Change, Improvements coming to Italian Festival

The annual Italian Festival will take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday, August 5, 6 and 7 with food, entertainment and more.

The annual festival for the lodge that was founded in 1925 will feature a few improvements this year, said John DeBenedetto, a club member, the financial secretary and membership chairman.

Those include a tent for pastries, including an espresso bar, canoli made as they're ordered and gelato made in Maine and imported for the event. Another treat making its first appearance at this year's festival is the Manhatten Special, an espresso soda that has been manufactured in Brooklyn since 1883.

"It's food, family and friends," DeBenedetto said. "This year we're going to pack the canolis as ordered."

The food will be prepared by Rocco Perna and Armando Roma. The menu includes chicken parmigiana, linguine & clam sauce, tripe, eggplant, pasta and meatballs, sausage & pepper grinders, pizza fritta/zeppoles, hot dogs for the children and the pastry/gelato tent.

The number of the lodge, 160, is important, because the numbers are given out in the order that clubs were formed, so for an organization formed in 1905, the Danbury club was formed 20 years later, ranking it 160. Newer clubs around the country are up as high as 2409, said DeBenedetto. The number matters.

Club President Bruno Tropeano said people who visit the festival this year will see numerous improvements to the entrance, to the interior of the club and to two new pavillions. One is for outdoor dining, dancing and drinking. The second, which is about 80 percent complete, is for bacci.

"We want to build a bacci court for the kids," Tropeano said. "It goes back to Roman days. We really tried to improve the grounds. People will see the difference."

The entrance as repaired stone walls, pillars and lights are being added. Inside the clubs, the bathrooms were renovated, walls in the building were painted and new lighting was added.

"We want it to be more appealing," Tropeano said.