SHC Students Make Queen Isabella Court

Sacred Heart Cathedral students Angelina Ragusa ’13 and Gabriella Firpo ’14 have been selected to the 2011 Queen Isabella Court. Members of the Court participate in San Francisco Italian heritage events, including the 143rd San Francisco Italian Heritage Parade on Sunday, October 9, 2011. Ragusa and Firpo were selected by a panel of judges after submitting essays and then being interviewed. Selection is based on poise, personality, grace, community involvement, public speaking and pride in their Italian heritage. The queen will be announced at the Columbus Day Grand Ball at the Fairmont Hotel on Saturday, October 8. Ragusa is the daughter of Ron Ragusa ’79 and is a member of Big Green. Firpo appeared on the KGO Morning News Friday, October 7, along with the 2010 Queen and Court to publicize the 2011 parade and court. She is a setter on the Irish JV Volleyball team and is the younger sister of Bella Firpo ’10. Both students will take part in the oldest civic event in San Francisco and the longest continually running celebration of its kind in the United States. The Italian Heritage Parade parade celebrates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Western Hemisphere in 1492, commissioned by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain. Celebrity Chef Lidia Bastianich is the Grand Marshall of the parade, which begins in North Beach at 12:30 Sunday, October 9.