Saturday's Festa Italiana draws big 'Southside' NDG crowd

By P.A. Sévigny , August 15th, 2012

 Even if it was still early in the morning, the first soccer game was already well underway as workmen were getting the borough's portable stage ready for the day's festivities. By nine o'clock in the morning, there were already more than a few tents pitched in Georges-St-Pierre Park on Upper Lachine Road along with three inflatable slides for the children. While passionate soccer moms in jeans and sweatpants wildly cheered every time their children managed to kick the ball, their little boys in brightly colored sports jerseys were having a great time as they followed the ball up and down the field like ants running after a sugar cube.
 It was far too early for their own games, but several senior citizens were beginning to gather around the park's bocce court while they were waiting for their own day-long tournament to begin. After setting up her hot dog stand, Margaret Ford was pleased to see how the weather was holding out for the Italian community's big borough party. As a veteran community activist, Ford said all of the work required to hold such events were worth it “…because this is how you build a community's spirit.”           
By noon, there were lots of cheers to be heard from every corner in the park. As dozens of parents stood along the sidelines to watch the latest soccer game, trays full of sandwiches and Italian pizza were beginning to circulate around the crowded bocce court. Dressed in casual summer clothes, borough Mayor Michael Applebaum was pleased to meet a number of friends and supporters within the borough's Italian community. After walking through the park with former Décarie councillor Marcel Tremblay, Applebaum headed straight for the bocce courts crowd where he could be seen greeting old friends while making new ones in time for next year's municipal election. Wearing one of the Festa's signature t-shirts, local councillor Peter McQueen was also making the rounds after which he told The Suburban that he was pleased to see how the paper broke the news about the city's plans to permanently close the Upper Lachine Road underpass which will effectively cut off the Southside's access to the Décarie intersection.
Many families prepared picnic baskets after which they settled in for a bite among all the park's tables located under the trees. It wasn't long before somebody pulled out a deck of cards after which there was a lot of poker being played under the trees while the women watched over the kids who were playing in both the park and its pool. By five o'clock, party organizer Josie Mancini and her friends had mountains of food ready for a big community dinner but the party's luck broke and it began to rain just before dinner. After quickly resorting to plan 'B', Mancini arranged to have the food served inside the gym in the St. Raymond's Community Sports Center after which the crowd settled down for the evening's entertainment which included a number of Neapolitan songs topped off with a medley of famous Italian opera arias.n