THE
ITALIAN TIMES Published by the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee, WI 53202-5916 www.ICCMilwaukee.com
VOL. 33, NO. 11
MAY 2012
Get your advance Festa Italiana tickets now and save money By Thomas Hemman Times Editor Can’t wait for Festa Italiana? Then, get your advance admission tickets now. Festa officials have kept the price of an advance admission ticket for the 2012 festival the same as
last year – $10. That’s a $3 savings over the gate admission price. One way to get your advance tickets is to order them online by visiting www.festaitaliana.com. You may also buy advance tickets in person at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago
St., Milwaukee, or for credit card puchases, call 414/223-2194. You can also use the form that accompanies this article to order your advance admission tickets. A complete list of advance ticket outlets will be published soon in The Italian Times.
The 35th annual Festa Italiana takes place Thursday, July 19 through Sunday, July 22 at Henry W. Maier Festival Park (the Summerfest grounds). As has always been the case, children, 12 and younger, are admitted to Festa Please turn to page 7
Three-fourths of ICC’s free summer Courtyard Music Series schedule announced By Thomas Hemman Times Editor For the 12th consecutive summer, the spacious and beautiful Italian Community Center Courtyard will be the setting for a variety of live music performances four nights a week. The 2012 Courtyard Music Series will begin
Children’s Easter party is a sweet treat
on Monday, June 4 and continue through Thursday, Sept. 27. As usual, there will be no cover charge, no drink minimums and free parking. The staff of Cafe La Scala, the ICC’s public restaurant, will be on hand each night to take food and drink orders. Due to the popularity of the series, reservations are highly recommended and can be made by calling Cafe La Scala at 414/2232185. “This year, I think we have our strongest lineup ever – from jazz legend Janet Planet and Midwest blues powerhouse The Bel-Airs to a popular flemenco group and the one-and-only Doo-Wop Daddies – this is going to be a great season,” said Joe Campagna, Jr., who is again coordinating the series with Sal Quarino. “We brought back some of our longtime friends and favorites and
added some new acts to the lineup, which we know have large followings, so we’re expecting good crowds virtually every night,” Quarino added. Last year, the series ended before Labor Day. This year, the decision to extend the series to the end of September was an easy one, Campagna said. “We had so many people say they were sad to see last year’s series end that early and that they would support our shows if we extended the series into September; so we decided to take them on their word.” Like the last couple of seasons, the series is offering jazz on Monday nights, blues on Tuesday night, opera and classical on Wednesday nights, and good-time rock and roll on Thursday nights. The shows are presented rain or shine. When the weather becomes inclement, the shows are brought
indoors to the Festa Ballroom, adjacent to Cafe La Scala. The series will be suspended during Summerfest at nearby Maier Festival Park (June 27 – July 8) and there will be no shows on the opening night of Festa Italiana (Thursday, July 19 at Maier Festival Park) and on Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 3). Tom Sorce, a well-respected guitarist, booked the entertainment for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights. Kay Sparling, a former Metropolitan opera soprano and owner of a Jefferson, Wisconsin conservatory for young performing artists, is in the process of completing the booking of talent for the Wednesday night series. Sparling was away in Europe and was not able to finalize the Wednesday night lineup before the printing deadline for this newspaPlease turn to page 10
Did you get your ‘Taste of Italy’ at ICC on Apr. 22?
The Italian Community Center hosted its annual Easter party for the children and grandchildren of members on Saturday, Apr. 7. Organized by the Avanti Committee, the party proved to be a great time for the young and old. The party was extra special for sixyear old Ella Vollrath, who won this huge bucket of candy in a guessing contest. She guessed that there were 252 pieces of candy in the bucket, which was the closest of any of the guesses entered. More pictures from the event can be found inside this issue. (Times photo by Tom Hemman)
By the time you pick up this edition of The Italian Times, the Italian Community Center’s popular fundraiser, “A Taste of Italy,” will have come and gone. Hopefully, you were there and indulged in the 17th annual Italian food-tasting extravaganza on Sunday, Apr. 22. This issue went to the printer on Thursday, Apr. 19 and came out on Monday, Apr. 23. Therefore, you can look for a complete report on the event with photos in our next issue, available May 21. Shown here are a group of volunteers who came to the ICC days
before “A Taste of Italy” to package the thousands of freshly baked Italian cookies from Peter Sciortino’s Bakery, which were sold at the event. From the left: general chairperson Ann Romano with her greatgranddaughter, Lacey Schober, Rosalia Ferrante, Mary Winard, Frances Murphy, vice chair Ann Skoczynski, Mary Ann Ganny, Mary Castrovinci, Carmen Schlotthauer, Sophia Michalovitz, Pauline Cannestra and Nancy Oberleitner. (Times photo by Tom Hemman)