The Perfect Holiday Gift!

Have you been wondering what to get a friend or business associate for New Year's? What about a Nationalities Council of Indiana calendar for 2011!

It's filled with photos of the ethnic organizations that make up the council (and stage the annual International Festival in the Indiana State Fairgrounds).

If one of them represents your ethnic heritage, great! If not, it's a reminder of the world in Indiana!

Groups featured are:
January: Barangay Club of Indiana (Filipino)
February: ATA-IN (Turkish)
March: Italian Heritage Society of Indiana
April: Indiana Partners of the Americas (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
May: Estonian Society of Indianapolis
June: American Indian Center of Indiana (Native American)
July: Society for the Promotion of Persian Culture (Iranian)
August: Indiana State Association of Middle Eastern Teachers and Dancers
September: Indianapolis Latvian Community Center
October: Circle City Lodge of Sons of Norway
November: Czech and Slovak Society of Indiana
December: Taiwanese American Association of Indianapolis

(Yes, there are more than 30 other groups -- those selected for the 2011 calendar were drawn in a lottery!)

There are a few calendars left for holiday giving! Just send a check for $12 (payable to the Nationalities Council of Indiana) to NCI, PO Box 1623, Indianapolis, IN 46206, and we'll wing one out to you -- or to whomever you'd prefer it be delivered! If you enclose a gift card, we'll send that on as well.

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The Award Winners are Announced

Awards for the just-completed 2009 International Festival have been announced. First and second place awards are given to Nationalities Council of Indiana member-groups in each of five categories: theme, educational value, creativity, quality and food. In addition, the best overall culture booth received the grand prize trophy, nicknamed "The Betty".

Winners are as follows:

Creativity: 1st - Confucius Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis; 2nd - India Association of Indianapolis.
Educational value: 1st - Indiana Association of Chinese Americans; 2nd - Italian Heritage Society of Indiana.
Quality: 1st - Sons of Norway; 2nd - Scottish Society of Indianapolis.
Theme: 1st - Taiwanese American Association of Indianapolis; 2nd - Swiss Club Of Central Indiana.
Food: 1st - Taiwanese American Association of Indianapolis; 2nd - German American Klub.
Best Overall Cultural Booth Trophy: Indiana German Heritage Society (pictured).

This year's Volunteer Service award (nicknamed "The Steve") went to Dan and Sophia Anderson.

The outside judges for the awards came from IUPUI.

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Italian Street Festival

Mark your calendars for 12 and 13 June!

Indy's annual Italian Street Festival features over 25 different Italian meats, pastas, salads & desserts. From 3 to 11 p.m. each day, there's live music and dancing, plus games for everyone.

The festival takes place at the corner of East Street and Stevens streets, just southeast of downtown Indianapolis. Admission is free: just pay for your food!

On Saturday (13 June), there is a 4:30 p.m. mass at Holy Rosary Catholic Church. Later in the day, at 6:45 p.m. a colorful, Italian religious procession takes place, which is followed by a second mass at 7 p.m.

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Venetian-Style Carnevale Comes to Indy

Can't make it to Venice for the Carnevale? Head to the Indianapolis City Market on 21 February!

The Italian Heritage Society of Indiana is staging an "elegant evening of Italian cuisine, wines and music" in the market from 7-11 p.m. next Saturday.

While masquerade is optional, it is encouraged!

Tickets include a cocktail, antipasti and dinner catered by Constantino’s, cannolis by Ristorante Lucia, an espresso bar, entertainment by The Indianapolis Opera and a DJ who will play old favorites and current dance music -- plus valet parking.

Advance sale tickets ($65) are available from the IHSI, but tickets for $75 also will be sold at the door.

The Italian Heritage Society of Indianais a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote Italian culture, art, history and language. Membership is open to Italians and all those who appreciate the culture.

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It's Purdue's International Week!

A series of events showcasing a variety of languages, cuisine and cultures will take place at Purdue University during Purdue International Week today through Saturday (22 November).

The kickoff event, called The Amazing Race, was at 1 p.m. today. International Week also will feature one-hour sessions of different languages including German, Hindi, Urdu, Japanese, Russian, Italian, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish and Arabic. Food from these countries will be served during the sessions, which are free and open to the public.

The Singapore Food Festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday (22 November)at the University Church Fellowship Hall, 320 North Street, West Lafayette.

The complete list of the times, dates and venues of all the events taking place during the Purdue International Week is here

Purdue International Week coincides with the International Education Week, which promotes educational programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and seeks to attract scholars from abroad to study in the United States.

Columbus Day Dinner to be held 18 October

An espresso bar will be open throughout the festivities at the annual Columbus Day Dinner sponsored by the Italian Heritage Society of Indiana on 18 October in Embassy Suites North, 3912 Vincennes Road, Indianapolis. The evening begins with cocktails at 6 p.m.

Because they can, each adult dinner will include a glass of wine (entree choices are a petit filet with scampi or portabello lasagna). Cost is $60 per person (and, no, you don't have to be a member of the ethnic group to attend!).

Other highlights of the evening include an opportunity for individual and family photography portraits, the announcement of the Italian Business Person of the Year and the announcement of the Iaria Memorial Scholarship winners.

For tickets, email Ralph Tambasco, call the society at 317:767-7686 or check their website.

Little Italy Festival

Clinton's annual Little Italy Festival is Labor Day Weekend (29 August through 1 September).

Start your exploration of Italian-American culture in west central Indiana right downtown in this Vermillion County town. You'll find Italian food, bocce ball, grape stomping, a unique wine garden, five different museums, a train depot, a coal depot, Italian market, wine museum and you can tour an Italian-American house of the early 20th century.

Hours are "after the parade" (the parade starts at 6 p.m.) until 11 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, and 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday.

New this year is a Spaghetti Sauce Cookoff on 30 August. All sauces must be cooked on site -- and out in the open -- and (just in case you were wondering) the rules state that no contestant may discharge firearms or use any pyrotechnics or explosives at the Spaghetti Sauce Cook-Off. (Doesn't say anything about the spectators, though. Hmmmmmm.)

A Quarter-Century of Ravioli and Italian Ice

The twenty-fifth annual Italian Street Festival is this weekend. Hours are 5 to 11 p.m. both Friday (13 June) and Saturday (14 June) in front of Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church, 520 Stevens Street, Indianapolis. (It's six blocks south of downtown just east of East Street.)

Ravioli, antipasta salads, Italian ice, fetuccine, tortellini, lasagna, cannolis and meatball sandwiches are just a few of the Italian-American specialties for sale. There's also live music, dancing and amusement rides.

Admission is free.

UPDATE:
Due to rain, the Italian Street Festival has been postponed for this evening (Friday, 13 June), Indianapolis Downtown reports.. The festival will resume from 3 to 11 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday) and will extend into Sunday (15 June), also from 3 to 11 p.m.

Traveling to Italy?

Conversational Italian I begins 7 August at the Community Life and Learning Center, 515 East Main Street, Carmel.

It's just one of the foreign language offerings for Summer 2008 from Continuing Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

The course is a series of six classes from 6-8:30 p.m. on Thursdays from 7 August through 11 September. Instructor is Cristiana Tielmann, and the fee is $139.

Online enrollment is available, or call 317:278-7600.

New Zealander Wins the Big One

Scott Dixon, who led for 115 of the 200 total laps, won the 92nd Indianapolis 500-Mile Race yesterday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

This is the first "500" win for the native of New Zealand.

Vitor Meira of Brazil was second, and Marco Andretti, an Italian-American, came in third.

The 93rd Indy "500" is 24 May 2009.

Forum to Feature Foreign Films

Purdue University's Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures is offering movie lovers a trio of international cinema through the 2007 World Film Forum. All three events will take place at 5 p.m. at the West Lafayette Public Library, 208 West Columbia Street, West Lafayette. Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

The forums will take place tomorrow (5 September), 17 October and 7 November, featuring films from Japan, Italy and China, said Silvia Oliveira, an assistant professor of Portuguese and Spanish. All the films, which are free and open to the public, have English subtitles, and Purdue professors will introduce the films and lead a discussion after them.

The movies and speakers are:

* Tomorrow - Kazumi Hatasa, a professor of Japanese, will present "Face of Jizo" (Chichi to Kuraseba, 2004). The film, directed by Kazuo Kuroki, is about a young librarian who struggles with survivor's guilt three years after the atomic blast destroyed Hiroshima.

* 17 October - Elena Coda, an assistant professor of Italian, will present "Excellent Cadavers" (In Un Altro Paese, 2005). This documentary, directed by Marco Turco, tells the story of the big mafia trial that resulted in the 1992 assassinations of the first Sicilian prosecutors to take on the mafia and win. The film explores the current relationship between the mafia and Italian politics.

* 7 November - Weijie Song, an assistant professor of Chinese, will present "To Live" (Huozhe, 1994). This film, by award-winning director Zhang Yimou, covers the experiences of a small family that loses its wealth in the 1940s to the 1970s.

Clinton's Little Italy Festival is Labor Day Weekend

The "Little Italy Festival." in downtown Clinton has filled Labor Day Weekend since 1966. Hours on Friday (31 August) are 5-11 p.m., on Saturday and Sunday (1-2 September) 11 a.m.-11 p.m., and on Monday (3 September), 11 a.m.-9 p.m. If you'd like more information, contact Nancy Dal Sasso, 765:832-7254.

Highlights: parade, on-stage entertainment, carnival rides and games, spaghetti-eating contest; tours of 1904 C&EI passenger depot (houses both a railway museum and one of the few coal museums in the nation, with its full-scale mine walk-through and vintage film of mule-powered mining); open-air shuttle to picturesque Ninth Street 'Little Italy' to visit a 1924 Italian home, learn old-days' winemaking, and purchase unique goods at the Italian store.

Indy's International Cuisine

As Terry Kirts reports in the 25 July issue of NUVO Newsweekly, the best reason to get out your world atlas: new international cuisines:

"A good number of the recently opened eateries both downtown and elsewhere have been offering food from countries not already represented in the pantheon of Indy’s international restaurants. No longer are we just a city of Italian, Mexican and Chinese places. Alongside risotto and taquitos, we now have bacalao, churrascaria and pupusas. Besides BARcelona Tapas, Brazilian Grill on West 86th Street has introduced an entirely new concept of dining with its succulent grilled meats served tableside from giant rodzios. Latin American eateries like Guatelinda have come out from under the Mexican shadow to offer authentic dishes such as plantains stuffed with black beans, pupusas and tamales wrapped in banana leaves. More common cuisines, such as Indian, are turning up in some unusual settings, such as Tadkaa, which offers plenty of Bollywood and Indian pop, as well as vodka cocktails and a full range of Indian beers. With a Somali coffeehouse just east of the airport, Filipino food available in Beech Grove and a new Cuban café called TaTa’s planned for West Market downtown, you’ll want to rush your application for a passport so you can get it stamped all around this increasingly diverse city. Need some help navigating your way? The best local Web site for checking up on restaurants, both ethnic and otherwise, is still Indy Ethnic Food."

Italian Street Festival is next weekend

Indianapolis' summer ethnic festival season kicks off Friday and Saturday with the 24th annual Italian Street Festival.

Food is the star here, with more than 25 different Italian meats, pastas, salads and desserts on sale. Admission is free.

There will be live music and dancing, and games for everyone.

Hours both days are 5-11 p.m. The place is the corner of East and Stevens street (on the near southside of Indianapolis). It's sponsored by Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church with the assistance of the Italian Heritage Society of Indiana.

On Saturday (9 June), there will be a mass at 4:30 p.m. in the church. A colorful, traditionally Italian religious procession takes place at 6:45 p.m. and is followed by a second mass at 7 p.m. The Catholic Choir of Indianapolis will be singing at both masses.

An Afternoon with Italian Authors

An Afternoon with Italian Authors begins at 1 p.m. Sunday (25 March). James Divita and Carol Faenzi will combine stunning photography and inspirational storytelling from their respective books, the recently released Indianapolis Italians and the popular historical novel, The Stonecutter’s Aria.

This program, in Room 141 of Jordan Hall at Butler University in Indianapolis, is designed for all those who love Italian culture and especially art, architecture and the contributions Italians of all walks of life have made to the City of Indianapolis.

Ms. Faenzi’s program is entitled “The White Gold of Carrara” and she will share her own ancestral beginnings, that of her great grandfather who mastered gothic tracery in Carrara, Italy before moving the family to Indiana to carve in Indiana limestone.

Professor Divita, will present “Indianapolis Italians” featuring people and places that demonstrate cultural influences on the City’s art, architecture and music.

This two hour program will include refreshments and a book signing. The event is free and open to the public.

It is sponsored by the Italian Heritage Society of Indiana, is a non-profit organization consisting of persons of Italian descent dedicated to promoting the values and traditions of their Italian heritage.

For information, call Dr. Mary Grace Pennella, 317:508-3956.

Non-English-Speaking? No problem!

The City of Fort Wayne has added language translation links to its official website.

It uses Google Translation Tools to perform the language translations from English into Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic. Flag links for the respective languages can be found on each page on the City’s website.

The new initiative is designed to improve customer service to non-English speaking residents and visitors to the City’s website.

One caveat: "The automated translation services strive to perform the most accurate translations possible, but in some cases, translations may vary. Downloaded forms are not able to be translated at this time," the City notes.

Chinese, Italian and more language courses in Indy

“Beginning Chinese”, an eight-session course, starts 18 January in Carmel. The class will be held from 10 a.m. to noon in the Community Life and Learning Center, 515 East Main Street. Instructor is Lisu Kwong.

The course is offered by Continuing Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis. Fee is $139. For more information and registration, go online.

Classes in conversational French, German, and Italian also are offered this winter through Continuing Studies at IUPUI, plus courses in Japanese, Russian and Spanish.