Tom Wharton, who is a veteran news reporter for the Salt Lake Tribune, is scheduled to be the guest speaker this Sunday, October 11 the annual Columbus Day dinner sponsored by Helper’s Italian-American lodge, Stella D’America. Wharton is the senior reporter for the Tribune with a record of 50 years with the Salt Lake City daily newspaper.
Stella D’America is the oldest fraternal organization in the state of Utah, organized in Castle Gate in 1898 by 57 immigrant Italian miners from Northern Italy. The lodge was transferred to Helper in 1902 as a result of a miners strike in Castle Gate during that year, and it has functioned in that location since the time of transfer.
The Colombian Federation was founded in Chicago, IL on Columbus Day in 1892, it took the name in honor of the Italian explorer. Observing Columbus Day is an annual affair for lodges in the Federation due to this fact; the lodge has been affiliated with the national Colombian Federation of Italian-American Societies since 1903.
This year’s dinner by the Helper lodge will mark 117 years that the Helper lodge has observed the holiday with one exception, in 2010, when a last-minute death forced a cancellation that year.
The event will take place at 1:30 p.m. at the Tuscan Restaurant in Price. There is no charge for lodge members for the dinner, guests are welcome at $10.00 a plate.