If you’re looking for something different to do this weekend, check out the Italian Cultural Society’s Festa Italiana. Since I’ve got a little Italian on my mother’s side, I confess I have a soft spot for pasta–mamma mia! Who doesn’t love spaghetti? Why, it’s as American as Apple Pie–which isn’t really American, after all, having come from England.

This leads me to my quandary. The Italian Festival is at the Croatian-American Cultural Center. Why there? Do we have a large population of Croatians in town?

I got to thinking (dangerous, I know) and checked out the U.S. Census reports for Sacramento. Did you know that the largest self identified ethnic history in our town in 2000 was German? So I checked to see if there was a German Cultural Center…and there isn’t. There is a German Genealogy Society with a P.O. Box listed on the web, and there was a defunct web address for a Sacramento Soccer club.

My own name might make you think I’m from the Black Forest region, but actually, I am only a quarter watered down German and I barely speak the language. Instead, I am fluent in Russian, and can speak passably in the French my grandmother spoke. Oh yes, I should say, I speak Russian but have nary a drop of Russian blood–my children have a little, along with everything else. In the words of a (mostly) Hidatsa/Mandan Native American I once met, they’re “Heinz57″. Like most American people, we come from a wide swath of the world.

How many cultural groups can you identify with?

In any case, you don’t have to be Italian to have fun at the Festa. Check out their website for a discount coupon. I do believe that’s the Scottish penny-pinching granny in me speaking out. Remember to ask for extra meatballs with your spaghetti–and extra cheese! Now that’s-a Italian…or French …or American?

Festa Italiana. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Croatian-American Cultural Center, 3730 Auburn Blvd., two blocks east of Watt Avenue and Interstate 80. Entry: $7, free for children 15 and younger. Parking is free. More information: (916) 482-5900