La Banda Rossa: August 21, 2011 - St. Rosalia Procession and Concert Utica, NY

Besides the Society itself, there are two strong crutches still “holding up” the Feast of St. Rosalia – Pizza Fritta and The Red Band. People still show up for good Italian food and music.

We assembled Sunday morning in front of the St. Rosalia Chapel to escort the Statue to Mt. Carmel Church for Mass. A small handful of Society members walked along with us.

After Mass the Procession began with the Prayer on the steps of the Church. Four young girls said the Prayer in Italian and tossed rose petals in the air as they shouted “Viva Santa Rosalia”.

Everyone was ready for the Procession to begin – the Banner carriers were at the front, three men were waiting to wheel the Statue, the Band following the Saint ready to play. We had a minor delay with the police car escort not showing up on time to safely lead us through the streets of East Utica. The Police finally arrived and we began our walk.

We stopped for a Prayer at businesses that gave support to the Feast, Grimaldi’s Restaurant, O’scugnizzo’s Pizzeria, Caffe Caruso, Giuseppe’s Bakery, and Sons of Italy - then to a private home on Elizabeth St. before returning to the Chapel.

The girls recited one last Prayer before the Statue was placed back in the Chapel.

We then got ready to play our concert from 4-6pm. The audience turnout was fairly nice – granted an older group – lost in their memories of what the St. Rosalia Feast once was. The music helped them relive those times.

We had a good size band for the concert – 36 musicians, along with our announcer Pat Santacroce, and conductor Professoressa Arlene Iagnocco.

St. Rosalia can still boast of having the largest, fluffiest, most delicious Pizza Fritta. We had to do without the help of Pierre Iagnocco for this job. He was in the kitchen along with Phil and Gloria Enea and other Society members preparing all the food. Having a smaller feast than past years also brings along a more limited but delicious menu of homemade food.

Mention must be given to the Piazza family, our own trumpet player Johnny along with his daughter Diane and other family members who spent countless hours to keep this tradition going year after year.

It’s heartbreaking to see but the old neighborhood is changing rapidly and so many are gone – including Society members Peter Adamo, Vinny Dacquino, and most recently Past President Angie Piazza.

However, St. Rosalia did manage a miracle – the weather forecast called for severe storms and strong winds. The area all around us was miserable but except for a few sprinkles St. Rosalia kept the storms at bay and even cleared the skies for sunshine at the close of the concert.