Italian Festival Coming to Montville
Montville UNICO sponsoring first four-day San Gennaro feast in September.
Montville UNICO is bringing the sounds and flavors of Italy to Montville with a four-day San Gennaro feast this month.
The feast and festival is being held Sept. 13-16 at the field behind the Montville Township Public Library. It will feature carnival rides, Italian music, Italian food and more, according to Gene Maddalena, a Montville UNICO member and co-chair of the event.
Maddalena said it is only fitting that UNICO sponsors the event.
"UNICO is the largest Italian-American service organization in the country," he said.
The civic organization offers scholarships and grants to residents of Montville and neighboring communities. UNICO also helps provide service to families in need, including donating more than 1,200 turkeys to families last Thanksgiving, Maddalena said.
Montville UNICO will sponsor the event but proceeds will help support the organization. This is the first year UNICO is attempting to put on the festival, which Maddalena said is intended to fill the void left by the cancellation of Montville Day. When Montville UNICO learned Montville Day was not being funded this year, he said the organization decided to move forward with the event, which is hosted annually by other UNICO organizations in the country.
"Montville Day drew around 5,000 people so we're hoping for at least the same," Maddalena said.
russ pisano
8:53 am on Tuesday, September 4, 2012
I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS EVENT. ALL MY UNICO MEMBERS AND FRIENDS HAVE BEEN WORKING HARD TO GET THE WORD OUT. WHY GO TO NEW YORK TO CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF SAN GENNARO WHEN YOU CAN DO IT RIGHT IN YOUR BACK YARD HERE IN MONTVILLE??
Gary Lewis
12:51 pm on Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Oh great...just what I need....sausage and peppers and fried zeppoles right in my backyard! You bet we'll be there....can't wait. And no parking hassles like NYC! Gary Lewis