Italy High School will honor its 2013 seniors during the home football game between the Gladiators and the Dallas Gateway Gators Friday night at Willis Field.

Red Ribbon week is an alcohol, tobacco and other drug and violence prevention awareness campaign observed annually in October in the United States. To help the students be more aware of the harm drugs, alcohol and tobacco does to them Stafford Elementary participated in Red Ribbon Week.

Order your customized brick(s) to permanently be on display along the walls of the new outdoor pavilion currently under construction in downtown Italy.

When I walked into the gymnasium at Avalon Elementary you could hear all the cheers and hand clapping you could ever imagine. Everyone was there, teachers, moms, dads, aunts, uncles including fellow students cheering one another on.

The Italy Ministerial Alliance is planning a community wide Thanksgiving Bar-b-que on Sunday, November 18th. The event will be held at the Italy High School Dome and will begin at 12:30. Come one, come all and join in this community fellowship event.

On Wednesday, October 31 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm the Italy First Baptist Church will have their annual Fall Festival. There will food, fun and games for children of all ages. The entire community is invited!…and its free!!

With lots of hard work and dedication from the teachers and principal of Stafford Elementary, students got the opportunity to witness democracy in action when voting for the student council members. The election was run like the real thing and students got to learn about democracy first hand.

The Italy Gladiator Regiment Band scored a respectable Division II rating at the University Interscholastic League Region 8 Marching Contest Wednesday at La Vega High School in Waco.

While remembering a very special man, the George E. Scott Memorial Scholarship bar-b-cue dinner fundraiser helps Italy High School graduates.

Homecoming Week celebrations started out with the lighting of the “I” and a bonfire that was behind the Jimmy Davis Memorial Field House.

Gladiator Athletic Booster Club vice-president, Flossie Gowan has rescheduled the meeting previously planned for Sunday, October 28, 4:00pm due to conflicts and scheduled maintenance at the IHS campus. Please plan to attend the meeting on Monday, October 29th at 6:30pm in the IHS Library. Planning for the winter sports season will be the focus of the meeting.

Gladiators are now 2-0 in district play after defeating the Cross Roads Bobcats to cap off Italy’s fun filled week of homecoming.

One photo just cannot capture the spirit of homecoming week at Italy High School so Italy Neotribune has included a few more memories we can all cherish.

Local businesses along Main Street in Italy will have Trick or Treating on Wednesday, October 31, 2012. Take time to stroll the downtown streets from 4:00pm to 5:00pm and allow your little goblin to get some goodies for our local vendors.

Only two football games this week against Cayuga. The combined Junior High Gladiators will play at home Thursday while the combined varsity Gladiators will travel to Cayuga on Friday.

Directions added 9:15am, October 25, 1012

The halls at Stafford Elementary have been transformed into a magic forest complete with bird nests and even a ghost. It is amazing what one can do with twisted paper and cardboard cylinders!

Italy school officials and volunteers recognized by Lone Star Cyclists, the hosts of Tour d’ Italia, who also presented Italy ISD with sizable donation. Parent’s voiced concerns regarding class-size-waiver as well.

The entire town of Italy celebrates their 2012 Homecoming with a parade and a pep rally as Italy High School welcomes back their alumni.

The Italy High School Art Club is selling t-shirts to help raise funds for art show expenses as well as their spring trip. Please contact Mrs. Seidlitz, Italy High School Art Club sponsor (room 307, 972/483-7411) to get a t-shirt and support the students.

Calling all Parents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and family members as well as the entire community. Stafford Elementary along with help from Italy PTO want to give your children a wonderful Halloween treat! But they need your help.

IYAA Homecoming 2012 is a success with mums, cheerleaders, megaphones, candy, fans, flags, the air tunnel and three games of football.

IYAA Homecoming 2012 proved to be a fun time for all with all three Italy squads getting wins!

The Gladiator Regiment Band started off their contest tour with a bang by earning first division ratings at both the Teague Marching Invitational and the Troy Marching Festival.

The Italy High School freshman class will be sponsoring a Halloween Dance for 6th through 8th grade students of Italy Junior High and Stafford Elementary. The dance will be held on Saturday, October 27 from 8:00pm to 11:00pm in the old gym at the Italy High School campus.

There were many happy faces and shiny cowboy boots on October 13, as competitors in the Ellis County Equine Association gathered for their year-end banquet at the Waxahachie Civic Center to receive a menagerie of custom made awards in honor of their hard work to win championships throughout the 2012 ECEA horse show season.

The Silver Spurs 4-H Horse Club members rode many miles and worked hard on October 13 as they participated in the state wide 4-H community service project called One Day. The Silver Spurs cleaned trash off approximately 6 miles of equestrian trails as well as camp grounds and lake frontage area at Lake Bardwell’s Waxahachie Creek Park.

The Italy ISD Board of Trustees will have a called meeting on Monday, October 22, 2012. The meeting will be held in the IHS Band Hall (300 S. College Street, Italy) at 6:00pm.

The City of Italy hosted a ceremonial ribbon-cutting to dedicate the town’s new community center as old friends return home to the Italy Opry.

Italy’s Junior High and JV teams win 2-of-3 against Itasca this past Thursday.

More action photos from last Thursday’s Junior High and JV district openers in Itasca.

The Italy Gladiators win big in their 1A-1 Region II District 6 opener against the Itasca Wampus Cats.

The Italy Police Department will be selling braided spirit bracelets during the 2012 Gladiator Homecoming Game against Cross Roads on Friday, October 19.

Italy manages to win the first half against Hico but turnovers prove to costly for Gladiators.

Attention IHS Alumni Class of 2007 —A reunion will be held on Saturday, October 20th from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at 871 Stafford Road in Italy. This is the Saturday after the homecoming football game. We are inviting the classes of 2006 and 2008 as well and hoping to have as many people there as possible.

Italy vs. Malakoff Cross Roads games and times submitted by Gladiator head coach Hank Hollywood.

Under the direction of IHS Art instructor, Mrs. Marilyn Seidlitz, two IHS students returned from the recent Heart of Texas Livestock Show & Rodeo Creative Arts Show with high praises for their pastel art pieces.

Italian based fashion company seeks casting for a short film to be directed in Italy on November 3rd – 5th.

It is that time again! It is time to celebrate Stafford students for a job well done at the awards assembly for the first six weeks of school. And again, as usual, everyone was there in the cafeteria. Moms, dads, aunts, uncles, and tons of relatives were seen clapping loudly for the great job the students had done.

Mayor Frank Jackson and the Italy City Council named Misty Escamilla and Michele Riddle co-recipients of the Volunteers of the Year Award for the Italy Youth Athletic Association. The presentation was made at the council’s annual IYAA proclamation reception Monday evening in council chambers.

The Italy City Council awarded Graycon Construction of Mesquite the contract for the water storage tank construction, a part of the city’s water bond project, at its monthly meeting held Monday evening.

The Italy City Council will have two meetings on Monday, October 15, 2012. The first meeting, a proclamation reception to honor the IYAA volunteer of the year, will begin at 6:00pm. The second meeting, the council’s regular monthly meeting, will begin at 6:30pm. Both meetings will be held in the Italy Council Chambers at 105 West Main Street, Italy.

His dream was that any student at Italy High School who worked hard and had a desire to go to college could do so.  He was also a dreamer and a planner and as such, he knew that this would require a lot of money and would need many people involved. This was not to be a one time scholarship, but a perpetual fund where only the interest on the principal was used, so that it would outlive us all.

Central Baptist Church has scheduled its annual Fall Round Up for Sunday, Oct. 21.