Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Page 3
Italian American Lawyers Association to Stage ‘New York Street Fair’
Will Deliver Italian Dishes to Participants
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Above is a photo taken at last year’s Italian American Lawyers Association “New York Street Fair.” The event will be held this year, via Zoom. |
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By a MetNews Staff Writer
The Italian American Lawyers Association, undaunted by the pandemic, continues to hold meetings on what comes close to a business-as-usual basis, with its third annual “New York Street Fair” slated for tomorrow night.
The “fair” was the brainchild of the 2018 president, Woodland Hills probate/estate planning lawyer Alice A. Salvo. Those attending the event in its first two years, held at Casa Italiana, a meeting hall just north of Chinatown, would stroll from booth to booth, gathering Italian dishes, consumed at tables in the forum.
This year, the event will be conducted via Zoom. But that doesn’t mean that participants will have to microwave Italian food from their freezers and pretend it’s the homemade-style cuisine from the Casa.
President Terri Macellaro explains:
“Lots of fabulous Italian ‘street fair’ food will be available—lasagna with meatballs, sausage & peppers, rice balls, polenta, bruschetta, tomato & mozzarella skewers and Cannoli. A vegetarian option is available that switches eggplant for lasagna, and uses Beyond Meat vegetarian ‘sausage’ rather than meat sausage.”
No ‘Food Replicator’
How is all this possible without a food replicator from the starship Enterprise?
“The Casa wait staff and law students will deliver these meals all over town during the day, so we are supporting our friends who right now are under-employed, with simple instructions on how to heat it up right before the event,” Macellaro says.
“We’ll eat together and then simulate walking through an Italian Street Fair together, stopping to hear a comedian and watch a magician.”
Salvo continues to guide the event. Her husband, Mel Stein, is a former professional magician and Macellaro notes that the prestidigitator who will perform tomorrow is, according to Salvo and Stein, of “world-class” proficiency.
She says that during the stroll, there will be a pause “to have caricature sketches drawn by a caricature artist.”
The lawyer advises:
“We’ll likely have a demonstration on how to make cannoli at home, and some games with prizes.”
Macellaro said yesterday that it’s not too late to register today for the event—at the IALA’s website at http://www.iala.info—but says it’s possible that food delivery will no longer be available. The cost is $15 for “admission”; $30 for admission, with food picked up at Casa Italiana, 1051 N. Broadway; and $35 for admission, food, and delivery in Los Angeles.
Hallmark of Meetings
She says of the event:
“It should be fun, different, and interactive meaning we can all see and talk to each other which has been the hallmark of IALA’s 2020 Zoom meetings.”
Last month, she staged a Zoom meeting which included participation by U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Anthony Kennedy. In July, there were remarks by Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, with appearances by comic Jay Leno and actor Joe Mantegna.
Attendance at the events has exceeded what the live programs have generally drawn in recent years, with more than 200 persons logged-on to last month’s meeting.
Macellaro has attained the perhaps unprecedented feat of causing a presiding judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court to send an email to all bench officers urging participation at a bar event. Kevin C. Brazile on Friday dispatched a “Dear Colleagues” email to judges and commissioners telling of the IALA’s invitation.
The event, which will take place 6 -7:30 p.m., is co-sponsored by the MultiCultural Bar Alliance.
Copyright 2020, Metropolitan News Company