By Michael P. Walsh
Special to the Voice
Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and the West Haven Italian Heritage Committee will honor Republican state Rep. Charles J. Ferraro as the city’s “primo italiano” at the 24th annual Italian Heritage Celebration.
Ferraro, a world-class martial artist and an ambassador of his proud Italian heritage, will receive the Italian American of the Year award at noon Friday at City Hall, 355 Main St.
The award is bestowed annually on an Italian resident or couple who personifies service in West Haven’s close-knit Italian community.
Accompanied by Italian music and guided by Rossi, members of the committee and the West Haven Italian American Civic Association will escort Ferraro, the grandson of emigrant grandparents from the Campania capital of Naples, Italy, to the steps of City Hall for his special recognition. An Italian-flavored lunch will follow.
“When I received the phone call from the honorable Nancy R. Rossi, mayor of West Haven, that they had selected me as West Haven’s Italian American of the Year, my first thought was, ‘Wow, me? Are you sure?’” said a surprised Ferraro, a Republican whip and member of the General Assembly’s Italian American Legislative Caucus.
“Growing up here in West Haven as the son of a poor Italian mother and an Irish stepfather, where just about every personal major accomplishment was a first for our family, I could never even contemplate that someday I would be receiving such a distinguished recognition,” he said. “I am both grateful and honored that Mayor Rossi and the West Haven Italian Heritage Committee named me as their Italian of the Year.”
Ferraro, 70, a lifelong Westie and longtime small-business owner, will pay homage to his Italian lineage with scores of friends and loved ones, along with an array of dignitaries and descendants of folks from the old country clad in red, white and green.
His maternal grandparents left their home in southern Italy and came to America for a brighter future, arriving in Canada in the 1940s before settling in New Haven’s “Six Corners,” a predominantly Italian neighborhood with six corners that converged at the intersection of Columbus Avenue.
In the daring spirit of Italians who charted a course for millions of immigrants who followed their crossing to America, Ferraro and his grandparents are a testament to the diversity and promise of the United States.
“It is my pleasure to honor Representative Ferraro as this year’s Italian American of the Year,” Rossi said. “I believe this recognition is long overdue.
“Representative Ferraro is both a business owner, with international accomplishments in Tang Soo Do, and a state representative who has faithfully served his constituents since 2014. I thank him for his public service to the residents of West Haven as well as the residents of Orange and Milford.”
Ferraro represents the 117th District, is the ranking member of the Energy and Technology Committee, and serves on the Human Services and Veterans committees.
During his five terms, Ferraro has been a champion for helping small businesses thrive, making Connecticut more business-friendly, and creating policies and providing funding for programs for older adults and veterans. He has also been a staunch supporter of renewable energy, public safety and health care.
Ferraro was honored for legislative achievements in energy and technology in 2021 and 2022. He has been named the West Haven Republican Town Committee’s 2023 Republican of the Year.
Outside of politics, Ferraro is a 10th-degree black belt, the highest level of recognition given in the martial arts community.
He is the founder, president and grandmaster of Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan, a composite style of classical martial art influenced by the Northern Chinese arts, the Southern Chinese arts and the Okinawan discipline of Karate, with schools throughout the U.S. and South America.
From 1978 to 1995, he sat on the board of directors of the U.S. Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation Inc. and has served as the president of the board of directors of the U.S. Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan Association Inc. since 1997.
Ferraro was inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 1996, named the Grandmaster of the Year in 1998, and selected to “Who’s Who in the Martial Arts” in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002.
He has also owned and operated the West Haven Academy of Karate for 48 years and has participated in and conducted “hundreds of fundraising events” to help people in need.
In observance of Italian American Heritage Month, West Haven recognizes the unique and vibrant culture of Americans of Italian descent and celebrates the story of generations of Italian sons and daughters who came to the United States seeking hope and opportunity to reach for the American dream.
At the City Hall ceremony, Rossi will present Ferraro, West Haven’s top “paisano,” with an embroidered “Italian American of the Year 2023” jacket and a mayoral citation for his civic-minded contributions and volunteerism.
He will also receive an Italian flag from Paul M. Frosolone, the president of the Italian American Civic Association, and Debbie Giordano, the vice president of the association’s Ladies Auxiliary.
The cultural event will include remarks by Rossi and her chief of staff, Tom J. McCarthy, the master of ceremonies. Before an Italian blessing, West Haven’s own Liz Levy will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the Italian national anthem, “II Canto degli Italiani.”
Ferraro, born in New Haven in 1952, was raised by his Italian mother, Jennette Bissonette, and his Irish stepfather, James Savidge, in the heart of West Haven’s bygone amusement park, Savin Rock Park.
The family homestead was on Marsh Street, across from Harvey Tattersall’s West Haven Speedway, formerly known as Donovan Field. In the late 1960s, the house and road were dismantled to pave the way for the Savin Rock Urban Renewal Project.
Savidge, affectionately known as “Big Jim,” was a prominent Democratic political figure in West Haven and worked as a dispatcher at the Department of Public Works.
Ferraro’s mother stayed home to raise her three children, including his younger siblings, Linda and James.
Ferraro, a 1970 graduate of West Haven High School, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Southern Connecticut State College in 1975 and received a Master of Science degree in fishery biology from Murray State University in Kentucky two years later.
In 1976-79, he represented many insurance companies as a general agent. His agency specialized in the sale of insurance policies for life, health and disability, along with annuities and financial planning.
From 1979 to 1982, Ferraro was employed as a territory representative for Westwood Pharmaceuticals Inc., a subsidiary of Bristol-Meyers Co. in Buffalo, New York.
He was responsible for informing dermatologists in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts about Westwood’s products. He was also responsible for servicing and maintaining wholesale and drugstore key accounts with an emphasis on maintaining inventory and promoting new products.
Ferraro and his high school sweetheart, the former Geralyn Ann DeMaio, have been married for 45 years and live in West Shore. They have two sons, Christopher and Brandon Ferraro, and two grandsons, Roman, 7, and Leo, 6.