and the community?

Italian culture in Toronto is quite lively. A wealth of Italian activities and organizations are bubbling up. It's wonderful when people see what's happening and attend.

 

As a person who organizes events, it's nice when you spend so much time and energy creating something and you see a lot of people recognizing the event coming and having a good time. At the end of the day, Italian culture is all about changing life for the better, and that's what I would invite them to do. Just come out and participate in what's happening in the city. There is a lot of Italian stuff going on. 

 

 

 

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When Southern California native Christina Cavallaro landed in Portland, Oregon, one of the first things she did was seek out an Italian American organization. Remaining rooted to her family's heritage with connections to Adelfia in Bari, Italy, and Cesaro, in the province of Messina, Sicily, was important to her. (That history even inspired two cookbooks.)

She found a group, but when it went defunct, she teamed up with another Italian-American Portlander, Tonya Russo Hamilton, a fellow author, who was in the early stages of laying the groundwork for what would become Italian Portland in 2015.

"We try to present the history and culture of Italians because we know from experience as Italians that traditions are falling apart and food and recipes aren't being passed down from generation to generation," Christina says. "And when people come to our social group, they're hungry for that. They say that's what they miss the most. People share, 'Nonna used to cook this,' and 'We want to learn to do that,' or 'Nobody speaks Italian anymore,' and 'We want to learn the Italian language,' or '"We are interested in traveling to Italy. What suggestions or steps do we take to make this trip a reality?'"

 

Italian Portland strives to provide solutions for Italian American Portlanders with various events and programs, including monthly social meetings, Italian language classes, a book club, and cultural activities like cooking classes and limoncello tastings. They've helped feed the homeless at a nearby church and partnered with experts to help people navigate dual citizenship and research genealogy. Members have shared their experiences of visiting Italy to provide valuable insights for individuals planning their own trips. That firsthand knowledge and tips can help travelers make the most of their time in Italy. The organization also aims to be inclusive, publishing a monthly newsletter with events from all local Italian organizations. 

Christina shared more about Italian Portland's offerings, upcoming initiatives, youth outreach, and goals.

 

Italian Portland's limoncello-tasting event
 

What activities and events does Italian Portland host?

We have quite a bit to offer the Italian community and the public. So many people love Italians, the culture, and the food. We even have people who aren't Italian at all who join us!

 

We have a book club and a monthly social club. We also offer an Italian conversation group and two Italian language classes online and in person. 

We enjoy brainstorming innovative topics and speakers that appeal to the group. For example, the Italian consulate from Portland talked to our social group. We've had cooking classes, and a Portland State professor talked about Americans in Italy during the war. Our programs continue to interest people in the social club and the general public.

 

The biggest event we have coming up, that we've never done before, is a vendemmia. In Italy, it's the big celebration at the end of the harvest, with dinner in the vineyard. We're going to have tables down the rows of the vines, and we're providing an Italian dinner, Italian Opera singers, and an auction.

 

We are hosting this event in early August instead of the usual September or October timeframe due to the fact that wineries and vineyards in the area will be busy picking and crushing grapes for wine during those months.

 

This event is a fundraiser. Its goal is to raise funds through donations and an auction to support the Italian community, including the Portland State Opera and Scuola Italiana di Portland. The talented students from Portland State Opera will perform at the Vendemmia event.

 

We're excited about this event and hope it all comes together well. 

 

Tell us more about your book club.

Our book club meetings are held via Zoom to ensure that everyone located close by or far away can participate. The member who recommends the book leads the discussion. After the discussion, we rate the book on a scale of one to five cannoli. The last book received a rating of three and a half cannoli. Our meetings are enjoyable and provide an hour of cultural enrichment.

 

 

Guests enjoy "My Big Fat Italian Wedding."

 

How are you reaching younger generations?

A couple of years ago, we had an event called "My Big Fat Italian Wedding." We put it on just like the movie. We hired a hall and had a lasagna dinner, music, and dancing. At every table, we had little confetti.

 

We were fortunate to have two generations in attendance at that event. We featured two couples: a young pair embarking on the journey of marriage and a couple celebrating their impressive 45th wedding anniversary.

 

We taught the young people traditions like the tarantella, dancing all around the parking lot. And they loved it.

 

Many young individuals are attending our social club to explore various activities and interests. We frequently engage in tombola games, offering opportunities for participants to play Italian bingo and win prizes. Our club strives to incorporate programs that cater to the interests of young and old. By aligning our offerings with their preferences, we aim to attract a larger audience of young individuals.

 

What are your goals?

When we first embarked on this journey, we faced significant obstacles. We lacked the necessary resources—both financial and human capital. 

 

Establishing a board of directors and forming a nonprofit organization proved challenging, particularly given our lack of legal expertise. As a result, we enlisted the help of an attorney to guide us through the process.

 

Despite these challenges, our perseverance paid off. We successfully obtained nonprofit status, allowing us to further our mission and attract support from donors and sponsors. As a result of our efforts, our organization has grown, necessitating a move to a larger meeting space to accommodate our expanding audience.

 

Through dedication and strategic planning, we have transformed our initial struggles into triumphs, positioning our organization for continued success and impact in the community.

 

Italian Portland Social Club 

 

What do you hope to share?

We want to share our love and passion for bringing Italians and people who enjoy Italian culture together while enriching, cultivating, and educating. If someone wanted to start an organization like this somewhere, we would tell them to appeal to the interests of the community. Number one: Don't give up and ask for help. Number two: If you build it, they will come. 

 

 

 

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Chris R. Vaccaro sits in front of a wall of plaques and a display case, where you'll find his nine Murrow awards, two Emmy statues, his high school letter, and a collection of bobbleheads. The Long Island, New York-based media executive, professor, and author is just as proud of his Italian heritage, which includes ties to Palermo and Giuliana, Sicily, and Turin in Northern Italy.

He's found a way to combine his passions for storytelling, sports, and promoting Italian culture in his daily work and community leadership. He founded the Italian American Heritage Society of Long Island and serves as the Executive Trustee of the Italian American Baseball Foundation and U.S. Press Officer for the Federation of Italian Baseball and Softball. He's also the Director of Graduate Journalism at Hofstra University's Lawrence Herbert School of Communication and Vice President/President-Elect of the Society of Professional Journalists. He's doing all that and more as he pursues a doctorate in leadership studies at Louisiana State University. 

Chris took time to share more about his involvement, journey, and what he hopes to contribute to his community.

 

 

How and why did you found the Italian Heritage Society of Long Island?

There were these kinds of come-to-Jesus, lightbulb moments, like, "There are a lot of Italian organizations out there. Not all of them are working together."

 

Many of them are not focused on regional advocacy. Long Island is big—118 miles long and 26 miles wide, with millions of people. If it were a state, it would be the 12th biggest state in terms of population. So a lot is going on here, including one of the most heavily dense populations of Italian-Americans. I never felt that any single organization was rallying from a regional perspective.

 

I'm already very involved with the Italian-American Baseball Foundation and write for the National Italian American Foundation as their sports columnist. I felt inspired to create a regionally focused organization while respecting the Sons of Italy, the Knights of Columbus, and the lodges and smaller chapters that exist through other organizations.

 

I don't want to be some outsider coming in and working my way up the ladder. I don't need to do that at this point in my life and career. I'm already established. I am a leader. I have a vision. I know how to form nonprofits. I know how to advocate, educate, and build community. So I said, "Let me do it with my own organization."

 

That process started in 2023 and came to fruition in 2024 with some partnership agreements and the first inaugural Italian celebration. Now, we have so much more planned for this year and beyond. So it's been a lot of fun and a privilege to do it on behalf of our ancestors and millions of Italian Americans on Long Island.

 

Share some of the Italian Heritage Society of Long Island activities with us.

The biggest thing we've done is build the organization through partnerships—partnering with the Long Island Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Italian and the Center for Italian Studies at Stony Brook University. Those are very important strategic steps to let people know we exist, do it with people in education and advocacy, and promote their language, heritage, and culture. That was a big part of 2024.

 

I immensely respect teachers. I have been a professor for many years at Hofstra. I've worked very closely with many school districts and school systems from a communications perspective. I felt that if I could connect with the teachers who teach about culture, heritage, and language, that would be a really important step. So, we did that from both the public school and higher education perspectives.

 

We hosted our first big Long Island Italian Celebration, where hundreds of people came out and had some incredible honorees. We celebrated who we are as a heritage group. We did it in October for Italian Heritage Month. We also hosted a bocce get-together last year from a fun social perspective. And I organized Italian Heritage Night with the New York Islanders.

 

This year, we're looking at specific social outings to bring together different businesses and partnerships. We're looking at doing the second annual Italian Celebration again in October.

 

We're looking at having events at a local vineyard, specifically with the American Association of Teachers of Italian. I hope to launch or form a bocce tournament for a Long Island championship this year.

 

Regionally speaking, we want to be the connective tissue of all Long Island groups here. I want people to come to us to see what else is going on everywhere. This year, we will launch a directory and database where you can find all of that. We're in the process of putting it all together. And believe it or not, a lot of stuff goes on, including data mining, calendar mining, and relationship management, to help make that happen.

 

You also co-host the Renaissance Minds podcast. Tell us about that.

The idea came from Silvia Davi, an Italian American Heritage Society of Long Island executive board member and somebody I admire greatly. She is a woman who cares deeply about her heritage and her family. We have so many ideals and values that align.

 

She reached out on LinkedIn about 18 months ago with similar thoughts and wanted to get involved. And I said, first of all, "We'd love to have you on board." Shortly after, she told me about the Renaissance Minds blog she has kept for many years and uses as a cross-pollinator of content. I said, "Hey, we should turn that into something with a podcast." She had the idea as well.

 

And I said, "I am a professor at Hofstra. I think I can get us on 88.7 FM, and we can probably film it and record it in a studio there."

 

It didn't take long for that to come to life. So now we have half a dozen episodes out there and another half a dozen or so in the can that will be published over the coming weeks and months.

 

It's a wonderful platform to educate people about Italian heritage and culture, but through complex thinkers and doers who have done things differently than others in the world—business people, doctors, lawyers, professors, writers, media folks, and entrepreneurs. We don't have one specific type of person. The person we speak to is Italian or Italian American. They're passionate. They're doing something unique and something that, again, we could educate our audience on.

 

It's been a lot of fun. Every time we have one of these conversations, we learn something, and then we know they're good people we'd like to tie to our brand. And Renaissance Minds is sponsored and underwritten by the Italian American Heritage Society of Long Island.

 

IABF at Fenway Italian Night

 

Share more about the Italian American Baseball Foundation, for which you serve as Executive Trustee.

IABF was founded by Joseph Quagliano and Carmine Gangone, friends of mine who have worked hard to make their vision come true. Five years ago, they brought me into that vision. Since then, I've helped them grow it, telling the story, managing the marketing and communications, creating many relationships, building Italian Heritage games across the country, and amplifying what we do with our annual gala.

 

It's a lot of fun because we love being Italian, obviously, but we also love baseball. Many people in Italy feel the same way, and we're trying to amplify their message and their need for resources. The ability to bring those Italians to America to play is really special. We partnered with Francisco Cervelli and the folks in Grosseto, Italy, to launch the Francisco Cervelli-Italian American Baseball Foundation Academy. We do camps and clinics, ensuring the youth hear from incredible coaches and have a beautiful experience. We're getting just as much out of it as they are because it's a profound moment for us to be able to stand on a baseball field in Italy. The history is such that American servicemen brought the game to Italy during World War II. They played it there when they had time, and after the war, the game has stayed, and the memory of those servicemen lives on because baseball is America's pastime.

 

So there's a really fun full circle. Every time we're there, we see the history and how we're building for a brighter future that impacts Italian kids, which is what it's all about. Could our ancestors have ever imagined we would be traveling back to their native land to teach and coach and build relationships? They could have never imagined that. I can't even put into words how special it is when we're there on that soil. And we do that because of all the work we put in for fundraising, the events we host, and the relationships we've created here in America. 

 

Describe your role as the U.S. press officer for the Federation of Italian Baseball and Softball.

That came about because of my work and dedication to the Italian American Baseball Foundation. We've formed these relationships over the last several years, and based on my knowledge of the game, my connections in media and sports in America, and my pure love and devotion to all things Italian baseball, they tapped me to work with their press office.

 

A lot of work involves translating their Italian stories into English versions and posting them on social media, primarily through IABF. We're all connected in many ways, informing America about what's going on in Italy, whether I'm writing about it or posting about it on social media.

 

The role will be amplified, especially during 2026, when the World Baseball Classic happens and Team Italy comes to America to play their first-round games in Houston. I'll be a very valuable asset on the ground before, during, and after that really big international tournament, helping with media, content strategy, and total promotion of the Italian team.

 

Incredible players, coaches, and front-office executives are helping build that roster and will eventually facilitate playing and coaching. I will be a storyteller with them. I will be some of the glue that could help bring people together and understand what they're doing, whether working with Major League Baseball, other partners in the United States, or sponsorships and development—however I can help. 

 

We have a really fun stretch ahead of us. After 2026, we set our sights on the 2028 Olympics, which will be in Los Angeles. It's going to be a unique few years, for sure.

 

Chris R. Vaccaro throws the first pitch at a Washington Nationals game in 2023.

You threw the first pitch at a Washington Nationals game. Tell us about that experience.

That was a product of my coordinating the Italian Heritage games across Major League Baseball. Through the Italian American Baseball Foundation, one of the key endeavors I have built and executed is reaching out to every Major League club and many Minor League clubs to facilitate the Italian Heritage Games.

 

Those games could include several marketing and promotional activations, whether it's a giveaway item that somebody gets when they walk into the stadium, like a jersey with some sort of Italian rhetoric, markings, or logos, music played in the stadium, members of our board bringing out the lineup card, or, in my case, throwing out the first pitch.

 

It will forever be one of the coolest moments of my life, especially from a sporting perspective. And I've done a lot of unique things in sports. I threw a strike right down the plate; no pressure at all! I was practicing the week before with my son and my brother in my backyard. And the really special aspect of it was after I threw the strike, after everyone's cheering, I walked off the mound doing the Italian hand gesture and smiling. It was a really, really fun moment. 

The bigger connection there for us is that the general manager of the Washington Nationals is Mike Rizzo, a proud Italian American whom we have honored as our executive of the year with IABF at our annual gala. He has helped roll out the red carpet, but we've also sold thousands of tickets to those games. A percentage of the sales for the Italian Heritage Games goes towards the IABF Scholarship Fund, which helps get Italian Americans to play college baseball or softball.

 

It's a full circle, a cycle of doing good, making an impact, enhancing the cultural experience for people who want to come here, and educating Americans about what is going on in Italy through baseball and softball. It always revolves back to the bigger picture. 

 

Chris R. Vaccaro was married on the Sachem High School football field.

Sports play a large role in your personal life and relationships. You were married on the Sachem High football field. Share that experience.

We were married on the football field. My wife, Theresa, and I are very involved in our community on Long Island. Sachem is the second-largest school district in New York State. It's also not just a town. Several towns were centralized from an educational perspective in 1955 to form Sachem. It is a massive school district—2000-plus employees, 13,000-plus students, two high schools, 10 other buildings, and many elementary schools.

 

I'm a product of it. I grew up there, and I went there. We live here, and we raise our children here. They attend the same schools I attended. I am the district historian. I am the president and founder of our alumni association and our education foundation. I run our Hall of Fame. I founded and run our Hall of Honor. I provide speakers. I speak on certain topics; we bring alumni back.

We're talking 11 years ago (12 years ago in October). My wife said, "Hey, wouldn't it be unique if we got married on the field?"

 

She brought it up. I always like to make that very clear. It wasn't my idea, but, of course, I jumped at it, and we made it happen. And we are the first and only people to marry at Fred Fusaro Alumni Stadium.

 

It was tremendous. We had seats on the turf at the 50-yard line (it's a turf field), and we walked out of the Native American headdress that the team ran out of. We ran out with smoke machines and AC-DC's "Thunderstruck" playing as I walked down the aisle.

 

We had mini football giveaway items for attendees. We created a game day program modeled after the same design as when they dedicated the field's name to our legendary head coach. There is a lot of connectivity between our history, community culture, and what we did that day. It was a special moment for my wife and me and the community. 

Which recognition has been the most meaningful to you personally among your many honors and awards, and why?

The Emmy Awards are very special because there's tremendous significance in winning those in broadcast and the Murrow Awards, which I've also won. They're all team awards based on my leadership and the teams I oversaw at News 12, a New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut broadcast outlet. Those are really important. The awards I've gotten from the Italian American community, the Dante Award from the Italian American Teachers Association, and the Leadership Award from the Italian Language Foundation are special because they are about way more than just me. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for my ancestors who came here not knowing what they were getting into when they got on those ships and came to America. I always talk about how I am a product of what they sought. I am living the American dream. 

 

While those are really important, the Beacon Award I received from the Ellis Island Honors Society is tremendously important and meaningful. It speaks to the foundation that was set up in honor of the place where my ancestors went. They went to Ellis Island, got off the ships there, and were registered there. To have received recognition for my work in culture and heritage is profound.

 

I'm in the Long Island Journalism Hall of Fame, and IABF was inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame as an organization. I'm also in the Sachem Athletic Hall of Fame for contributing to our community. All of those things are so important.

 

It's almost difficult to put into words, but the ones related to my heritage define my blood, my existence, and my overall being.

 

I'm lucky. I put in the work and am happy to get honored, but when I'm honored, it's really about the people I do the work for. It's really about my children, leaving them a legacy that they should look up to, aspire toward themselves, and be proud of our name. That's what it's all about. 

 

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito with Chris R. Vaccaro

How do you hope to influence future generations in media, education, and cultural preservation?

The most important thing is ensuring we don't forget who we were or are as a heritage group, a community, or an industry. In everything I do and all the hats I wear, I'm huge on honoring the past and inspiring the future. I mean that. I try so hard to make sure we paint a vivid picture of our history and ensure that the current generation and future generations concurrently understand where they came from.

 

There's a story to be told. They need to understand it. It's not just what's happening to them right now. We got here for a reason. Let's understand that, learn from it, embrace it in almost all cases, and grow from there. I firmly believe we can't get to where we're going until we understand where we were. 

That's my personal thesis. That's how I build my organizations and run nonprofits. There's a connective tissue there. It's also being very clear about what we're trying to do. It's having a story and making sure everyone understands it. That's where my background in media comes into play. We can tell stories differently, have a strategy, and educate on social media with video, words, long-form storytelling, long-form features, and audio.

 

My background in media—both in production and leadership—allows me to tell the stories of the people and places I'm associated with. And I do that. I put all those pieces together, and I am constantly promoting what I'm doing, not to promote myself but to promote the stories and the reason why we're doing it.

 

 

 

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One of Boston's oldest neighborhoods, the North End, began attracting Italian immigrants in the late 19th century and eventually became known as Little Italy. Today, you'll find I AM Books among its iconic restaurants, bakeries, and specialty food shops.

 

Opened in 2015 by former Italian journalist Nicola Orichuia, originally from Rome, the store is known for its exclusive selection of literature by Italian and Italian-American authors and books related to Italy or Italian-American culture.

I spoke with Nicola about how the store started, his curation methods, emerging trends, ways he collaborates with authors and organizations, business challenges, and what he hopes to share.

 

 

How and why did you decide to open I AM Books?

I moved to the U.S. in 2008. I was a journalist before, and then I stumbled into this world of books. I have been a reader since I was a kid, but I had never thought about opening a bookstore until a space opened up in the North End, which is basically Boston's Little Italy.

 

I wanted to do something culturally relevant at the time. It was 2015, and opening a bookstore felt like the only economically viable way to do something culturally relevant in the realm of doing something Italian.

 

I had been working for an Italian-American publication for a long time and had started my own. I was very drawn to the world of what it meant to be Italian-American.

 

I wanted to bridge that divide I often saw between those who perceive themselves as Italians and those who perceive themselves as American Italians. And I always thought there was much more in common than people would see or talk about.

 

The bookstore was established at the end of 2015, and we were in one location for five years. COVID came, and we closed the original location. This was a blessing in disguise because several months later, we found a much bigger space with much better traffic, still in the same neighborhood. We wouldn't be able to be in any other neighborhood. It would not make any sense.

 

We're still carrying forth this mission of promoting Italian and Italian-American literature, mostly in English, but we also have books in Italian.  

Sometimes, people think we're an Italian bookstore. We're not an Italian bookstore. I like to say we are an Italian-American bookstore.

 

I Am Books' inventory includes The Last Letter from Sicily.

How do you curate your inventory?

There are usually a few rules of thumb. Anything written by an Italian author and translated into English will find its way to our bookstore. We usually try to have anything written by an Italian-American author. And most books that are either set in Italy or have something to do with Italian-American culture.

 

For example, our travel section basically only includes travel books on Italy. Our art section mostly deals with books on Italian art, but we have, for example, an entire section dedicated to Italian-American cultural studies. Some of these may be more academic. We have a huge portion of cookbooks, Italian cookbooks, and a growing section of Italian-American cookbooks.

 

We also have to keep an eye on the book market's demand, so we're very careful about that. We try to be a place that can be a home for book lovers.

What trends are you seeing in Italian-American literature?

There's definitely more investment in translation. I think the phenomenon of Elena Ferrante and the My Brilliant Friend books has really sort of opened the gates to more Italian contemporary literature, as well as the rediscovery of authors of the past who have been retranslated.

 

Other trends are tied more to the general book market. There's a lot of historical fiction. There's also a lot of romance, although we tend not to have a lot of romance in our store. There's a big category called Romantasy now, which is a mix of fantasy and romance that is very popular.

 

We try to have just the titles that everyone wants. We are big on fiction and classics. People still gravitate to classics and evergreen titles.

 

How do you collaborate with authors and organizations?

We have ties to many cultural organizations. For example, we offer discounts to members of the Dante Alighieri Society. They have members all across the country and the world.

 

We have special discounts and promotions with book clubs. Again, these could be book clubs anywhere in the country.

 

We try to do our best with authors, such as authors who self-publish. However, it's not always easy because we sometimes have to turn down self-published authors—not because of the quality of the work. It's just because space is limited, and sometimes it's very hard to give them the right visibility.  

I always try to guide self-published authors to find a way to get their books published. It will also help them get publicity and get the book out there. 

 

What challenges do you face?

Everyone in business has many challenges. With a bookstore, you always have to be aware of what you sell, what is coming out, and what people want.

 

The challenge I had at first, which I've overcome after 10 years, is that you have to be patient and figure things out, which takes time. I think when you are a new business, you try to do too many things. For example, when we started, we would do a lot of events—multiple events a week—and after a while, that took a toll on the staff and the bookstore, too.

 

At one point, we reduced the number of events and became more selective about which ones we did. That ended up being beneficial for the bookstore because even our customers and the public were more engaged and would come out more. You have to make some sacrifices, but those sacrifices are actually for the benefit of what you're trying to do. 

This year, we're celebrating our 10-year anniversary as a bookstore. I hope we can be here for the next 10 or 20 years and keep growing and establishing ourselves beyond our city limits.

 

We import books in Italian. That is a niche that we really know how to work with. We really know how to deal with publishers in Italy. And even though it's a smaller niche than, let's say, books in French, Spanish, or even Japanese, there's still demand.

 

We're trying to get our bookstore's name in libraries and schools across the country. We want to let those who might be teaching Italian or are interested in expanding a catalog of Italian titles know that we're here for them and that we can work together.

 

What do you hope to share?

What I really like about what we do is that we offer a space where the community feels welcome. And I know that's how they feel. They often walk away saying, "This is a nice bookstore."

 

We also try to offer an experience within the bookstore that leaves you with something. Our world now is very bland and homogenous.

 

I was on Instagram the other day, and someone was comparing what McDonald's looked like 50 years ago to what it looks like now. And 50 years ago, it was all colors, with paintings on the walls and colorful tables. And now McDonald's is this robotic experience where you walk in, there's a screen, and you don't even interact with a person. Everything is white and very ice-cold.

When people walk into a place where you have actually put in some thought and a little bit of creativity, they notice that—even if they don't buy anything. They've been inspired by something, be it the books that we carry or the types of shelves that we have (most of them are custom-made). 

We should strive to do this and keep trying. I think bookstores can do the same. Creative people, like authors, want to leave something that sticks with the reader and inspires them. Hopefully, we can achieve this or at least transmit some inspiration to our community. 

 

 

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As an Emmy-nominated international journalist, host, and producer, Eszter Vajda traveled the world to pursue stories and subjects. But it was actually a trip back home to Massachusetts, where the Hungary-native grew up, that led her to Sicily. 

"There are no coincidences," Eszter reflects. 

She had interviewed Merrimack Valley-based radio host Tom Zappala of The Sicilian Corner a few times, including for a story on Lawrence, Massachusetts' Feast of The Three Saints (patterned after Trecastagni, Sicily's Saints Alfio, Filadelfo, and Cirino Festival). 

One day, Tom called to see if Eszter could fill in as host for his show. The scheduled guest was Tom's brother, Alfred M. Zappala, a Northeastern Law School professor, who had just returned from Sicily.

"I really had no idea what Sicily was about," Eszter says. "We did an hour-long interview on the radio. I've always been very passionate about history, so it struck a chord with me."

 

Alfred described Sicily's important strategic location in the Mediterranean and the many peoples and cultures that passed through and influenced the island. And Eszter wanted to know more.

She invited him to appear on her TV show. The interview ended, the lights and microphone were off, and the crew was ready to go home. But Eszter and Alfred kept talking.

 

He invited her to lunch, and they began discussing a plan for Eszter to spend a month making a few videos in Sicily. 

 

Eszter arrived in Sicily in June 2014, intending to stay four weeks and produce seven videos. She ended up staying five months, and the videos took on a life of their own. The couple split time between Sicily and the U.S. while Alfred was still teaching. He retired in 2016, and they officially became island residents.

Today, you can catch Eszter and Alfred's popular video series, You, Me & Sicily!, on YouTube, sign up for one of their Sicily tours, or consult the couple for your own Sicilian vacation. Additionally, the two are deeply involved with the Sicilian Project, which raises money for academic grants to provide English-language education to students in Sicily—Alfred as Chairman of the Board and Founder, and Eszter as Public Relations & Social Media Director.

 

Eszter shared more about their work and what she ultimately hopes to give back.

 

 

Shopping in Sciacca

 

How do you approach capturing the essence of Sicily in your video series?

We literally zigzag the island. We've covered the island up and down. There are very few must-see places in Sicily that I haven't been to. And we don't mind going back. 

Festivals are a very important part of Sicilian culture. Every town has its own patron saint, and it's a big deal. It's multi-generational; the kids, parents, and grandparents go together. I went to the Three Saints festival in Lawrence before I went to the festival in Trecastagni. The religious feel, the excitement, the fireworks… It's very different here. So we do that, of course.

There's a lot of food and cooking because you've got to have that. Then maybe there's an event we'll cover, like an art show or music. We'd like to be very diversified.

 

Inevitably, something, like a natural disaster in Etna, happens, and we cover it. Obviously, we were doing that during COVID.

 

We do a lot with the history. We're very fortunate to be aligned with a lot of professors from the University of Catania, and we've had [retired professor of Italian and Chairman of the Department of Modern Foreign Languages at St. John's University] Gaetano Cipolla on at least a half-dozen times. So, a lot of that, sharing the history and the culture, is really just providing what we think would be good information for the people.

 

For example, we published a video about the new Italian citizenship rules because Al does dual citizenship. There were 200 comments on it. Italian citizenship is trending on Google. So we're focused on that. We stay on top of these types of things.

 

We take people to the markets and introduce them to the people, not just the produce. We feature the vineyards, and you meet the family behind the wine. We do that a lot. We feature a lot of family-run businesses. There's even a playlist. "Family-Run Businesses." That's very important. 

 

Eszter in Taormina

 

What makes your private and group tours unique?

What makes them unique is that we live here. You'll go to places we frequent. We take you to restaurants where the owners are our friends. The owners of the hotel you're staying in are our best friends. We've vetted the vineyards and have been going there for years and years.

 

We have made incredible connections. We have drivers and guides and hotels all over the island. We visit vineyards, do olive oil tastings, go to the Sicilian cart museum, and ride boats. We offer a basket of experiences.

 

For the private tours, I work one-on-one with the families multiple times to make sure that it's what the family wants. And 99.9% of the time when a family comes, it's because they want to come to Sicily and see an ancestral home. So those are some very special tours.

 

We keep our group tours very small, so they're very personalized and customized.  

 

A colorfully decorated boat in Aci Trezza

 

Tell us more about the Sicilian Project, which Alfred founded.

English as a second language is a huge problem in Sicily. Alfred wrote in one of his books (and I'm not quoting him exactly), "If someone gave me a donation, I would start some kind of an English-as-a-second-language language program that would be free for Sicilian kids." Someone who read that book called and said, "I'm going to send you a check."

 

This man, Steve Carbone, who is still a good friend of ours, sent Al a $10,000 check. And Al said, "Oh my God, I've got to do something." So he made it a 501(c)(3).

 

We've had very regular classes. We had one in Brolo, we had one in Bagheria outside of Palermo, and we have them in Canicattì, Aci Trezza, and Aci Catena. We hold these classes, and they run as sort of summer camps. We play (depending on the level of the kids), we sing songs, and have conversation.

 

When COVID hit and we had to cancel two classes, what we started doing was handing out money to the churches. So for about two years, we did that for Easter and Christmas. Some churches had more need than others. Then, we literally restarted the Sicilian Project.

 

I'm so thankful we're able to have classes now. We had four classes this past fall, and we started an adult class where Sicilian professionals who want to improve their English come and do that.

 

We just finished a class with 15 kids and six adults, and we were able to get guys from Naval Air Station Sigonella to volunteer because they have to do a number of hours of volunteering. So we had native speakers. I did class, and Alfred taught.

 

When I came here, I felt like Sicily was like a blanket. And then Sicily gave me so much beauty, food, and nourishment, emotionally and physically, that I was hellbent on being a very active member of the Sicilian Project. And not just being a board member, but actively giving back. We are very, very active. 

 

A rainbow of umbrellas floats above a street in Catania.

 

What do you hope to share through your work?

First of all, we started the show to dispel stereotypes and myths about Sicilians and educate people about Sicily's deep and wide contribution—not just to Europe but to civilization.

 

Bringing people to their ancestral home is probably one of the most gratifying things. Hearing the oohs and ahhs of people on my tours when they're out seeing something beautiful or tasting something. When you are in Sicily, it is an experience for all the senses, right? You're emotionally overwhelmed by all the senses that are stimulated. So, that's what I hope my work does. I hope it inspires and educates more than anything.

 

 

 

 

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There are hundreds of types of pasta—perhaps even about 360, says Jacqui DeBono, who runs The Pasta Project blog from her home base outside of Verona. Originally from Britain, the former journalist and English teacher became fascinated with pasta after moving to Italy about 22 years ago with her Sicilian husband. She's chronicled her exploration of more than 100 uniquely shaped noodles, documenting their stories, recipes, and preferred sauces. One type in particular has especially captured Jacqui's fancy: Sicily's casarecce, shaped like rolled-up scrolls. The pasta's name comes from the Italian word casereccio, which translates to homemade, which Jacqui says is the best way to enjoy it.

Jacqui took the time to share more about her project and this special pasta with me.

 

 

What inspired you to start The Pasta Project?

I moved to Italy 22 years ago, although I visited many times, and prior to living in Italy, I lived in Malta. Pasta is really popular everywhere, but pasta in Italy is not the same as pasta everywhere else. And I was just really impressed with how many different types of pasta—more than 360, they say—and all the different ways the Italians prepare them. It's really so much more than what people know outside of Italy or what people are familiar with. So I decided I just wanted to share that with other people. 

I am nowhere near the 360 types of pasta. I have maybe close to a hundred that I've made, bought, or cooked. I still have a long way to go.

I try to divide the recipes between Italy's 20 different regions. The pasta you find in Sicily, you won't find here in Verona. Everybody more or less sticks to their type of pasta, except for the things that have become sort of popular throughout the country, like spaghetti.

Spaghetti was invented in Sicily, but it's eaten throughout Italy, and it's obviously eaten in many other countries. So, some types of pasta have gained popularity elsewhere. And there are types of pasta that never really got out of the region. You'll only find them there. 

 

Why is casarecce one of your favorite pasta types?

Apart from the fact that it's Sicilian, I like it because it's one of the prettiest traditional flour and water pastas. And it's very versatile because of the shape. It looks like a little scroll, and sauce gets stuck inside. So, it looks nice, is easy to make, and is very versatile. You can eat it with ragù, and you can eat it with pesto. 

 

 

Jacqui DeBono uses a pasta press or ferro (pictured here). 

 

What is the difference between homemade and commercially produced casarecce?

For homemade, you can make it two ways. You can use the traditional ferro, which is a very fine iron rod that many traditional pastas, particularly in the South, were made with. Or you can make it with a pasta press.

Commercial pasta is made in two ways: with a bronze die, which you'll find the more traditional artisan pasta makers use, or Teflon dies, which big pasta makers, like Barilla, use. They don't have the same texture as the bronze-die pasta because they tend to be smoother. 

When you make it yourself, it's not as uniform. Obviously, with commercial pasta, every piece is perfect. The word casarecce comes from casereccio, which means homemade. It's not perfect, but I think homemade pasta tastes better than commercially produced pasta. It has a nicer texture. You can taste the wheat. 

 

What are some tips for making casarecce?

The only real tip is to use the right kind of flour. And what I discovered quite recently is that although we tend to call it semolina flour, it's actually semola rimacinata, which is re-milled semolina flour. So, if you get semolina flour in the States, it's not going to be exactly the same as the similar semola rimacinata because that's finer. And that's the flour that all Italian dried pasta is made with. In the States, it would be called durum flour, not semolina flour, because semolina flour is coarser than durum flour. So it's important you have the right flour because otherwise, you won't get the right texture and consistency.
 

What's your favorite way to eat casarecce?

The one I really like is with caponata. Caponata with pasta is not a traditional combo. Most Sicilians eat caponata as a side dish or as a starter with some bread. But more recently, it's become quite popular to put it with pasta. And I really like that; it's all the flavors on one plate.

 

It's also really good with pestos. You can cook it with ragù, but I think it's so much nicer with vegetarian or vegetable sauces. 

 

 

 

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Rosetta Costantino's deep connection with food began in her early years in Verbicaro, a wine-producing hill town in Calabria. Her father was a master cheesemaker and winemaker, and her mother and grandmother grew vegetables, baked bread, and made pasta from scratch. Their ability to live off the land and produce simple yet delicious cuisine characteristic of the region inspired Rosetta.

That passion followed her to San Francisco, where her family emigrated when she was a teenager. It sustained her during her college years at the University of California, Berkeley, and into her career as a chemical engineer. It was always there in the background until she started teaching cooking classes after 20 years of working in Silicon Valley. 

Rosetta had a chance encounter with San Francisco Chronicle food writer Janet Fletcher, who wanted to know more about Calabria's food and culture. Once that article, "Calabria from Scratch," was published, Rosetta's phone started ringing, and she suddenly had a vibrant business offering cooking classes.

 

She teamed up with Janet to write a cookbook, My Calabria, which was published in 2010 by W.W. Norton and nominated for an IACP cookbook award. Three years later, she published her second cookbook, Southern Italian Desserts, with Ten Speed Press, which was also nominated for an IACP cookbook award.

Rosetta described her early experiences and how they inspired Cooking with Rosetta, her cooking classes and culinary tours of Southern Italy.

 

 

Tell us about your upbringing and how that shaped you.

I grew up in a small, agricultural town in Calabria. Both my grandparents and my parents literally lived off the land. My dad was a winemaker. He had vineyards, but he was also a master cheesemaker. They grew everything, so we really didn't buy anything when it came to food. 

I spent a lot of time with both of my grandmothers, and that's really where the love of cooking started because I wanted to be with them in the kitchen. When I was four or five years old, they would let me do simple tasks.

 

I was nine when I first learned how to make homemade pasta. My mom taught me, and then it was kind of more of an "I can take care of myself, I know how to cook" attitude. And it just stayed with me. 

When we moved to California, my parents brought all their seeds, and my mom even brought her bread starter in her purse. So they were very set in their ways. It was like, "This is how we're going to eat," and "We'll do whatever we have to do to find what we need," which in a way was great because if they had blended in, I probably would've lost a lot of that.

 

They started growing all the vegetables. My dad made all the salumi because he was also a master butcher, and my mom tried to figure out how to make ricotta here. We canned our homegrown San Marzano tomatoes from the first summer we were here. So all those things stayed. 

I always tell people in my cooking classes that California was where I learned about the rest of Italy because I only really knew about the foods of my town. I didn't even know the food outside of Calabria. It's so different from my town. We had neighbors from Northern Italy and Puglia, so I kept learning. And then I met my husband, who is from Sicily. So that got me into a totally different cuisine than I've been exposed to.

 

What led you to start Cooking with Rosetta?

I just kept learning on my own because I loved it, and it was my favorite hobby. But I didn't go into cooking or culinary school or anything. I went to UC Berkeley, graduated with a chemical engineering degree, and landed a job in Silicon Valley. My career was in high-tech in Silicon Valley, and I used to travel a lot. Any time I would travel, it was always about food for me.

 

My husband gave me Julia Child's set of French cookbooks. Again, that was foreign to me. I only knew about Italian food. I cooked through all those recipes and just kept learning on my own. 

I had two kids, traveled a lot, and worked what felt like 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I decided I would quit in 2001, but they didn't let me quit. I ended up working from home, and during that time, I said, "I want people to know about the foods that I grew up with."

 

Even today, in the Bay Area, in San Francisco, there's nothing that I call authentic Italian. It's more what I call California Italian. I really wanted people to know about the foods that I grew up with and about Calabria because I felt no one even knew where Calabria was. I decided to teach two cooking classes just for fun. That was 2004.

 

I never thought it would lead to this. Janet Fletcher, a well-known food writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, heard about me and called me.

 

She said, "Would you mind if I interviewed you? I heard that you are from Calabria. I don't know anything about this region and its foods."

 

She came over and spent the day with my mom and me, and we fixed a bunch of recipes. Then she said, "I want to write an article."

I told her I would like to teach two cooking classes because no one knows about the foods I grew up with. And she said, "Oh, you should list them in the article."

 

I said, "I don't know if anybody will even show up because most people don't even know where Calabria is."

 

She said, "Do you know how many people wear Italian hats? They've never even been to Italy. They claim they're Italian chefs who cook Italian food. This is the real stuff. You should do it. This is the Bay Area. There are a lot of foodies here, and people might be really interested in learning something they've never heard of."

 

I said, "OK, I'm only going to do two classes. Go ahead and list them."

 

A day or two before it came out, she called me and said, "We're ready to go to print, but I think you should include your phone number if you want to sell those two classes."

 

I said, "My phone number is not listed. I really don't want to list it in the paper." She said, "Not everybody has access to the internet. " This was 2004, so I said, "OK, fine."

 

I still remember that first morning because I had not seen the article, and the phone rang at 7:00 a.m. I was trying to get the kids ready, and that morning, I was going in to work.

 

I picked up the phone, and an older gentleman was just thanking me. "It's like the first time I've ever seen an article about Calabria and its food." He started telling me about his grandparents and how they used to make this and that, and I said, "Can you call me back?"

The minute I hung up, I remember I went across the hallway to wake up the kids, and the phone was ringing. I said, "Kids don't answer the phone. The article came out, and people are calling about the classes."

 

I was inundated with phone calls and emails, which kept me busy for two weeks, because the article went around the country. We ended up taking in 200 people: 10 classes, 20 per class. The classes sold out right away. I kept adding and adding, then said, "OK, that's it. This is going to take me into November."

 

I really did not expect the response that I got from that article and the number of emails. All these people were writing to ask if I knew their relatives or if they knew what this dish was. That gave me the idea of the cookbook because there was nothing written about Calabria at all.

 

I said, "I need to get all these recipes down, Mom." With everything that my mom made, of course, nothing was written down; everything was just in her head, so you'd cook and taste as you go along.

 

Norton bought the rights in February 2005. I started teaching in September, put the proposal together, and worked on it. When the book came out, it was supposed to come out in 2008. But then, because of the financial crisis, they held it, so it was published in 2010.

I did my first culinary tour that year. Of course, we had planned it in 2009 because my students were hearing about Calabria. I would bring products back from Calabria, and they would get to taste them. And they would go, "Will you take us?" I said, "OK, I'll do one tour."

 

We did one and a second. Then my husband came on the third, and I said, "I'm not doing any more tours by myself."

 

When he came with me, and everyone got to meet him, they found out he was from Palermo, Sicily, and they went, "Oh, why don't you take us there?" So they convinced us to do the Sicily tour. 

During that time, my agent twisted my arm to do book number two, Southern Italian Desserts. In that one, we covered all five southern Italian regions.

 

Then, that was it. I said, "That's it—no more books." And I did quit work, and then I just focused on the culinary tours and the cooking classes.

 

We also ended up doing Puglia, and almost all of my guests have gone on all three tours. 

Guests sit down after a Borgo Saverona, Calabria, cooking class.

What can attendees expect from a tour?

If you were to talk to anybody who has gone with us, they would tell you that they get to see it from someone from the place. So you're not getting a lot of touristy food or following the tourist track. It features a lot of people that we know that you would never meet. So it's authentic, whether in Calabria or Sicily, as far as what people would eat. And that's what I want them to try. So I am not going to serve you a steak because we don't eat steaks. It's not part of our cuisine. They try all the specialties of the areas we visit. 

With the Calabria one, we tend to visit more wineries because I wanted people to get to know the wines, which are not very well known. For seven years, I just did a culinary tour, where we had two cooking classes, and then there were one or two wineries. Then, in 2017, I changed it to a wine tour. So we visited two wineries every day because I wanted people to get to know all the indigenous varietals. We sold out two years in a row.

 

By the third year, a bunch of people started writing to me, saying, "I wish there could be more cooking." So I changed it to a culinary vacation tour, removed two wineries, added cooking classes, and have sold that every year since then. 

We did the same thing in Sicily. We stay at Planeta, so they make wines. We get to taste all their different wines and visit Donnafugata, where they get to taste their high-end wines. We go to Cantina Florio in Marsala and visit Cantine Barbera, a local winery run by Marilena Barbera in Menfi. It's a woman-run winery; she makes great organic natural wine. But the tours are all based around food. 

We go to the salt pans and taste salt in Sicily. In October, we get to watch the whole process of making extra virgin olive oil and taste it. We also visit Maria Grammatico and take a cooking class with her.

 

I tell people it's a culinary tour. It's not just a tour to a museum or going to galleries; we do that, especially with Sicily, because there's so much to see there. Of course, we also incorporate that into it, but a lot of emphasis is on the food.

 

In Sicily, they get to try all the street foods of Palermo and the traditional dishes of the area. Calabria is sort of the same thing. We move throughout Calabria, and the food is very different. We go to the wine region and right to the border with Basilicata and the Pollino National Park area. Then, we go down to Tropea and Spilinga, where they make nduja. They get a feel for the entire region in Calabria, whereas Sicily has just so much to see and do that I would have to do two separate tours: the east and the west. So, we cover the western side of Sicily. 

 

In all my tours, we also visit a local shepherd/cheesemaking place so my guests can taste fresh, warm ricotta as soon as it's made, and of course, the other cheeses they make. This is a unique experience that nobody gets to have in the U.S., as ricotta is not made the same way in Italy.  

 

 

Cleaning anchovies in Calabria

 

What are your favorite dishes to introduce to your tour participants?

A lot of them are in My Calabria. They get to have the traditional Calabria pasta, which is shaped with a knitting needle. In my town, they're called fusilli. But for most people, the Italian name is maccheroni al ferretto. I take them where they make the nduja so they can see how it's made. And then we have dishes with nduja.

 

We eat a lot of seafood because Calabria is surrounded by the sea. Also, I have them clean fresh anchovies because most people think of preserved anchovies. Fresh anchovies and fresh sardines are totally different. So, in one of the cooking classes, they clean anchovies, and we make a dish with anchovies, which is also in my book. They're layered with flavored breadcrumbs and baked.

 

They have baccalà and many vegetables—peppers, eggplants, tomatoes. We do polpette melanzane, which are eggplant meatballs, but there's no meat. Another traditional dish is potatoes and peppers, which you find throughout Calabria. I also try to get them to have baby goat.

 

We do wild greens. We do a salad of purslane. I have octopus on the menu, too.

 

Depending on when we go, usually in the fall, they get to taste porcini, the wild mushroom. I base the menus on whatever is in season.

 

We do the same thing in Sicily. We do one night more Michelin-style just for fun, so they see you can have your traditional and you can have sort of invented dishes. We do two cooking classes with Angelo Pumilia at Planeta's La Foresteria. He is an amazing chef who can do everything from Michelin-style to traditional cooking. But we do very traditional because I want them to learn how to make those dishes. We'll do the caponata; we'll do the arancini; we'll do the cassata; we'll do the busiate pasta by hand. We do all things that are traditional in the area.

 

 

A visit to Capo Market in Palermo for seasonal ingredients

What's been the response?

People are surprised, especially by Calabria and its wineries. They don't like that they can't get a lot of the wines in the States because they would definitely buy them.

 

And most of the people have never been to Sicily. When they see Palermo and what it has, it just blows them away. In terms of Monreale or Palazzo dei Normanni, it's just the beauty of what's there; it's unbelievable. People don't expect that. They think that of Rome and Florence in Italy, and that's where everything is. People are surprised when they see what I say are the jewels we have in Sicily and these amazing temples that are better than those in Greece.

 

People just love the people and the places we visit more than anything else. Everywhere we go, there are people who are dear family friends, so it doesn't feel like you're a tourist. 

 

Guests finish a cooking class in Altomonte, Calabria.

 

 

 

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Founded in 1998 in Stone Park, Illinois, Casa Italia aims to be the home for all Italian-American organizations in the Chicago area. Through cultural enrichment activities, presentations, and exhibitions, the organization pursues a mission of preserving the past, celebrating Italian heritage, and ensuring the passage of values to future generations. 

The 501(c)3 nonprofit has embarked on a new chapter as it undergoes facility renovations. Once the upgrades are complete, its Italian Cultural Center will fully reopen to showcase museums and exhibits, including the Sicilian Heritage Museum, Italian-American Veterans Museum, and an impressive 1:100 scale hand-carved model of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Meanwhile, the community is invited to attend author events and film screenings, make Carnevale masks, dig into genealogy, play in the bocce league, and dance at Ballo Sotto le Stelle. The organization also offers language classes for adults and children. Casa Italia's Kids Camp, also known as La lingua e cultura d'Italia, is a two-week Italian culture and language immersion program where youth can engage in games, songs, sports, skits, cooking, and formal and informal language lessons.

I spoke with Casa Italia Chairman Peter Volpe about the organization. Peter grew up on the northwest side of Chicago with family from Sicily and Bari. His Sicilian family hails from Porticello, which happens to be where my family and Gaetano and Concetta of The Last Letter from Sicily are from.  

Peter shared more about Casa Italia's cultural center, the organization's offerings, and what he hopes to give back to the community. 

 

 

How and why was Casa Italia founded?

Twenty-five years ago, the Scalabrini Order was going to abandon the property. A small group of Italian business people, headed by the Turano family, said, "Don't let that happen. There's just too much history here. Rent it to us. We'll take care of the property. We're going to perpetuate our culture. We're going to bring museums, and we are going to be the home for all Italian American organizations."

 

That's how it all started. The Turanos, Gambinos, Stramaglias, Brunos, and others got involved in bringing Casa Italia together.

 

If you look at the Chicago environment for Italian Americans, we have a million organizations, but we don't work as a single power. And that's our vision: We're trying to get everybody together so we can have a unified voice and represent our community with the true power that we possess. The Italian American population is one of the largest in Chicago as far as immigration goes, and we are just too independent of each other. All our organizations have different purposes; if we just keep inside our lanes and follow our direction on what we want to accomplish, we could do so many good things together.

 

Casa Italia has hosted art shows in its gallery.

Where do things stand with your facility upgrades?

We had 19 acres of land and six big buildings that needed renovation. But our grounds are phenomenal, and we can hold festivals and host events.

 

The problem is that the buildings became so deteriorated that they were no longer up to code. We didn't have the resources to fix them. So, the village of Stone Park ended up purchasing the property, and now they're our new landlord.

 

While we no longer control the 19 acres, we have our two most important buildings. One is our cultural center, which houses all our museums, our library, and a nice meeting room. The other is our community center, which has a banquet hall, a kitchen, several offices on the second floor, and a gymnasium.

 

We got both of those properties from the village under a long-term lease, and they will do the exterior renovations of the cultural center. There will be a new roof, windows, fire escapes, and brickwork. We are charged with bringing the interior and exterior of the other property, the community center, up to code.

 

We are in the middle of a fundraiser, for which we've raised over $600,000 already. They've taken the sledgehammers and air hammers and are going to work on it.

 

There's an incredible amount of work that's going to be done. In how we envision that property, we hope to  bring the gym floor up to the main floor level. If we can accomplish this we're going to expand our banquet facilities to hold 400 people. We'll have a full-sized kitchen. And on the second floor, there will be a conference room and storage space for our clubs where they have mini offices.

 

We're attacking one building at a time. The community center is our focus right now because it brings in the revenue we need to sustain ourselves. We expect that to be done in late summer of this year. Once we can get that done and raise additional capital, we will switch our efforts to the cultural center.

 

We're looking for donors; they don't have to just be from the Chicagoland area. We invite anybody who wants to see our culture continue and propagate to look us up. 

 

Casa Italia Kids Camp provides language and culture immersion.

Tell us about your language offerings.

We're offering language classes at five different sites all over the city area to make it convenient. The classes range from conversational Italian (if you're going to travel) to beginner level and up. We have some great instructors who are professors of the Italian language.

 

With COVID, we expanded that a little bit and did a lot virtually, and that stayed with us. We're still doing both in-person and virtual.

 

Our summer Kids Camp is coming up. It's two weeks before the 4th of July, and it's a 10-day immersion for the children to learn everything from language to traditions to cooking to gardening and everything about who we are as Italian Americans.

 

Enjoy a game with Casa Italia's bocce league.

What do you hope to share with members of your community?

We want to support individual clubs and organizations by being their home. We don't charge a membership fee. Just come and be part of Casa Italia and host your meetings and events with us. We welcome you and want you there. We are not there to compete with you; we're here to work with you.

 

As far as the neighbors and the people in the area are concerned, "Hey, get to know us." Our facility is off the beaten path. It's not on the main street. It's in a neighborhood. It's one square block—that's how huge it is. Come on in and see it.

 

Everybody who comes can't believe what we have there. The richness of our library, the artifacts in all our museums, the information we share, the events we do… it blows their minds when they see what's going on, and they never knew it was there.  

 

 

 

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