ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 3, 1996 TAG: 9609030104
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOANNE POINDEXTER STAFF WRITER
When Elizabeth Richardson met Michael Buscemi, she commented about his last name.
He wanted to know how she knew he was Italian. Because, Richardson told him, she was, too.
That conversation endeared Richardson and Buscemi to each other and became the basis for the chartering of Order Sons of Italy in America, Seven Hills Lodge No.2694.
Buscemi, whose grandparents were born in Sicily, had belonged to a lodge when he lived in Florida, and he wanted to join one when he moved to Lynchburg four years ago.
Since there wasn't one in Central Virginia, he and Richardson - whose grandparents were immigrants - and real estate agent Domenic A. Forlano decided to start a lodge.
The culmination of their effort is an organization with 30 members from the Lynchburg-Bedford area that is sponsoring the Italian Festival of the Seven Hills I, starting Thursday in Forest in eastern Bedford County.
Lodge members have spent almost two years lining up national talent, finding and developing a site and marketing the festival.
Daisy Pisano, Richardson's mother, has been teaching spelling and pronunciation of Italian words to Buscemi, who has become known as "capo de la festa," or head of the festival.
And although the festival won't have an Italian band as a highlight, there will be arts and crafts from various cultures, and an Italian comedian will entertain each night.
Richardson said the lodge didn't have the money or time to recruit an Italian band for the first festival, but next year will be different.
But, Buscemi added, "We will have wholesome family entertainment." He said the group tried to pick bands that appeal to the 35-to-50 age group and then planned activities for children.
"We wanted to do fun things so that we can raise money for charity and assist the community," Richardson said.
The festival has received support and cooperation from the business community and should have a significant impact on the economy of the Lynchburg-Bedford region, Buscemi said.
The Atlanta Rhythm Section, Firefall, Three Dog Night and the Drifters headline the festival, which will be held at a 15-acre field on U.S. 221 in Forest.
Shuttle buses will carry patrons from parking areas to the main gate. Admission is $7.50 for adults, $4.50 for seniors and for children under 13. Activities start Thursday at 3 p.m. and at noon Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The festival will have 15 carnival rides, two stages (one of them for children's entertainment), 40 booths for artists and craftsmen and 20 business booths.
The 10 food tents will feature 20 types of Italian food, with no dish costing more than $5. Pisano said desserts will be the highlight.
Skydivers will jump every evening and a fireworks display will be held Saturday after the Three Dog Night concert.
Festival-goers also will get a chance to learn to play bocce, what 71-year-old Nick Pollotta calls "bowling on the grass." He says the lawn game is the second-largest participative sport - soccer is first - in the world, except in the United States.
Pollotta, a retired masonry contractor, predicts the festival "is going to be amazingly big."
The event, he said, was the catalyst for starting the Seven Hills lodge of Order Sons of Italy in America and will help the lodge, named after the seven hills of Rome, carry out its goals of preserving the cultural heritage of Italian-Americans, providing community services and strengthening business.
Festival proceeds will be used to establish music or dance scholarships at the Virginia School of the Arts in Lynchburg and will benefit Habitat for Humanity projects in Lynchburg and Bedford County, fire and rescue squads in Campbell and Bedford counties, the Marine Corps League and the Virginia Militia.
The Order Sons of Italy was founded in New York in 1905 and has eight lodges in Virginia. Despite the name, about 40 percent of the members are women.
The Seven Hills lodge members include a brick mason, electrician, draftsman, real estate agent, loan officer and teacher, and all are either first or second generation Italian-Americans. The youngest is 25 and Pisano, at 91, is the oldest.
Italian Festival of the Seven Hills I
Thursday - 3-11 p.m.
Skydivers - 6 p.m.
Atlanta Rhythm Section - 8:30 p.m.
Friday - Noon -11 p.m.
Skydivers - 6 p.m.
Firefall - 8:30 p.m.
Saturday - Noon until midnight
Skydivers - 6 p.m.
Three Dog Night - 8:30 p.m.
Fireworks - 10 p.m.
Sunday - Noon until 8 p.m.
Skydivers - 4 p.m.
Drifters - about 6 p.m.
Directions from Roanoke: Take U.S. 460 east to Waterlick Road, go west to Virginia 811 to U.S. 221 and look for parking signs.
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