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Mercer CountyMercer CountyMercer County

ItalianItalianItalian---American FestivalAmerican FestivalAmerican Festival

Volume 4- No. 05 Local News August 2011

Festival Association Honors Organizations

The Mercer County Italian-American Festival Asociation’s mission has been to support those organizations which promote the rich cultural contributions made by Ital-ians and Italian-Americans. At the June 30 buffet dinner, several of these organizations received awards and certificates, including Boys’ Town of Italy, Unione E. Fratellanza Santelese, Amici Della Lingue Italiana, and the Italian-American Hall of Fame. For coverage of these and more awards, please see page 4.

Cav. John Scarpati, center, presents a check to Boys’ Town of Italy. Representing Boys’ Town are Executive Director Carrie Sackett, left, and Emlie Puzio, at right.

Unione E. Fratellanza Santelese members are, from left, Scholarship Chair Jerry DiLorenzo, Sec-retary Frank Bruno, and President Thomas Fracella, with Cav. John Scarpati at right.

Amici Della Lingue Italiana receive an award from Cav. John Scarpati, right. Amici President Vito Finizio, at left, with Charles Sbarra, last year’s award receipient and trustee.

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Italian-American Festival Newsletter August 2011

Cavalier John Scarpati President

It is with great sadness that I write about the pass-ing of two friends who have been a great influence to me, both personally and professionally, on the es-tablishment of the Mercer County Italian-American Festival Association. John Pecci and Phil Vecere are my two close friends and colleagues who have been instrumental in forming the association as far back as 1997 and 1998. These two men have been mentors to me in many ways. On nearly a daily basis, I com-municated with them on the planning of the festival. I know that their families are affected by their loss, but I can say that I have been deeply saddened these past two months by their

declining health and subse-quent passing. But I know that John and Phil would be the first to say that the fes-tival association needs to be strong and carry on the message of the organiza-tion and to perpetuate the mission of preserving the cultural and many contribu-tions of the Mercer County Italian-Americans. On a more promising note, I would like add some good news for the festival. The county is seriously working toward to make an event area for our festival now. It’s been a hot topic of discussion within the county, and particularly, to the Board of Chosen Free-holders. I plan to offer any assistance and information that I can to help them make their plans into a re-ality. At this time, I would also like to reach out and thank the many, many volunteers without whom this festival would not be possible. With your help, the festival has proven to be better and better every year. There are some surprises for this year’s festival which should prove to be exciting additions. With the development of the county’s plan for an event area, the logistics for the

event area still need to be fleshed out. Once these plans are finalized, it is my hope that we will continue to improve access to the festival area, and to bring new sponsors to the festi-val. The festival association has always been based on a free membership in order to become involved in pre-serving the culture and heritage of the many thou-sands of Italians who came to this country. These brave individuals set the course for us to have a fu-ture here in the United States. I hope that all of you who receive this newsletter can reach out and share its con-tents with others and tell them about the many events we host. With your help, we can get more peo-ple involved with the or-ganization and grow with new ideas and increased sponsorships. Again, thank you all for your continued support. As a special note, I would like to thank my family for all the support they have given me. I would not be able to do the work I’ve done without their help.

Cav. John Scarpati, MCIAFA President

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Board Members and Office Assistance: John Scarpati Sr., President Frank Cirillo, Vice President Gary Carbone, Trustee Daniele S. Carbone, Trustee Ed DiPolvere, Trustee Gus Perilli, Trustee Joe Urbano, Trustee Sally Van Fleet, Trustee and Admin. Asst. Nina VanDeleur, Trustee and Press. Sec. Treasurer: Vacant Committee Chairs: Entertainment: Carl Carabelli, Chair; Ann Lennon, Co-Chair; Nina VanDeLeur, Asst. Co-Chair Amusements: Rich DeVito, Chair; Pat Napatano, Co-Chair Festival 50/50: Gino Melone, Chair; Marion Bolton, Co-Chair Food Vendors: Frank Cirillo, Chair; Bill Hillman, Co-Chair; Dave Tallone, Asst. Co-Chair Cultural Court/Market Tent: John Prunetti, Chair; Jeff Prunetti, Co-Chair Cultural Theater: Gilda R. Baldassari, Chair; Frank Gargione, Co-Chair; Marie Jantos, Asst. Co-Chair Memorabilia: Anthony Chianese, Chair; John Ricco, Co-Chair Wine: Danielle S. Carbone, Chair; Gary Carbone, Co-Chair Beer: Christine Scarpati, Chair; James Dabronzo, Co-Chair Military & Veterans: Kathi Aide, Chair; John Aide, Co-Chair Merchandising: Ann Laurie Fratticcioli, Chair Mass: Cathy DeCostanzo, Chair; Ben Gioe, Co-Chair; Joe Pica, Asst. Co-Chair Senior Citizens: Donna Povia, Chair Parking: Wayne DeAngelo, Chair; Joe Povio, Co-Chair Security: Joe Russo, Chair Signs & Banners: Ed DiPolvere, Chair; Gus Perilli, Co-Chair; George Marabelli, John Muccioli, Asst. Co-Chairs Sponsorship & Marketing: Barry Chiarello, Chair Fireworks: John Scarpati, Chair Pony Rides: John Scarpati, Chair Petting Zoo: John Scarpati, Chair Website Design: Mike Aregano, Chair Off Site 50/50 Business Sales: Joe Sensi, Chair; John Constantini, Co-Chair Columbus Day Parade/Ball: Pat Colavita, Chair; Bart DiNola, Co-Chair; Ann DiNola, Asst. Co-Chair Grounds Maintenance - Portable Lighting, Hauling, Restrooms, Cleanup & Trash: John Scarpati Jr., Chair; Herman Ramos, Co-Chair Bocce: Ron Ungarini, Chair Attorney: Paul Donini Festival Photographer: Paul Donini

Italian-American Festival Newsletter August 2011

Our sincere thanks to the following businesses and individuals who con-tributed goods or services to the Mer-cer County Italian-American Festival Association.

Risoldi’s Market & Catering, Hamilton, NJ 08619 DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pies, Robbinsville, NJ 08691 Rosa’s Ristorante and Pizzaria, Hamilton, NJ 08610 Brother’s Pizza on Route 33, Hamilton Square, NJ 08690 Original Flowers LLC, Trenton, NJ 08610 Ribsam’s Dorothy Lee Flowers, Inc., Ewing, NJ 08628 Joseph’s Flowers, Hamilton, NJ 08610 Petal Pushers, Inc., Trenton, NJ 08690 Dragonfly Farms, Hamilton, NJ 08619 Barbara’s Hair Gallery, Trenton, NJ 08690 Hair It Is, Robbinsville, NJ 08691 Robert James Salon, Hamilton Square, NJ 08690

More to follow — see them in next month’s issue

Tents & Chairs: John Scarpati Sr., Chair Auditors: Pesauro, Levy & Palumbo PA Honorary Festival Consultant: Anthony Massi Festival Layout Plans: Vacant Accounting: Danielle S. Carbone Building Maintenance: George Marabelli, Chair; John Muccioli, Co-Chair Volunteers: Christine Scarpati, Chair Information Tent: Sally Van Fleet, Chair; Frieda Santillo, Co-Chair

General Contacts: E-mail: buongiorno2000@optonline.net Website: www.italianamericanfestival.com Office Mail: MCIAFA—2421 Liberty St., Hamilton, NJ 08629 Phone: 609-631-7544

Newsletter Staff: John Scarpati, Sr., Managing Editor Helene Plank, Graphic Designer Joe DeFelice, Frank Gargione, Contributing Writers

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Italian-American Festival Newsletter July 2011

Recognition plaques were given to Marion Bolton and John Scarpati Jr. Marion is co-chair of the Festival 50/50 Committee and has been a mainstay as one of the primary kitchen staff at numerous festival association events. John Scarpati Jr. has worked hard as Chair of the Festival Maintenance Committee, which covers all cleaning and trash removal for the festival. Both these awards were presented by Cav. John Scarpati Sr. at the June 30 buffet dinner.

Awards and Recognition

Cav. John Scarpati, left, presents award to Carl Carabelli, President of the Italian-American Natrional Hall of Fame.

Joanna Caruso, at center, scholarship recipient entering Nottingham High School, with festival Vice President Frank Cirillo, left, and Cav. John Scarpati, at right.

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Italian-American Festival Newsletter August 2011

Festival Association Welcomes Its New Security Chair

Joe Russo stands in front of an M4A3E8 Sherman Tank, one of the many projects he and other volun-teers work on at the Militia Museum in Lawrence-ville.

you work on a replica of a Gatling gun that we’re building here that actually a part of his unit’s history – the 112th Field Artillery Asso-ciation.”

The militia museum in Lawrenceville is the New Jersey Militia Museum Annex. The main museum is located in Sea Girt, New Jersey. The Lawrence site is an annex of that museum, with room after room of wonderful displays. The museum is located on Eggerts Crossing Road at the old 112th Field Artillery Armory Headquarters. Museum hours are Tuesdays and Fridays, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free. It’s a wonderful heritage of military fact and memora-bilia dating from the Civil War until the current war in Afghanistan. It’s a great place to visit, both adults and children alike. Self-guided tours are allowed, or you may have someone to guide you through the mu-seum. You can spend as much time as you like. Currently the 112th Field Artillery Armory has a mission in Afghanistan – the 50th Infantry Combat Brigade. We sadly lost 4 soldiers in Iraq due to im-provised explosive devices. These soldiers are hon-ored at the museum wall, along with former U.S.

The Mercer County Italian-American Festival Asso-ciation is proud to announce its newest Chair of Secu-rity. Joe Russo comes to us with a wealth of experi-ence in many fields. In particular, Joe has a keen interest in military history and has been active in the Mercer County area. He is a retired New Jersey Na-tional Guard armor crewman from the Princeton Unit, 50th Armored Division. Joe lives in Lawrenceville and volunteers at the New Jersey Militia Museum. The mission of the museum is to preserve old military equipment – both in the museum and at the cannon shop, where the actual vehicles are stored. It is a la-bor of love, with many men who love to come here and share time with old friends, reliving history, and just being part of it. Joe explains his feelings quite clearly :

“Once you’re a part of the military, you never get it out of your system. You always want to be part of it – the comradeship among the members is something that’s hard to describe unless you’re a part of it. Volunteering there is great. You work on a variety of projects. One week, it’s a tank. The next week, you work on a half-track. The following week,

Joe Russo stands in the engine compartment of the M4A3E8 Sherman Tank, also known as “the easy 8.”

(Continued on the next page)

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Italian-American Festival Newsletter August 2011

Kathy and John Adie, Chair and Co-Chair of the fes-tival’s Military and Veteran’s Committee.

presidents and Medal of Honor winners from New Jersey. Joe’s interest in military achievements and projects fits well into the fabric of the Mercer County Italian-American Heritage Festival Association through its Military and Veteran’s Committee. The festival as-sociation strives to bring to the forefront all the con-tributions made by the many Italian-Americans who served proudly during many of the wars. Italian-Americans have served in all branches of the armed forces from the Civil War, to all the conflicts of the 20th and 21st Centuries. The festival’s Military and Veteran’s Committee has featured those who have fought for America throughout the years. Co-chairs Kathy and John Adie have worked hard to have many groups from our armed forces participate in the festival. Military groups who have been part of the festival include the Marine Corps League, the Marine Reserves, the Army and the Army National Guard, the Air Force and the Air Force National Guard, and the Navy. Also at the festival have been representatives from the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Mission of Honor, American Legion Post 31, Cell Phones for Soldiers, the Garibaldi Guard (an Italian brigade of Civil War regimen), and the WTU (a group honoring wounded warriors). Recruiters from various branches of services have also brought games for festival attendees to enjoy,

including the Army’s Rock Wall in the amusement area. Other attractions from the Air National Guard include a flight simulator and many other static dis-plays, in addition to many giveaways such as foot-balls, T-shirts, and other items. As festival participants enjoy all the great food, entertainment and amusements, please remember to show your appreciation to the many military person-nel at the festival. Please show your support to all they have done to keep our nation safe.

The New Jersey Maritime Hospital Ship would be converted from a surplus Navy ship. The conver-sion would be performed at the Trenton Marine Terminal. It would be great for the economy, and also great for the capital city of Trenton itself. There are plenty of retired military people around who would be interested in working on her on a volunteer basis. We would seek contributions from pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey, to spon-sor an emergency room to provide medical instru-ments that are currently not in use. The hospital ship, which I tentatively call “Reviver,” could help to revive the Trenton Waterfront. She’d be on-call to protect approximately 134 miles of New Jersey coastline, and could become very useful as an alter-native hospital in the case of outbreak of an epi-demic or terrorist attack. If area hospitals are filled

to capacity, the ship could provide relief, and would be accessible to helicopters. There are plenty of U.S. Navy ships that are out of commission that would fit the channel of the 25-foot draft up the Delaware River and into the chan-nel to the Trenton Marine Terminal. The ship could make calls to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York during Fleet Week, and would bring great credit to the state of New Jersey and could also be a training base for emergency and maritime medicine. She could rotate students from teaching hospitals throughout New Jersey and the metropolitan area. We have Coast Guard and Navy, so we could get assistance from them. This is a large community project that can be done. That is the vision I have for the New Jersey Maritime Hospital Ship.

Joe Russo’s Vision for a Hospital Ship

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Italian-American Festival Newsletter August 2011

50/50 Scores High Turnout The Super 50/50 drawing for the 2010 festival yielded over $43,000, which was a phenomenal amount for such a drawing. With the support of all festival members and associates, the festival hopes to surpass this amount, but we need your help. To be part of this exciting effort, please contact one of our 50/50 committee members: Joe Sensi: (609) 631-7544 For pre-sold tickets available through the Festival Building Marion Bolton: (609) 396-2944 Selling 50/50’s at the festival Gino Melone: (609) 396-3412 General 50/50 information Special thanks to the Honorable John Bencivengo, Hamilton Township Mayor, the sponsor of our 50/50 tickets.

At the July 11 monthly meeting, 7 festival association members were given certificates of appreciation. From left, members include Gino Melone, John Ricco, Gilda R. Baldassari, Cav. John Scarpati (award presenter), Anthony Chianese, George Mirabelli, Gus Perilli, and Ed DiPolvere.

Calling All Bocce Players!

Bocce Chair Ron Ungarini is looking for players to partici-pate in the bocce games at the festival for all 3 dates — September 23, 24 and 25. If you are interested in joining the games, please contact Ron by e-mail at

ronubocce@gmail.com, or call 609-631-7544.

ITALIAN MOTHERS KNOW

A young Italian man excitedly tells his mother he's fallen in love and that he is going to get married. He says, “Just for fun, Ma, I’m going to bring over 3 women and you try and guess which one I'm going to marry.” The mother agrees. The next day, he brings three beautiful women into the house and sits them down on the couch and they chat for a while. He then says, “Okay, Ma, guess which one I'm go-ing to marry.” She immediately replies, “The one on the right.” “That’s amazing, Ma. You're right. How did you know?” The Italian mother replies, “I don't like her.”

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Italian-American Festival Newsletter August 2011

ITALIAN AMERICAN NIGHT

Wed., Aug. 3rd @ 7:05 pm

Trenton Thunder AA Affiliate of the New York Yankees

Akron Aeros AA Affiliate of the Cleveland Indians

COME OUT FOR A NIGHT OF COME OUT FOR A NIGHT OF BASEBALL AND FUN!BASEBALL AND FUN!

TO ORDER TICKETS OR FOR MORE INFORMATIONTO ORDER TICKETS OR FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT BOBBY PICARDO AT 609PLEASE CONTACT BOBBY PICARDO AT 609--394394--3300, X3300, X--186 186

PROCEEDS GO TO THE MERCER COUNTY ITALIAN PROCEEDS GO TO THE MERCER COUNTY ITALIAN AMERICAN FESTIVAL AND SCHOLARSHIPSAMERICAN FESTIVAL AND SCHOLARSHIPS

$11$11 Per Ticket Per Ticket www.trentonthunder.com 609-394-3300

FUN HERE! HAPPENS

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Free Associate Membership & Volunteer Form Date___________________________________

Come join one of the largest and fasting growing Associations in Mercer County! Membership is FREE and you will be put on our mailing list automatically. We just ask that you help promote our heritage and events. If you would like to be activve, here are some of the activities you may want to participate in: Please check box/boxes if interested:

Office Work Help with On-Site Operations at Festival Join a Committee Help at Monthly Dinners Help at Other Events at MCIAF Center Vendor

50/50 On-site sales Columbus Day Parade Maintenance Help at MCIAF Center

Name:______________________________________ Address:___________________________________________ Occupation:_________________________________City:__________________State:_______Zip:_____________

Telephone: (home)_______________(work)_______________ (cell)_____________E-mail ___________________ FOR FOR MORE INFORMATION, WRITE OR CALL: Cav. John Scarpati, President

Mercer County Italian American Assoc., 2421 Liberty St. Hamilton, N.J. 08629 – phone 609-631-7544. We are a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Italian-American Heritage and Culture Donations are tax deductible and are appreciated.

Website: www.italianamericanfestival.com email: buongiorno2000@optonline.net

Mercer County Italian-American Festival Association

Monthly Meeting

August 1, 2011

at the

Italian Heritage Center

2421 Liberty Street Hamilton, NJ 08629

7:00 p.m.

Refreshments

are served.

Monthly meetings are open to the public.

Upcoming Festival Association

Events

Monthly Pasta Buffet Dinner to be held on

Thursday, August 25, 2011

5 to 8 p.m. at the

Italian Heritage Center 2421 Liberty Street Hamilton, NJ 08629

Come and enjoy the family

atmosphere and entertainment

Door prizes and 50/50 fundraiser

Only $14 for adults

and $7.00 for children

Italian-American Festival Newsletter July 2011

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Columbus Day Ball Fri., Sept. 30

Honorees:

Hon. Pasquale A. Colavita Nina DeBiase Melker

Nottingham Ballroom

Hamilton, NJ

Columbus Day Parade Sun., Oct. 9 1:00 p.m. Raindate:

Mon., Oct. 10

We need volunteers for the parade and the ball.

Please call 609-63-7544 or 609-915-2367

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Mercer County Italian-American Festival Association

Italian-American Heritage Center 2421 Liberty Street

Hamilton, NJ 08629

Monthly MCIAFA Newsletter Publication

or Current Resident

Wear your Italian heritage proudly The Mercer County Italian-American Festival Association has several items for sale bearing the festival’s distinctive logo. Order yours today! Call the Italian Heritage Center at 609-631-7544

Non Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID Trenton, NJ

Permit No. 312