FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact:   Elissa Ruffino (NIAF) 202/939-3106 or elissa@niaf.org

(Washington, DC – September 22, 2003) This year marks the 27th anniversary of the designation of October as Italian American Heritage Month by the President. To celebrate, the National Italian American Foundation, the premier ethnic organization for Italian Americans, is hosting a series of free beginner Italian language classes and walking tours to highlight Italian and Italian American contributions in five U.S. cities. All tours and classes are free and open to the public.

In Boston, Massachusetts, NIAF has scheduled a series of four beginner Italian classes each week in October. The classes are taught by native Italian teachers at the Dante Alighieri Society in Cambridge. Also in Boston are two walking tours at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 12 and Saturday, October 18, with professional guides from NorthEndBoston.com.

A series of five beginner Italian language classes in Chicago, Illinois are planned at Italidea on Thursday evenings beginning October 2nd. A walking tour, lead by Italian American historian and author Dominic Candeloro, is scheduled for October 11 at 10 a.m. at the NIAF’s office in Chicago.

In the Metropolitan DC area, a series of four beginner language classes will be offered on Monday evenings throughout October at the Italian Cultural Society, Friendship Heights.

The Foundation is also hosting three walking tours in Manhattan on October 13 at 2 p.m., October 19 and October 25 at 10:30 a.m. The tours are provided by “I’ll Take Manhattan.” Four classes on the Italian American experience will be conducted at the SUNY Stony Brook Manhattan campus on each Thursday in October.

Two walking tours in San Francisco, highlighting the history and contributions of Italian Americans in North Beach, are scheduled for October 13 and October 25 at 2 p.m. by North Beach Tours.

Each walking tour is approximately 1 ½ hours. All language classes are for beginners. To reserve a tour and/or classes, call 800-989- NIAF ext.160