Honorary Italian of the Year

I was honored by the 28th Annual West Virginia Italian Festival as the Honorary Italian Man of the Year. I really enjoyed the festival and a lot of really great things happened. The honorees dinner was one of the nicest events that I have ever attended. My family got to attend and I know they enjoyed getting together with a lot of friends from our community.

The other honorees were State Senator Joe Minard, Professor Carolyn Adkins and Assistant State Superintendent of Schools Pamela Cain. Also, the Parade Marshall was Richard Skinner, the Inspector General for the office of Homeland Security. I used to deliver papers to Richard's parents when I was a young paperboy.

The Italian Heritage Festival is one of the largest in West Virginia and has a great history of bringing in incredible talent and honored guests. I had the opportunity to meet Judge Scalia at the festival. They do such a great job of organizing and making everyone feel welcome. I was happy to experience the festival as an honoree for it is truly an experience.

I should also mention that the queen of the festival was a beautiful young lady from Charleston, West Virginia. Her aunt is a former classmate of mine from Notre Dame High School. She was a princess at the festival when she was younger and I can't imagine the thrill it was for her family and friends to see her as Regina Maria 28th. The festival also awards several scholarships and their impact on the community is tremendous.

It's been a great year and being recognized by my hometown is one of the bigger thrills of this year.

Well, its off to California for the California League of Cities Annual meeting in San Diego. It will be a quick trip but I am sure I will enjoy it. I have never been to San Diego, but everyone tells me that it is great.

I will get to unveil the new Public Service Announcements to the California members and I hope they enjoy them as much as I had making them.