DETROIT (WXYZ) — Italian Heritage Month kicked off Wednesday with communities across the United States preparing to honor Italian heritage in America and the people who helped build this country.
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Allegra Baistrocchi, consul of Italy in Detroit, is overseeing her final Italian Heritage Month celebration after four years of service. Her office is filled with countless city awards, proclamations, and certificates recognizing her work promoting Italian language, culture, and commerce.
"The part that we love the most is the promotion of Italian language, culture, and commerce, which is something I've really dedicated four years of my life to," Baistrocchi said. "I'm a fourth-generation diplomat, so I adore this job."
Events planned throughout October include a Columbus Day dinner gala on the 13th, a street fair in Mt. Clemens on the 4th featuring a cannoli-eating contest, and an Italian Heritage Night with Detroit City FC.
"With DCFC we're doing an Italian heritage night…football, not soccer, it's football for us," Baistrocchi said.
Lia Adelfi, president of Dante Alighieri Michigan, praised Baistrocchi's impact on the community's cultural representation.
"For the last four years with consul Allegra Baistrocchi, I think we changed the status quo of the idea of an Italian - it's not only food, it's much more, aesthetics, music, language, culture, art," Adelfi said.
This year's celebration includes the dedication of a new aluminum sculpture in Farmington Hills. The leaf-shaped artwork will be placed in Farmington City Hall and represents the immigration experience and leaving behind one's own roots.
A significant preservation effort is also underway with the digitization of the Italian Tribune newspaper. Pamela White, co-publisher of the publication, is working with the consulate to preserve 100 years of Italian community history in southeastern Michigan.
"This is 100 years of what has gone on in the Italian community in southeastern Michigan," White said.
The Italian Tribune, which has been serving the community since 1909, is the longest-running Italian newspaper in the United States and has been run by the same family throughout its history.
"This is an amazing opportunity for Italians in the Detroit area," White said.
Each day during Italian Heritage Month, the consulate will post a story from the Tribune on its social media as a way to honor both Italians in Detroit and the historic newspaper.
Last year's Italian Heritage Month celebration included a mural in Eastern Market that shows the bond between Italy and the United States.
"It really is a testament of this, this is why we have heritage month - it tells about the people that created the US, the US is built on immigrants," Baistrocchi said.
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