Our News is Written in Stone™
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thousands attend Little Italy Festival
Event offers dancing, music, food and moreBy Brian M. BoyceThe Tribune-Star
CLINTON — As the sun shone brightly in the latest of August days, thousands of people mingled down South Water Street in Clinton, toward the sounds of music and dancing, with the Wabash River flowing near by.“I’d say there’s been at least 3,000 to 4,000 people this morning,” Little Italy Festival organizer Dee Ugo guessed about 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon, adding that several times that number had been there Friday evening with more yet to come this afternoon.Jerry Zanandrea, who along with his wife Susan, serve as the Re and Regina of the 43rd annual festival, said the 82 degrees of sunshine made for a great turnout.“It’s really weather dependent,” Jerry said from the main stage’s band shelter. High school kids danced in unison for the crowd before them, roses in their teeth. “When you get great weather like this, the crowds really come out.”Zanandrea’s parents, Marco and Rose, were Re and Regina in 1973, and his brother and sister-in-law, Marco and Donna held the titles two decades later in 1993, with his sister and brother-in-law Marilyn Hrovat Wilson and Ray Hrovat serving in 1999. Jerry’s grandfather, Christoforo Zanandrea, was a bricklayer who came to work in America’s coal mines in 1910, with his grandmother Giovanna bringing their children over in 1914, he said.Zanandrea participated in the annual mustacchio contest along with Robert Steed, Dirk Foltz, Jim Hutts and George Hamke, bringing along a flag with his facial hair.“The flag is the old flag from the Veneto Providence,” he said, explaining his ancestral connections to Venice can be traced to 1200 A.D. and most likely go back further.And as the streets were filled with Italian sausage, fried vegetables and deep-fried twinkies, a mix of the “old country” was also in play.In a tent on the corner of Main and Mulberry streets, Nancy Dal Sasso, president of the Little Italy Festival, kept the pots boiling at the festival’s first to-be-annual spaghetti sauce cook-off.“There are very few spaghetti cook-offs in the nation,” she said, noting the group has been trying to organize the contest for years. Four teams and two individuals competed in the inaugural event, with the rules and contest format looking identical to other cooking battles.“It’s really similar to a chili cook-off,” she said, explaining that the sauces must be cooked on-site with ingredients. No store-purchased sauces were allowed, and the winners were determined by purchased tickets used as votes at each booth.Sauces were cooked from noon to 3 p.m., with tasting done between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m.Winning the Team People’s Choice award was “The Super Saucers,” a collaborative effort on the part of 37 Van Duyn Elementary School third-grade students from the classes of Dorothy Myers and Jill Wright.“We’ve had a lot of people come through,” Myers commented earlier in the day, as 18 third-graders helped boil up their own homemade spaghetti sauce. “The weather’s been perfect.”The Individual People’s Choice winner was Marcy Vorchers, with Individual Showmanship taken by Jana Hillyer. Vorchers also won the Judges’ Individual Choice, with Team Showmanship taken by “The Three Muskateers,” Archie Poletto, Bruce Stengal and Henry Antini.The Team Judges’ Choice was won by Aaron and Dave Kendall.“I’m really pleased with the first time,” Dal Sasso said.Grape-stomping and pizza eating contests are in store this afternoon, with a meatball eating contest set for Monday, along with more dancing and music along the Wabash River’s edge.
Event offers dancing, music, food and moreBy Brian M. BoyceThe Tribune-Star
CLINTON — As the sun shone brightly in the latest of August days, thousands of people mingled down South Water Street in Clinton, toward the sounds of music and dancing, with the Wabash River flowing near by.“I’d say there’s been at least 3,000 to 4,000 people this morning,” Little Italy Festival organizer Dee Ugo guessed about 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon, adding that several times that number had been there Friday evening with more yet to come this afternoon.Jerry Zanandrea, who along with his wife Susan, serve as the Re and Regina of the 43rd annual festival, said the 82 degrees of sunshine made for a great turnout.“It’s really weather dependent,” Jerry said from the main stage’s band shelter. High school kids danced in unison for the crowd before them, roses in their teeth. “When you get great weather like this, the crowds really come out.”Zanandrea’s parents, Marco and Rose, were Re and Regina in 1973, and his brother and sister-in-law, Marco and Donna held the titles two decades later in 1993, with his sister and brother-in-law Marilyn Hrovat Wilson and Ray Hrovat serving in 1999. Jerry’s grandfather, Christoforo Zanandrea, was a bricklayer who came to work in America’s coal mines in 1910, with his grandmother Giovanna bringing their children over in 1914, he said.Zanandrea participated in the annual mustacchio contest along with Robert Steed, Dirk Foltz, Jim Hutts and George Hamke, bringing along a flag with his facial hair.“The flag is the old flag from the Veneto Providence,” he said, explaining his ancestral connections to Venice can be traced to 1200 A.D. and most likely go back further.And as the streets were filled with Italian sausage, fried vegetables and deep-fried twinkies, a mix of the “old country” was also in play.In a tent on the corner of Main and Mulberry streets, Nancy Dal Sasso, president of the Little Italy Festival, kept the pots boiling at the festival’s first to-be-annual spaghetti sauce cook-off.“There are very few spaghetti cook-offs in the nation,” she said, noting the group has been trying to organize the contest for years. Four teams and two individuals competed in the inaugural event, with the rules and contest format looking identical to other cooking battles.“It’s really similar to a chili cook-off,” she said, explaining that the sauces must be cooked on-site with ingredients. No store-purchased sauces were allowed, and the winners were determined by purchased tickets used as votes at each booth.Sauces were cooked from noon to 3 p.m., with tasting done between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m.Winning the Team People’s Choice award was “The Super Saucers,” a collaborative effort on the part of 37 Van Duyn Elementary School third-grade students from the classes of Dorothy Myers and Jill Wright.“We’ve had a lot of people come through,” Myers commented earlier in the day, as 18 third-graders helped boil up their own homemade spaghetti sauce. “The weather’s been perfect.”The Individual People’s Choice winner was Marcy Vorchers, with Individual Showmanship taken by Jana Hillyer. Vorchers also won the Judges’ Individual Choice, with Team Showmanship taken by “The Three Muskateers,” Archie Poletto, Bruce Stengal and Henry Antini.The Team Judges’ Choice was won by Aaron and Dave Kendall.“I’m really pleased with the first time,” Dal Sasso said.Grape-stomping and pizza eating contests are in store this afternoon, with a meatball eating contest set for Monday, along with more dancing and music along the Wabash River’s edge.
Archives
March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 December 2009 January 2010 February 2010
