Celebrating 2015, 2016 edition newsletter in pdf format

The Official Newsletter of the Sons & Daughters of Italy in America
Officers of SADIA
John M. Caporale, Editor
President
Joe Papa papajoe649@sbcgl
obal.net
Vice President
Pat Pierce tollway60110@yah
oo.com
Treasurer
Nadine Papa
iflosm@sbcglobal
.net
Financial Secretary
Mike Debiase
mikemondo@ame
ritech.net
Recording
Secretary
Tony Scorzo [email protected]
et
Sons and Daughters of Italy in America
904 S. Roselle Road, #167
Schaumburg, IL 60193
SADIA Calendar for 2016……………………………………..……..2
SADIA Celebrates Septemberfest……………………………………3
SADIA Celebrates Columbus Day……………………………….......4
SADIA Attends Tony and Tina’s Weeding………………………….5
Brookfield Zoo and Casa Italia Tree Trim…………………………..6
SADIA Famiglia Christmas Party……………………………………7
SADIA President’s Message and Reminder…………………………8
Italy in the News………………………………………………9 thru 10
The Italian American Experience…….. ……………………11 thru 13
SADIA Birthdays…………………………………………….13 thru 14
SADIA Snapshot……………………………………………..14 thru 16
Meeting Reminder…………………………………………………….16
Italian Tidbits………………………………………………………….17
Famous Italian American Quotes…………………………………….18
SADIA’s Mission……………………………………………...18 thru 19
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Jan
5th
General Meetings @ Schaumburg Township Offices 1 Illinois Blvd H.
Feb
2nd
General Meeting
Mar
1st
15th
General Meeting
Board Meeting
April
May
5th
3rd
17th
General Meeting
General Meeting
Board Meeting
June
7th
General Meeting
July
5th
19th
24th
General Meeting
Board Meeting
Famiglia Picnic
Aug
2nd
16th
General Meeting
Board Meeting
Sept
3rd
4th
6th
Septemberfest
Septemberfest
General Meeting
Oct
4th
10th
18th
General Meeting
Annual Columbus Day Parade
Board Budget Meeting
Nov
1st
15th
19th???
General Meeting
Board Meeting
Brookfield Zoo Trim a Tree TBA
Dec
No General Meeting due to Christmas Party
Christmas Village @ Casa Italia
Christmas Party
TBA
Board Meeting
TBA
4th
4th
@ Schaumburg Prairie Arts Grounds
@ Schaumburg Prairie Arts Grounds
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SADIA Celebrates Labor Day!
Once again, SADIA had fun selling beer at the beer tent at the Fest (Note: There was some friendly tent competition)! SADIA provided a
$1,000 scholarship to the Septemberfest queen. The other four court members each received $250 scholarships.
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SADIA ATTENDED HOTT (Help Others Through Theater)’s
Production of TONY & TINA’s WEDDING @ Hoffman Estates
Village Hall on November 1st
The longest running Off-Broadway comedy in history came to the Northwest Suburbs. Tony n Tina’s
Wedding brought us joy, laughter, warmth while exaggerating stereotypes of this Italian American
wedding and reception. As Tony and Tina exchange vows, we became part of the family and friends
joining them for the reception feast and the hilarious family drama which ensued. Wedding guests
enjoyed Pre–nuptial Cash Bar; The Wedding Ceremony; The Wedding Reception featuring a
Champagne Toast. There was an Italian Buffet by Rocco Vino’s & Wedding Cake, Live Music and
Dancing. HOTT is an acronym for Helping Others Through Theater, and over the years it has donated
more than $125,000 to local charities.
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Brookfield Zoo & Casa Italia–Annual Trim a
Tree Event
SADIA sponsored and decorated a tree a t B r o o kf i e l d Z o o & C a s a I t a l i a to
show support t o t h e zoo and Casa It alia’ Christ ma s Village. We celebrated Holiday Magic!
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Buon Giorno SADIA Famiglia!
This issue highlights all of SADIA’s Fall/Winter Events of 2015.
In November 22nd, we were back at Brookfield Zoo for the Community Tree Trim.
Every year during the holiday season Brookfield Zoo erects forests of Christmas trees
throughout the zoo as part of the annual “Holiday Magic” event. The zoo staff string
lights on the trees, but each tree’s ornaments are provided, and placed on the tree, by
the sponsoring group. The trees remained on display through the holiday season, each
with a sign identifying who donated and decorated it. The sponsorship and decorating
a tree was a great way to have fun and put the SADIA name on display for tens of
thousands of Brookfield Zoo visitors to see over several weeks.
Casa Italia invited us to attend Casa Italia's Italian Christmas Village to be held on
December 13th. There were Christmas activities for the entire family. We sponsored a
tree at Casa Italia is a great way to support Casa Italia. Casa Italia present a day of
family fun at its Christmas Village We assembled a group with our ornaments and
headed to the Casa to decorate our tree. We had a sign with our Organization which
was posted in front of our tree.
We celebrated Christmas at our own annual Famiglia Christmas party on December
13th!
Hope to see you at the next SADIA Meeting or an upcoming 2016 Event!
Ciao!
Joe Papa, President of SADIA
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Italy halts plan to stop fining illegal migrants
A hearing on a bill that would see illegal immigrants decriminalized has been taken off the political agenda
amid a heated debate on the issue.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told Rai TV that the hearing, which was due to reach the Council of Ministers on January
15th, would no longer take place.
Renzi added that the government would "proceed calmly" with the bill, although a new hearing date is yet to be
scheduled.
"Judges say the crime makes no sense and just clogs up the courts," he said.
"But it is true that there is also a perception of insecurity, and for this reason we will proceed calmly with this process
in changing the rules, all together, without haste."
The new bill would see illegal immigrants no longer tried or liable to paying a fine of up to €10,000 for entering the
country without proper documents or overstaying their visa.
It is part of the government’s drive to ease prison overcrowding as well as give migrants better protection against
exploitation by black-market employers.
Renzi added that "Europe needs a common position" on the refugee issue.
“No to demagogy but also no to exaggerated goodness – those who make a mistake must be sent away.”
Illegal immigration was criminalized by Silvio Berlusconi’s government in 2009, a move which has since been widely
criticized for stigmatizing migrants and leaving them vulnerable to exploitation.
Renzi has long advocated overturning Berlusconi's law. But the new bill unleashed a furor from the far-right, with
Matteo Salvini, the leader of the Northern League, describing those backing it as “crazy”.
Roberto Maroni, who was interior minister under Berlusconi when the measure was adopted, said abolishing the rule
means “opening our doors to anyone”.
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano has also opposed the decree.
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But a top prosecutor in Sicily, which has seen tens of thousands of migrants come ashore, argued that the current
legislation was gumming up the Italian legal system.
"The immigration law is worthless, except to clutter the offices of the court system," Renato Di Natale, the prosecutor
in Agrigento, told La Stampa.
American woman found dead in Florence
Police in Florence have opened a murder investigation after a 35-year-old American woman was found dead in her
apartment in the Tuscan city.
The body of Ashley Olsen, an artist from Florida, was found by her boyfriend, a fellow artist, and the property’s owner, on
Saturday morning.
Olsen’s boyfriend was concerned because he hadn’t heard from her for a few days, and so asked her landlord to accompany
him to the apartment in the Oltrarno area to check on her.
Investigators have recently arrested a 27-year-old man in connection with the death of an American woman in Florence.
Police determined that Olsen had been strangled to death by something “other than bare hands” and she had two skull
fractures. Authorities arrested Cheikh Tidiane Diaw at his home.
Source: Washington Post
When baseball legend Yogi Berra passed away, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred called the
late Yankees catcher “a beacon of Americana.” Sportswriter Frank Deford had employed the
same theme a decade earlier, calling Berra “the ultimate in athletic Americana.”
That is quite a testament to a man born Lorenzo Pietro Berra to Italian immigrant parents and
raised in the Italian enclave of St. Louis known as the Hill. There, he developed the outsize
personality that would color the American experience with Italian wit.
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Traditionally, when we think of Americana, we recall Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” or
Betsy Ross sewing the Stars and Stripes. Now we can also invoke Berra and his famous
quote, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”
Berra, an anchor of the dynastic New York Yankees of the mid-20th century, exemplifies the
broad influence that Italian Americans have had on American culture since arriving as
impoverished and denigrated immigrants isolated in urban ghettos. From sports and food to
movies and music, they haven’t just contributed to the culture, they have helped redefine it.
That would have surprised many native-born Americans in the late 1800s and early 1900s,
when immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe was on the rise. Most Italians came
from the poverty-stricken southern regions of Sicily, Calabria, Campania and Abruzzo
(although Berra’s parents were part of the minority that hailed from the North). These
immigrants worked mainly as semi-skilled and unskilled laborers, providing much-needed
muscle for the United States’ booming industrial economy. They toiled in steel mills and coal
mines as “pick and shovel” day laborers or as brick- and stone-laying masons, as my
grandfather and great-grandfather were.
Americans of that era saw Italians as a poor fit for democratic citizenship. Since many Italian
immigrants were illiterate, immigration restrictionists sought to impose a literacy test for
admission to the country that would have excluded Italians in large numbers. There was also
a common belief that Italians were prone to violence. In 1893, the New York Times called
Italy “the land of the vendetta, the mafia, and the bandit.” Southern Italians were “bravos and
cutthroats” who sought “to carry on their feuds and bloody quarrels in the United States.”
Three years later, the Boston Globe published a symposium titled “Are Italians a Menace?
Are They Desirable or Dangerous Additions to Our Population?”
Nearly half of Italian immigrants were “birds of passage” who eventually returned to Italy.
Those who stayed in America often settled together, forming poor ethnic neighborhoods. But
these barrios were not simply replicas of their residents’ native country. Regional cultures —
which distinguished Sicilians from Neapolitans — blended along with American customs that
children brought home from public schools.
Two events in particular helped develop the Italian American identity. Congress passed
immigration quotas in the 1920s that primarily targeted people from Southern and Eastern
Europe. The Immigration Act of 1924 slashed the annual quota for Italian immigrants from
more than 42,000 to less than 4,000. Stemming the flow of newcomers into ethnic
neighborhoods caused Little Italy’s to gradually shrink, and Italian Americans moved to the
suburbs and diverse neighborhoods where they were more influenced by purely American
music, movies and culture.
Then came World War II, which forged a strong feeling of national unity — one that was more
inclusive than the nativist campaign for “100 percent Americanism” during World War I. At the
beginning of the war, Italian immigrants who had not become U.S. citizens were deemed
“enemy aliens.” But President Franklin D. Roosevelt determined that the designation was
counterproductive as he sought Italian American support for the war and lifted it on Columbus
Day 1942, so Italians largely escaped the fate of interned Japanese Americans. A half-million
Italian Americans (including Berra, who earned a Purple Heart) served in the U.S. military
during World War II, with some of them fighting in the Italian countryside that had been their
parents’ home.
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As they joined the military and integrated into suburbs, Italian Americans shed the popular
stereotypes surrounding them. Gradually, the customs developed in Little Italy’s found
acceptance in the mainstream and were absorbed into broader American culture.
Food is a good example of this phenomenon. In the early 20th century, Italian immigrant
dishes were scorned and became the root of slurs like “spaghetti bender” and “garlic eater.”
Garlic’s pungency seemed un-American and uncivilized, and the strong smell was seen as
evidence of Italians’ inferiority. Its popularity in American markets and recipes today shows
how drastically this perception has changed and how enmeshed Italian American culture has
become in broader American life.
That’s also apparent in red-sauce dishes that are staples in U.S. homes and restaurants. Big
plates of spaghetti and meatballs, baked ziti, and chicken parmigiana are not common in
Italy, but they reflect the unique Italian American culture immigrants created. Red sauce
became prevalent in immigrants’ kitchens because canned tomatoes were readily available in
U.S. markets. Meat was a rarity in southern Italy but abundant in America, and the growing
incomes of even working-class Italian households allowed for larger portions of meatballs and
other dishes.
Pizza, believed to have originated in Naples, epitomizes Italian Americans’ outsize influence
on our culture, where pizza took on an entirely new meaning. Generally, Americans don’t like
the original Neapolitan pizza, whose crust tends to be a bit soggy in the middle — unlike the
crispier Italian American version. An Italian restaurant owner who opened a pizzeria in New
York featuring Neapolitan pies told me his customers complain that his pizzas are
undercooked.
Italian Americans have continued to put new spins on the Neapolitan creation. In Chicago,
they created the deep-dish pizza. New Haven’s legendary Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana is
famous for its white clam pizza, as well as its regular red-sauce and cheese version. In the
classic American way, corporations also got into the act, from Domino’s to California Pizza
Kitchen. Few foods are more ubiquitous in the American diet, and few are more synonymous
with American cuisine.
While Italian Americans’ kitchens were changing the nation’s palate, their creativity was
winning over the popular culture. Before the dawn of rock-and-roll, many of the singers who
defined American music were Italian Americans: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Vic Damone,
Tony Bennett, Perry Como and Louis Prima among them.
Sinatra, specifically, transcended his time and has influenced American music beyond his
death. His songs have become the cornerstone of what critics call the Great American
Songbook. The music itself is a cultural mash-up, borrowing from African American jazz with
lyrics often written by Jewish songwriters. But with his cocked hat, Sinatra possessed an air
of confidence that popularized Italian American swagger and sartorial style. He sang without
an accent, but between songs listeners heard a voice from the streets of Hoboken, N.J., with
Italian-dialect slang thrown in.
Italian Americans have also made a mark on film. Two of the four greatest American movies,
as judged by the American Film Institute, were not only directed by Italian Americans but
narrate stories about the Italian American experience. Martin Scorsese’s “Raging Bull” is a
gritty, hyper-realistic tale of the rise and fall of middleweight boxing champ Jake La Motta.
And Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather,” based on the novel by Mario Puzo, is a tale
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about the tensions of assimilation, as Michael Corleone abandons his American ambitions to
take over from his father as crime boss.
Coppola and Puzo were walking a fine line with “The Godfather.” The movie reinforced the
connection that many Americans made between Italians and organized crime, a stereotype
that bothered Italian Americans. But Coppola and Puzo turned the Corleones into classic
American characters, embodying the broadly relatable conflict between fathers and sons,
tradition and modernity.
Italian immigration, at least on a large scale, is now a thing of the past. But the influence of
Italian American culture remains. These immigrants and their children did not simply melt into
a homogenous stew of Americanism; they created a lively ethnic community that helped
shape mainstream culture.
Today, Americans are once again concerned about the number of new immigrants and their
ability to assimilate. It might not quite be “deja vu all over again” (to borrow from Yogi Berra),
but the Italian American experience reminds us that immigration is a process of
transformation for the individuals and for American society. That bilateral cultural evolution
will continue to mold who we are as a nation.
SADIA wishes the following members a Happy Italian Birthday!
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Mary Anderson
Gary Durante
John Ranieri
Bonnie Berger
Philomena Tancredi
Mary Jo Roberts
Jeanne Cimino
Jim Moynihan
Paul Pieroni
Annette Papa
Rose Ann Papa
Steve Vasco
Quinta Edwards
Darlene Vasco
September 6th
September 10th
September 30th
October 6th
October 8th
October 9th
October 10th
October 16th
October 24th
November 8th
November 9th
December 6th
December 10th
December 21st
The Italian American Executives of Transportation (IAET) was organized on May 12, 1965.
Membership and is composed of individuals of Italian-American descent who were actively engaged in
the field of transportation. The qualification for membership is now any person of Italian American
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heritage or any individual who the Executive Board deems to be an asset to their organization will
qualify for membership.
IAET assist in educational programs, scholarships, and educational activities. IAET provide charitable
assistance whenever possible to Italian-American groups and other worthwhile organizations. The
goal is to enhance the image of the Italian-American in the community and promote culture and
cultural awareness
IAET’s Accomplishments over the Years
IAET raised over $100,000 to support research and sponsor courses beneficial to the Italian
American Community at Large
IAET supported the making of the documentary, “And They Came To Chicago: The Italian
American Legacy” A living history of the Italian Experience at the Library of the University of
Illinois. Through IAET direct participation and funding, the “Italians in Chicago” project was born
and nurtured.
IAET dedication and partial funding to the “Italians in Chicago” developed into a $300,000 grant
from the National Endowment for the Humanities
IAET assisted in the development and sponsorship of Italian Cultural courses at Triton College.
IAET sponsors the Italian Week festival at Triton College. IAET partial funding of “The Family and
Community Life of Italian-Americans,” by Richard N. Juliani, Villanova University, published in
1983.
IAET co-sponsored the IL Precepio Italian Christmas Pageant at Triton College, 1983 and 1984
IAET sponsored and presented an education seminar in conjuction with Triton College in
Transportation in the 1980’s
IAET funded a college scholarships to individuals of Italian descent for outstanding academic
achievement has exceeded $284,000 to date.
IAET has supported Fra Noi, Chicagoland’s Italian American voice.
Finally, IAET funds the annual IAET Vocal Scholarship Award
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The township building is located @ 1 Illinois Blvd, Hoffman Estates, IL 60169
The Next General Meeting will be held on February 2nd @ 7PM
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Italy’s highest mountain: Monte Bianco (or Mont Blanc, meaning White
Mount) measuring 13,474 ft., in the north-west of the country
The biggest lake is lake of Garda (Veneto and Lombardy)
Pinocchio is a character of a Carlo Collodi's 1883 book titled Le
avventure di Pinocchio, written way before the great Walt Disney was
even born.
The nuclear reactor was invented by physicist Enrico Fermi. He was
also one of the fathers of the first atomic bomb built in Los Alamos.
The Italian peninsula became a united nation in 1861, after 2 wars for
independence.
The official name of Italy is Italia.
Italy’s nicknames are Stivale (Boot) or Belpaese (Beautiful land)
The most populated city is Rome with 2,724,347 citizens.
Italy has a long history, as Rome its capital city today was founded in
753BC.
After the Roman Empire broke down in 395AD, there were many
separate kingdoms and city states. However, Italy became one nation
only in 1861 and since then includes the islands of Sicily and Sardinia.
It was a kingdom until 1946 after the Second World War, where Italy
sided with the German Nazis. Italy is founding member of the European
Union (EU) and the NATO.
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“People often remark that I'm pretty lucky. Luck is only important in so
far as getting the chance to sell yourself at the right moment. After
that, you've got to have talent and know how to use it.”
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was the Chairman of the
Board, Ol' Blue Eyes and The Voice. Sinatra was an American singer, actor, producer, and
director, who was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century.
He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 150 million
records worldwide. As an actor, he appeared in fifty-eight films and won an Academy Award
for his role in From Here to Eternity. His career started in the 1930s and continued into the
1990s. Sinatra’s 100th birthday on December 12th was remembered across the country.
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Sons and Daughters of Italy in America is an organization committed to pursuing a greater
appreciation of our Italian heritage and culture through integrity, family and unity. We are a
not-for-profit social service organization dedicated to serving the community regardless of
race, religion or ethnicity.
We support a variety of social service facilities, including Clare Woods Academy in Bartlett,
Little Angels in Elgin, and Campanelli Park in Schaumburg. We also donate to many
Schaumburg organizations such as Prairie Center for the Arts, District 54 band and food
pantries. Our Members helped establish Schaumburg’s September Fest as a regional event
and have an ongoing presence there each year. In addition, we participate in the annual
Brookfield Zoo Trim-A-Tree event.
We interact with approximately 88 other Chicago-area Italian clubs through an umbrella
organization called Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans for the mutual benefit of
pursuing our heritage. The committee stages many events during the year including the
annual Columbus Day Parade in downtown Chicago.
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