ITALIAN TIMES THE
Published by the Italian Community Center 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee, WI 53202 www.ICCMilwaukee.com VOL. 36, NO. 9 MARCH 2015
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Carnevale 2015: A celebration of love and family
Il Grande Carnevale, a pre-Lenten costume and mask ball, was carried on for the 36th consecutive year by the Italian Community Center. This year, the event held on the evening of Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14), resulting in a theme of “Una Celebrazione dell’ Amore” (“A Celebration of Love). Here, the 2015 Queen and King Ann and Joe Zambito are seen waving to the 350 guests who attended the celebration. Many of the attendees came as families. More photos and information from the event can be found inside this issue. (Times photo by Tom Hemman)
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‘A Taste of Italy’ is Sunday, Apr. 19; ready to indulge?
By Thomas Hemman Times Editor Make sure you, your family, relatives and friends are in present for the Italian Community Center’s 20th annual “A Taste of Italy” on Sunday, Apr. 19. It’s an Italian food spectacular that you definitely don’t want to miss. As always, there will be free admission and free parking for the event, which runs from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Great food, low prices Count on a magnificent variety of delicious Italian food being available throughout the building for truly low prices. Food and beverage tickets will be sold for $1.50 each or – better yet – as a set of seven for $10. “What that means is that you’ll be able to get almost every entree, sandwich, salad, soup, Italian specialty item, dessert and beverage for just one ticket! The only exception will be calamari (deep-friend squid). Calamari will be available for two tickets. Because of the high price we have to pay for the product, we really
Register to celebrate ICC’s Mar. 19 St. Joseph’s Day luncheon
By Thomas Hemman Times Editor Chairperson Mary (Mineo) Winard encourages everyone to attend the Italian Community Center’s 23rd annual St. Joseph’s Day luncheon. This year, the cele-
bration will be held on Thursday, Mar. 19, the actual day set aside by the Catholic Church to honor the foster father of Jesus Christ. The event begins at noon. A pre-paid reservation policy is in effect. The cost is $17 for an ICC
Festa Italiana’s 2015 Marketing and Public Relations Committee is excited to report that work on a new website is near completion. Launching in the spring of 2015, the brand new festaitaliana.com will feature a more contemporary look and feel. Keeping with the current Festa brand identity, the website will incorporate bold images and vibrant use of color to portray all the food, fun and cultural aspects of the festival. The intuitive and easy-to-update website will incorporate everything you need to know about Festa, including: history, driving directions, ticketing information and promotions, entertainment, culinary events, food and drink offerings, attractions including bocce, gondolas, futsal, mass, cultural highlights, as well as information about participating in the festival whether as a volunteer, vendor or sponsor. The website will also serve
as a gateway to the Italian Community Center’s website, in addition to the Festa Italiana Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. And the new look doesn’t stop there. The website will also showcase the festival’s new marketing concept and tagline for 2015, “Your ticket to Italy.” Keep your eyes out for a fresh update across all of Festa’s marketing channels – website, advertisements, brochures and more – that will take everyone on a journey to Italy. Giuseppe Vella, Italian Community Center President/Festa 2015 General Chairman said, “Special thanks to GT Creative (website construction and design), Vollrath Associates (public relations and project management) and Susie Christiansen (volunteer website lead) for all of your hard work. We hope you will visit the new festaitaliana.com this spring for the latest Festa news and updates!”
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member and $20 for a non-member. Reservations can be made by completing the form accompanying this article and mailing it with your payment to the ICC, 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee, WI 53202 or Please turn to page 7
don’t have a choice,” said Taste of Italy Chair Ann Romano. “Since calamari is such a big favorite, we wanted to find a way to keep it on our menu.” The full menu includes pasta with red sauce, meatballs, Italian sausage, arancini (rice balls), manicotti, calamari, breaded pork tenderloin, olive salad, Italian lettuce salad, sfingi (sweetened fried bread dough), sub sandwiches, pizza, sfinciuni (Sicilian style pizza), Italian wedding soup, lentil soup, chicken pastina soup and desserts such as cannoli, Italian cookies, éclairs, spumoni, gelato and pizzelle (Italian wafer cookies). To wash it down, there will be coffee, beer, wine, soda and water. A more descriptive menu will appear in the April issue of The Italian Times, published in late March. All hot and cold entrée items plus pizza, salads and sandwiches will be available in the Pompeii Grand Ballroom. Desserts will be sold in the Festa Ballroom. Look for beverages on sale in both rooms. There will be plenty of seating available throughout the building and in the Courtyard, providing that the weather cooperates. Entertainment While you eat, enjoy live performances. Romano said the entertainment lineup for the Festa Ballroom includes Tradizione Vivente: The Italian Dance Group of Milwaukee and vocalists Charles Evans and Jayne Taylor, each doing their own shows. The Sicilian
Festa Italiana website getting new look Please turn to page 8