Kim Chamberlain and I had the pleasure of joining with hundreds of others Saturday night at Fusaro Hall in Anderson for the 31st annual Festa Italia, a gathering at which The Sons of Italy present their most prestigious Italian of the Year award.

In addition to a wonderful meal and the prerequisite social hour, during which all of the candidates who can attend shake everyone's hand at least twice for good luck, we were suitably impressed by this year's honoree, Tina Lamanna.

For a red-head of Scottish and Irish descent, Mrs. Jim Lamanna certainly makes some of the most mouth-meltingly delicious cannoli each August during Paesano Days. If you have never tried this wonderful treat - an Italian pastry formed into tubes, deep-fried and filled with sweetened ricotta cheese that can be flavored variously with chocolate, candied fruit, nuts or liqueur - you simply haven't yet lived a full life.

A native of Gridley, Tina first met Jim Lamanna through mutual friends while each was attending Shasta College. They have been married now for 47 years.

Both are now retired. He was an electrician with the City of Redding for nearly four decades. She enjoyed an equally long career in banking that endured four corporate mergers. Most recently she was with Gibraltar Savings and Loan that became U.S. Bank in downtown Redding.

In February 2007, Jim Lamanna was named Redding's Citizen of the Year for 2006.

Tina Lamanna is equally worthy of consideration for her many contributions to the community.

She is a founding member of Redding Area Variety Entertainment Society, or RAVES, which for many years sponsored a highly-acclaimed vocal pops and show choir competition at the Redding Convention Center.

Choirs from schools throughout northern California competed regularly with choirs from Oregon, Nevada, Idaho and Washington during the three-day RAVES Festival.

Jim and Tina Lamanna were close friends of Duane Tomei, the 2008 Italian of the Year, and will be thinking of him during the upcoming Kool April Nights car show as they tool around town in their 1966 Mustang.

Last year's "Italian of the Year," Rick Bosetti, presented Tina Lamanna with her very own "Italian of the Year" apron "for her many years of dedicated service to the Italian community" while her husband, Jim Lamanna, presented her with a beautiful bouquet of freshly cut flowers.

After the program, the assemblage of more than 400 laughed until the tears ran down our cheeks listening to comedian Jeff Applebaum, originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., now a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area.