Newsflash

THE RUNDOWN

The membership of the Ciociaro Club of Windsor swore in its first female President, Anna Vozza, on January 30, 2022. A local, successful Real Estate Broker with Bob Pedler Real Estate Limited Brokerage, Vozza has been involved in the Club from a young age, where her parents made sure the family participated and volunteered in many of their events. Vozza was originally elected to the Board of Directors as one of the youngest Directors and has held the positions of Correspondence Secretary and Vice President over her 24 years of service on the Board. “I am beyond excited and thankful to have been sworn in as the first female President of the Ciociaro Club, an establishment that is very near and dear to my heart and has always been my extended family,” states Vozza. “As the daughter of immigrants who left Italy to come to Canada for a better life for their family, I was always encouraged to focus on education, leadership, community and to never let go of my roots.” She adds: “I am also eager to engage with our younger generation to get them involved with our Club’s rich Italian history, culture and heritage.” Her other experiences include being a Past President of the Windsor-Essex County Realtors Association, as well as the former Director at Large of the Ontario Real Estate Association. She has also been a Board Member for the Windsor Regional Hospital Foundation. General Manager of the Ciociaro Club, Dino Quattrociocchi, states: “We are confident that Anna and her team, coming together with our operation, will continue building on past successes, serve our community as we have for the past 50 years, and remain leaders in the industry.” The Ciociaro Club, 3745 North Talbot Road in Oldcastle, opened in 1972 and has

Congratulations to Anna Vozza, the first female President of the Ciociaro Club in its 50 year history. Photo courtesy of Ciociaro Club. a growing membership of 1,800 local Italian descendants. It is one of the area’s premier banquet/wedding/corporate facilities. Learn more on: CiociaroClub.com.

The Brain Injury Association of Windsor & Essex County (BIAWE) has announced it is the first and only (in the province among brain injury associations) to make available a universally accessible website — BIAWE.com — to accommodate those with an acquired brain injury and other neurodiversities. The website now includes options for visual content, as a brain injury can affect a person’s ability to read. Managing this includes enlarging the print, changing the background colour to heighten the contrast between what’s written and the background, and the removal of moving objects. As well, those who are easily fatigued, experience cognitive overload, have difficulty reading, or are easily distracted while reading, can access the audio content. The content can also be translated into many different languages and read out loud. The website is now compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

NEW IN BIZ

Rosati Construction held an official groundbreaking ceremony in mid-January, to signal the beginning of construction on the new 15,925 square foot Mercato Fresh Inc. at 3235 Banwell Road in Windsor. With design and construction being carried out by Rosati Construction Inc., the new facility is expected to be completed fall 2022 and will be constructed on a five acre property as the commercial development’s main retail anchor. The Rosati Group design team also includes Rosati Construction, Aleo Associates Inc., Fieldcraft Engineering Ltd. and Bezaire & Associates Landscape Architects & Planners. This will be the second location for Mercato Fresh, owned by Jonathan Reaume and Marc Romualdi, with their first market serving the ChathamKent community since early 2020. The new Windsor location will offer a fresh take on hot and cold prepared foods, fresh produce, meat and fish, a bakery, a café, freshly prepared sushi and a variety of grocery items. For further details on either company refer to their websites: MercatoFresh.com and RosatiGroup.com.

ON THE MOVE

Zule Ankamah has a new location for ZuleEats at 2760 Howard Avenue in Windsor. She is pictured with a tray of Ghanaian meat pies that are available for pick up in the grab and go freezers, or pre-ordered on: ZuleEats.ca. Photo courtesy of Celesta Ponikowski.

After working out of a series of ghost kitchens for the past year or so, Zule Ankamah has reached the point where her ZuleEats restaurant has opened in a new brick-andmortar space at 2760 Howard Avenue in Windsor. “Ghost kitchens give new business owners a chance to get started without having a huge overhead, but commuting between the various spaces is hard and timeconsuming,” explains Ankamah who spent 26 years working at Caesars Windsor until pandemic restrictions temporarily closed the casino’s doors two years ago. “I’m very excited to have my own space so I can focus on the food.” Daughter Celesta Ponikowski says family members encouraged her mother to start her own business “because she was going stir crazy and there’s only so much house cleaning you can do!” Ponikowski adds that her mother was always passionate about cooking and often catered events in the region’s Ghanaian community. “I’m back to my first love,” says Ankamah. ZuleEats offers traditional Ghanaian pies, which include beef, chicken, vegetarian and vegan choices, as well as sausage rolls and sweeter offerings such as butter tarts and almond rolls. Her new space was previously occupied by an Armando’s takeout pizza restaurant. “There’s enough room for us to grow and if we outgrow it eventually, that would be a nice problem to have,” Ankamah comments. The new location is set to officially open in March, but you can always pick up her products at Little Foot Foods (1404 Tecumseh Road East), Lee and Maria’s (629 Seacliff Drive in Leamington and seasonally at the Downtown Windsor’s Farmers’ Market). For more information, visit ZuleEats.ca; LittleFootFoods.ca and: LeeAndMarias.com.