Wow, what a weekend!

It is an honor to be President of the FEDERATION of ITALIAN-AMERICAN SOCIETIES of WESTERN NEW YORK during this 100th Anniversary year. I must thank my predecessors for all they did to maintain the continuity of an organization that has meant so much, to so many people, for so many years.

The history of the Federation generally parallels the presence of the Italians in Buffalo. Those immigrants, came to Buffalo for economic or family reasons, without funds or English Language skills, but with a dream to improve their family’s lot in a country they believed to be “La Terra Promessa”, the Promised Land. What they found was tenement life, the stink of a canal and the prejudice of people who considered them inferior. But they endured. And thank God for that!

They overcame prejudice through hard work, sacrifice and an unbending commitment to raising their children to be educated “American”. These children of ... Read more ...