The 60^th Anniversary of the Italian Kitchen has come and gone, but not without the great success of that night. The restaurant was packed. The Thompson family went all out to decorate the place in an Italian theme. They paid attention to every detail. As people came in they were given a plastic bag of a variety of pasta and they were to find the table that matched that name of pasta on their bag, how creative. The staff was dressed impeccably and the food was great. Disc Jockey Services provided John Smallie to perfrm his close-up magic during the cocktail hour. He was a big hit that evening.  He is professional and a great guy to work with for a full evening of entertainment.

Brian Thompson lead the MC duties for the program of events as he gave a history of the 60 years of the Italian Kitchen, then he let family and loyal customers tell their personal stories about the restaurant. There were people there who have been coming to the Italian Kitchen from the beginning.  Some of the stories were funny, others touching as they talked of those who had passed away but told of fond memories of them and their experiences at the restaurant and the Montecalvo and Thompson family. I personally have never seen that kind of loyalty, especially in this day in time. The Italian Kitchen have outlasted Ukrops, Circuit City, Clover Room and other Icons in this city. In this day in time with the likes of Cheesecake Factories, Applebee’s, TGIF and Olive Gardens, it is refreshing to see the family run restaurant flourish like the Italian Kitchen.

In their way to recognize their family and customers, they did not overlook the staff that helps make this restaurant great. Brian’s brother Jon who runs the front called all the staff out to be recognized, many who have been with them for years. The Thompson family knows how to treat their employees with respect that makes them enjoy working at the Italian Kitchen.

After the program, the event was turned over to me to get the party going. I have to admit I was a little worried about how that was going to go over after all it was a Monday night, people have to work the next day and let’s face it Monday night has never been known as party night, but I was surprised they got into it and danced the rest of the night away until I had to call it quits a half an hour over the allotted time and they were still going strong when I closed it down. What a night.

I just wanted to add this at the end I want to thank the Thompson’s and Montecalvo’s for not only hiring Disc Jockey Services but also treating me as one of the family during the course of the day. Many times I come in do my job and leave but not the case here, during the course of the day we had as much fun setting up the place laughing and carrying on as we did during the event. Thank you for making my job so enjoyable. A special shout to my friend Jerry Huddleston for the use of his Bose system and his help that evening, it’s always great when I get a chance to work with him doing a gig.