In partnership with our friends from the Comitati delle Due Sicilia USA and Argenio Napoli, Il Regno descended on Washington DC Saturday morning for the National Italian American Foundation’s 42nd Anniversary Expo and Gala at the festively decorated Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. Unfortunately, we were unable to make Friday night’s kick off party.
Celebrating Sicily, NIAF’s 2017 region of honor, a wide variety of merchants and vendors set up shop and displayed their wares throughout the convention hall. As expected the expo was predominantly Sicilian, but other regions of southern Italy were well represented. For example, Rossella Rago and her delightful nonna Romana from the popular Cooking With Nonna web show were promoting their new eponymous cookbook loaded with traditional recipes from Puglia.
Neapolitan high fashion was on display in our Salvatore Argenio stall, which featured an array of top quality articles from Argenio’s elegant and stylish Borbone collection. Silk ties, watches and ladies handbags emblazoned with the historic coat-of-arms of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies were clearly the hot items.
Our Comitati table, laden with buttons, books, pamphlets and flyers about the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, was also well received. We drew many interested attendees, including, to our great delight (and surprise), HRH Princess Beatrice di Borbone delle Due Sicilie.
Working hard, we were unable to partake in the many lectures and programs the expo had to offer, but whenever possible we made time to visit friends and make new connections. I was fortunate enough to catch the beginning of Tony De Nonno’s enchanting presentation of the century-old Papa Manteo Sicilian Marionette Tradition. Well attended, I was happy to see so many children enjoying the show.
As luck would have it, our booth was close enough to the stage to enjoy the musical stylings of Villa Palagonia, a Sicilian American folk-pop duo featuring our friends Allison Scola and Joe Ravo.
With nearly all of our merchandise snatched up, the 2017 expo came to a successful close.
Packing up the remnants of our stock, we retired to our rooms to freshen up and change into our finest finery for the upcoming gala.
With fortuitous timing, we ran into HRH Princess Beatrice and her aide-de-camp Justin Morin-Carpentier in the hotel lobby, and to the envy of our colleagues, had the great honor of escorting them to the cocktail reception. Naturally, our fellow Constantinians and socialites rallied around our Princess and vied for a moment of her time.
Nearly two thousand attendees (by my estimation) packed into the enormous dining room. We took our seats, greeted the other guests at our table, and enjoyed a delicious dinner and live entertainment by Alessandra Salerno, the Sicilian Tenors and Emmy-nominated Alfio, among others.
After Msgr. Peter J. Vaghi’s invocation and the singing of the American and Italian National Anthems by Carmelo Sorce, co-hosts Maria Bartiromo and NIAF President John M. Viola took the stage and began the award ceremony.
This year’s honorees were Jon DeLuca, NIAF special achievement award in business; Vittorio Grigolo, NIAF special achievement award in music; Alessandro Profumo, NIAF special achievement award in finance; Nick Stellino, NIAF special achievement award in humanitarian service; Andrew M. Cuomo, in recognition of his longstanding support of the Italian American community and his leadership on behalf of Columbus Day and saving Columbus Circle statue; and HRH Princess Beatrice di Borbone delle Due Sicilie, NIAF special achievement award in philanthropy.
The event came to a close with NIAF’s Board of Directors honoring a clearly emotional John Viola, who announced he was stepping down as President and Chief Operations Officer last September to pursue other ventures. A true warrior and champion of our people, we wish him all the best and much success in the future.
John dutifully and competently served as NIAF President and COO over the past six years and will be leaving big shoes to fill. Having gotten to know him personally in recent years, I am sure his presence will be sorely missed. His love for his people and culture is an inspiration to us all.
Far from over, the fun continued well into the night at the “Italian Karaoke After Party” in the hotel bar and lounge. Spirit of choice in hand, my friends and I watched with great amusement the ardent attempts at singing and dancing by the young at heart. A stick-in-the-mud, I resisted my friends prodding and I spared my fellow revelers the agony of my singing voice.
