Today is the last day of the 19th edition of Festa Italiana at Pioneer Courthouse Square. Personally, this is my favorite event at the square, and I’m not of Italian descent. I once had a girlfriend whose parents were born in Italy, and this event takes me back to all the great times I had in her home. There were some changes this year. It used to be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This year it was Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The other big change was how people paid for food. Instead of paying at each vendor’s booth, they were required to prepay by purchasing Soldi chips in advance. They exchanged the Soldi chips for the food they wanted. The rate of exchange was two dollars for one Soldo, or, twenty dollars for ten Slodi. It’s evident in the bottom photograph that it was difficult to explain. It took three people to make it clear to the customer. They may have to rethink this method next year.
