The much anticipated 52nd annual Villa Rosa Italian Festival will be held on the Villa Rosa grounds on September 11, 2016. Holy Rosary parishioners, Darlene and Nick Battista, who have managed the festival since 2007, have been working overtime to ensure the success of this fundraising event.
About 100 volunteers help with the festival, including with the clean-up and preparation of the grounds before the event. Two locally grown bands will perform this year: “The No Where Men,” formed in the 1970’s, and the “I-Talians,” a pop/rock band made up of Italians living in Washington, D.C., whose goal is to export modern Italian music to the United States.
Guests can also enjoy the variety of Italian foods that will be prepared onsite, including pizza, polenta and home made sausage. A number of Italian American organizations are helping with the event, including the Abruzzi and Molise Heritage Society and the Lido Civic Club, whose members oversee the grilling station.
The festival has traditionally been held at Villa Rosa, a retirement home designed by the late Holy Rosary parishioner and architect Anthony Campitelli. He laid out the building in the form of a cross with arms of equal length. His plan allowed the building to be erected in stages, as space was needed and as funds became available. Villa Rosa opened in 1967.
Funds raised from the Italian Festival support Villa Rosa and Holy Rosary Church.
(From various sources))
