The 2024 Man, Woman and Humanitarians of the Year have been named by the Columbus Day Celebration Committee. Man of the Year
is Anthony Forlini. Woman of the Year is Mary Smith. Humanitarian of the Year is Judge Joseph Toia. The honorees have been named due to their outstanding contributions to the Italian American community in Metro Detroit. They will be honored in Lansing on Tuesday, Oct. 8 and at the Columbus Day Banquet on Sunday, Oct. 13 to be held at the Italian American Cultural Center.
Judge Joseph Toia has a distinguished career marked by extensive legal and community service. Appointed to the Circuit Court bench by Governor Rick Snyder on Aug. 10, 2015, and subsequently elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2020, he presides over the 16th Circuit Court’s Adult Drug Court, managing both civil and criminal dockets.
Judge Toia holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration/Finance from Wayne State University (1979) and a Juris Doctor from Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State College of Law) (1984). Before his judicial appointment, he practiced law privately for 31 years and served as a prosecuting attorney for Orion Township.
His professional affiliations include the State Bar of Michigan, the Macomb County Bar Association, a mediator in the Macomb County Circuit Court, a member of the Judges United with Students and Teachers program and the Michigan Judges’ Association, where he is on the Executive Board and Co-chair of the Civil Law Committee. Judge Toia is also a Director of the Macomb County Bar Foundation and a member of Rise.
Active in various community organizations, he has served as past president of the Italian American Bar Association of Michigan, the Italian American Chamber of Commerce of Michigan, since 1992 (past president and Scholarship chairman since 2000), the Kiwanis Club of Utica/Shelby Township (past president and the Scholarship Chairman, for over 25 years), the Shelby Township Planning Commission (former chairman), a member of the Michigan Society of Planners, and the current Chairman of the Thrilla Gives scholarship program. He volunteers for Friends of Foster Kids, was the Parade Marshall for the Columbus Day Celebration Parade in 2007 and is also a 4th degree Knight with the Knights of Columbus.
Judge Toia has received numerous accolades, including the Sicilian Federation Man of the Year (2015), the Italian American Bar Association of Michigan Presidents Award, the Justinian Award, the Kenneth Rancilio Award, the Philip F. Greco Award, and the Kiwanis International Hixson Award.
Judge Toia has been married to his wife, Theresa, for over 50 years. They have two children, Jessica and Marissa, and he is a proud grandfather (papa) to five grandchildren.
Mary Lisa Smith, born and raised in the Detroit Metropolitan area, is a first generation Italian American. Her parents, Dianello and Celestina Silverio, were from Cordenons, Italy, and immigrated to Detroit in 1961.
Mary Lisa Smith has been a member of The Venetian Club of Mutual Aid for 47 years. At the time, she joined as a Junior Member in 1977 where she was Junior Member President and received the Junior Member Scholarship in 1983.
Smith joined as an Adult Member in 1983 where she has served as a Council Member, Auditor, Secretary for 4 years, Vice President for 2 years and is currently the second female President in Venetian Club history since 2022.
The Venetian Club of Mutual Aid was established to support Italian immigrants who originated from the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Guilia region in 1928. Its main philosophy remains the same today, family values and continuing the Italian traditions.¬¬ While the Venetian Club of Mutual Aid is a membership, its meeting place also runs as a banquet hall.
While she was Vice President in 2020, the business environment was quite challenging for everyone. Along with a core group of members, Smith conducted daily zooms to discuss ways to keep the business alive. During that time, she and others who volunteered found new employees, made sure the business was up to code and sanitized, started serving takeout meals to those in quarantine and opened the banquet hall for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations. Looking back to that time she states, “It was like starting a brand-new business, but I would do it hundred times over for a place so special to her and her family. All my fond memories were made at the club, and I would do whatever it took to save that for the hundreds of others apart of The Venetian Club.”
In her professional career Smith has been in corporate accounting and finance for over 25 years. Her family and friends are very special to her. she and her husband Mathew will be married 31 years this fall. They have two daughters, Sarah, Julia and her husband, Chandler Avant.
Anthony G. Forlini is a first generation Italian with deep family roots in the community. Born in Detroit, he grew up in St. Clair Shores and resides in Macomb County.
After years of success in the private sector, Forlini transitioned into the public service arena. Change for the improvement and advancement of the community he serves has been his driving force.
In 2004, Forlini was elected the first Italian Supervisor in Harrison Township. He served through 2010 until he was elected State Representative. He proudly served for six years as the Representative of St. Clair Shores, Harrison, Macomb, and Clinton townships.
During his time as State Representative he proudly hosted the Columbus Day Celebration at the State Capitol in Lansing. When Rome threatened to close the Detroit Consulate, he successfully rallied his colleagues in Lansing to support a resolution to keep the Detroit Consulate. The Embassy in Washington thanked Forlini for his efforts in keeping the Detroit Consulate active.
Towards the end of his term as representative, Forlini ushered the state into a new era, allowing qualified language teachers to teach even though they were not certified. His main argument was, “Would you rather have someone teach your children that is simply certified but not qualified, or a teacher that was qualified and not yet certified?” This opened the door for great Italian teachers to enter the classroom.
After many return visits to Cassino, Italy, he helped to establish a sister school program with L’anse Creuse High School and Liceo Scientifico Gioacchino Pellecchia to introduce the students to each other’s cultures. In June 2018 the schools signed their official sister school program. This program has resulted in four visits between the two countries. More importantly the students have established lifelong friendships that continue to this day.
Forlini is an executive board member of the NOI Foundation. This partnership made it possible to offer Italian language classes in two school districts in Macomb County.
Forlini was Knighted by the President of Italy for his volunteer work between the two countries on June 3, 2016. Forlini is the current Macomb County Clerk & Register of Deeds. Since being elected in 2020, he has transitioned the office into one of the premier County Clerk’s Offices in the state.
Forlini has been married to his wife Diane for 39 years and has three grown children; Anthony, Stefania, Alisha and four grandchildren.