st
# 77 MARCH 21 , 2016
lian” happen during the
festival?
Fist I want to tell you that
the Tontitown Grape Festival is the only grape
festival in Arkansas: it has
been going on for 117 years. During the grape festival there are spaghetti
dinner services for three
nights: Thurdsay, Friday
and Saturday night. Thousands of people participate to the Festival. They
come from everywhere,
some people even from
California. Not all of them
are Italians, of course.
the May event, which is a city is the Tontitown Grape
big pic-nic: games, bocce Festival: it has been going
playing … it’s in the park. on for over a hundred years. Does something “ItaIs there a place that has a
particular importance for
There is an arts and crafts
the Italian history in Tonsection; there’s a race caltitown and its surroundinled “Run for the Grapes”;
gs?
we have music. There’s
a beauty contest called
Yes, we have a monument
“Queen Concordia”
in front of the city hall, dedicated to the immigrants.
Enrico Tonti was an Italian
It has engraved on its base
explorer, as Christopher
all the names of the origiColumbus was. As an Itanal 42 settlers, and their
lian American who knows
families. There’s a statue
the story of the former,
in the Valle del Pasubio in
what do you think about
Italy very similar to it, and
the recent attacks to the
that’s where my husband
latter?
had the idea: so we built
a statue for the immigranWe don’t know what Cots on the 100 year annilumbus had in mind at
versary of the founding of
that time. I don’t think it
Tontitown, in 1998.
is a fair conclusion to judge facts and people from
The major event of your
WE THE ITALIANS | 11
www.wetheitalians.com