Ron Onesti: A breath between summer and fall

Fall is here, my favorite time of the year. It means brisk days on an orange, yellow and brown backdrop, butternut squash ravioli, pumpkin pie and apple cider. It also means the end of "festival season" for me.

Onesti Entertainment is involved to varying degrees with many festivals, but there are three we produce from top to bottom. And by fall, we are done with tents, grills, weather reports and port-a-potties.

Don't get me wrong. These festivals have become a huge part of me and my family's lives. The sheer joy that so many people get from what we put together is one of the most rewarding feelings one could ever have. And to know that folks actually schedule their vacations around something we have created is an honor in and of itself. Year after year, they return with bigger families and more friends. They become part of OUR family.

It all began in 1980 with former Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne's initiative to bring summer fun to the neighborhoods. They were celebrations of Chicago's ethnic diversity, focusing on various cultures that made up the fabric of the city.

The first "neighborhood festival" was on the North side. It was a Polish Fest at Hanson Park on Fullerton and Central avenues. I was a senior at Weber High School just around the corner from the park, so I wanted to check it out. It was a one-day free event on a Saturday.

A buddy and I attended the outdoor party. We couldn't believe the people! Thousands of happy sausage and sauerkraut eaters were buying food and singing along with the "Polish Prince" himself, Bobby Vinton. The combination of blue-eyed blondes and pierogies (Polish, meat-filled dumplings - a cousin of the ravioli) was almost too much for me to handle. Was this what heaven was like (insert Sinatra music)?

Then I saw a poster promoting the next neighborhood festival. It was an Italian Fest at Riis Park, just up the street on Diversey Avenue near Narragansett. I was all over this! Wait a second … Tony Bennett is headlining? Are you kidding me? Sign me AND my meatballs up!

The fest was only two weeks away so I had to work fast. Turns out, my aunt's office was next door to the Italian-American organization working with the city on this festival. My aunt knew "a guy," Chicago style, who could get me a spot in the festival. A pan of her homemade lasagna and a small donation to the organization later, I was in - quicker than a Chicago precinct captain dropping off turkeys at Christmas.

All the good stuff was already spoken for though … pasta, sausage, pizza, Italian ice. So I settled for frozen bananas hand-dipped in chocolate. Not very Italian, but I didn't care. I HAD to be a part of this!

Don't forget, this was a time before health department rules and city inspector guidelines. I peeled, Popsicle-sticked and packed bananas, eliciting help from anyone who had a freezer. I showed up with my folding card table, a kitchen crock pot to warm the chocolate, and a Macanudo cigar box to hold the cash. I was in business!

For eight solid hours I dipped and served, dipped and served. I literally filled up Hefty bags, $2 at a time. I hit the lottery, even though it didn't exist yet. I was ready to quit school and buy stock in the Chiquita Co.

Next, I got into the Feast at Ford City Mall, a large food festival on the South Side by Midway Airport happening just two weeks later. I rented three trucks, a storefront on 61st and Cicero and about a dozen reach-in freezers. I hired two dozen local teens to man my assembly line. I went to the Royal Crown Co. and secured a couple hundred of those brown cardboard boxes that held the cases of RC Cola cans. It was Ronnie Wonka and the Banana Factory! Bring on the Banana Republic … I was ready to make my college money!

Well, it rained for four straight days and my "heaven" turned into the Bananamityville Horror. That was 35 years ago … and I am STILL bringing some of my banana inventory to summer parties.

Twenty-five years ago, we began Festa Pasta Vino on South Oakley Avenue at 24th Street, in the "Heart of Chicago." It brought attention to the Little Tuscany neighborhood that at one time had eight Italian restaurants on that side street.

Several of the traditional eateries began in the 1920s to feed the many workers who came from the Tuscany region of Italy to work at the neighboring Ryerson Steel plant. Many of the workers would share apartments on Oakley Avenue while they sent their paychecks back home. That tradition continued into the 1970s, as other trattorias opened, and remain there to this day.

Festa Pasta Vino has become a Father's Day tradition. It truly warms my heart as so many families have made this festival an annual pilgrimage. When I hear statements such as, "We used come every year as our Father's Day present to our dad. He is gone now, but we fly in from all over the country every Father's Day weekend to come to your festival, and remember our dad," I tear up with pride.

As this event is in the heart of the city, many people whose families have emigrated to Chicago suburbs requested that I do something for them out there. Thirteen years ago, I put together Little Italy Fest-West in Addison. It is an event that emulates what we do on Oakley Avenue, except my staff and I cook for the entire 40,000 attendees! Food, fun and entertainment, its all there … and then some!

About 10 years ago, we brought back a tradition to Chicago's Little Italy on Taylor Street, between Ashland Avenue and Loomis Street. It became the "Granddaddy" of all Italian festivals. It was all about what has become known as "The Old Neighborhood," and thousands came back to enjoy the food, the six stages of entertainment and the memories of parents and grandparents who came from Italy to start a new life for their families.

After a five-year sabbatical, we returned this year to my old neighborhood to re-instill the Taylor Street tradition. It was touted as "The best one ever" buy many of the over 100,000 in attendance, including the sponsoring neighborhood organization, the Little Italy Chicago Neighborhood Association (LICNA).

With involvement in many other outdoor events including the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, the Taste of Melrose Park and even the Hoboken Italian Festival in the New Jersey city where Frank Sinatra was born, we have a CRAZY summer! But it is all over now, and the holidays are upon us.

So much for a day off.

• Ron Onesti is president and CEO of The Onesti Entertainment Corp. and The Historic Arcada Theatre in St. Charles. Celebrity questions and comments? Email ron@oshows.com.