I was born and raised in Upstate New York, living in an Italian community with an Italian church and an Irish church right next to each other. We celebrated the Feast of the Assumption every August 15 with an Italian street festival with all foods Italian, as well as music. That celebration continues still today – over 50 years later!

I am second-generation Italian American, the proud daughter of June DeMaria and Francis Palermo. My mother’s family (surname Mauro) was from the town of San Donato di Ninea, Cosenza, Calabria and my father’s family from Paternopoli, Avellino, Campania. They both came over in the 1920s with the surge of Italian immigrants and both settled in Binghamton, New York.

I moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1992 when my husband, Bob Giannuzzi, was transferred with IBM. At our first residence, I served on the Home Owners Association Board and was recipient of the Volunteer of the Year Award through Wake County.  I owned a business called In Fran’s Hands, where I took seniors to run their errands and help them get their groceries, ensuring their working children’s families that their parents could get out and about.

We moved to a Del Webb Community in Cary in 2009. While there, I served as president of the Calabria Italian Club and chair of the Guardian Angels program, supporting Wake County families in need at the holiday time for the past five years.

I am currently a past president of the Triangle Sons and Daughters of Italy Lodge 2817 and have held various positions on the board.

I have two daughters and four grandchildren and have spent many vacations with our families in Italy searching our Italian ancestry, even spending time in our parents’ and grandparents’ hometowns.

As a founding member of Festa Italiana Raleigh in 2017, my vision is to continue to watch it grow and share our Italian heritage and culture with the Triangle area in our foods, entertainment, and arts.