What started out in the early 1980s as a simple picnic in the park for members of the Sons of Italy Shasta Lodge #2453 shortly after the lodge was formed has evolved during the ensuing decades into a two-day Festa Itialiana and community celebration called Paesano Days.
From 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, July 31, and from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, August 1, in Anderson River Park, everyone is declared an "honorary Italian," organizers have long boasted.
Bocce tournaments, children's games, a craft fair, live music, dancing, conversation, people watching and plates filled with delicious Italian foods such as pasta, meatballs and, of course, Italian sausage sandwiches are all part of the experience, said Jim and Rose Nobili of Redding.
The Nobilis are helping to promote this year's Paesano Days.
"As the years passed, some of our members and their frequent guests thought that maybe there was more to the picnic than just a day in the park for lodge members," Jim Nobili said.
The lodge members decided that since everyone enjoyed the affair so much, that it should become a full-blown celebration of Italian heritage and the public should be invited, he added.
"The makeshift bocce courts were canned and the courts that are in place now were designed and built by Shasta Lodge members and donated to Anderson River Park," Nobili continued.
Paesano Days kicks off Friday evening with a spaghetti dinner served from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for children age 12 and younger.
A Food Court opens Saturday and barbecued chicken dinners are served from 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m.
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
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