Sons of Italy Places Italian Flag on New York's "Wall Street" Christmas Tree
Press
Contact: Kylie Cafiero, (202) 547-2900 kcafiero@osia.org
 WASHINGTON, December 16, 2004 For
the first time in its history, the traditional
Bowling Green Christmas tree in New York's Financial
District is flying the Italian flag. The Order
Sons of Italy in America (OSIA) took part in the
December 13 lighting ceremony to honor Italian
Americans across the country and the coming of
OSIA's 100th anniversary on June 22, 2005.
Joseph
Sciame, OSIA's national president, rode a lift
to the top of the 65-foot tree where he placed
the Italian flag. "It is an honor to be a part
of this unprecedented event. OSIA and all Italian
Americans will be proud to see the flag of our
ancestors waving atop such an important New York
City Christmas landmark."
This
is the third year a flag rather than a star has
topped the Bowling Green tree. In 2001, an American
flag flew honoring those lost on September 11 and,
in 2002, the New York City flag was placed in celebration
of the city's 350th anniversary.
Also
attending the event was Italian American sculptor
Arturo DiModica. His masterpiece, the 3 1/2 ton
bronze statue,"Raging Bull" is directly
in front of the Bowling Green tree and is celebrating
its 15th anniversary at this location.
The
lighting ceremony was made possible through the
support of private donations and the leadership
of Frank Sciame, president of Frank J. Sciame Construction,
Joseph Sciame's cousin.
OSIA is the largest and oldest national organization for men and women of Italian heritage in the United States. It has more than 600,000 members and supporters and a network of more than 700 chapters coast to coast. OSIA works at the community, national and international levels to promote the heritage and culture of an estimated 26 million Italian Americans, the nation’s fifth largest ethnic group, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
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