L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2015 www.italoamericano.org 11 L'Italo-Americano Working to Keep Italian Culture Together C o o r d i n a t i n g t h e 4 6 t h Annual Columbus Day G r a n d b a l l , s p e n d i n g t i m e w i t h d o n o r s a n d o t h e r F e r r a g o s t o 2 0 1 5 C o m m i t t e e m e m b e r s , a n d a c t i n g a s President of the Sons of Italy keeps Jim Cardinale- Hill very busy these days. "Our chapter of the Order Sons of Italy in America is one o f t h e o l d e s t c h a p t e r s i n Southern California," said the President, who "works to tie the Italian Community together." The President said the organiza- tion meets monthly to share the Italian Heritage of its members, u s u a l l y o v e r a " s u m p t u o u s " dinner at an Italian restaurant. Although the chapter has had a heavy attrition rate, according t o H i l l , " W e a r e t r y i n g t o rebuild our organization and are p i c k i n g u p s e v e r a l n e w e r , younger members each month. We are up to 30 active members as compared to 20 last year at this time. We are happy to get 20-25 members at our meet- ings." W e a r i n g n u m e r o u s o t h e r hats, Hill has been responsible for providing a meeting place for the displaced House of Italy ( H O I ) a t O u r L a d y o f t h e Rosary. The city has been reno- vating HOI's regular meeting place in Balboa Park, and their meetings, thanks to Hill, have been held at the church's meet- ing hall. Acting as Vice-President of the Italian Catholic Federation for the church, Hill facilitates meetings, services and fund- raisers on behalf of the church, its community and members. "We provide scholarships to h e l p s e m i n a r i a n s a s w e l l a s putting together venues to pro- vide funding for our church's upcoming 100 anniversary." Hill is currently very excited a n d e n t h u s i a s t i c a b o u t t h e u p c o m i n g F e r r a g o s t o 2 0 1 5 e v e n t b e i n g h e l d o n A u g u s t 1 5 t h a t L i t t l e I t a l y ' s A m i c i Park. He describes his efforts and those of the committee with whom he works as "providing strong finance and marketing strategies which require much time and effort." He said he has been working on selling, mar- keting and underwriting activi- ties to make this year's event bigger and better than the past venues. According to Luke Vinci, S e c r e t a r y o f t h e L i t t l e I t a l y A s s o c i a t i o n , w h o h a s b e e n associated with Ferragosto for the past two years, "It takes an entire year's planning for this event. It is a seven hour party a n d t h e l a r g e s t s c e n a r i o o f Italian-American Festa in the country. It is one event that we're able to have all Italian- A m e r i c a n g r o u p s s t e p u p t o support. He added that the sup- p o r t i s i n t e n d e d f o r O L R C h u r c h , W a s h i n g t o n E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l , a n d o f course the Little Italy communi- ty. "This event is 100% volun- teer led," added Vinci. Hill's contributions to his Italian community do not end in August. He chairs another com- mittee with Co-Chair Stefano DiMenna and together they are c o o r d i n a t i n g e v e n t s f o r t h i s y e a r ' s 4 6 A n n u a l C o l u m b u s Day Grand Ball. ROBERT GALLO "We've upgraded this year's l o c a t i o n t o t h e S h e r a t o n Mission Valley facility with a s p e c i a l m e a l a n d o f c o u r s e , wine and outstanding Italian desserts," said Hill, who also mentioned that dance music and a special "Promenade of Jim-Cardinale hill Queens and Princesses" will be provided as additional enter- tainment. "We were able to keep the prices low because of generous contributions from friends and Italian associations, who were willing to support the extremely i m p o r t a n t c u l t u r a l e v e n t , " recalled Hill. "We'll also have an introduction of Italian VIPs and Italian-American Persons of the Year Awards," said Hill, but did not want to mention names or "give too much away right now." Hill is of Genovese ancestry w h o s e f a t h e r w a s k i l l e d i n WWII. Although born in San Diego County, he was raised in Marin County, lived for a while in Andover, Massachusetts, and later returned to live in San Diego. "My step-father came back here as a last duty assign- ment," said Hill, whose father was in the military. It was in the early 1950s and we've been here ever since." Hill wore a Trustee of the Knights of Columbus of Our Lady of the Rosary Chapter pin and explained that he serves in t h a t c a p a c i t y a s M i n i s t e r o f Hospitality and Member of the Pastoral Council. "As a member of the pas- toral council, I provide input, fundraising and underwriting ideas and concepts to promote growth and membership," said Hill. For the future, the man of many hats said he is working on plans for the new Piazza Famiglia now under construc- t i o n i n t h e m i d d l e o f L i t t l e Italy. "We're thinking of plans for outdoor concerts and other street-type venues.

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