Wilmington Sons & Daughters of Italy Hosting Heritage Month Events

WILMINGTON, MA — The Wilmington Sons and Daughters of Italy will be celebrating Italian Heritage Month in October with a number of events.

The events will include a cooking demonstration, art history lecture, concert, car show and a golf outing, and many will take place at the Wilmington Memorial Library, located at 175 Middlesex Ave.

"These events have been extremely popular in the past and are always filled to capacity," Michele Caira Nortonen, the co-chair of the Italian Heritage Committee, told Patch.

Nortonen continued: "By offering these events and activities to the public at large, residents have an opportunity not only to become familiar with the charitable works and social events of our lodge, but to become members. They need not be of Italian heritage to join, as all are welcome."

According to Nortonen, since selling the lodge several years ago, the organization has donated over $1 million to various national, state and local charities, including helping to fund local projects like: the pavilion at Yentile Park, the playgrounds at North Intermediate School and Woburn Street School, the purchasing of sports uniforms and scoreboards for Wilmington High School and donating a handicapped-equipped van and bingo board to alocal senior center.

Here are the activities coming up during Italian Heritage Month:

• 7 p.m. on Oct. 3: Cooking with Eladio: Learn how to cook the perfect chicken and eggplant parmigiana with Eladio Guevera, the owner of EJ's Fresh Pizza in Wilmington. The event is free and takes place at the Wilmington Memorial Library.
• 7 p.m. on Oct. 6: North End Heritage: Fr. Michael Della Penna, pastor of St. Leonard's Church in the North End, and Dr. Jim Pasto, co-founder of the North End Historical Society, will talk about life in this Boston neighborhood. The event is free and takes place at the Wilmington Memorial Library.
• 7 p.m. on Oct. 13: History of Italian Art: Martha Chiarchiaro, founder of Seeing History, will present an hour-long program focusing on the history of key Italian artists and some contemporary Italian-American artists. The event is free and takes place at the Wilmington Memorial Library.
• 7 p.m. on Oct 14: After Hours Concert: Vocalist Luciano Sandro Russo will sing songs that were made famous by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Vale and Perry Como, plus other Italian Classics. The event costs $10 and takes place at the Wilmington Memorial Library.

To register for events at the Wilmington Memorial Library, contact the library at 978-658-2967.

• 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct 16th: Antique/Classic Car Show: the Dominators Car Club will show off over 200 well-preserved vehicles from yesteryear. The show is free to attend and costs $10 to enter a car in the show. The event takes place in the Old Swain Parking Lot, located at 142 Middlesex Ave.

Information about the car show is available by contacting John Romano at 978-988-8045

• 9 a.m. on Oct. 28: 12th Annual Italian Heritage Golf Classic at Hillview Golf Course: This event costs $150 and 100 percent of the proceeds go to the Alzheimer's Association, Cooley's Anemia Foundation and the Italian Heritage Scholarship Foundation. The entrance fee includes greens fees, golf cart, player gift, driving range, continental breakfast, on-course snack and luncheon buffet. The course is located at 149 North Street in North Reading.

To get more information about the golf tournament — including details about registration, sponsorships and donating gifts for the raffle — contact Kevin Caira at 978-657-7734.