Festival Italiano brings food, fun

By MEGAN HUGHES

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HURLEY— People flocked to Silver Street in downtown Hurley on Saturday to celebrate Festival Italiano, a gathering of food, music and games to honor the area’s Italian heritage.

The celebration kicked off late in the morning as vendors got cooking, preparing for the lunch rush crowd. There were food booths up and down the street, also offering refreshments.

Games and kids activities were held at a park downtown, including face painting and a bounce house. A line of vendor booths also were popular with the crowd.

A performance by Marty’s Goldenaires Drum and Bugle Corps drew a large crowd in the afternoon, delighting the audience with their renditions of patriotic and popular classic tunes dressed in their bright yellow garb with their shiny horns and big drums.

It was just one the musical performances through the day-long festival. Later in the evening Aftershock took the stage for their evening performance.

Capt. Jim Maffesanti of the Hurley Fire Department spoke about what the fire department had going on at the festival. They held a gun raffle at the festival and handed out hats to kids at their booth, where they had several of their vehicles on display. One of their trucks held the American flag high above Silver Street.

“I think next year we are planning an extrication demonstration. We haven’t done one in a while,” he said. “We will cut up a car using the Jaws of Life.”

Upcoming the fire department is planning for October’s fire safety demonstrations with the area schools.

This year’s winning 50-50 raffle ticket number was 6332. As of deadline, the ticket had yet to be claimed from the Hurley Area Chamber of Commerce office. The prize was $2,134.

To claim this ticket, call the Hurley Chamber of Commerce office at 715-561-4334.