Top 10 Reasons to Attend Tonight's Event "Networking Sicilian Style" at Casa Italia Chicago

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Buongiorno amici!  My name is Salvatore and I am the executive director of the Chicagoland Italian American Professionals.  If you haven't already signed up for tonight's event, I am now going to give you 10 outstanding reasons to drop everything and attend tonight's event. Tonight's event is very exciting for me probably because my parents are from a small town near Palermo, Sicily.  So hear are 10 really wonderful reasons to attend tonight's event at Casa Italia in Stone Park.

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1. Pane e Panelle

Pane e Panelle are chick pea fritters.  One of the most typical "street foods" available in Palermo and especially in the Vucciria Vecchia which is the street market in Palermo. 

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2. Caponata

​Caponata.  A delicious tasty appetizer dish consisting of eggplant, tomato sauce and other vegetables cooked to perfection

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3. Anelli al Forno

Anelli al forno.  A mouth watering baked pasta dish very typical in Sicily consisting of ring shaped pasta baked with ground beef, peas and a light cream sauce.

4. Cannoli

Everybody loves cannoli!  This tube shape dessert is found everywhere in Sicily.  It's a pastry cream filled treat that is delicious to the last bite!

5. Nero D'avola

Nero d'Avola (Italian pronunciation: [ˈneːro ˈdaːvola]; "Black of Avola" in Italian) is "the most important red wine grape in Sicily"[1] and is one of Italy's most important indigenous varieties. It is named after Avola in the far south of Sicily and its wines are compared to New World Shirazes, with sweet tannins and plum or peppery flavours. It also contributes to Marsala blends. "compliments of wikipedia"

6. Learn about the rich and colorful history of Sicily

​Presentation on the history of Sicily provided by: Dr. Louis DeFilippi

​Dr. DeFilippi has a strong interest in his family genealogy, having discovered more than 2,000 relatives, mostly from Sicily, with diverse ancestry including Egyptian, Norman (Viking), Albanian, Greek, Cypriot, and Swabian as well as Slave, Nobel, Jewish and Crusader backgrounds, amongst others. He has copies of Catholic Church baptismal and marriage records dating back to 1528, with ancestors born under the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella.

7. Learn about the culture of Sicily

Presentation on the culture of Sicily provided by Gianluca Butticè. 

​Gianluca was born in Agrigento, Sicily, with a passion for inter-culturalism and traveling.  He lived in Sicily for over 25 years and then, as an hospitality worker, he moved to other Italian regions. Afterward, he decided to move to Canada first and then to the United States.

In Chicago he has pursued and obtained a degree in Hospitality Management and Occupational Psychology from DePaul University. Besides working as a travel planner to Italy, he teaches Italian and even Sicilian language from years. Sharing knowledge about his native language and culture is something akin to a mission for him.

His involvement with CIAP originated at the beginning of the year 2015 when he met Salvatore, the Executive Director of the organization, with whom he shares Sicilian roots. CIAP is a unique place for him and for you to celebrate the language, the culture, and all the great things “il bel paese” has to offer.

8. Learn about the wines of Sicily

Presentation on wines of Sicily given by Dr. Kathryn Occhipinti.

​Dr. Kathryn Occhipinti is a radiologist of Italian-American descent who has been teaching the Italian in the Peoria and Chicago areas for about 10 years. During that time, she founded Stella Lucente, LLC, a publishing company focused on instructional language books designed to make learning a second language easy and enjoyable for the adult audience. 

Using her experiences as a teacher and frequent traveler to Italy, she wrote the “Conversational Italian for Travelers” series of books, which follow the character Caterina on her travels through Italy, while at the same time introducing the fundamentals of the Italian language and culture.

9. Learn about Casa Italia

Brief overview given by Sal Intile, a Casa Italia board of director member.
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Mission Statement: ​“Casa Italia is a home for all Italian-American organizations in the Chicago area.  Here, we meet to pursue common goals, preserve our past, celebrate our heritage  and ensure passage of values to future generations.”

10. Visit the Sicilian Cultural Museum

​Tour of the museum given by ​Dominic Candeloro.  He is the Curator of the Casa Italia Library, authors of numerous books on Italians in Chicago, former president and executive director of the American Historical Association (now Italian American Studies Association).  He was Executive Director of the Italians in Chicago NEH project 1979-1982 that collected archives, oral histories, and created a variety of exhibits and books related to Italians in Chicago.

The Sicilian Heritage Museum was founded in 2004 by Josette Mentesana Weber in collaboration with the Regional Association of Sicilians in America and the Sicilian American Cultural Association. It is located on the second floor of the Italian Cultural Center in Stone Park, Illinois. Our primary goal is to inform the public about Sicilian culture past and present. Our current exhibits focus on the handicrafts of Sicily: needlework, ceramics, cart-painting, and jewelry design. We are also pleased to have traditional costumes of the late 19th/20th Century. There are also numerous photographs of life in Sicily which provide portals to future exhibits. A real jewel of our museum is the artwork of John Bucci depicting a breathtaking view of Mount Etna, a symbol of home to all Sicilians.

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