October 10th and 11th will celebrate what has become known as one of the largest and possibly the longest running annual heritage festivals in the Myrtle Beach area, the 16th Annual Sons of Italy Italian Festival.
This years’ festival again features Italian food, continuous music, Italian themed souvenirs, a free children’s activity table, Italian desserts, arts and crafts vendors, beer and wine, and more. The entertainment this year includes two fantastic headliners: classical and contemporary Italian tenor Aaron Caruso, and international performing artist Natalie Pinto. Also performing during the two day event will be keyboard and vocalists Tony Posillico and Frank Gigli, and Larry Tanelli with The Tony Torre Orchestra, just to name a few.
This year the food tent is adding raviolis to their ever popular offerings of sausage and pepper heros and Italian meatball subs. The souvenir booth has also been greatly expanded, and includes “La Cucina”, a full line of kitchen items including espresso sets, decorated oil bottles and spoon rests, aprons, Italian themed coasters and mugs, aprons and beaded wine bottle ornaments. The expanded Raggazzi Children’s Souvenirs area has added more wearables in infant, toddler and youth sizes, coloring books, stickers, temporary tattoos and paper doll book with Italian themes, as well as Italian word books for youngsters, beach balls and Italian Teddy Bears. The desserts include Italian ices, Cannollis, and Zeppolis along with many types of cookies and biscotti.
The Sons of Italy are dedicated to preserving and promoting Italian heritage and culture, and offer regular membership to Americans of Italian descent, as well as social memberships to non-Italians.
Tuesday 6 October 2009
Monday 21 September 2009
Italian Mobster comes clean on environmental damage
According to an ex Italian mobster an estimated 35 sunken ships containing large amounts of toxic waste have been illegally exposed of by the Italian mafia, claims Francesco Foti, now a criminal informant for the Italian government.
Foti confessed that the Italian Calabria Mafia has been sinking ships packed with the poisonous stuff in the Mediterranean Sea for the last 20 years. Foti says he sank three of the ships himself; the whereabouts of the other 32 are unknown.
According to CNN, Foti’s tip was confirmed when Italy’s environmental agency sailed to the alleged dump site 18 miles off the country’s southwest coast and found a ship about 1,600 feet below the ocean surface, flanked by yellow garbage drums marked “toxic.” Foti says the drums contain nuclear waste from Norway—due to increasingly strict waste disposal regulations by the European Union, it was cheaper to pay the mob to load the waste onto a ship and sink rather than dispose of legally.
Thirty-four other sunken ships are suspected to also contain nuclear waste as well as toxic medical supplies, according to World Health Organization.
So far, no one is speculating about whether the offshore toxic dumping is a significant threat to marine life–or to fish-eating humans–but let’s be realistic; nuclear waste dumping news is never good news.
Foti confessed that the Italian Calabria Mafia has been sinking ships packed with the poisonous stuff in the Mediterranean Sea for the last 20 years. Foti says he sank three of the ships himself; the whereabouts of the other 32 are unknown.
According to CNN, Foti’s tip was confirmed when Italy’s environmental agency sailed to the alleged dump site 18 miles off the country’s southwest coast and found a ship about 1,600 feet below the ocean surface, flanked by yellow garbage drums marked “toxic.” Foti says the drums contain nuclear waste from Norway—due to increasingly strict waste disposal regulations by the European Union, it was cheaper to pay the mob to load the waste onto a ship and sink rather than dispose of legally.
Thirty-four other sunken ships are suspected to also contain nuclear waste as well as toxic medical supplies, according to World Health Organization.
So far, no one is speculating about whether the offshore toxic dumping is a significant threat to marine life–or to fish-eating humans–but let’s be realistic; nuclear waste dumping news is never good news.
Tuesday 15 September 2009
Italian soccer club to get Texan owner
It didn't take long for Tim Barton to realize the impact he was making by becoming the first American to buy a top Italian soccer club.
When the Texas-based entrepreneur landed in Bari last month to sign off on the $35.8 million deal, 1,500 Italian fans surged past security and onto the tarmac to greet him, temporarily closing down the southern city's airport.
The excitement grew six days later when Bari rallied for a 1-1 draw at the home of four-time defending Serie A champion Inter Milan -- a great day for a team playing its first match back in the top Italian division in eight years.
Barton signed a preliminary deal last month to acquire Bari from the Matarrese family that has controlled the club for the past 32 years.
It's little wonder the Matarrese family is ready to finish the sale. Running Italian teams can be a risky business.
Italian Serie A clubs totaled $2 billion in cumulative operating losses over the 10-year span ending in 2007-08 -- the last season for which full records are available, according to London-based accounting firm Deloitte. English clubs gained nearly $2.87 billion over the same period.
When the Texas-based entrepreneur landed in Bari last month to sign off on the $35.8 million deal, 1,500 Italian fans surged past security and onto the tarmac to greet him, temporarily closing down the southern city's airport.
The excitement grew six days later when Bari rallied for a 1-1 draw at the home of four-time defending Serie A champion Inter Milan -- a great day for a team playing its first match back in the top Italian division in eight years.
Barton signed a preliminary deal last month to acquire Bari from the Matarrese family that has controlled the club for the past 32 years.
It's little wonder the Matarrese family is ready to finish the sale. Running Italian teams can be a risky business.
Italian Serie A clubs totaled $2 billion in cumulative operating losses over the 10-year span ending in 2007-08 -- the last season for which full records are available, according to London-based accounting firm Deloitte. English clubs gained nearly $2.87 billion over the same period.
Tuesday 8 September 2009
Festival highlights Italian traditions
Three bands and traditional Italian cooking will be featured in this year's riverside festival on Sunday.
More than 300 years ago, Quakers first settled in Bristol. But now it's the Italians holding down the fort and they will be celebrating their heritage Sunday in Lions Park.
Italians made their ways into Bristol mostly for industrial work, many settling their families in the 1.7-square-mile borough and starting up Italian community groups.
The Italian Presbyterian Mission was founded in 1905. It was housed at the old Presbyterian Church on Radcliffe Street until a chapel was built in 1910 on the corner of Wood Street and Lincoln Avenue, according to the Bristol Cultural & Historical Foundation Web site.
St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church, an Italian parish, was also founded in 1905. A new church was built in 1908 on the corner of Pond and Washington streets. A new rectory was built next to it, reads the Web site.
Years later, some Italian traditions still survive in Bristol. The annual Bristol Lions Italian Festival is one of them. This year's festivities will be held in Lions Park on the Delaware River. Like every year, attendees can enjoy a day full of traditional Italian music and food.
Food booths will be set up around the park throughout the celebration. The Bristol Lions Club usually cooks up sausage and peppers, Italian hot dogs and roast pork sandwiches.
Nice.
More than 300 years ago, Quakers first settled in Bristol. But now it's the Italians holding down the fort and they will be celebrating their heritage Sunday in Lions Park.
Italians made their ways into Bristol mostly for industrial work, many settling their families in the 1.7-square-mile borough and starting up Italian community groups.
The Italian Presbyterian Mission was founded in 1905. It was housed at the old Presbyterian Church on Radcliffe Street until a chapel was built in 1910 on the corner of Wood Street and Lincoln Avenue, according to the Bristol Cultural & Historical Foundation Web site.
St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church, an Italian parish, was also founded in 1905. A new church was built in 1908 on the corner of Pond and Washington streets. A new rectory was built next to it, reads the Web site.
Years later, some Italian traditions still survive in Bristol. The annual Bristol Lions Italian Festival is one of them. This year's festivities will be held in Lions Park on the Delaware River. Like every year, attendees can enjoy a day full of traditional Italian music and food.
Food booths will be set up around the park throughout the celebration. The Bristol Lions Club usually cooks up sausage and peppers, Italian hot dogs and roast pork sandwiches.
Nice.
Thursday 3 September 2009
Italian skier to miss start of World Cup season
Italian skier Peter Fill will miss the first three months of the World Cup season with a groin injury, putting his participation in the Vancouver Olympics at risk.
Fill was injured in a fall during training in Argentina last month and was evaluated by Dr. Sakari Orawa in Finland on Wednesday, the Italian Winter Sports Federation said.
Fill will undergo surgery Thursday to repair a torn tendon and the federation said it will take four months for him to return to racing, placing his comeback in either late December or early January. The World Cup season begins in Soelden, Austria, on Oct. 24-25.
The 27-year-old Italian won the silver medal in super-G at the world championships in Val d'Isere, France, last season. He also won a downhill in Lake Louise, Alta., for his first World Cup victory, and finished 10th in the overall World Cup standings.
Fill was injured in a fall during training in Argentina last month and was evaluated by Dr. Sakari Orawa in Finland on Wednesday, the Italian Winter Sports Federation said.
Fill will undergo surgery Thursday to repair a torn tendon and the federation said it will take four months for him to return to racing, placing his comeback in either late December or early January. The World Cup season begins in Soelden, Austria, on Oct. 24-25.
The 27-year-old Italian won the silver medal in super-G at the world championships in Val d'Isere, France, last season. He also won a downhill in Lake Louise, Alta., for his first World Cup victory, and finished 10th in the overall World Cup standings.
Tuesday 25 August 2009
Italian mafia boss fails to make great escape
Italian police have arrested an alleged mafia boss who lived in an underground bunker equipped with an unusual means of escape – a skateboard to propel himself down a 200 yard secret tunnel.
Italian, Giuseppe Bastone's hideout was a 10ft by 10ft space underneath a house near Naples that was accessed through a hidden trapdoor underneath a stairway.
The bunker was connected to a 200 yard long tunnel which was only waist high – hence the need for the skateboard.
Bastone, 28, was however captured by anti-mafia investigators in a lightning raid on his subterranean hideout.
At the end of the tunnel, a shaft with a metal staircase emerged in a field. Italian police said Bastone had been hiding in the bunker, which had solid steel walls, for nearly a year. He was reportedly unarmed and did not resist arrest when he was captured on Monday.
The bunker was equipped with a fridge, a plasma screen television and a DVD player. It took firemen more than an hour to shift the steel door which led from the house to the steel-walled refuge.
Police suspected the hideout was linked to a tunnel but had no idea where the hidden exit might emerge, so deployed 50 officers and a helicopter during the raid in case Bastone tried to flee.
Bastone was among Italy's 100 most wanted fugitives and is alleged to be a leading member of the Camorra mafia. A copy of the film was among the DVDs that police found, along with "The Godfather" starring Marlon Brando.
Italian, Giuseppe Bastone's hideout was a 10ft by 10ft space underneath a house near Naples that was accessed through a hidden trapdoor underneath a stairway.
The bunker was connected to a 200 yard long tunnel which was only waist high – hence the need for the skateboard.
Bastone, 28, was however captured by anti-mafia investigators in a lightning raid on his subterranean hideout.
At the end of the tunnel, a shaft with a metal staircase emerged in a field. Italian police said Bastone had been hiding in the bunker, which had solid steel walls, for nearly a year. He was reportedly unarmed and did not resist arrest when he was captured on Monday.
The bunker was equipped with a fridge, a plasma screen television and a DVD player. It took firemen more than an hour to shift the steel door which led from the house to the steel-walled refuge.
Police suspected the hideout was linked to a tunnel but had no idea where the hidden exit might emerge, so deployed 50 officers and a helicopter during the raid in case Bastone tried to flee.
Bastone was among Italy's 100 most wanted fugitives and is alleged to be a leading member of the Camorra mafia. A copy of the film was among the DVDs that police found, along with "The Godfather" starring Marlon Brando.
Monday 10 August 2009
Pirate says $4 million ransom paid for Italian tugboat
Somali pirates received a $4 million ransom to free an Italian cargo ship that was seized four months ago with a crew of 16, a member of the gang that held it captive said on Monday.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Sunday the Buccaneer was freed after "exceptional work" on the part of Somali authorities and the Italian intelligence service.
The owners of the Buccaneer, Ravenna-based Micoperi Marine Contractors, said on Sunday the ship was not freed as a result of military action or ransom payment.
The pirates however claim to be already in posession of the $4 million ransom and freed the Italian tugboat.
The Buccaneer was hijacked on April 11 in the Gulf of Aden along with two barges. It is now on its way to the port of Djibouti escorted by naval vessels. It was crewed by 10 Italians, five Romanians and a Croatian.
A flotilla of foreign naval vessels off Somalia has failed to quell the rampant piracy, which has affected one of the world's busiest shipping lanes that links Europe to Asia.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Sunday the Buccaneer was freed after "exceptional work" on the part of Somali authorities and the Italian intelligence service.
The owners of the Buccaneer, Ravenna-based Micoperi Marine Contractors, said on Sunday the ship was not freed as a result of military action or ransom payment.
The pirates however claim to be already in posession of the $4 million ransom and freed the Italian tugboat.
The Buccaneer was hijacked on April 11 in the Gulf of Aden along with two barges. It is now on its way to the port of Djibouti escorted by naval vessels. It was crewed by 10 Italians, five Romanians and a Croatian.
A flotilla of foreign naval vessels off Somalia has failed to quell the rampant piracy, which has affected one of the world's busiest shipping lanes that links Europe to Asia.
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