NATIONAL NEWS
ITALIAN AMERICAN ISSUES AND EVENTS
Cleveland’s Little Italy Installs Rocky Colavito Statue On August 10, Cleveland Indians slugger Rocky Colavito celebrated his 88th birthday with the commemoration of his life-size statue in Cleveland’s Little Italy. The statue, which stands in Tony Brush Park, was installed by the Rocky Colavito Statue Committee as a way of memorializing one of Cleveland’s greatest and most beloved ballplayers.
(mark reinstein)
“It’s impossible to overstate just how much Rocky meant to a generation of Indians fans and to Italian Americans,” said Mark Sommer, a member of the Rocky Colavito Statue Committee. “Rocky always loved Cleveland and its fans, and it’s only fitting for him to be immortalized in Little Italy with a statue.” Amidst a very emotional speech in which he paused to remark—“You see, that’s the Italian in you. You get very sentimental.”—Rocky Colavito paid tribute to the city he played in for eight seasons. “Cleveland is my favorite city in the whole wide world,” he said. “I’m really thankful and happy that God chose me to play in Cleveland.” See this issue’s Piacere! page (page 36) for a special interview with “The Rock” himself.
OSDIA Facebook Live Series Kicks Off Season 4 On September 22, the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America (OSDIA) launched Season 4 of the OSDIA Live Interview Series. Its opening episode featured newly elected OSDIA National President Robert Bianchi, Esq., who spoke on the future of the Newly Elected OSDIA National President Robert A. Bianchi, Esq., talks about his organization. The fourth family history and the future of the Order. season will run for eight weeks and feature some exceptional guests, including University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball Coach Geno Auriemma on October 29 and Adriana Trigiani guest-hosting a special “Italian-American Children’s Book” episode on November 10. The OSDIA Live Interview Series can be viewed on OSDIA’s Facebook and YouTube pages. Episodes air every Wednesday at 7 p.m. Past episodes and seasons can be viewed on OSDIA’s Facebook page as well. In total, the first three seasons garnered more than 550,000 views. FALL 2021
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The “Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America” YouTube channel is running a campaign to surpass 1,000 subscribers by the end of the year. Help achieve the goal! Simply go on www.youtube.com and search “Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America.” The channel will be listed at the top, and all you have to do is click on the “Subscribe” button on the right side. New content showcasing various aspects of Italian culture as well as the good work of the Sons of Italy Foundation will be posted on a weekly basis.
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