The Cen­ter for Ital­ian & Ital­ian Amer­i­can Cul­ture (CIIAC) holds an Annual Gala to honor indi­vid­u­als and fam­i­lies that strive to pre­serve, pro­tect and cel­e­brate their rich Ital­ian Heritage.

The hon­orees for 2011 were:
Man of the Year — Domenick Cama COO Investors Bank
Woman of the Year — Karen Gian­nelli, Esq.
Life­time Achieve­ment Award — Peter Coco­ziello, Sr.

Every year the event is much– antic­i­pated, but this year was truly spec­tac­u­lar! This black tie affair took place on Fri­day, Novem­ber 18th, 2011 at The Villa in Moun­tain Lakes, NJ. The ele­gant evening began with a fab­u­lous cock­tail hour fol­lowed by a gourmet din­ner, then an added bonus, an amaz­ing per­for­mance by the Ital­ian singer Micheal Castaldo.

Mr. Castaldo is an award-winning song­writer, pro­ducer and record­ing artist. His per­for­mance of his orig­i­nal #1 Ama­zon Hit “Pray’r”, brought the audi­ence to tears! “Pray’r” is on Micheal Castaldo’s new album “Olive You.” Also, in atten­dance was Cara DiFalco from News 12 New Jer­sey, rep­re­sent­ing Ital­ians in her indus­try. A won­der­ful evening had by all!