StudioC-036-071111

from Studio C in the heart of America.

Hello, my friends. Welcome back to another of our shows from Studio C in the heart of America,

Mattoon, Illinois, USA. Brian Ngo here. Glad to be with you once again. And this time we've got

a conversation about the Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival coming up on July 22nd,

23rd, and 24th in Wheeling, West Virginia. Chairman of the festival, Bob Gaudio, will be

joining us, as will board member and webmaster Frankie DiCarlantonio.

You may remember we spoke with Frankie about the festival last year. Anyway, I think you're

going to enjoy this. The three of us had a nice conversation by telephone the other morning,

and we began by talking a little bit about the history of the festival.

It was 1983, and the genesis of the festival came about as a result of another Italian festival,

which takes place on Labor Day weekend in Clarksburg, West Virginia, which is approximately

a two-hour drive from Wheeling. But several Italian-Americans,

citizens from this area, would go down regularly to the Italian festival in Clarksburg,

and they became jealous. And when they came back to Wheeling, eventually the four gentlemen sat

down with one another and were willing to invest some money and time, those being Benny Battistelli,

Tony Zambito Sr., Tony Anarelli Sr., and Vince Coliani. Only one of our founders is still alive,

by the way. Vincent Coliani is our only surviving founder.

They all threw $5,000 on the table and said, let's get started. They got the local Italian-American

clubs around the area to throw some representatives into the pot so that they could have some

volunteers. And as a result, in 1983, July, our first festival took place. So we are now

on our 29th festival. And this is, as I understand it,

this is one of the largest Italian festivals in the North American continent or in the nation?

Well, we are the second largest Italian festival in the United States. We are the largest Italian

festival in the state of West Virginia. And we're also named one of the top 10 events in the state

of West Virginia. So in terms of attendance, how many people would you expect will be there during

the course of the festival this year? Brian, it's pretty much a guessing game,

but it's a funny way that they count heads for this festival. We estimate approximately

250,000 people in the three days. The way they estimate it is interesting. The folks

that do that sort of thing or make that calculation, because we do not have any admission price,

you can walk right into our festival grounds without paying admission. They weigh the rubbish,

the refuse. And each pound, 1.4 pounds of refuse equals one festival goer, I am told.

And as a result, we get a head count through that means. It's a very interesting, I think,

non-scientific way. But I can tell you that the streets are packed full of human beings. And it is

just a wonderful event. If you like people, and you like people watching, and you like delicious

food and great music, this is the place to be, July 22nd through 24th in Wheeling, West Virginia.

That's outstanding. So the largest in the nation, I suppose, is New York City?

Yes, it's an 11-day festival, San Gennaro.

And in the 11 days, I think they average 50,000 per day. So they're looking at 550,000 people

that show up for the entire 11 days. I think we average about the same amount of human beings

per day, but San Gennaro is a longer festival, so they win.

Yeah. Could you talk a little bit about some of the activities and some of the special? I know

you've got entertainment, you've got all kinds of Italian food.

Well, we host entertainment on two stages throughout the festival. Our heritage

fourth stage, which is along the Ohio River. And we also have a little Italy cultural stage

in our cultural area, where we offer all Italian music, all Italian food that's sponsored by the

festival. Also this year, a highlight of entertainment things, we do have Dr. Zoot,

which is a local Pittsburgh band. We have Avanti and Raymas' Euro Rhythm.

These are big shows for our entertainment.

We're also hosting the Budweiser Clydesdales on Friday, July 22nd, from 6 o'clock to 8 o'clock p.m.

They will be at our festival then. We have a variety of vendors this year. We have about 90

vendors. So there's going to be great food, great arts and crafts areas, great amusement,

and just a great time.

Now, people are obviously from the area.

They would definitely want to take advantage of this. Do you have folks come from other states and

from some distances for this as well?

Absolutely, Brian. We see busloads of folks that come in from Columbus area, Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania area, Columbus, Ohio area. Folks plan their family reunions around this weekend

so that they can come into town and have their own family get-togethers. But then they come down to

the festival for a little bit of entertainment. So we're going to have a lot of people there.

We're going to have a lot of people there. We're going to have a lot of people there. We're going to have a lot of

people there for some fun and entertainment. So we see local folks come home for this as well as

busloads of folks that come in from all over the region, southern New York. We have had Canadian

visitors. We've even had visitors come over from Italy and England because they read about us online

now on italyfest.com.

I was going to mention the website. There's a wealth of information there, not just about the festival,

but about Italian cooking.

You folks are also involved in offering some scholarships in conjunction with the festival.

Is money raised during the festival for those, or is that a separate part of the organization?

That is our mission, Brian. Actually, in 1987, after four years of having the fair at the festival

and it being so successful, we did have some surplus. As a result, the leaders sat down

and decided that we should do what we believe is a very...

Italian thing to do, which is to invest the monies that were made into our young people, into the

future. And as a result, we have a trust fund, which is not a part of our festival. It is a separate

fund. Once we put money into it, it is invested and it is private monies that will be placed into

every year, whether we exist or not, a scholarship fund. Right now, we give away $14,000, $1,000

scholarships per year. We give away $14,000, $1,000 scholarships per year. We give away $14,000, $1,000 scholarships per year. We

give away $14,000, $1,000 scholarships per year. We give away $14,000 scholarships per year. We give away $14,000 scholarships per year to young people who are

college-bound and who need money, essentially. And it's something that, the reason we work so hard, it's the mission of this

festival to make sure that we take care of the future so that the Italian-American heritage and culture will continue as well as

the young folks of our region, Italian-American or not, will be considered for these scholarships. And it's the best part of what we

do, actually.

That's fantastic. And you also have some other events throughout the year. You have a spring bocce tournament that kind of precedes the festival. All kinds of

information on the website, though. People can, if they go there to ItalyFest.com, they'll find a link to sign up for an email newsletter with news about, you know, what's going on with the festival. And also, they can take a look at your Italian-American of the Year.

This year, that is?

Alphonse Ruggeri. Alphonse is from Steubenville, Ohio, and our county of Jefferson, which is one of the counties to make up the Italian Festival. Alphonse has been a radio host for 37 years, and he hosted the Neapolitan Serenade Hour. The Serenade Hour, it basically connected the

people who lived here in Steubenville to the news and culture, music, and history that happened in Italy.

to the country that they left many years ago.

It was the only link that connected them with the Ohio Valley

to the old country of Italy.

He's been very involved in the community around here.

He has helped start up and ran an Italian-American cultural club

that has 400 members now in Steubenville, Ohio.

He is a great man.

I believe that this is a long overdue honor for him,

and he is very appreciative and proud not only to be Italian

but to be an Italian-American and to be our honoree this year.

That's wonderful.

He actually was born, as I understand it, in Italy

and came to Steubenville as a young man in the late 1940s.

Again, people can see his bio and get more information about that on the website.

Al is a special guy, and that Neapolitan Serenade Hour has been on the air, Ryan,

for several years.

Seventy-one years.

Before Al was the host, Camillo di Lucia was the host,

and Al kind of took it over for him when Camillo retired.

So it's been on the air and a part of our lives as American-Italians for forever.

My grandparents listened to it.

My father and mother listened to it every Sunday morning at 9 o'clock,

and now my sons and daughters listen to it.

So it's a wonderful way to hear the Italian language,

to become...

to become aware of what's happening in the country of Italy

and to help out when necessary because they've raised a ton of money

whenever there were tornadoes or earthquakes or volcanic eruptions in Italy.

Al and Camillo both raised a lot of money to help those folks

when they were in times of need.

I believe that that radio program can be heard online as well.

Indeed.

We'll link to that in show notes so that if people want to check that out,

on Sunday mornings, they can.

There's also a section on your website that has photographs of past festivals,

information about lodging in the area,

also a full listing of festival events and all of that.

Yeah, there's a lot of information on our website.

We have a lot of festival events.

We have between a bocce tournament to festival entertainment

to a homemade wine competition.

And...

There's just so many events that happen throughout the festival

and they're all available on our website to sign up,

to view photos of them from past years and everything like that.

I have to say, Brian, that Frankie DiCarlantonio,

who's seated next to me, is the webmaster of our website

and I think it's an outstanding website

and I wanted to give him some props for that.

Yeah, you too.

It's wonderful.

Everything you could want to know about the organization and the festival is there.

I'm interested in the wine.

I wish I was coming out.

I'm also interested in the pasta.

You've not only got, obviously, vendors and food throughout the festival,

but you're actually going to have an exhibit

where people can kind of learn a little bit more about pasta, right?

We've been doing that for years.

The Sons of Italy Club over in Bel Air, Ohio,

come every year and they do a live pasta demonstration.

They make it from scratch right in front of the crowd.

They have children come up and help them,

and roll the dough, et cetera, and roll it out.

And everybody who attends the pasta demonstration

gets a little taste of fresh pasta with marinara sauce.

And it's always delicious.

And people hang around just for that moment

when they finally say, okay, now we're going to try it.

So it's one of those times of the weekend

that folks look for and ask about

so that they can get their taste of fresh pasta.

There will be fireworks as well?

Our fireworks are on.

Saturday, July 23rd.

They begin at 9.30 p.m.

The fireworks are lit off of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge in Wheeling.

It connects the city of Wheeling to the Wheeling Island.

I think it's a great show.

I think you can ask anyone who comes and watches it.

It's a nice, it's a beautiful show.

It's done by Pyrotechnics by Pursuity.

They're out of Ohio.

And they do a great show every year,

and I don't expect them to let us down this year.

I don't either.

No, it's a great show.

It's a lot of fun.

And 9.30 on Saturday night is when we have the largest of the large crowds

because everybody loves a fireworks display.

And then your bishop from Wheeling

is going to be celebrating Roman Catholic Mass on Sunday morning as well,

as I understand it.

And that's actually at the festival grounds, yes?

Yes, sir.

It's an outdoor mass at the Heritage Port stage,

which is the stage which abuts the Ohio River.

It's a beautiful setting.

Behind the stage, boats go by constantly.

We have lots of boats that tie up to the docks at Wheeling's Heritage Port.

So it's a setting that is just perfect for an outdoor mass.

Bishop Michael Bransfield is the bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston,

will be our celebrant.

And he is bringing, I understand this year,

a bishop from the state of Massachusetts whose name escapes me at the moment,

but he is an Italian-speaking man,

and we expect that he will be giving part.

Part of his sermon in the Italian language.

So it's an outdoor event that should be a part of any American-Italian celebration,

and we are so proud to have the bishop who comes back year after year

because he just loves the idea of celebrating Mass in the open air.

So this gets underway noon on Friday, July 22nd,

and runs until Sunday evening, is that correct?

That's right.

Yeah, we'll be open about 30 hours, Friday, Saturday,

12 hours each, 11 to 11, and noon to 6 on Sundays.

Of course, while Mass is being celebrated at 10 o'clock on Sunday morning,

we will not be open for business.

We're celebrating the Lord's Day at that point.

But we've got some really good events, Brian, that I'm most proud of,

if I could speak to those for just a second.

Absolutely.

On Friday morning, before we even get started,

before we cut the ribbon at noon on Friday the 22nd,

we have a bocce tournament that's very special to this festival.

It's the CRP tournament,

which basically the players are developmentally disabled individuals

who take part in the workshops throughout the Upper Ohio Valley.

We have about eight teams of players who come to play each other from these workshops,

and these developmentally disabled citizens have an opportunity to play bocce

against one another for prizes,

and it is as...

competitive a tournament as you will ever see in the bocce realm, believe me.

And they come to play, and they come to diss each other,

and it is a lot of fun.

And at the end of the day, we get an opportunity to celebrate an aspect of our society

which is often neglected or ignored.

And we think that that is a very, very special event for us as an organization.

Friday morning, we begin about 9 o'clock,

and by the time ribbon cutting comes around, they're about finished,

and we get...

to give the prizes away, and it's a lot of fun.

Another thing that we're very proud of, Brian, is the...

on Saturday at noon, the 23rd,

we celebrate our military veterans as well as our present military personnel

in a tribute ceremony on the main stage at the Heritage Port stage

where veterans from all the branches of the military send representatives.

There's speeches.

There's songs.

And then the empty chair ceremony,

which is a ceremony to celebrate those veterans who died in service to the United States of America,

and that is something that we're extremely proud of

and something that we look forward to every year.

And if you can't get goosebumps at that ceremony,

there's something wrong with you if you're an American, believe me.

Our ribbon cutting is on Friday.

That puts an official start to our festival on the ground,

but also a couple days before the festival,

on Wednesday, July 20th,

we also have an official...

It's a kickoff dinner, and it's used for everyone to get together,

you know, the board, the public, past honorees,

you know, everyone who loves and wants to be a part of this festival,

they come and we join for a kickoff dinner

to honor our Italian-American of the year, Alphonse Ruggieri,

and it's open to the public.

They can call us at any time or email us.

Through our website, we take reservations for the dinner.

They can come and join us if they're in the Ohio Valley,

if they're going to be in the Ohio Valley for the festival,

and that's a great evening day

because we get to sit down and honor a member of our Italian-American community

for all of his work that he has done.

Tickets are like $20.

They can be purchased through our office.

I'm sure that we'll have a phone number or an email link in our show notes.

It's a full buffet dinner.

It's a buffet-style dinner.

There's wine on the tables.

We have a cash bar available throughout the evening

and also entertainment throughout the evening.

And where is that held?

It's held at the McClure Hotel.

It's in Wheeling, West Virginia at 1200 Market Street.

Actually, we're speaking to you from there right now.

Our festival office is part of their complex.

And it's a great event,

and it's something that we look forward to every year.

We call it our kickoff dinner.

It's essentially an opportunity for us to get together

with our fellow American-Italians

and our fellow citizens throughout the Upper Ohio Valley

to celebrate each other

as well as to celebrate the American-Italian of the Year.

And we're looking forward to that Wednesday night

because the next morning we've got to work.

And we work the next four days

to get that festival up and running

and then take it down on Sunday.

Then you have to clean up the 1.4 pounds of refuse.

We do indeed, and it can be a daunting task at times,

but we look forward to it.

But it is a labor of love for this committee

who are all volunteers.

We have one paid employee who's our coordinator,

and everybody else gives their time and effort

for whether we get a T-shirt and a meal at the meetings.

That's pretty much what we...

That's all the booty that we acquire

as a result of our energy that we pour into this festival.

But it gives us back much more, Brian,

than we could ever possibly put into it

because it's such a wonderful feeling

to watch this operate.

And to watch this huge enterprise take place

as a result of our efforts

and knowing that it is celebrating

the Italian heritage and culture

while making money to send children to college,

it can't beat the feeling.

So do you have to be Italian to come to this thing?

You better not have to put that picture on anything.

No, as a matter of fact,

I, as chairman, I'm often on the media,

television, radio,

newspapers,

and one of my stock phrases is

you are an honorary Italian

as soon as you set foot on festival ground.

So if you want to be an Italian,

all you have to do is set foot on the ground

and you will be that while you are visiting with us.

And you can take it home with you if you like.

© transcript Emily Beynon