Winter Italian Festival will help build music scholarship
Thursday, 16 February 2012 10:50
By Jill K. Dion
Editor
Trish Pihonak says her parents’ relationship was one of the last real-life romance stories.
Evelyn and Russell Lasse were constant companions throughout their life, until Russell died four years ago.
They met when they were much younger and Evelyn, who played the accordion, was entertaining at the Maples Restaurant, which is now Aldario’s, in Milford.
Russell’s parents, Peter and Mabel Lasse, owned the Maples, and Russell was working there as a bartender.
That’s when the two would-be sweethearts met.
They fell in love, married, and had five children. Evelyn did not go on to study music as she might have, though she did play the organ at times at the family restaurant, Lasse’s, which has become a Milford landmark on Bridgeport Avenue.
Today, Russell’s children decided to honor his memory by organizing a scholarship fund-raiser that pays homage to Russell’s love for his wife and Evelyn’s love of music.
They aren’t sure, but there’s a chance Evelyn, 80, may be coaxed into singing or performing at the event.
“They both loved music,” said Joanne Rohrig of Milford, who is working on the scholarship fund-raiser with her sister Trish Pihonak, who lives in Stratford. Siblings Kathy, Joyce and Peter are involved in the event too, as is the rest of the family, which includes nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Evelyn and Russell shared a love of Italian music, and the two used to sit and listen to it together, when they weren’t working.
“They loved each other very much,” Pihonak said. “And they worked together 24/7.”
The sisters decided the best way to celebrate their parents’ love would be to create a scholarship that will go to a Jonathan Law High School student who plans to pursue the study of music.
Called “A Winter Italian Festival,” the event is scheduled for Saturday, March 3, from 6:30 to 11 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 625 Bridgeport Avenue.
It will feature musical entertainment by Aaron Caruso, Tony Riccio and Raymond Suntino, as well as Tony Reno from WICC Radio. There will be a family-style Italian dinner, catered by Lasse’s. People may bring their own beverages.
“There will be a sausage and pepper stand — everything you’d see at an outdoor street festival, only indoors,” Pihonak said.
The cost is $40, and tickets may be purchased by calling Trish Pihonak at 203-386-9444 or emailing TrishPihonak@gmail.com, or by calling Joanne Rohrig at 203-606-5260 or emailing JoanneRohrig@aol.com.
Rohrig said the family hasn’t set a dollar amount they hope to raise, but they want to bring in enough money to get the scholarship going and keep it going. The Winter Italian Festival, if it’s a hit, may become an annual event to fund the scholarship, Rohrig said.
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