David and Rae Marietta will be 2022 LIFT Re and Regina


2022 Little Italy Festival Re and Regina Dave and Rae Marietta

2022 Little Italy Festival Re and Regina Dave and Rae Marietta

David and Rae Marietta will preside as Re and Regina over the 56th Little Italy Festival, held annually over Labor Day Weekend. The Mariettas will officially be crowned as the new 2022 Re and Regina at the Media Dinner on Saturday evening, Aug. 20, at the Wine Garden, when they will receive the crown and scepter from the 2021 Re and Regina, Matt and Kristi Zanandrea.

The Mariettas are lifelong residents of Vermillion County, and each have a strong connection to their Italian heritage. They began their married life in Hillsdale in 1985 when they married; and soon their beloved son, Mario, was born in 1986. Their home was built by Dave, and they have loved their home life, family, and traditions passed on by their ancestors.

Dave is a 1964 graduate of Clinton High School and a 1968 Indiana State University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in business. Dave was Vice-President of Forrest Sherer in Terre Haute and was on the board of directors. He is active in the Lions Club, Vermillion Trail Alliance, helps with the Wine Garden of the Little Italy Festival, and other community events.

Rae is a 1972 graduate of Clinton High School and went onto further her education at Danville Junior College, where she received her degree in business in 1974. She has handled bookkeeping for her son’s business, M & S Processed Brass. Rae is a member of the Towne and Countrie Garden Club. She has many beautiful flower gardens and is always looking for that new flower to plant.

This dynamic duo has been blessed with one son but what a joy he has been to them. Mario Marietta graduated from South Vermillion High School in 2004. Mario has made quite the successful career out of being an entrepreneur. He began with a privately owned gun store in 2012 and went onto his current business, M & S Processed Brass that began in 2017.

The Italian heritage of this couple is strong! Rae is the daughter of the late Ramon and Thelma Roe Basso. She has three siblings: Toni Ave of St. John; Patti Ingram of Brownsburg; and Chris Basso of Joliet, Ill. Rae’s connection to Italy comes from her father, Ramon. Rae’s grandparents were Antonetti Forte Basso and Christiano Basso. They married in Italy in 1908 and sailed the very next day for New York. They first settled in Wilks Barre, Pa., with his maternal uncle John Pesavento.

They all came from Asiago, Italy.

The Pesaventos were in the fruit and vegetable business in Wilks Barre and Christiano (Rae’s grandfather) worked in that business for a short time but was a talented and trained stone mason. Her grandparents had four children: Elda, Catherine, Ramon, and Clara. Clara would soon die at the early age of 3 years old.

In 1917, the family came to Clinton, and Christiano pursued his career as a stone mason. The many gravestones that Christiano carved are still standing in Riverside Cemetery in Clinton. Christiano died at the age of 42 in 1925 from white lung disease. Antonetti was left alone with three children to raise by herself. Antonetti’s brother, Santo Forte, also lived in Clinton and had a wholesale grocery business on Ninth Street. He would help Antonetti get back on her feet so that she would later be able to open a small store on her own. Antonetti was a strong woman and lived to be 94 years old.

Rae’s mother’s parents were James and Florence Webb Roe. They were both Scottish, English, and Irish. Her grandfather, James was from Parke County and worked the mines until his retirement. Her grandmother, Florence was from Frankfort, Ky., and was a housewife.

David’s Italian heritage is equally strong. His parents are the late William “Bill” and Shirley Marietta of Clinton. Shirley was of Irish heritage and a proud woman. Bill was an Air Force World War II navigator on the bombardier. David has two siblings, Phyllis Lewman and Dennis Marietta, both of Dana.

David’s paternal grandparents were John and Fern Rippy Marietta. John was born in Coassola, Italy in 1891. His family came to the United States in 1921. They went to Diamond and then onto Universal shortly afterward. John and Fern had only one son, Bill. This ambitious couple owned several businesses including a used furniture store in Universal, and Fern was also the post mistress of the post office. The couple later moved to Clinton where they owned a gas station, appliance and hardware store, M & M Motors, a Chevy Dealership.

John was only in his 50s when he passed away from a heart attack, but Fern would go onto live until 1987. She lived until the age of 92.

Prior to the Depression, David’s grandparents could be considered to be “the entrepreneurs of their generation” owning several businesses in Universal and Clinton.

This strong lineage and line of love do not go unnoticed, nor unappreciated as all of the Italian families in our great community.

Dave and Rae Marietta have a great amount of respect for their parents and grandparents and those that came before them. To their loved ones, they say “Ti Amo!” In Italian, this means “I love you.”

The Mariettas would also like the thank the LIFT Board, the royalty that set such high standards, and to all of the festival goers. This Labor Day Weekend, we are truly all Italian and we hope you feel the love of a small-town festival.